The Wild West Origins of Japan’s Second City

Many of Japan’s major cities have surprisingly dark histories. Often rated as the most boring place in Japan, Nagoya was once the stronghold of the legendary warlord Oda.Demon King“Nobunaga. Tokyo, the technological capital of the world, was built on beheadings. head of the angry god. Kanazawa developed from a stronghold Peasant Buddhist Soldiers. As for Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan, famous for its Chinatowninternational features and conference center? This low-key, laid-back port city was once a cruel town full of crime, blood and smoke. Here are the origins of Yokohama’s Wild West:

Map of Yokohama, 1860 | Go-kaiko Yokohama no zenzu by Utagawa Sadahide (circa 1859)

A city built on fear

Yokohama was created in a paralyzing atmosphere of fear and anxiety. The country has been almost completely isolated from the outside world since the early 17th century. Zuo Guo Isolationist policy. But in July 1853, American Brigadier General Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan, placed his helicopter gunships within range of the capital, and intimidated the Edo government (today’s Tokyo) into negotiating with the Americans.

Fearing potential war, Japan signed a series of treaties opening its ports to the world, including those in Kanagawa Prefecture, then a post station. However, some officials were concerned that the port was too close to Edo, so they proposed a new location further south. The site is a small fishing village called Yokohama, which will be redeveloped into an international port town…and a slum.

Fearing drunken, violent sailors, Japanese authorities wanted to keep outsiders contained in the Foreign Quarter, located near today’s Yokohama Kanai. It must be filled with everything a foreigner wants, including “negotiated female feelings.”

With sweet talk and force, brothel owners across Japan used their own money to build Yokohama’s red light district. However, when prostitutes appeared in the area, no one volunteered to do so. Many people were afraid of the “barbaric” foreigners and ran away crying. Eventually, 30 women were selected by lottery to attend the grand opening of Yokohama Port in June 1859. Their palanquins had to be tied up with ropes to prevent them from escaping along the way.

“Foreigners Enjoying a Party” by Utagawa Yoshitora (c. 1861) | Metropolitan Museum of Art

The violent fun of Blood Town

The newly opened part of Yokohama quickly gained a reputation as evil and vicious. Located along Honmura Road (today’s Nanmen Silk Road) and bordering modern-day Yokohama Chinatown, it was an entertainment district within the Foreign Quarter filled with taverns, liquor stores, brothels and the occasional puddle of blood and loose teeth. There were frequent quarrels between sailors and merchants at sea Flame RoadThe area eventually earned the more descriptive name “Bloodtown” (or “Bloodtown”), as foreign sources erroneously called it.

While the Japanese citizens of Yokohama live a quiet life trying to make money from the new open border policy, the foreigners are in private corners of the city, not subject to Japanese law due to unequal treaties and they are absolutely determined to leave Yokohama. wild. The atmosphere in the Foreign Quarter is very similar to that of American boomtowns during the Wild West Gold Rush. One account states that at night you could “walk past the body of a drunken sailor lying in the middle of the sidewalk.”

Those who can afford it won’t walk around Yokohama without private security. Eventually, between 1863 and 1875, foreign garrisons were stationed in or near the city to protect foreigners. While there are many examples of sailors and merchants behaving like civilized people in 19th-century Yokohama, these stories are easily overshadowed by those of the foreigners who brought rifles and horses to Japan.

Printed images of Yokohama, known as “Yokohama-e”, illustrate the tensions of the time. Left: Sumo wrestlers throwing down a foreigner, depicting anti-foreign sentiment (by Ipho Saiyoshito, circa 1861 | Metropolitan Museum of Art). Right: A British man in uniform holding a rifle (by Utagawa Yoshifusa, circa 1860 | British Museum)

Yokohama’s terrifying symphony of gunpowder and horseshoes

Once gambling, drinking, women, and various unhealthy combinations of the three lost their appeal, Yokohama’s foreign residents took to entertaining themselves with horses and firearms, sometimes simultaneously. According to eyewitness reports, men rode wildly through Yokohama and fired guns into the air for reasons known only to God, them and their bartenders. Other stories include impromptu firearms practice by (often drunken) shooters wherever the mood strikes, and obstacle courses through towns and their surrounding areas.

Guns as depicted in “The Landing of Foreigners from Five Nations in Yokohama” by Utakawa Yoshikazu (circa 1861) | Smithsonian Institution

Although foreigners were technically prohibited from venturing beyond Yokohama, this rule was primarily intended to prevent them from traveling to Edo and inconvenience shogunate officials. If any foreigners travel in the opposite direction, it is often overlooked, but rarely forgotten—especially those whose land is trampled by horses and dogs. Once, the residents of Blood Town imported hounds from Shanghai and started hunting wildly. Wild boars, deer, foxes – everything is on the table and nothing can stand in their way as they ravage the countryside, destroying crops and rice paddies.

Thankfully, this all proved to be the growing pains of a boomtown. Through determination, stricter law enforcement and surviving natural disasters, Yokohama was reborn as a thriving metropolis. Today, Japan’s second-largest city bears little trace of its wild youth. However, if you want to have a fun, boozy night out on the town, Yokohama Noge area — not far from where Bloodtown once stood — big enough to accommodate you.

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