Yokohama

Yokohama exists because American gunboats needed somewhere to land—an obscure fishing village became Japan's gateway to the world in 1859, and the shock of that forced opening still shapes the city today.

In July 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry's 'Black Ships'—their coal-fired steam engines belching smoke into a sky that had seen no foreign vessels for 250 years—anchored off Tokyo Bay. The shogunate, lacking means to resist American naval power, stalled. When Perry returned in February 1854, negotiations were held in a purpose-built hall in the tiny village of Yokohama. That March, Japan signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, ending 250 years of isolation. By 1859, Yokohama's port opened to foreign trade—the first place where East truly met West.

Yokohama transformed from fishing village to international port within a generation. Foreign merchants built Western-style buildings in the Yamate district; Chinatown emerged as traders from across Asia arrived. The city became Japan's window on the world, importing not just goods but ideas: baseball, bread, photography, newspapers all entered Japan through Yokohama. The Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 destroyed 60% of the city; WWII firebombing devastated it again. Each time, Yokohama rebuilt. The 1989 Minato Mirai 21 development announced a new vision: from port to business center.

Yokohama's 3.77 million people (June 2024) make it Japan's second-largest city. The $155 billion GDP supports headquarters of Nissan (relocated from Tokyo in 2010), Isuzu, and JVCKenwood. The port remains Japan's largest container terminal. The city's working-age population (63.7%) exceeds the national average, and its 121,000 foreign residents (3.2%) reflect the cosmopolitan DNA of its treaty-port origins.

By 2026, Yokohama's test will be whether it can remain Japan's gateway when supply chains are rewiring and Tokyo's gravitational pull keeps strengthening—the same challenge it has faced since Commodore Perry's ships forced open the door.