What color do you associate with your town? I believe this question can be rather perplexing.

But in Yokohama, this is an easy one to answer, with a vast majority of its citizens thinking alike.

In a municipal survey taken about 30 years ago, “blue” was selected as the city’s signature color by 80 percent of the respondents.

The number may be even higher today.

Blue is the color of Yokohama’s soccer J.League and pro baseball teams. So is the “Open Yokohama” logo mark created by the city in 2009 to represent its future.

In 1968, Yokohama’s association with the color blue became indelible with the release of a pop........

© The Asahi Shimbun