The Newly Opened Port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawa Yokohama shinkaikōzu)

This triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e) by Utagawa Sadahide, dated to the second month of 1860 and held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession number 2007.49.107), is one of the earliest and most important visual records of Yokohama as a newly opened treaty port. Its full title, 'The Newly Opened Port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture' (Kanagawa Yokohama shinkaikōzu), reflects the documentary ambition of the composition: Sadahide presents a sweeping view of the harbor and foreign settlement just months after Yokohama was opened to foreign trade and residence in July 1859 under the terms of the Harris Treaty. The three sheets, joined to form an image roughly 36.8 by 73.7 cm, show the bay populated with Western ships (a steamer, sailing vessels, and harbor craft) alongside the rapidly built quays, warehouses, and foreign trading houses of the new settlement. The print belongs to the inaugural moment of the Yokohama-e genre, when Edo print designers and publishers rushed to satisfy the popular demand for images of the unprecedented spectacle on the bay. Sadahide, working under his Gountei studio name, would over the next several years become the genre's most prolific and accomplished practitioner. The composition combines a traditional ukiyo-e bird's-eye perspective with the documentary specificity required by the new subject matter, recording flags, ship rigging, and architectural details with the close attention that characterizes his Yokohama work. The print is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's major holding of Yokohama-e and is a foundational example of the genre.