Directory_and_Chronicle_1888 — Page 573

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 baving sprung up only since the site was selcet- ed for a treaty port instead of the little town of Kanagawa-possesses few attrao- tions for the visitor. The scenery around, however, is hilly and pleasing, and on clear days 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 balf 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, kerbed, 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 and Assembly Rooms, 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. The town is now in the enjoyment of an excellent water supply, large new Waterworks having been completed in 1887. 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. There are three English daily papers published in the port, namely, the Japan Gazette, the Japan Herald, and the Japan Daily Mail; the latter has also a weekly edition.

The native population of Yokohama was, according to a census taken in January, 1885, 80,603. The number of oreign residents in 1886 was 3,936, of whom 2,573 were Chinese, 625 British, 255 American, 172 German, 115 French, 37 Swiss, 48 Dutch, 24 Portuguese, 3 Russian, and the remainder of various nationalities.

The imports into Yokohamna consist chiefly of cotton and woollen goods. In 1886, according to the British Consul's report, the value of the different classes of imports was as follows:-Cotton manufactures, £986,038; woollen and mixed cotton and woollen manufactures, £490,774; metals, £421,529; kerosine, £202,027 ; sugar, £823,709; miscellaneous foreign, £978,677; miscellaneous eastern, £210,119; total, £4,131,993, as against £3,894,984 in 1885. The total value of the exports was £5,308,136 against £4,178,282 in 1885. Silk is the most valuable of the exports, being set down at £3,292.340. The value of the tea exported was £829,538. The total export of raw silk during the season from 1st July, 1886, to same date 1887, only half of which period is covered by the Consular returns, was 26,371 bales. The total export for the previous year was 25,884 bales. The export of tea during the season 1st May, 1886, to same date 1887, was 27,723,344 lbs., nearly all for America. The export during the previous season was 23,415,323 lbs.