Yokohama Port Opening Anniversary

What Is Yokohama Port Opening Anniversary?

Every June 2nd is "Yokohama Port Opening Anniversary" (横浜港開港記念日, Yokohama-kō Kaikō Kinenbi). On June 2, 1859 (the 6th year of the Ansei era), Yokohama Port officially opened for international trade, following the signing of the Harris Treaty (日米修好通商条約, the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce) the previous year. Along with Nagasaki and Hakodate, Yokohama became one of the first Japanese ports open to foreign commerce after over two centuries of national isolation under the Tokugawa Shogunate's sakoku policy.

Yokohama's Transformation from Village to City

Before 1859, Yokohama was a small fishing village — chosen precisely because the Shogunate preferred to conduct foreign trade at a location away from major cities. The port's opening triggered one of the most rapid urban transformations in Japanese history. Foreign merchants, diplomats, and adventurers poured in; warehouses, trading houses, and consulates were built along the waterfront; and a distinctive neighborhood called the "Foreign Settlement" (外国人居留地, gaikokujin kyoryūchi) developed with European-style architecture, churches, and social clubs. Within decades, Yokohama had become Japan's largest and most cosmopolitan port city.

Yokohama as Gateway to the World

Through Yokohama flowed the goods, technologies, and ideas that drove Japan's Meiji modernization: Western textiles, machinery, foodstuffs, and books arrived while Japanese silk, tea, and porcelain departed. Yokohama was where many Japanese first encountered gas lighting, horse-drawn carriages, ice cream, and Western medicine. The city's Chinatown (中華街) — the largest in Japan — and its Motomachi shopping street are living legacies of the cosmopolitan diversity that port-opening brought.

Yokohama Today

Yokohama is Japan's second-largest city by population, with over 3.7 million residents. Its waterfront Minato Mirai 21 district combines historic landmarks with modern skyscrapers, and the city remains one of Japan's major international trade gateways. The Port Opening Anniversary is marked each year with a major fireworks festival — the Yokohama Sparkling Twilight — one of the largest summer fireworks events in the Kanto region.

Fun Facts

• Silk Road to Yokohama: In the Meiji era, Yokohama was the world's largest silk export port, handling Japanese silk bound for European textile mills in Lyon and elsewhere.
• Yokohama Chinatown: Established in the 1860s by Chinese merchants who facilitated trade between Japan and the rest of Asia, Yokohama's Chinatown is home to over 600 Chinese restaurants and shops and attracts millions of visitors annually.