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45-557: The location of Yokosuka at the entrance to strategic Tokyo Bay was recognized of critical importance by the Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji government . In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate government established the Yokosuka Seisakusho , a military arsenal and naval base , with the help of foreign engineers , including the French naval architect Léonce Verny . The new facility

90-623: A friendship city relationship with one city: Sarushima is an uninhabited island in the Tokyo Bay , accessible by ferry from Yokosuka. The Mikasa , flagship of Admiral Togo at the Battle of Tsushima , built in Britain by Vickers , is preserved on dry land at Yokosuka. It is a museum, complete with actors dressed like members of the original crew, and can be visited for an entrance fee of 600 yen. The Club Alliance enlisted club, which lies just inside

135-562: A large electrical power generating facility, and a midget submarine factory and warehouse were among the many facilities built. American occupation forces landed at Yokosuka on August 30, 1945, after the surrender of Japan , and the naval base has been used by the US Navy since that time. The caves were used for storage and as an emergency shelter during the Korean War. From the 1950s, United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka has been home port for

180-592: A major center for the Japanese telecommunications industry, and is where many of the wireless, mobile communications related companies have set up their research and development centers and joint testing facilities. Per Japanese census data, Yokosuka's population peaked around the year 1990 and has declined since then. Foreign citizens in Yokosuka are mainly Filipinos , Koreans , Chinese , and Americans . Yokosuka's public elementary and junior high schools are operated by

225-450: A military port next to the American base, as well as numerous training facilities at scattered locations around the city. For those reasons, there are a few hundred Americans and a thousand Filipinos in Yokosuka. In 2001, Yokosuka was designated as a core city , with increased autonomy from the central government. Aside from the economic impact of its various military facilities, Yokosuka

270-422: A native of Yokosuka, opened on July 20, 2000. It has been reported that Japan's former prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi , was influential in getting it built as he was a big fan of Hide's band X Japan . The museum stayed open, past its original three-year plan, for five years, before closing on 25 September 2005. Yokosuka is considered a place of origin of sukajan jackets. These embroidered satin bombers are

315-564: A naval medical center in 1908. Naval aviation facilities were established in June 1912, followed by a wireless communications facility in April 1913. On January 14, 1917, the armoured cruiser Tsukuba exploded and sank in Yokosuka port in an accident. The Naval Construction Department was established in 1921. In June 1930, a Naval Communications School was established, but the Naval Mine School

360-437: A popular souvenir from the city, especially the more expensive, handmade ones. Yokosuka, including Dobuita Street, is the setting for the 1999 video game Shenmue . Yokosuka is also depicted in the game's anime adaptation. City officials cooperated with animators. The 2000 PlayStation game Front Mission 3 , and Shohei Imamura 's 1961 New Wave film Pigs and Battleships take place in Yokosuka. Additionally, Yokosuka

405-576: A population of three thousand, while a town in the same prefecture, Otofuke, Hokkaido , has over forty thousand. Under the Act on Special Provisions concerning Merger of Municipalities ( 市町村の合併の特例等に関する法律 , Act No. 59 of 2004) , the standard of 50,000 inhabitants for the city status has been eased to 30,000 if such population is gained as a result of a merger of towns and/or villages , in order to facilitate such mergers to reduce administrative costs. Many municipalities gained city status under this eased standard. On

450-644: Is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture , Japan . As of February 2024 , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of 3,708 inhabitants per square kilometre (9,600/sq mi). The total area is 100.7 km (38.9 sq mi). Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area , and the 12th in the Kantō region . The city is home to United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka . Yokosuka occupies most of Miura Peninsula , and

495-519: Is a festival celebrating Japanese curry , which draws 50,000 attendees each year. The plant is adjacent to Nissan's Research and Development Center, the Oppama Proving Ground and the Oppama Wharf, from which Nissan ships vehicles made at Oppama and Nissan's other two Japanese vehicle assembly plants to other regions of Japan and overseas. The Yokosuka Research Park , established in 1997, is

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540-483: Is also an industrial city, with factories operated by Nissan Motors and its affiliated subsidiaries employing thousands of local residents. The Nissan Leaf , Nissan Cube , and Nissan Juke models are assembled in the 520,000-square-metre (5,600,000 sq ft) Oppama plant  [ ja ] in Yokosuka. The factory began operations in 1961 where the Nissan Bluebird was originally built. Every May, there

585-696: Is bordered by the mouth of Tokyo Bay to the east and Sagami Bay on the Pacific Ocean on the west. The area around present-day Yokosuka City has been inhabited for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found stone tools and shell middens from the Japanese Paleolithic period and ceramic shards from the Jōmon and Kofun periods at numerous locations in the area. During the Heian period , local warlord Muraoka Tamemichi established Kinugasa Castle in 1063. He became

630-510: Is the location of the climactic battle in the Godzilla film Terror of Mechagodzilla . Yokosuka is a major location in the Arpeggio of Blue Steel franchise, where it serves as one of Japan's few remaining naval facilities, the only one equipped with a functional shipyard and maritime academy. Due to rising sea levels, the port is built above the ruins of the submerged original city's remains. All

675-643: The Local Autonomy Law of 1947. Article 8 of the Local Autonomy Law sets the following conditions for a municipality to be designated as a city: The designation is approved by the prefectural governor and the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications . A city can theoretically be demoted to a town or village when it fails to meet any of these conditions, but such a demotion has not happened to date. The least populous city, Utashinai, Hokkaido , has

720-639: The Muromachi period until their defeat at Arai Castle in a 1518 attack by Hōjō Sōun . Following the defeat of the Later Hōjō clan at the Battle of Odawara , Toyotomi Hideyoshi transferred Tokugawa Ieyasu to take control over the Kantō region , including Yokosuka in 1590. The English sailor William Adams , the first Briton to set foot in Japan, arrived at Uraga aboard the Dutch trading vessel Liefde in 1600. In 1612, he

765-597: The Pacific War , most notably during the attack on Yokosuka on 18 July 1945, but many of its facilities were captured intact by the Allied forces . The Yokosuka area came under occupation by American forces during the occupation of Japan , and most of the facilities of the former Yokosuka Naval District were inherited by the United States 7th Fleet and are now known as United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka . A small portion of

810-579: The United States Seventh Fleet , and played a critical support role in the Korean War and the Vietnam War . Yokosuka was the site of many anti-war protests during the late 1960s and 1970s. The nuclear-powered USS George Washington , formerly based at Yokosuka, was the first U.S. nuclear-powered ship that had been permanently based in Japan. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force also operates

855-628: The Yokosuka Education System , a department of the Yokosuka City Department of Education. Many of Yokosuka's public high schools, including Yokosuka High School , are operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education . The city operates one municipal high school, Yokosuka Sogo High School . On 26 October 2011 Yokosuka held its annual nuclear accident evacuation drill. This drill was first held in 2008 when

900-451: The "city code" ( shisei , 市制) of 1888 during the "Great Meiji mergers" ( Meiji no daigappei , 明治の大合併) of 1889. The -shi replaced the previous urban districts /"wards/cities" (-ku) that had existed as primary subdivisions of prefectures besides rural districts (-gun) since 1878. Initially, there were 39 cities in 1889: only one in most prefectures, two in a few (Yamagata, Toyama, Osaka, Hyōgo, Fukuoka), and none in some – Miyazaki became

945-463: The Bay Square complex by Kenzō Tange , is a venue for opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music, and films. Dobuita Street is situated in Yokosuka, close to the U.S. naval base. Therefore, this High Street has a very American influence, with many shops accepting U.S dollars. In the evening the street turns into the local bar and club district for the area. A museum in memory of rock musician Hide ,

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990-510: The Japanese Navy in 1889, Yokosuka was designated as the “First Naval District” ( 第一海軍区 , dai-ichi kaigunku ) , and its harbor was dredged, a breakwater extended and docking facilities for warships were increased. A Bureau of Mine Warfare was also established. In 1893, schools for naval mechanical engineering, torpedo warfare and naval artillery were established. Schools for naval engineering, and for mine warfare followed in 1907 and

1035-599: The ancestor of the Miura clan , which subsequently dominated eastern Sagami Province for the next several hundred years. The Miura clan supported Minamoto no Yoritomo in the foundation of the Kamakura shogunate , but were later annihilated by Hōjō Tokiyori in 1247. However, the family name was reassigned to a supporter of the Hōjō clan , and the Miura continued to rule Miura Peninsula through

1080-551: The area continues to be used by the modern post-war Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and are now known as JMSDF Yokosuka Naval Base , which has preserved a portion of the original red brick gates. Admiral (after 12 December 1901 Admiral (after 16 October 1912) Admiral (after 2 July 1918) Admiral (after 1 April 1931) Admiral (after 1 March 1933) Admiral (after 30 March 1934) Admiral (after 1 April 1937) Admiral (after 1 April 1939) Commander Commander Yokosuka (city) Yokosuka ( 横須賀市 , Yokosuka-shi )

1125-646: The arsenal was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy , and the area of modern Yokosuka was reorganized into Uraga Town and numerous villages within Miura District , Kanagawa Prefecture . Yokosuka Village was elevated to town status in 1878 and was made the capital of Miura District. In 1889, the Yokosuka Line railway was opened, connecting Yokosuka to Yokohama and Tokyo. Yokosuka was elevated to city status on February 15, 1907. From 1916, Oppama in Yokosuka

1170-478: The city also annexed the neighboring towns and villages of Uraga, Kitashitaura, Okusu, Nagai and Takeyama, as well as Zushi . During World War II , Yokosuka was bombed on April 18, 1942, by American B-25 bombers in the Doolittle Raid with little damage as a retaliation to the attack on Pearl Harbor . Aside from minor sporadic tactical air raids by United States Navy aircraft, it was not bombed again during

1215-424: The climate emergency. These coal-fired power plants are being built without a full environmental review, and local residents are suing the government of Japan over its construction. Environment minister Shinjirō Koizumi has been "a target of the activists' wrath" because of his support for this project. Yokosuka has twin-town relationships with four other cities. They are (in chronological order): Yokosuka has

1260-729: The entrance to Tokyo Bay , the Shogunate established the post of Uraga Bugyō in 1720, and all shipping into the bay was required to stop for inspection. As concerns over the increasing number of incursions by foreign vessels and attempts to end Japan's self-imposed national seclusion policy , the Shogunate established a number of coastal artillery batteries around Yokosuka, including an outpost at Ōtsu in 1842. However, despite these efforts, in 1853, United States naval Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay with his fleet of Black Ships and came ashore at Kurihama, in southern Yokosuka, leading to

1305-512: The first modern arsenal to be created in Japan. The construction of the arsenal was the central point of a global modern infrastructure, that was to prove an important first step for the modernization of Japan's industry. Modern buildings, the Hashirimizu waterway, foundries, brick factories, and technical schools to train Japanese technicians were established. After the Meiji Restoration ,

1350-584: The last prefecture to contain its first city in 1924. In Okinawa -ken and Hokkai-dō which were not yet fully equal prefectures in the Empire, major urban settlements remained organized as urban districts until the 1920s: Naha-ku and Shuri-ku, the two urban districts of Okinawa were only turned into Naha -shi and Shuri-shi in May 1921, and six -ku of Hokkaidō were converted into district-independent cities in August 1922. By 1945,

1395-532: The main cast lived and attended school there before forming the privateer fleet Blue Steel that uses it as their home port. Cities of Japan A city ( 市 , shi ) is a local administrative unit in Japan . Cities are ranked on the same level as towns ( 町 , machi ) and villages ( 村 , mura ) , with the difference that they are not a component of districts ( 郡 , gun ) . Like other contemporary administrative units, they are defined by

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1440-599: The main gate of Yokosuka Naval Base, opened in 1983. It replaced the old Club Alliance which was demolished to make way for the Prince Hotel . The old Club Alliance is where Ryudo Uzaki got his start playing rock and roll . "The Honch", a mecca for shopping and nightlife and located just outside the Yokosuka Naval Base's main gates, is a popular attraction for tourists and sailors stationed nearby, as well as local Japanese residents. The Yokosuka Arts Theatre , part of

1485-497: The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington was employed at the US naval base near this city. About 70 people, residents and firefighters took part in the drill. Firefighters ordered the residents of the city to stay indoors, assuming abnormally high levels of radiation around the US base. Radioactive contamination was controlled in the emergency response center by city officials. The US Navy refused to take part this, because of

1530-603: The opening of diplomatic and trade relations between Japan and the United States. The Kanrin Maru sailed from Yokosuka in 1860 with the first Japanese diplomatic embassy to the United States in 1860. During the turbulent Bakumatsu period , the Shogunate selected Yokosuka as the site for a modern naval base, and hired the French engineer Léonce Verny in 1865 to oversee the development of shipbuilding facilities, beginning with Yokosuka Iron Foundry. Yokosuka Naval Arsenal became

1575-494: The other hand, the municipalities recently gained the city status purely as a result of increase of population without expansion of area are limited to those listed in List of former towns or villages gained city status alone in Japan . The Cabinet of Japan can designate cities of at least 200,000 inhabitants to have the status of core city , or designated city . These statuses expand the scope of administrative authority delegated from

1620-543: The prefectural government to the city government. Tokyo , Japan's capital, existed as a city until 1943, but is now legally classified as a special type of prefecture called a metropolis ( 都 , to ) . The 23 special wards of Tokyo , which constitute the core of the Tokyo metropolitan area, each have an administrative status analogous to that of cities. Tokyo also has several other incorporated cities, towns and villages within its jurisdiction. Cities were introduced under

1665-454: The privately owned Uraga Dock Company . Yokosuka Naval District was the home port of the IJN 1st Fleet . The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 caused severe damage to Yokosuka, including the naval base which lost two years' operations of oil supplies. The city continued to expand in 1933 with the annexation of neighboring Kinugasa Village and Taura Town in 1933 and Kurihama Village in 1937. In 1943,

1710-490: The supposed impossibility of radiation leaking outside the base. In December 2011, another drill was scheduled with Yokosuka and other cities to prepare for the possibility that people on board the ship might be exposed to radiation. One unintended consequence of anti-nuclear sentiment is the construction of coal fired power plants, which causes air pollution and worsens global warming . As of 2020, two coal-fired power plants are proposed to be built in Yokosuka, even despite

1755-425: The war; however, from 1938 to 1945 more than 260 caves in more than 20 separate tunnel/cave networks were built throughout the area, with at least 27 kilometers of known tunnels within the grounds of Yokosuka Naval Base. Many more tunnels are scattered throughout the surrounding areas. During the war, these tunnels and caves provided areas in which work could be done in secrecy, safe from air attacks. A 500-bed hospital,

1800-691: The western zone Saikai chinjufu ( 西海鎮守府 ) based at Nagasaki . However, for ease of communications with naval headquarters in Tokyo , the Tōkai Naval District was relocated to Yokohama in September 1876. With the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Navy in April 1886, Japan was divided into five naval districts for recruiting and supply, and the headquarters for the Tokai Naval District

1845-586: Was developed as the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal , and many of the combat aircraft subsequently operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service were developed or tested at Yokosuka. Yokosuka Naval Arsenal also continued to expand in the early 20th century, and its production included battleships such as Yamashiro , and aircraft carriers such as Hiryū and Shōkaku . Smaller warships were constructed at

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1890-573: Was granted the title of samurai and a fief in Hemi within the boundaries of present-day Yokosuka, due to his services to the Tokugawa shogunate . A monument to Adams (called Miura Anjin in Japanese) is a local landmark in Yokosuka. During the Edo period , Yokosuka tenryō territory was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate , but administered through various hatamoto . Due to its strategic location at

1935-604: Was intended to produce modern, western-style warships and equipment for the Tokugawa navy. After the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration , the new Meiji government took over control of the facility in 1871, renaming it the Yokosuka Zosenjo (Yokosuka Shipyards). In August 1876, the Imperial Japanese Navy was organized into eastern and a western strategic zones, with the eastern zone Tōkai chinjufu ( 東海鎮守府 ) based at Yokosuka, and

1980-475: Was made independent of the naval district. A Naval Aviation School was established in April 1934. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Yokosuka Naval District encompassed the following In May 1945, Michitaro Tozuka became the final commander of the Yokosuka Naval District. Yokosuka was bombed by United States Navy and United States Army Air Forces aircraft in the final stages of

2025-551: Was relocated back to Yokosuka, becoming the Yokosuka Naval District, and the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was placed under its command. As with all naval districts, it was under the direction of the Navy Ministry during peacetime, and came under the command of the fleets stationed within the district in time of war. A Bureau of Torpedo Warfare was established at Yokusuka in June 1885. In a further administrative re-organization of

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