YOKOHAMA -- May 16th, 2007 -- Yokohama has entered a bid to host the 61st International Whaling Commission (IWC) Annual Meeting 2009. Hiroshi Nakada, the mayor of Yokohama, will attend the 59th IWC Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. for two days on May 30 and 31 to promote Yokohama.

　Mayor Nakada will stress the significance of Yokohama as a venue. Most importantly, he will emphasize that Yokohama Port will have its 150th anniversary in 2009 and whaling was the trigger for the opening of the port * . Another candidate for the 61st meeting is Madeira, Portugal. The venue will be determined on the last day of the Alaska meeting, May 31.

　Past venues in Japan are Tokyo, Kyoto and Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi Prefecture). Yokohama has not yet hosted an IWC Annual Meeting.

*　“Whaling and Yokohama Port”
　Prior to opening Yokohama Port in 1859, American Commodore Matthew Calbaraith Perry docked at Yokohama Port to obtain food, water and fuel for whaling ships in 1854.