Japan’s policy of national isolation throughout the Edo period was brought to an end by the arrival of the Black Ships led by Commodore Perry and the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
The history of the city of Yokohama goes back to the selection of the small village of Yokohama, with its 100 or so households and population of around 500, as a place to be opened up to foreigners. Later, when the Meiji era began, it became necessary to establish a port for foreign trade, and as Yokohama’s population rose sharply, its modern urban development moved forward at a rapid pace.