Yokohama

Yokohama is located only a few minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen to the south-west (along the coast). It is a new city with a vibrancy typical of the country.

Things to See

Lots to see here…

Yokohama Landmark Tower (Minato Mirai)

Great views of the city are to be had from the top of the highest tower in Japan – the Yokohama Landmark Tower (and the fastest elevator in Japan). On a clear day, they say, you can see Mount Fuji (ah-huh).

CosmoWorld (Minato Mirai)

CosmoWorld is a small amusement park offering a few interesting rides located in Minato Mirai around a small harbour area. Walking around is interesting enough but if you want to go on the rides tickets are available for each ride (the bigger rides have ticket machines right in the line waiting to get onto the ride itself). I would recommend the ferris wheel as I did not really get on with the roller coaster (it starts out alright but then ends with a series of 4-5 spirals that just made me feel dizzy).

Raumen Museum (Shin Yokohama)

A bit of a quirky site to visit in Yokohama is the Raumen Museum which is found just a short walk from the Shin-Yokohama train station (it is not signposted so getting ahold of information about the location from a map/website/brochure beforehand is a good idea since it is not that obvious…).

The interior of the museum (located below ground) is a re-creation of an early 20th century Japanese town. Around this “town” are found several shops selling ramen. Each shop sells the signature dish of a famous ramen shop found elsewhere in Japan. Absolutely delicious.

There is an entry fee for the museum but to purchase ramen from any of the shops you need to purchase a ticket from the machine located outside of each. There are two sizes of ramen dishes: one for tasting and the other is a full-size dish. I would recommend sticking to the tasting size unless you are VERY hungry and don't want to try more than one or two shops.

There is also a small exhibit about the history of Ramen (largely in Japanese) and also a much larger shop selling not only souvenirs but ramen dishes themselves (in take-away packaging).

My favourite? Well, probably have to say the unusual Hachiya shop which is made using grilled lard (!). The musty flavour was very unusual but addictive as was the smoky, smooth texture (making sure that you use the garlic paste…).

See the official site at http://www.raumen.co.jp/home/index.html (Japanese Only).

Areas of the City

I would highly recommend going for a walk along the harbour from the Minato Mirai area (exiting Queen's Square and crossing the street) south past the Ferris wheel, CosmoWorld and Yokohama World Porters. Pass by the red brick warehouse park then head across the Shinkobashi Bridge to Yamashita Park (all well sign-posted with a good walk way). From here you can easily access Chinatown as well. This walk highlights the new Yokohama – Big buildings, clean and safe living.

Minato Mirai

Minato Mirai is a new area of development located in the heart of Yokohama on the harbour.

Home of an amusement park, numerous space-age hotels and shopping centres, it is the heart of the commercial city.

There is plenty to see and do here with excellent restaurants (though a bit biased away from Japanese food and more emphasis on European) and a first-class on-sen.