PORT OF YOKOHAMA AND COMMODORE PERRY

Best as I can tell, nothing much has changed about the world at large. Also, no newsworthy items from Japan. No threatening typhoons. This is important because we board the Diamond Princess as soon as I complete this blog today.

I wrote about our day in Yokohama yesterday. Last night, just another enjoyable visit to the Sheraton Club Lounge.

Sunset.

Sunrise this morning.

We were warned that the Diamond Princess, when it returns to Yokohama this morning at 6:30AM, would dock at a different pier. So I searched.

The Diamond Princess must be the one to the left. Yokohama Port is not as complicated as Sydney Harbor, where we had a difficult time getting to the Seabourn Odyssey earlier this year.

The Port of Yokohama opened to foreign trade in 1859.

Osansbashi Pier has ten piers with 24 berths and opened to international passengers in 2002.

The MS Asuka II is home ported here. I remember enjoying three cruises when it was called the Crystal Harmony. The conversion occurred in 2006. This remains the largest cruise ship in Japan.
Detamachi is known as Banana Pier, where fruits and vegetables arrive.
Several new berths are in the process of being built to handle larger ships.
Seven berths are used by the U.S. military.

I provided some history of American involvement in this area earlier this month.

Yokohama, which means horizontal beach, is just south of Tokyo, and is the second largest city in the country. This is where in 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry demanded that Japan open its ports for commerce. The 13th Tokugawa Shogun, Iesada, acceded in 1854. He was born in 1824 as the son of Tokugawa Ieyoshi and a concubine. Iesada was a weak person, Perry came at the right time, for in 1854 came a series of earthquakes:

So on to the Diamond Princess.

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