Yokohama: panoramic view with vessels of various Western nations at anchor. Colour woodcut by Sadahide, 1859.

Edo [Tokyo] : Maruya Tokuzō, 1859.

1 print : woodcut, printed in colours

Gyokuransai Hashimoto of Edo The key indicates the meaning of the variously coloured cartouches: temples, foreign residences etc The boxes to the left outside the frame contain the publishing information and the engravers names, Asakura Tetsuo and Sugita Kinsuke The text with the artist's signature reads "I have painted this picture en route to the capital [Kyoto]: a true view of the outlook from Koyasumura [Koyasu village]" Bears publisher's mark and block cutter's mark The lettering in the box to the left within the frame is by Sadahide and reads "Once I wandered around the border area and asked where the trading firms were. No one knew where they were, nor was there a map to show the location. Therefore, I silently lamented. Now the opening of the port has been settled and the Five Nations [G.B, Neth, Fr, Russ & USA] have gathered here. If the conditions of the past had to be investigated to determine whether they had been profitable to our country, there would be no means to verify it. I could do nothing but regret the situation. Later, the publisher Hōsendō made a map of Yokohama. It was shown to me, and I saw the landscape, public buildings, Western-style houses, and urban buildings extending in all directions. Now we see a map very clearly, Now we can imagine the past phenomena of this area. A landscape painting is for poets. Therefore, I encourage people to publish maps. If people want to see the scenery of this area, they can see them [sic] by means of this map, and they will still be able to see them one hundred years from now

Ann Yonemura, Yokohama: prints from nineteenth-century Japan, Smithsonian institution press, Washington, 1990

Complete illustration of the officially opened port of Yokohama

Wellcome Collection 37475i

The map was very popular and reprinted several times, revised in each case to record the growth of Yokohama: the date was not changed in the later editions