Yokohama
Japan'S Second Largest City; Treaty Port Opened In 1859 · Yokohama, Kanagawa
Japan's second-largest city by population, a port on Tokyo Bay about thirty minutes by train south of central Tokyo, and the place where Japan first opened to Western trade in 1859. Its modern face is Minato Mirai 21, a waterfront district of towers, hotels and museums around the Landmark Tower, with the Sky Garden near its top, the Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris wheel and the Yokohama Air Cabin gondola of 2021. Along the harbour are the restored Red Brick Warehouses, now shops and event halls, the Osanbashi pier terminal with its wooden wave-like roof, and Yamashita Park, where the 1930 ocean liner Hikawa Maru is moored as a museum. Behind the park is Yokohama Chinatown, the largest in Japan, packed with restaurants and temples, and above it the Yamate Bluff, where Western merchants built houses that still stand. The city also has the Sankeien garden, with historic buildings brought from Kyoto and Kamakura, the Cup Noodles Museum and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, and it makes a base for Kamakura and Hakone.
Minato Mirai, Nishi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 220-0012, Japan
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the harbour promenade, parks, Chinatown streets and the Osanbashi roof are open at all hours; the Sky Garden runs from about 10 am to 9 pm; museums open around 9 or 10 am and close around 5 or 6 pm, with last entry earlier. Traps: many museums close on Mondays or for renovation; the Air Cabin and Ferris wheel stop in strong wind; Chinatown restaurants close earlier than you expect. Confirm current hours and closing days before relying on them.