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Almost all Japanese associate Uraga with the arrival of American Navy Commodore Matthew Perry. In 1853, Perry's fulfillment of his mission to deliver President Fillmore's personal letter to the Shogunate ended more than 200 years of self-imposed isolation and signaled the beginning of trade between Japan and the rest of the world. While Perry's four warships were anchored off Uraga, one of the Shogunate officials who boarded them was Saburosuke Nakajima. Born in Uraga, he had been thoroughly trained in shipbuilding by his father and was keenly interested in any and all new developments in that field. His detailed observation of the ships' interior allowed him to gain an understanding of how they were built. After Perry returned to America, the Shogunate ordered Nakajima to build a Western-style warships. Nakajima immediately set up Japan's first real shipbuilding works and set to work. "The three-masted barque, called the Ho-o Maru, was completed in just six months and is testament to the extent of the knowledge and expertise in shipbuilding Nakajima had acquired by then—something I think quite worthy of recognition," explains local historian Shoichi Yamamoto with pride. Nakajima also played a leading role in the extensive repair of the Dutch-built Kanrin Maru, which was carried out at a dry dock he built at Uraga. The Kanrin Maru is of historical significance as the ship that carried Shogunal officials across the Pacific for the ratification of the United States-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1860.
In 1869, Nakajima sacrificed his life fighting for the crumbling Shogunate; but in 1897 a comrade, then Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Takeaki Enomoto, fulfilled a wish he had had by founding the Uraga Senkyo Kabushiki Kaisha ("Uraga Dock Co., Ltd."). The predecessor of today's Sumitomo Heavy Industries' Uraga Shipyard, it produced numerous vessels during its long and colorful history. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the works, a Shipbuilding Festival was held in June of 1997. |
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| Yokosuka, known for the American Navy base there, is a pleasant, comfortable city with an international atmosphere. |
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| A new yacht marina on Uraga Harbor. This facility is operated by Sumitomo Heavy Industries and other Sumitomo Group companies. |
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| Ferries are an important means of trans-port even today in Uraga, which is split into east and west by Uraga Harbor. |
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