Yokohama: A Travel Guide to Minato Mirai 21 and Yamashita Park

With 3.7 million people, Yokohama is one of the largest cities in Japan and carries real weight in the country's industrial story. For a long time, it has also been a serious rival to Tokyo.

In the 1960s, Yokohama launched a bold plan to turn its industrial waterfront into a more modern, forward-looking city. Train lines were extended, old warehouses were torn down, and artificial islands were built from scratch.

Today, Yokohama blends modern architecture, ocean views and a very distinct urban culture. In this article, we look at the most interesting spots in town.

Top Sights in Yokohama

Here are some of the best places to visit in the city.

Sankeien Garden is a famous garden in Yokohama with a large pond and several historic buildings brought in from across Japan.

The Yokohama Station area is one of the busiest rail hubs in the world, serving around 760 million passengers a year. The blocks around the station are packed with shops, restaurants, izakayas, pachinko parlors and karaoke spots.

Shomyoji is a temple in southern Yokohama that feels like a hidden treasure, far less crowded than the famous temples in Kyoto or Tokyo.

Yokohama also has a shopping street with a European feel called Motomachi.

Zoorasia is a popular zoo in Yokohama. It is split into several climate zones, including tropical, Asian, subarctic, African and even Amazonian sections.

That is just a warm-up. The real highlights of the city are below.

Minato Mirai 21

The name means "Port of the Future 21". It is one of the most important parts of modern Yokohama, packed with entertainment, shopping and cultural attractions.

You will also find one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world here, the Yokohama Landmark Tower, a 295.8-meter building completed in 1993 with 70 floors.

• Yokohama Bay Bridge has a pedestrian walkway known as the Sky Walk, which offers a close-up view of the structure.
• Nippon Maru is a training ship built in 1930 in Kobe. Over its career it sailed enough nautical miles to circle the globe about 45 times, and it is now open to the public next to the Landmark Tower.
• Kanagawa Shimbun Fireworks is an annual event held in August, with a large fireworks display over the bay.

Yamashita Park

A seaside park that links several of Yokohama's main attractions through a pleasant waterfront walkway. Some of those attractions include:

• Hikawa Maru, a large luxury liner from the 1930s, now permanently moored and open to visitors;
• At the southern end of the park, about a 5-minute walk away, sits one of the largest Chinatowns in the world, home to more than 4,000 Chinese residents and over 300 shops;
• Yokohama Marine Tower, a lighthouse often listed among the tallest in the world at about 106 meters, and open to the public.

The park is about a 30-minute walk from Minato Mirai and sits close to Motomachi Chukagai Station.

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Museums and More

Yokohama also has an art gallery focused on local artists and the history of the city, plus a photography gallery and several spaces for temporary exhibitions.

The Ramen Museum recreates an indoor street in the Shitamachi area of Tokyo in the late 1950s, where you can learn about the history and culture of ramen and try several classic bowls.

There is also the Cup Noodles Museum, aimed at kids and families, where you can learn about instant noodles and design your own cup.

These are just a sample of what Yokohama has to offer, and we have not even covered half of it. The best way to get to know the city is still to walk it, especially along the waterfront. If you have the chance, give it at least a full day.