Yokohama is a historic seaport of the Kanto region of Japan, historically serving as a port city for receiving foreign visitors and dignitaries. While today the city’s fame pales in comparison to its neighbor, Tokyo, Yokohama was many visitors’ first glimpse of Japan.
The Sallie Sharpe Collection at the American Heritage Center contains the travel journal of Ms. Sharpe’s visit to Japan in 1900. She landed in the city of Yokohama in late April, staying at the famed Grand Hotel Yokohama under a welcoming canopy of cherry blossoms. In her brief time there, she captured two pictures of the port city, photographing the harbor and the bund immediately in front of the Grand Hotel.
Renowned as the Grand Hotel and its city were, the harbor meets a humble, rocky beach, filled with diligent workers on small, wooden boats scattered on the water. The photograph of the bund, although damaged along the right side, shows a line of workers pulling goods with carts along a paved road underneath power lines.
My visit to Yokohama occurred on May 5th, 2025, 125 years following Ms. Sharpe’s visit to the city. Although I was dedicated to recreating Ms. Sharpe’s photos exactly, the one-and-a-quarter centuries between our visits saw the area’s total redevelopment. Ms. Sharpe’s Grand Hotel was demolished in the Great Kanto Earthquake 23 years after her visit, being rebuilt as the Hotel New Grand in 1927.
Although completely redeveloped, I decided to travel to the equivalent areas of those pictured and take photos of the city in their modern state, 125 years later.
The harbor, as pictured, is no longer a rocky shore, but is covered with extensive metal and concrete docks built out to accommodate colossal ships. An industrial city as ever, smokestacks and factories are still visible across the harbor as they once were at the turn of the 20th century.
In place of the Yokohama bund is Yamashita Park, built on the waterfront and bustling with visitors. Although intending to capture the waterfront and the bund’s modern likeness, the background of the photo is filled with towering hotels and a Ferris wheel.
Despite its development and being overshadowed by cities like Tokyo, the Yokohama Harbor visited by Ms. Sharpe bears a likeness to the one of today. With hotels to accommodate countless travelers and public parks bustling with diverse crowds of visitors, the harbor retains the welcoming spirit that it has met Ms. Sharpe and countless other visitors with for centuries.
Visit the American Heritage Center to see Sallie Sharpe’s journal for a view of turn-of-the-century Asia through the eyes of an American traveler!
Post contributed by Reference Department Archives Aide Briar Telkamp.
