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Yokohama's rapid growth in the late nineteenth century was underpinned by a flourishing export trade in raw silk. You can check out the practical aspects of silk production, from mulberry leaves to gorgeously coloured kimono, at the Silk Museum , at the north end of Yamashita-koen (Tues-Sun 9am-4.30pm; Y500). Continuing north across a leafy square, you'll come to a modern, windowless building which houses the Yokohama Archives of History (Tues-Sun 9.30am-5pm; Y200). This is the best of the city's historical museums, thanks to an unusual amount of English translation. The museum itself details the opening of Yokohama (and Japan), after 1853, through an impressive collection of photos, artefacts and documents, including contemporary newspaper reports from London. You're now in the thick of Yokohama's administrative district, where several European-style facades still survive. Kanagawa government offices occupy the next block north, while the biscuit-coloured Customs House , opposite, is a more attractive structure, topped by a distinguished, copper-clad dome. Or follow the road heading inland, Minato Odori, to find the graceful Port Opening Memorial Hall ; erected in 1918, this red-brick Neo-Renaissance building now serves as public function rooms. In front of the hall, turn north again, onto Honcho-dori, to reach the last and most ornate of Yokohama's Western-style facades. The building was completed in 1904 as the headquarters of a Yokohama bank, and then later converted into the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum (Tues-Sun 9.30am-5pm; Y300). Unfortunately, the exhibition itself is a missable affair, dealing primarily with local archeology and natural history. The museum sits near the junction of Honcho-dori and Bashamichi . This tree-lined shopping street, once the showcase of Yokohama and much vaunted in the tourist literature for its old-fashioned street lamps and red-brick paving, is somewhat disappointing. Bashamichi heads west across the train tracks near Kannai Station and then continues as a pedestrianized shopping mall called Isezakicho . For now, though, follow Honcho-dori north over a bridge for 500m to Sakuragicho Station .
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