East Asian Libraries and Archives | Main / The Yokohama Archives Of History

General Information

Japanese Name: 横浜開港資料館
Address: Nihon Oo-dôri Naka-ku Yokohama-shi 231-0021
Japanese Address: 231-0021 横浜市中区日本大通３
Phone Number: 045 (201) 2100
Fax Number: 045 (201) 2102
Email Address:
Online: http://www.kaikou.city.yokohama.jp
Database Search: Only available in B1 Reading Room
Entry Fee: 200 Yen, 100 Yen for Reading Room only access.
Opening Times: Tue-Sun, 9-5. Reading materials can be requested 9-4:30.
Closed: Closed Mondays, national holidays and the end of the year. Calendar.
Information Last Confirmed: April 3, 2004

Directions

From Shibuya take the Minato Mirai line (the old Toyoko line that used to go to Sakuragi-cho) bound for Motomachi-Chûkagai to Nihon Oo-dôri station (the second to last stop). Take exit number 3. The Broadcasting Library and Newspaper libraries are in the same building as the exit. Cross the street you are facing as you emerge, and continue straight, the museum is on your right.

http://www.kaikou.city.yokohama.jp/access/map.html - Access Map

Usage

If you are only using the reading room and the contents of the archives, just pay 100 yen at the entrance and head downstairs to the reading room. Put your belongings, except for writing materials and laptops (no adapters alowed, you need to use your battery power), into the lockers. There is a computer to search the holdings on your left as you enter. Fill out and submit the white sheet to request materials from the closed stacks and the pink sheet for photocopies. You may have to ask for the latter but the former is on the desk as you come in. You do the photocopying yourself, but both material requests and copying is only permitted up until 16:30.

Facilities

The first and second floors have static exhibitions on Yokohama's history and the opening of Japan to the West. The second floor also has special exhibits and some seats overlooking the Scandia Restaurant and a famous tree in the central courtyard of the archives. The basement floor is the reading room with some open stacks They have a limited description of the founding and setup of the facilities:

Pictures and Description of Facilities

Card Catalogs: B1 reading room has card catalogs separated by category of materials.
Computers: B1 reading room has a single computer with an Access Database of the available materials.
Reading Room: A dozen or so seats in the reading room for viewing materials.
Photocopy Machines: A single machine by the reception. Fill out the pink colored slip with the page numbers of what you want to photocopy (from up to 10 works per time, but they are flexible when no one is waiting).
Photocopy Prices: 20 Yen per copy.
Bathrooms: The only bathrooms are on the first floor opposite the main entrance of the museum.
Vending Machines:
Nearby Food: Somewhat pricey Scandinavian food across the street. Chinatown is only a 10 minute walk away.

Collections of Note

The archives have a lot of English language newspapers in Japan from early Meiji onwards. They also house the Don Brown collection of books. They have a description online of the materials they house:

Materials in the Collection

Other Notes, Comments and Experiences

I don't think their computer database has all of their holdings, or least it doesn't handle searches with multiple words well. It is very nice that you don't need to fill anything out to use their reading room and access their open stacks materials. Their open stacks are mostly newspapers from the Meiji and Taisho period. Some of the English newspapers available on the shelf includes The Japan Weekly Mail (1870-1917), The Eastern World (1899-1908), The Japan Gazette (1874-1923), The Japan Daily Herald, The Kobe Chronicle (1897-1901), and Japan Weekly Chronicle (1902-1926), among others. K. M. Lawson (Last Visited: April 3rd, 2004).

Japan Index

The Yokohama Archives Of History