Bashamichi

Bashamichi is the name of an area and a road in Naka-ku, Yokohama. The name "Bashamichi" comes from the fact that people at that time, who saw foreigners living in the foreign settlement area established after the opening of the port, riding in horse-drawn carriages along this road, called them "alien horse-drawn carriages" out of curiosity. Bashamichi was at the forefront of civilization and the birthplace of gas lamps, roadside trees, ice cream, etc. Even today, the red-brick sidewalks and real gas lamps remind us of those days. In the neighborhood, there are many modern Western-style buildings built in the late Taisho and early Showa periods, including the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of History, a National Important Cultural Property, the Yokohama Second Government Building and the lower part of Yokohama Island Tower, both of which are recognized as historical buildings by the city.