Chapter 102

The last time Yuta visited Yokohama, it was merely a little fishing village well off the main Tokaido Highway. Kanagawa was the original location considered for a foreign-entry port, but it was deemed too close to the highway, affording foreigners access to the main road system and all of Japan. Keeping the foreigners contained aligned with the Meiji regime's plans to position Japan as an equal on the world stage.

Yokohama was relatively convenient to Tokyo. New and rebuilt roads led to the city, but the big development, designed not merely for convenience but to show off Japan's ability to grasp and use new technology, was a railroad.

The station was an enormous Western building where before there had been nothing. Yuta saw rows on rows of warehouses and a big dock that stretched out into the harbor for loading and unloading.