The isolation of Japan ended with the arrival of the Black Ships in 1853. The next year, the Japan-America Friendship Pact was signed and the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate were opened to foreigners. In 1858, the Japan-America Mutual Trade Pact was signed and the ports of Kanagawa, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hyogo opened to foreigners. Up to that time, the Port of Hyogo had been prospering from domestic trade, and the Tokugawa government, worried that trouble might occur between the Japanese and foreigners if the port were opened to foreigners, had decided to use the naval dockyard in Kobe and restrict foreigners to a small village. But with the Pact, a residential area for foreigners was built near the port, where law and order was enforced by the foreigners. The English engineer Hart designed Kobe's paved streets, parks, and sewage system. Soon the village became one of the most modern cities in Japan--with its stone and brick buildings used as consulates, trading houses, and residences. As the trade volume increased, the number of trading houses and residences increased. The residential area gradually began to creep up the slopes of the mountains. This area is the present Kitano area with its exotic atmosphere.
