BOTH JAPANESE AND FOREIGNERS ENJOY YOKOHAMA-EI PRINTS. THEY ARE NOT A HIGH ART FORM AS COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL UKIYO-EI, BUT THEY DO PROVIDE AN INTERESTING LOOK INTO THE CLASH AND FUSION OF CULTURES, WHEN FOREIGNERS FIRST BEGAN TO ARRIVE IN JAPAN IN RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBERS. FOR OVER 250 YEARS AND BEYOND THE MEMORY OF EVERYONE, THE AVERAGE CITIZEN IN JAPAN HAD NO CONTACT WITH ANYONE FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY. THEY WERE CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT LANDS AND EXOTIC PLACES BEYOND THE SEAS. WHAT KIND OF WORLD EXISTED BEYOND JAPAN. THE CURIOSITY OF FOREIGNERS FOR JAPAN AND THINGS JAPANESE WAS EQUAL. KOBE IS A MULTICULTURAL CITY, AND ITS CITIZENS INTERACT WITH FOREIGNERS AND THE WORLD OUTSIDE JAPAN IN AN EVERYDAY MANNER. SOME TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SAY, WITH A SMILE, ABOUT “KOBE-ITES” THAT THEY ARE “KAWATERU” (DIFFERENT). PEOPLE IN KOBE ARE PROUD OF THEIR UNIQUENESS. IT IS INTERESTING TO SEE HOW IT ALL STARTED AND THESE PRINTS PROVIDE THE HISTORICAL RECORD, BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHS, OF THE ORIGINS OF AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY IN JAPAN.