Isezakicho - Isezakicho

A shopping street in Naka-ku, Yokohama. It is affectionately known as "Zaki." It is a bustling shopping street that stretches for about 1.3 kilometers east to west west of JR Negishi Line and Kannai Station on the municipal subway. This street used to be a delta and marshland downstream of the Ooka River, and in the early Edo period it was called Yoshida Shinden, which was reclaimed by an Edo merchant (Yoshida Kanbei). In the early Meiji period, Iseya Bunzo of this area and Sasaki Jihei of Hanazaki-cho worked together to develop the area, and that's how the name of the area came about. After the port was opened at the end of the Edo period, the Kannai area became a foreign settlement, and Isezakicho was opened as a shopping town for the area. It suffered damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II, and was requisitioned by the US military for a long time after the war, but it has been rebuilt and is now home to department stores, restaurants, fashion accessories, and other specialty stores that are at the forefront of fashion. Yoshida Bridge (Japan's first iron bridge) at the east entrance is the remains of a checkpoint that was built to control people entering and leaving the area in response to frequent attacks on foreigners by samurai who advocated expulsion of foreigners at the end of the Edo period. The welcome gate at the entrance was renovated in 1999 (Heisei 11) and given the nickname "Brantore." Another distinctive feature of this townscape is that there are 10 gates, including this one, at intersections along the streets.

[Yukio Asaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

横浜市中区にある商店街。「ザキ」の愛称で親しまれている。JR根岸線、市営地下鉄関内(かんない)駅の西に東西約1.3キロメートルにわたって続く繁華街。かつてこの通り一帯は大岡川下流の三角州、沼沢地で、江戸前期に江戸の商人（吉田勘兵衛(かんべえ)）によって干拓された吉田新田であったが、明治初期にここの伊勢屋文蔵(いせやぶんぞう)と花咲(はなざき)町の佐々木次平が協力して開発にあたったのが町名のおこり。幕末の開港後、関内地区が外人居留地とされていたが、その買い物町として伊勢佐木町が開かれた。関東大震災や第二次世界大戦の戦災を受け、戦後は長くアメリカ軍に接収されていたが、復興し、現在、デパートやレストラン、服飾雑貨など流行の先端を知らせる専門店が集まっている。東入口の吉田橋（日本最初の鉄橋）は幕末に攘夷(じょうい)を唱える武士による外国人襲撃事件が頻発し、その対策として出入者取締りのために設けられた関門の跡である。入口のウェルカムゲートは1999年（平成11）にリニューアルされ、愛称を「ブラントーレ」とした。このゲートをはじめ、街路の交差点にあわせて10基のゲートがあるのもここの町並みの特色。

［浅香幸雄］

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