The large navy base in Yokosuka is located on a small peninsula where people lived for a long time before it was built-up to become the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN) "Yokosuka Naval Arsenal", starting in the mid-19th century.
Residents on the small peninsula dwelt in three neighborhoods: Tomari-Cho, Kusugaura-Cho, and Inaoka-Cho. As IJN began facilities construction and making landfills, etc., the people in those neighborhoods were forced to relocate.
Currently, the addresses for the three neighborhoods still exist and are located inside the areas controlled by Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY).
Here is a brief description of how IJN acquired and used properties in Yokosuka, prior to and during World War II (WW2)...
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In Yokosuka before and during WW2, there were virtually no instances, except for a few special cases, of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) directly "expropriating" (forcibly and temporarily occupying) the homes and land of civilians. However, IJN's influence on civilians was more widespread in the form of "eviction through purchase" rather than expropriation, and a "designated inn system" where houses were rented out. The historical relationship between "civilian homes and land" and the "Navy" in Yokosuka will be explained in the following three points.
1. Land acquisition by IJN before & during WW2 -- (purchase and eviction)
In the late-19th/early-20th centuries, when IJN expanded its naval ports, arsenals, defensive gun batteries, and air bases (such as Oppama and Taura), it did not unilaterally seize (confiscate) the homes and land of civilians, but instead basically followed the procedure of "purchase by the state."
However, in the final stages of WW2, when the fighting intensified, there were cases in which surrounding residents were ordered to vacate their homes in a semi-forced manner (land and houses were purchased by the state) in order to construct air raid shelters and underground factories in preparation for the decisive battle on the mainland.
Of note, in the case of nearby Ikego in Zushi City, IJN bought up the land before WW2, forced civilian residents to vacate, and managed it as military land (i.e., as an ammunition depot).
2. De facto rental of "Navy-designated inns"
During WW2, a huge number of IJN personnel gathered in Yokosuka from all over the country. As IJN's own facilities could no longer accommodate them all, it designated private inns in the city as "Yokosuka Navy Non-Commissioned Officers and Sailors' Meeting Place & Designated Inns."
Almost all inns in the city, such as Ikkoku-ya, Yokosuka-ya, and Mikasa-kan, were assigned and effectively placed under IJN control as accommodations for IJN personnel departing for war and their families who came to see them off.
3. Large-scale "reclamation" was carried out by the post-war U.S. military (occupying forces).
Much of the public memory and record of "civilians' homes being requisitioned" is not from IJN, but from the American military (occupying forces) that occupied Japan after the end of the war.
After the end of the war in August 1945, the Allied forces (GHQ) took control over not only former Japanese military facilities, but also civilian homes and upscale Western-style houses -- and used them as accommodations and facilities for U.S. military officers.
In Yokosuka and the neighboring city of Yokohama, many civilian homes were requisitioned and later converted into U.S. military facilities (U.S. military family housing, etc.).
This strong post-war impression is sometimes confused with the image of "being taken by IJN during WW2."
