Directory_and_Chronicle_1886 — Page 537

YOKOHAMA.

Yokohama is the principal Treaty port of Japan, and was opened to foreign trade in July, 1859. It is situated on the Bay of Yokohama, a small bay on the Western side of the Gulf of Yedo, in lat. 35 deg. 26 min. 11 sec. N., and long. 139 deg. 39 min. 20 sec., in the island of Hondo, and is distant about eighteen miles from the capital, with which it is connected by a line of railway. The settlement stands on what was originally a swamp, and--the town having sprung up only since the site was select- ed for a treaty port instead of the little town of Kanagawa-possesses few attrac- tions for the visitor. The scenery around, however, is hilly and pleasing, and on a clear day the snow-crowned summit and graceful outlines of Fusiyama, a volcanic mountain 13,540 feet high-celebrated in Japanese literature and depicted on so many native works of art-is most distinctly visible though some seventy-five miles distant. Yokohama is compactly built of low houses with tiled roofs. The town is divided into two nearly equal parts, the western half being occupied by the foreign settlement. Beyond the plain on which the town is built rises a sort of semicircle of low hills called "The Bluff," which is thickly dotted with handsome foreign villas and dwelling-houses in various styles of architecture, all standing in pretty gardens. From these dwellings charming prospects are obtainable. Along the water-front of the foreign settlement runs a good road called the Bund, on which, facing the water, stand many of the principal houses and hotels and the United Club. The streets in the foreign settlement are fairly paved, korbed, and drained. There are Anglican, French Catholic, Union Protestant, and native Mission Churches in the settlement. A fine Cricket and Recreation Ground exists in the Settlement, and there are some well laid out Public Gardens on the Bluff, A new Theatre, neatly built of brick, was opened on the Bluff in 1885. The chief public buildings in the native town are the Kencho, opposite the British Consulate, the Town Hall, which has a clock tower, and the Custom House, a fine building erected in 1885. The Railway Station is also a creditable structure, being a well designed and commodious terminus. There is a fairly good Race Course situated about two miles from the Settlement. Yokohama is well supplied with hotels, some of which afford good accommodation. Thare three English daily papers published in the port, namely, the Japan Call, bio Japan Heraid, and the Japan Daity nil; the latter has also a weekly

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The native population of Yokohama was, according to a census taken in January, 1895, 0909. The number of oreign residents in 1884 was 3,700, of whom 2,471 wero Choose, 616 British, 137 American, 170 German, 101 French, 28 Swiss, 27 Dutch, 40 Potuguese, 8 Rhian, an the remainder of various nationalities.

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The imports into Yokohama consist chiefly of cotton and woollen goods. In 1884, according to the British Consul's report, the value of the different classes of imports was as follows:---Cotton manufactures, $1,822,927; woollen and mixed cotton and woollen manufactures, $2,062,674; metals, $1,262,173; kerosine, $788,972; sugar, $4,019,512; miscellaneous foreign, $4,168,689; miscellaneous local, $752,174; total, $17,877,121, as against $18,618,612 in 1883. The total value of the exports was $21,458,084. Silk is the most valuable of the exports, being set down at $12,924,656. The value of the tea exported was $3,612,906. The total export of raw silk during the season from 1st July, 1884, to same date 1885, only half of which period is covered by the Consular returns, was, according to the returns of the Chamber of Commerce, 25,403 bales, of which 214 were for England, 13,729 for France, 11,143 for America, and 317 for other countries. The total export for the previous year was 29,907 bales. The export of tea during the season 1st May, 1884, to same date 1885, was 20,858,248lbs., all for America, with the exception of 40,513lbs. for England. The export during the previous season was 20,407,790 lbs.