Easy Travel in Japan
Short on time in Yokohama? Here are ten places and experiences first-time visitors and repeat travelers both keep coming back to — a quick list to work from if you’d rather not plan every hour of your trip.
1A pair of early-1900s customs warehouses in Minato Mirai, converted into shops, restaurants, and event space in 2002. Built between 1911 and 1913, the two buildings survived the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and WWII bombing largely intact, unusual for structures this old this close to the water.
2Japan's largest Chinatown, tracing back to Chinese merchants who settled near the newly opened port in 1859, now packing several hundred restaurants and shops into a compact grid of streets. Zenrinmon, the most photographed of its ornate gates, is brightly painted and topped with dragon carvings.
3A harborfront park permanently mooring the Hikawa Maru, a 1930 ocean liner that once carried passengers between Yokohama and Vancouver and Seattle, now a museum ship with 1930s interiors preserved largely as they were. The park itself is one of the most pleasant places in the city for a waterfront walk.
4A 112.5-meter Ferris wheel with an actual clock built into its structure, briefly the tallest Ferris wheel in the world when it opened for the 1989 Yokohama Exposition. A full rotation takes about 15 minutes, and it's especially striking after dark when its rim lights up in changing patterns.
5A museum commemorating Momofuku Ando, the Nissin Foods founder who invented the world's first instant ramen. Its hands-on My CUPNOODLES Factory lets visitors design their own cup, choose soup and topping combinations, and seal and carry home a one-of-a-kind cup of noodles.
6A traditional Japanese landscape garden created by silk trader Tomitaro Hara in the early 1900s, who relocated 17 historic buildings from around Japan onto the grounds, including a three-story pagoda dating to 1457. A genuine break from the waterfront crowds elsewhere in the city.
7A four-masted sail training ship built in 1930, nicknamed the 'Swan of the Pacific,' retired in 1984 and now permanently moored in Minato Mirai. Designated a national Important Cultural Property in 2017, with the deck and quarters open to walk through.
8Yokohama's former foreign residential quarter on the hillside above the harbor, still home to several preserved Western-style houses open to visitors, including Berrick Hall, a 1930 residence built for a British trader. A genuinely different feel from anywhere else in the city.
9A boutique shopping street that grew up as the commuting route between the Yamate foreign quarter and the old business district below, distinct from Chinatown's density just a few minutes away. Good for browsing independent shops and cafes rather than major sightseeing.
10Steamed buns, xiaolongbao soup dumplings, and other street snacks sold from open storefronts alongside full sit-down restaurants throughout Chinatown. Small stalls known for a single dish are often worth seeking out over generic buffet-style places nearby.
A single, well-paced loop through Hakone's volcanic valley, mountain railway, and lake — everything you need to do the classic Hakone Loop in one day from Tokyo.
A well-paced day through Kamakura's temples, a coastal train ride, a beach, and a bamboo grove — everything you need to see the highlights in a single day trip from Tokyo.
Volcanic valleys, a lake crossed by pirate ships, black eggs, and an onsen culture over a thousand years old — a friendly starting point for planning your escape from Tokyo.
