1868 Sadahide Ukiyo-e View of Yokohama

A scarce large-format c. 1868 view of Yokohama, prepared by Sadahide, master of the Yokohama-e genre of ukiyo-e woodblocks. It presents the extent of the port and hinterland a decade after it was opened to foreign trade, already expanding far beyond the small fishing village that had hitherto existed there.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the west-southwest, with Mount Fuji in the background at right, this view displays Yokohama at the point of transition from the Tokugawa Shogunate to the new Meiji regime. It can be compared to earlier views of Yokohama, particularly by Sadahide (including his 1859 and 1861 panoramas, also sold by us), to see the year-by-year expansion of the port and its surrounding area. Due to the growth of Yokohama, this view includes greater coverage of new neighborhoods and the villages, temples, and shrines surrounding the city. The hills at left and right here, in particular, saw considerable development in the years before this view's production, with foreigners occupying the eastern hills (at left here) and Japanese officials and traders living on the western hills (at right). The areas all would be swallowed up by Yokohama in the following decades; even Negishi (根岸村), Kitagawa (北方村), and Honmoku (本牧村), in the distance at top-left, are today located in the heart of the city, in the central ward (Naka) of Yokohama, and similarly with Hiranuma (平沼), Tobe (戸部), and Shibafu (芝生) at right, now part of Nishi Ward. Near Negishi is a horse racecourse (馰カケ場), the first European-style racecourse built in Japan, opened in 1866.

The city was reshaped somewhat after a large fire in 1866 (known as the Great Keiō Fire or the Pork Shop Fire, as it was believed to have started in a pork restaurant), with assistance with urban planning provided by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton (1841 - 1901). Recent additions include new docks in the main part of the city, an ironworks (製鐵所), and additional government offices (御陣屋, 役屋舖, and 政所) and residences for government officials (御役宅). A combination of foreign and Japanese ships appear in the foreground, while the cemeteries at left similarly reflect the cosmopolitanism of Yokohama, with dedicated plots for Westerners (外國人) and Chinese (南京人).

Text at bottom-left describes in rather florid terms the intention of the map to display the variety and vibrancy of the city. The accompanying legend explains the color shading used throughout, with burgundy used for public places (公用場所), red for temples and shrines (神社佛閣), yellow for roads (道筋), blue for waterways (水脈ノ所), and grey for fields and mountains (田畑山野). More generally, in the main part of Yokohama, foreign-inhabited areas are shaded blue (at left) and Japanese-inhabited areas pink (at right).

Miyozaki

Miyozaki (here as 'New Yoshiwara Nakanochō' 新吉原仲之町) was Yokohama's red-light district, modeled on and managed by brothel-owners from Edo's infamous Yoshiwara, the main street of which was Nakanochō. Miyozaki had been planned during discussions around the Harris Treaty (1858) and other similar treaties with foreign powers that opened Yokohama to foreign trade. Originally located in the grassy area near center here, it was separated from Yokohama proper by a moat and wall, approached by a confined walkway ending at a bridge with a large gate, which was the only way to enter or leave the district. After burning down in the aforementioned fire in 1866, the red-light district was moved west of the Yoshida River (吉田ハン) and again surrounded by a moat and wall. Frequent fires and further urban sprawl led to further relocations, with its finally (in 1880) being placed in Magane, where it remained, with official sanction, until the Japanese government enacted an anti-prostitution law in 1958.

Miyozaki was foremost among the many curiosities in Yokohama in which consumers of Yokohama-e prints by Sadahide and others were interested. Foreigners were equally curious about Miyozaki, for obvious reasons, though the more genteel among them typically regarded the area with disdain, at least publicly.

The teahouses and brothels in this district catered primarily to foreign (Western and Chinese) clients, in large part to avoid the potential for scandals involving foreigners and Japanese women not engaged in prostitution (as had been done for many years in the Maruyama red light district in Nagasaki). This fit with a trend throughout the Tokugawa to sequester supposedly immoral or harmful influences on society, a trend which was heightened in the decades just before Japan was opened to foreign trade. While Yokohama maintained a laissez-faire ethos overall, Miyozaki was possibly the most strictly monitored and managed part of the entire city, as the Tokugawa were anxious to keep foreigners occupied and away from Japanese women not engaged in the sex trade. Certain establishments, especially the famous Gankirō (岩亀樓), aimed at more esteemed and wealthy clients, who could arrange for long-term mistresses, often depicted alongside foreigners in Yokohama-e prints.

Yokohama - Japan's Gateway to the Outside World

Sadahide is most closely associated with Yokohama-e (橫濱繪), a ukiyo-e genre which he largely defined, depicting foreigners and the cultural interactions between Japan and the outside world. Although Japan had reluctantly signed a 'Treaty of Peace and Amity' with the United States in 1854, opening the door for greater foreign presence and influence, the terms were quite vague until a subsequent treaty, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (also known as the Harris Treaty), signed in 1858, opened Japanese ports to foreign trade. Other foreign powers piled into Japan to sign similar treaties stipulating rights for their nationals to trade and reside in certain ports. The most important of these 'treaty ports' were Nagasaki and Yokohama, the former having been a major port for centuries, the latter much less so.

The foreign powers demanded a port near Edo (Tokyo), understanding that the capital itself was not an option. Yokohama was primarily chosen because the most obvious choice, Kanagawa-juku (神奈川宿), a nearby coastal station on the Tōkaidō, was opposed by the Shogun. Much like Shanghai in China, Yokohama grew rapidly and became the main conduit for the exchange of people, goods, and ideas between Japan and the outside world.

Artists, Sadahide chief among them, rushed to depict the new visitors, who were regarded with both curiosity and revulsion, but in either case were an object of keen interest throughout Japan. Aside from Western traders, Chinese merchants and workers also resided in Yokohama, establishing an important Chinese community, still the largest Chinatown in Japan.

As the city itself was a product of the treaty port system, Yokohama was quick to embrace foreign technology, and Japan's first major rail line was opened from Yokohama to Edo (by then renamed Tokyo) in 1872. Eventually, Yokohama would grow to swallow up Kanagawa-juku and other nearby towns, becoming the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second-largest city in Japan.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by Sadahide (here as 橋本玉蘭斎貞秀) around the year 1868 and was published by Azumaya Shinkichi (東屋新吉藏板), possibly an employee of Shin Eidō (新榮堂). The view is rare, with known examples only held by the Yokohama City Central Library and the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History.