Ōsanbashi Pier

Yokohama International Passenger Terminal
Ōsanbashi, International Passenger Terminal, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
General information
Location	Yokohama, Japan
Opening	2002
Technical details
Floor area	34,732 m2 (373,850 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Foreign Office Architects
Main contractor	Shimizu Corporation, Toa Construction Corporation

Ōsanbashi Pier (大さん橋, ōsanbashi^?, pronounced [oːsambaɕi]) is the main international passenger pier at the Port of Yokohama, located in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan. Ōsanbashi is the oldest pier in Yokohama, originally constructed between 1889 and 1896.

Major cruise ships such as the Queen Elizabeth 2 were at one time embarked here, although 90,000 GWT ships such as MS Queen Elizabeth are often obliged to use nearby container terminals owing to their enormous size. The pier is also known as one of the best places to see the Yokohama Three Towers (The King, Queen and the Jack)

The Port of Yokohama was opened in 1859 as a direct result of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, and the Ansei Treaties signed between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the governments of the United States, Great Britain, France, The Netherlands and Russia. Yokohama grew rapidly as a treaty port and commercial center due to its proximity to Tokyo, natural deep water harbour and protection from strong winds by the Honmoku bluff.

Initially the port only offered two small stone wharfs for visiting ships, built on the current site of the modern Ōsanbashi Pier. The two wharfs, known as the French and English Hatoba, were too shallow for the ocean going ships to dock, and so barges were used to carry passengers and freight to and from the ships in the outer harbour. In 1894, the Japanese government provided funding for an extended steel pier to replace the English Hatoba. Designed by British engineer, Henry Spencer Palmer, the new pier was able to accommodate up to four ships simultaneously.