Imagine that you could observe Yokohama from the porch of the “Go Teahouse” across the bay...
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...People from the five treaty countries hastened to explore the commercial opportunities in the hitherto hidden land.
Boomtown, the Story:
The New Treaty Port
Yokohama became a “boomtown” when it was designated as the first Japanese city open to foreigners after 200 years of isolation...
Yokohama was an excellent port which made the new traders happy...
...but, the location also kept the foreigners isolated and easily monitored by the Japanese.
...This spectacular view shows that the new town is like a man-made island.
Japan would make major changes—and become a modern nation—in response to the foreigners.
A masterful graphic places us in the center of harbor activity to capture the excitement of the new exchange.
“Picture of Western
Traders at Yokohama” is
rich in detail that invites
close examination.
Look for:
- merchandise on the
gangplank,
- a clerk making notes,
- women observing
through the windows,
- the flags and nationalities
of the vessels,
- sailors in the rigging who
look like acrobats.
Who were the “five nations” Japan had treaties with?
Their flags appear: England,
France,
the Netherlands, Russia,
and America.
The Chinese, whose presence was vital to Yokohama commerce, are also pictured.
Prints are gifts of Ambassador William and Florence Leonhart, reproduced courtesy
of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
“Yokohama Boomtown” Massachusetts Institute of Technology © 2008 Visualizing Cultures
A Project of Professors John W. Dower and Shigeru Miyagawa
Based on the catalogue of the 1990 exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution, Yokohama: Prints from 19th-Century Japan,
by Ann Yonemura. © 1990 Smithsonian Institution
On viewing images from the historical record: click here.
Design and production by Ellen Sebring, Scott Shunk, and Andrew Burstein
