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Introduction
Yokohama is situated on a peninsula facing the western coast
of Tokyo Bay and lies a mere 30 kilometers(18.6 miles) from Tokyo,
the capital of Japan.
Yokohama enjoys a relatively mild climate. In 1990, the average
temperature was 16.6 degrees centigrade (62 degrees Fahrenheit),while
the highest and lowest temperatures were 31.9 degrees centigrade(90
degrees Fahrenheit) and 1.3 degrees centigrade(34 degrees Fahrenheit)
respectively.
More than 3.27 million people live in Yokohama, qualifying it
as Japan's second largest city. Its total production output is
valued at \9 trillion($72 billion), or \3 million($24,000)per
capita.
The port of Yokohama was opened in 1859 and ever since has played
a major role a window to the world. Japan's first Western style
hotel and restaurant were opened in Yokohama, and our city was
also the site of Japan's first coffee shop and bakery as well
as its first modern waterworks and railroads. Yokohama, built
on its rich heritage of enterprising endeavor, has become a truly
international city and Japan's largest international trading port.
More foreign vessels enter the port of Yokohama and more exports
leave its Japan. Since 1969, the dollar amount of trade passing
through the port of Yokohama has been the largest in Japan.
Attraction
Guide
The first stop should be the Silk Center, 1 Yamashita-cho,
Naka-ku, tel. (045) 641-0841. The center contains the Tourist
Information Center on the first floor and an underground shopping
arcade. The Silk Museum, open daily 0900-1630, admission
¥300, is on the second and third floors. An array of exhibits
shows everything in the silk-making process, from silkworm cocoons
to finished kimonos, while the museum's boutique sells a variety
of silk products. To arrive, either walk 15 minutes from Kannai
Eki or take bus no. 26 from Yokohama Eki.
Adjacent is Yamashita Koen, a long narrow strand of green
fronting the bay, billed as the oldest harbor park in the country.
A canopy of ginko trees lines the boulevard running along the
park, and permanently berthed at the south end is the Hikawa-maru,
a passenger liner that plied the Pacific from Yokohama to Seattle,
Washington. The ship, open daily 0930-1600, admission ¥800,
contains various restaurants, historical artifacts, and an open-air
beer garden in summer. Along the boulevard next to the park, look
for the Hotel Yokohama, and just next door is a 19th-century period
piece, Soka Gakkai, built in 1867, open daily 1100-1900,
free admission. The building itself is the main attraction, but
inside is an emotion-provoking pictorial depicting hunger and
nuclear holocaust.
The Marine Tower, a 106-meter-high lighthouse, is also
at the south end of Yamashita Koen. This structure, at one time
the tallest lighthouse in the world, was built from rubble collected
from the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. An elevator to the observation
deck operates daily 1000-2100, admission ¥700. The tower offers
a lounge and snack bar on the first floor, the Kaiyo Kagaku
Hakubutsukan maritime museum on the second, and a bird aviary
on the fifth.
Just near the Marine tower is the Yokohama Ningyo-no-ie,
a doll museum open daily except Monday 1000-1700, admission ¥300.
Inside is a colorful collection of nearly 1,000 dolls collected
from around the world, along with a whimsical puppet theater.
You can also ride an elevator, ¥700, to the observation floor
atop the Hotel New Grand, which also overlooks the park
area and harbor beyond. Another alternative is to visit Symbol
Tower at the end of Honmoku-futo Pier, No. D, approximately
20 minutes on foot south of the Silk Center. This 45 meter tower,
free admission, is off the beaten track and offers an unobstructed
view of the harbor area.
Chinatown, sandwiched
between Yamashita Koen and Ishikawa-cho Street, is full of life,
charm, and local color. Two enormous red gates are at either end
of Chuka-gai Odori, China Street, where over 100 restaurants and
innumerable shops beckon to the hungry and the curio seekers.
The area is like an array of dim sum, bite-sized, light but satisfying.
An hour or two at a leisurely stroll will do it.Yokohama Koen,
the first Western park in the country, is just outside of Kannai
Eki. Greatly reduced in size since Yokohama Stadium was built,
the park still contains an impressive Japanese garden. The stadium
is home to the Yokohama BayStars, a professional baseball team,
and is even used to host musical concerts and an occasional American
football squad.
A five-minute walk east of the park toward the harbor takes you
to Yokohama Kaiko Shiryokan, the Yokohama Archives of History,
open daily except Monday 0930-1630, admission ¥200. Inside
the building, which stands on the very spot where the first American
and Japanese Peace Treaty was signed in 1854, are documents and
articles relating to Japan's renewed contact with the West.
The Kanagawa Kenritsu Hakubutsukan, the prefectural museum,
located equidistant between Kannai and Sakuragicho Eki, is open
daily except Monday 0930-1730, admission ¥300. The building,
erected in 1904 in German Renaissance style, contains archaeological
artifacts, local folk products, and a complete display of the
flora and fauna of Kanagawa.
The premier attraction in Yokohama is the Sankei-en Garden,
open daily 0900-1630, admission ¥300 outer garden, ¥300
inner garden, and ¥300 for Yanohara House. To arrive, take
bus no. 8 from Sakuragicho Eki for 20 minutes to Honmoku Sankei-en-mae,
and then walk five minutes. The garden, located near Honmoku Beach,
was built by self-made businessman Tomitaro Hara, who named it
Sankei, meaning "three glens." The garden has been open
to the public since 1906, even when it was still an active residence
of Hara-san, and is resplendent in various seasons with the blazing
flowers of plum trees, azaleas, water lilies, cherry trees, wisteria,
and lotus blossoms. The 19 hectares contain not only magnificent
flowers and trees but various buildings brought from throughout
Japan that are registered as Important Cultural Properties. While
walking the grounds, look high atop a hill to see a 500-year-old
Three-Storied Pagoda brought from Kyoto. You will also
encounter Rinshunkaku, a Tokugawa villa built in 1649 and
brought from the Kii Hanto peninsula; and the Choshukakau,
a 16th-century tea ceremony house owned by the Tokugawa family.
A separate admission is charged for the Yanohara House,
a late-18th-century farmhouse brought from Gifu. The glorious
old building is huge and stout, covered by a gassho zukuri, a
roof of stacked logs. |
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