Yokohama

Yokohama (横浜市, Yokohama-shi) ( listen ), officially the City of Yokohama, is the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo, and most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. It is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area.

Yokohama's population of 3.7 million makes it Japan's largest incorporated city. Yokohama developed rapidly as Japan's prominent port city following the end of Japan's relative isolation in the mid-19th century, and is today one of its major ports along with Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Hakata, Tokyo, and Chiba.

History

Opening of the Treaty Port (1859–1868)

Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period, when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with foreigners. A major turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853–54, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce, and the Tokugawa shogunate agreed by signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity.

Yamashita Park

Yamashita Park (山下公園, Yamashita Kōen) is a public park in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, famous for its waterfront views of the Port of Yokohama.

History

Much of Yokohama was destroyed on September 1, 1923, by the Great Kantō earthquake. A Scotsman, Marshall Martin, advisor to Mayor Ariyoshi Chuichi, is credited with persuading the city government to use rubble from the Kannai commercial district to reclaim the former waterfront as a park.

Yamashita Park was formally opened on March 15, 1930.

The park was requisitioned in 1945 during the Occupation of Japan for military housing, reverting to Japanese control in 1960. Across the street from the park is the Hotel New Grand where General Douglas MacArthur spent his first night on his arrival in Japan on August 30, 1945.

Park attractions

As well as public green space with trees, flower beds, fountains and memorials, Yamashita Park is also noted as the location of:

Yokohama Rubber Company

The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited (横浜ゴム株式会社, Yokohama Gomu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a tire company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company founded and started in 1917 in a joint venture between Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and B.F. Goodrich. In 1969 the company expanded to the United States as Yokohama Tire Corporation. The Aspec A300 was the driving force behind its tremendous rise. Branding, especially in Japan, will often use "ADVAN" instead of Yokohama. ADVAN wheels and tires have a strong presence in the aftermarket scene worldwide.

The company has a North American manufacturing facility in Salem, Virginia, where most Yokohama brand tires sold in the US are produced.

Sponsorship

From the 2015-16 season, Yokohama is the the sponsors of Premier League football club Chelsea.

In the United States, Yokohama Tire Corporation participates in The American Le Mans Series ALMS and Red Line Time Attack.

Yokohama is the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and World Touring Car Championship.

Yokohama Station

Yokohama Station (横浜駅, Yokohama-eki) is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year.

Lines

Yokohama Station is served by the following lines:

(JR Central's Tokaido Shinkansen passes through Shin-Yokohama Station, not Yokohama Station.)

Station layout

The JR East and Keikyu platforms are located in the main above-ground portion of Yokohama Station. Keikyu's section consists of platforms 1 to 2, JR East operates platforms 3 to 10.

Minato Mirai 21

Minato Mirai 21 (みなとみらい21, Minato Mirai Nijūichi), (often known as simply Minato Mirai and abbreviated as MM) is the central business district of Yokohama, Japan. Initially developed in the 1980s, Minato Mirai 21 was designed as a large master-planned development and new urban center planned to connect Yokohama's traditionally important areas and commercial centers of Kannai and the Yokohama Station area.

Today, Minato Mirai is a major center for business, shopping, and tourism, attracting visitors and businesspersons throughout the Greater Tokyo Area. The business district is host to several major hotels, office towers including the Yokohama Landmark Tower, the Pacifico Yokohama convention center, art museums, and numerous cafés and shops in shopping centers and along its central pedestrian mall. The area continues to be developed as originally envisioned in the 1980s.

Overview

Minato Mirai 21 was originally proposed as one of Yokohama's six major development plans by the mayor of Yokohama, Ichio Asukata, in 1965. After several assessments and review sessions, actual construction started in 1983. The area where it is located was once known as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama shipyard and the Japanese National Railways classification yard, Takashima wharf and Shinko wharf of Port of Yokohama. Conducted as an urban renewal and reclaimed land project, the port and industrial areas once divided the two city centers of Kannai and the Yokohama Station area. With the development of Minato Mirai 21, the two city centers were linked and now form part of the business and central 'core' of Yokohama. The name "Minato Mirai 21", was selected by a public opinion poll, and means "Port of the Future [in] the 21[st century]".