Memorial Hall:

The main Archives building was the former British Consulate General built in 1931. The waiting room of the Consulate is now called Memorial Hall. Displayed items include a miniature of Yokohama as of 1865, a track chart of Commodore Perry's Japan expedition, a plaque with the names of British naval officers and sailors killed in the Anglo-Satsuma War, and a plaque with the names of the Consulate staff who lost their lives in the Great Kanto Earthquake and Fire of 1923.

Exhibition Room 1:

Opening the Port of Yokohama
Japan opened its doors to the world late in the 1850's, ending a national isolation policy enforced by the Shogunate regime for more than 200 years. This historic policy reversal was triggered by the arrival of a U.S. naval squadron under Commodore Matthew C. Perry. Displayed items include the Report of the Perry Expedition, kawaraban (newssheet) copies that show the people's surprise and deep interest in the Black Ships, nishikie of Yokohama right after the port opening, old maps and photographs.

Exhibition Room 2:

Flourishing Yokohama: Its Early Days of Modernization
The floors of this room incorporate the surveyed Yokohama map printed in 1881. Yokohama "firsts," things first introduced to Japan at Yokohama, are displayed at the original locations on the enlarged floor map. Yokohama became an international port and was a place of cultural interaction and a gateway to Western culture.

Special Exhibition Room:

Special exhibitions held four times a year focus on outstanding people and events in Yokohama's history from the late Tokugawa period. These exhibitions on special themes illustrated by both borrowed and Archives materials bring history to life for visitors.