Historic Yokohama Walking Tour

With Glenn Scoggins, Local Historian

YCAPS Historic Yokohama Walking Tour

With Glenn Scoggins, Local Historian
Sunday, November 9th, 2025, 14:00 to 16:00 JST

Glenn Scoggins will lead a group of YCAPS members on a walking tour around central Yokohama. While many will already have visited locations in the city, this tour will provide historical context of their significance in the 19th and 20th centuries. The area is compact and flat, and it will be possible to see a variety of locations. The tour will be followed by an optional visit to a craft beer restaurant.

The itinerary for the day is:

14:00: Meet at JR Kannai Station, South Exit (closest to Yokohama Stadium)

Walk around sites of historical interest in central Yokohama, focusing on these historical milestones:

• Yokohama’s origins from the Treaty of Kanagawa (1854)
• Its opening as an international harbor for silk exports (1859)
• Its role as an extraterritorial treaty port in the Meiji period (1859-1899)
• Its growth and cultural diversity in the Taishō and Shōwa periods;
• Its double destruction in the Great Kantō Earthquake (1923) and wartime bombing (1945) and subsequent reconstruction.

Approximately 16:00: Tour will formally end at at a point equidistant from JR Kannai Station (North Exit), JR Sakuragi-chō Station (South Exit), or Bashamichi Station (Minato-Mirai/Tōyoko Line). Each is about a five-minute walk. Participants can leave at any time.

However, participants are welcome to remain after 16:00 to enjoy craft beer and barbecue at Bashamichi Baird Taproom, a restaurant founded by Bryan Baird, an American brewer based in the Izu peninsula.

There will be ample opportunity for toilet breaks and to purchase drinks at vending machines. However, the route will take us through some narrow and crowded streets, as well as uneven surfaces and grass. Therefore, it is not suitable for those in wheelchairs or with other ambulatory limitations, nor for small children or strollers.

All participants take part in this event at their own risk. YCAPS, Coordinator Richard Walton, and Host Glenn Scoggins bear no liability or responsibility for any accidents and/or damages that might occur during the walk.

RSVP required: Please confirm your spot via Glenn Scoggins at scoggins@ycaps.org. Spaces will be limited to 25 participants, so please RSVP early.

Cost: There is no charge for participating in the walk itself. However, there is an admission fee of Y500 for Yokohama Kaikō Shiryōkan (Archives of History), a small museum in the former British Consulate.

*Participants will pay for their own drinks and food at Bashamichi Baird Taproom, with each individual paying separately.