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The city of Yokohama is situated in Lat. 35° 26′ N. and Long. 139° 39′ East from Greenwich. It lies on the west side of the bay of Yedo; about 37 miles from Cape King, the nearest point on the Pacific, and about twenty miles from Yedo, which is at the head of the bay. The bay at Yokohama is about twelve miles wide. The city is, for the most part, built upon a plain, about from two to 10 feet above high water mark, at the mouth of a valley opening on the bay. The valley is about a mile wide, and extends back in a westerly direction some three miles, gradually narrowing to a quarter of a mile. It is bounded on each side by a low range of hills about 120 feet high. It is cultivated in paddy fields, is consequently wet and marshy; and is exposed to the sweep of N.E. and Easterly winds from across the bay, and to S.W. and Westerly winds through the valley.

The climate of the Japan Islands generally is much influenced by their position, being on the edge of, and even within, the great ocean current called Kuro-shiwo, which flows from the equatorial regions in a northerly and easterly direction.