Lesson Seven

Yokohama Boomtown Curriculum, Lesson 03

Yokohama, Crossroads of Culture:
A Look at Cultural Transmission

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Focus Question:
Yokohama provided a geographic crossroads of culture. Within this treaty-port city, Japanese, Americans, British, French, Dutch, Russians, and Prussians (Germans) learned about each other by working together, buying and selling goods, and just observing. What aspects of cultural transmission were captured and conveyed by the Japanese woodblock prints of the time and how was cultural transmission important in the developing relationship between Japan and Western nations?

Woodblocks that may be assigned to groups:
The following woodblock prints from the Image Gallery may be provided to student groups to facilitate their analysis of cultural transmission for Handout 03-A. Images may be accessed by entering the Image Gallery and searching for image numbers.

Technology and transportation
     Y0064 Picture of Western Traders at Yokohama Transporting Merchandise
     Y0072 New Invention: Picture of the Interior of a German Battleship
     Y0156 Picture of Great Military Exercises
     Y0181 Picture of the Steam Train
     Y0182 Picture of a Steam Locomotive

Industry and commerce
     Y0064 Picture of Western Traders at Yokohama Transporting Merchandise
     Y0086 Picture of a Salesroom in a Foreign Mercantile Firm
     Y0090 Picture of the Prosperity of Mercantile Establishments
     Y0141 Picture of a Mercantile Establishment in Yokohama
     Y0181 Picture of the Steam Train
     Y0182 Picture of a Steam Locomotive

Dress
     Y0094 Picture of a Parade of Foreigners
     Y0112 An Illustrated English Vocabulary for Children
     Y0132 Picture of a Sunday in Yokohama
     Y0136 Foreigners Sightseeing at the Famous Sites of Edo
     Y0141 Picture of a Mercantile Establishment in Yokohama

Manners and customs
     Y0094 Picture of a Parade of Foreigners
     Y0099 Picture of a Foreign Residence in Yokohama
     Y0132 Picture of a Sunday in Yokohama
     Y0135 Foreigners Visiting the Famous Sites of Mount Gongen in Kanagawa
     Y0139 Picture of People of the Five Nations: A Sunday
     Y0141 Picture of a Mercantile Establishment in Yokohama
     Y0145 American Drinking and Carousing

Everyday goods, materials, and food
     Y0099 Picture of a Foreign Residence in Yokohama
     Y0112 An Illustrated English Vocabulary for Children
     Y0135 Foreigners Visiting the Famous Sites of Mount Gongen in Kanagawa
     Y0139 Picture of People of the Five Nations: A Sunday
     Y0141 Picture of a mercantile establishment in Yokohama


Entertainment, arts, and leisure activity
     Y0132 Picture of a Sunday in Yokohama
     Y0135 Foreigners Visiting the Famous Sites of Mount Gongen in Kanagawa
     Y0136 Foreigners Sightseeing at the Famous Sites of Edo
     Y0139 Picture of People of the Five Nations: A Sunday
     Y0145 American Drinking and Carousing
     Y0149 Picture of Foreigners of the Five Nations Carousing

Lesson developed by Lynn Parisi.

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