Question 1

Tokyo (Yokohama) on Your Own

Accepted Answer

From Ōsanbashi you can see Yokohama's harbor district on foot or by short train hops: Yamashita Park and the museum ship Hikawa Maru are beside the pier, and Chinatown is one stop beyond Nihon-ōdōri on the Minatomirai Line. Central Tokyo is about 35 minutes by train from Yokohama Station, which suits a long call better than a short one. A harbor walk: Yamashita Park runs along the water next to the pier. It was built on rubble from the 1923 earthquake and opened in 1930, and the Hikawa Maru, a liner that first sailed to Seattle in 1930, is moored at its edge as a museum. Chinatown: Motomachi-Chūkagai Station, one stop from Nihon-ōdōri, serves Yokohama Chinatown directly. About 250 Chinese-owned or Chinese-themed shops and restaurants are packed into its streets. Minato Mirai: Across the harbor, the sailing ship Nippon Maru and the Cup Noodles Museum are within walking distance of Minatomirai, Bashamichi and Sakuragichō stations, and the Red Brick Warehouse is on the waterfront nearby. Into Tokyo: JR Keihin-Tōhoku Line trains take about 35 minutes between Yokohama Station and Tokyo Station, and the fastest Tōkyū Tōyoko Line trains reach Shibuya in about 26 minutes. Add the time to get from the pier to Yokohama Station and back. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Carry your passport: Japanese law requires visitors to carry their passport, and police can arrest someone who cannot show proof of their status. Take it ashore unless your ship gives you other instructions.

Question 2

Getting Around

Accepted Answer

Trains are the simplest way around Yokohama and on to Tokyo. The Minatomirai Line runs underground from Yokohama Station through the harbor districts to Chinatown, and a red sightseeing bus and harbor water buses link the main waterfront sights. The Minatomirai Line has six stations: Yokohama, Shin-Takashima, Minatomirai, Bashamichi, Nihon-ōdōri and Motomachi-Chūkagai. Its trains continue onto the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line toward Tokyo. The Akai Kutsu bus, painted to look like an old red bus, runs a loop around Minato Mirai, Chinatown and Motomachi. The Sea Bass water bus links the east exit of Yokohama Station, the Hammerhead pier, the Red Brick Warehouse and Yamashita Park. The Yokohama Air Cabin, a gondola opened in 2021, crosses 629 meters from Sakuragichō Station to the Cosmo World amusement park. Smoking is banned on the streets of Tokyo and some other cities, so smoke only in marked smoking areas.

Question 3

Food and Drink

Accepted Answer

Yokohama Chinatown, one stop beyond Nihon-ōdōri on the Minatomirai Line, has around 250 Chinese-owned or Chinese-themed shops and restaurants. The city is also tied to two foods with a story: instant ramen, which has its own museum by the harbor, and the Western-style spaghetti dish known as Napolitan. Steamed buns filled with pork and vegetables, called nikuman, are sold from street stalls and shop counters all through Chinatown. The Hotel New Grand, opened in 1927 across the road from Yamashita Park, is believed to be where a head chef created Napolitan, one of Japan's Western-style dishes. At the Cup Noodles Museum you can design your own cup and choose its soup and toppings, and a food hall serves noodle dishes from around the world.

Question 4

Tipping in Japan

Accepted Answer

Tipping is not part of Japanese custom, and money left on a restaurant table may well be brought back to you as something you forgot. Prices are in Japanese yen. Some hotels and restaurants that cater to Western guests add a service charge of about 10 percent to the bill. Tour guides, interpreters and high-end ryokan inns are the usual exceptions where a tip may be given. If you do tip, put the money in an envelope and hand it over rather than leaving loose cash on a table.

Question 5

Culture and Local Life

Accepted Answer

Yokohama grew up as a meeting point between Japan and the West, and its harbor district still shows it in a Western-style hotel from 1927, merchants' houses on the hill once called the Bluff, and three landmark towers that locals call the King, the Queen and the Jack. It is now Japan's second-largest city, with about 3.7 million people. The three towers are the Kanagawa Prefectural Office, known as the King, the Yokohama Customs building, the Queen, and the Port Opening Memorial Hall, the Jack. A local legend says a wish comes true if you see all three at once, and Ōsanbashi Pier is the place usually named for the view. Foreign residents first lived in the low-lying Kannai district and later spread up the Yamate hill. Several of their former houses can be visited, and the Foreign General Cemetery is on the same walk. Some pools, hot springs and other public places do not admit people with tattoos, and others ask you to cover them. People can be reserved in public, and loud behavior tends to draw attention.

Question 6

History

Accepted Answer

Yokohama was a small fishing village until the shogunate opened it to foreign ships in 1859, and by 1899 it was the most international city in Japan. The 1923 earthquake and the bombing of 1945 each destroyed much of it, and the city was rebuilt both times. 1853 to 1854, Perry's ships: US Commodore Matthew Perry arrived with a fleet of warships, and on March 31, 1854, the shogunate signed the Convention of Kanagawa, ending more than two centuries of national seclusion. June 2, 1859, the port opens: The 1858 treaty named Kanagawa, a town on the Tōkaidō highway, as the open port, but the shogunate built the port across the inlet at the village of Yokohama instead. 1859 onward, Chinatown: Chinese agents of Western trading houses came with the port's opening to buy silk and tea, and their settlement became today's Chinatown. 1872, the first railway: Japan's first railway linked Yokohama with Shinagawa and Shinbashi in Tokyo, the same year the city lit Japan's first gas street lamps. 1894, the iron pier: A steel pier designed by the British engineer Henry Spencer Palmer was finished on the site of today's Ōsanbashi. Until then the wharfs were too shallow, and barges carried passengers out to ships; the new pier could take four ships at once. September 1, 1923, the Great Kantō earthquake: Police counted 30,771 dead in Yokohama out of about 434,000 people. Rubble from the city center was used to build Yamashita Park. May 29, 1945, the air raid: American B-29s firebombed the city, killing an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people in a single morning. Occupation forces then held the pier, renamed South Pier, until 1952. 1983 to 2002, a new waterfront: Work on Minato Mirai 21, on reclaimed land, began in 1983, and the present Ōsanbashi terminal, chosen from more than 660 design entries, was completed in 2002. To learn more ashore: The Yokohama Port Museum, at Minatomirai 2-1-1 beside the Nippon Maru, covers the harbor from the arrival of Perry's black ships to the present, and the Yokohama Archives of History, in the former British Consulate next to the square where Perry landed, tells the story of the port's opening.

Question 7

Tokyo (Yokohama) with Children

Accepted Answer

Two of the harbor's main sights are old ships you can walk through, and most family stops are within a few train stations of the pier. Choose one or two by age and keep a long trip into Tokyo for a long call. Younger children: The free rooftop deck at Ōsanbashi has an area of artificial grass where children may play; the natural lawn is not for walking on. The terminal lends strollers free of charge for children from seven months to three years, in limited numbers. Nogeyama Zoo, in Nogeyama Park in Nishi Ward, has free entry, red pandas and a small children's zoo. School age: The Hikawa Maru shows its 1930s passenger cabins and crew areas. The Nippon Maru, a four-masted sailing ship that trained 11,500 cadets over 54 years, can be boarded next to the Yokohama Port Museum. Cup Noodles Museum: Children can design their own cup of noodles; same-day visitors take a numbered ticket at the entrance on a first-come basis. Making chicken ramen by hand needs a reservation and has age limits. Teenagers: Cosmo World in Minato Mirai has free entry with rides paid one by one, and the Air Cabin gondola from Sakuragichō flies over the harbor to reach it. Days and prices: In 2026 the Hikawa Maru closed on Mondays and the Cup Noodles Museum on Tuesdays. The Nippon Maru charged 800 yen for adults and 300 yen for school students, and the Cup Noodles Museum charged adults 500 yen with high-school age and younger free. Check before you go.

Question 8

Accessible Travel

Accepted Answer

The Ōsanbashi terminal has no stairs: ramps and elevators connect its floors, and wheelchairs and strollers can be borrowed free at the information counter. Beyond the terminal, check access at each sight before you set out. In 2026 wheelchairs and strollers were lent from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in limited numbers, and visitors could also try out an electric wheelchair there. Check before you go. Multipurpose toilets, with facilities for ostomates and baby-changing tables, are in the departure and arrival lobby, in the hall and in two places on the roof. Tactile paving guides visually impaired visitors through the building, and communication and writing boards are kept at the information counter. Assistance dogs are welcome in the terminal. The terminal car park has five spaces reserved for wheelchair users.

Tokyo (Yokohama), Japan

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