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Yokohama (Yokohama-shi) is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, located in the Kanto region of the main island of Honshu and is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area. Yokohama's population of 3.6 million makes it Japan's largest incorporated city and second most populous urban area after Tokyo (during nighttime - Yokohama ranks 3rd in daytime population, after Osaka). Yokohama developed rapidly as Japan's prominent port city following the end of Japan's isolation in the late 19th century, and is today one of its major ports along with Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Hakata, Tokyo, and Chiba. Yokohama is also one of the very few cities in Japan with a diverse multicultural population, although there has been an influx in immigration into Japan as a whole in recent years. As a result it has become a multicultural city with multicultural attractions including multicultural festivals and events.

Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period, a time when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with Western foreigners. A major turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853 and again in 1854, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce. The Tokugawa shogunate agreed in 1854 by signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity. It was initially agreed that one of the ports to be opened to foreign ships would be the bustling town of (in what is now Kanagawa Ward) on the kaid, a strategic highway which linked Edo to Kyoto and Osaka. However, the Tokugawa shogunate decided that the location of Kanagawa-juku was too close to the for comfort, and port facilities were built across the inlet in the sleepy fishing village of Yokohama instead. The Port of Yokohama was opened on 2 June, 1859.

The places of interest are mainly around the historic port area of Kannai. Next to the waterfront Yamashita Park is Yokohama Marine Tower, the tallest lighthouse in the world.[citation needed] Further inland lies Yokohama Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in Japan and one of the largest in the world. Also in the vicinity is the Yokohama Stadium, the Silk Center, the Yokohama Doll Museum. There is also a large immigration office, near Yamashita Park. Nearby Isezakicho and Noge areas offer many colourful shops and bars and, with their restaurants and stores catering to residents from China, Thailand, South Korea, and other countries, have an increasingly international flavour.

The Yokohama Municipal Assembly consists of 92 members elected from 18 Wards. The LDP has minority control with 30 seats with Democratic Party of Japan with a close 29. The mayor is Hiroshi Nakada.