Ceremony held to mark 150th anniversary of opening of Yokohama port+

YOKOHAMA, May 31 Kyodo -
A ceremony was held Sunday in Yokohama to celebrate the 150th anniversary of
the opening of the city's port, with Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko and Prime
Minister Taro Aso participating along with other guests.

Delivering a speech at the ceremony at the Pacifico Yokohama convention complex
near the port, the emperor hailed the role of Yokohama port and said, ''I hope
(the port) will play a bigger role to promote exchanges between our nation and
each country.''
Representing organizers of the event, Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada said,
''We'd like to make this 150th anniversary the new start of Yokohama toward an
age full of dreams and hopes.''
The ambassadors of Britain, France, the Netherlands, the United States and
Russia, countries that Japan signed commerce treaties with ahead of the opening
of Yokohama port, west of Tokyo, were invited to the ceremony, along with the
mayors of four cities -- Hakodate, Nagasaki, Niigata and Kobe -- whose ports
were also opened to the outside world.
After the ceremony, a show by director Amon Miyamoto about the history and
future of Yokohama was due to be performed at the convention complex with about
500 Yokohama citizens participating.
==Kyodo