15 Facts About Yokosuka

Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kanto region.

Yokosuka occupies most of Miura Peninsula, and is bordered by the mouth of Tokyo Bay to the east and Sagami Bay on the Pacific Ocean on the west.

Yokosuka became the ancestor of the Miura clan, which subsequently dominated eastern Sagami Province for the next several hundred years.

However, despite these efforts, in 1853, United States naval Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay with his fleet of Black Ships and came ashore at Kurihama, in southern Yokosuka, leading to the opening of diplomatic and trade relations between Japan and the United States.

Yokosuka Village was elevated to town status in 1878 and was made the capital of Miura District.

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Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 caused severe damage to Yokosuka, including the naval base which lost two years' operations of oil supplies.

Yokosuka was the site of many anti-war protests during the late 1960s and 1970s.

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, formerly based at Yokosuka, was the first U S nuclear-powered ship that had been permanently based in Japan.

In 2001, Yokosuka was designated as a core city, with increased autonomy from the central government.

Yokosuka Research Park, established in 1997, is a major center for the Japanese telecommunications industry, and is where many of the wireless, mobile communications related companies have set up their research and development centers and joint testing facilities.

Foreign citizens in Yokosuka are mainly Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese, and Americans.

Yokosuka Arts Theatre, part of the Bay Square complex by Kenzo Tange, is a venue for opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music, and films.

Yokosuka, including Dobuita Street, is the setting for the 1999 video game Shenmue.

Additionally, Yokosuka is the location of the climactic battle in the Godzilla film Terror of Mechagodzilla.

Yokosuka is a major location in the Arpeggio of Blue Steel franchise, where it serves as one of Japan's few remaining naval facilities, the only one equipped with a functional shipyard and maritime academy.