View of Miyozaki in Yokohama (Miyozaki Yokohama ichiran)

Created in 1860, this diptych captures the newly opened port of Yokohama during a transformative moment in Japanese history. Just six years after Commodore Perry's arrival forced Japan to end its centuries of isolation, Yokohama became the primary gateway for foreign trade and Western influence. Utagawa Yoshimori was thirty years old when he created this work, and he specialized in documenting the fascinating collision of cultures occurring in Yokohama's Miyozaki district. The artist produced multiple views of this area, including works showing foreigners in Miyozaki-chō and various encounters between Japanese residents and Western visitors. As a woodblock print artist working in the ukiyo-e tradition, Yoshimori belonged to the prolific Utagawa school, which dominated Japanese printmaking in the 19th century. His work during this period focused extensively on Yokohama subjects, capturing everything from foreign ships and exotic animals to Western architecture and the fashions of European and American traders. The oban diptych format—two large sheets meant to be displayed side by side—allowed Yoshimori to create an expansive panoramic view of this bustling international settlement. This print belongs to the genre known as Yokohama-e, images specifically documenting the unprecedented cultural exchange occurring in Japan's treaty ports during the Bakumatsu period.