Yokohama, with a population of about 3.5 million people, is Japan's second largest city. It is also the second largest port in the country. It so happened that the city became the gateway to Japan in the world. Located on the seafront, all in magnificent parks, the city has many historical sites and beautiful high-rise buildings.
From the history of Yokohama
The population of Yokohama is currently diverse, but this has not always been the case. In 1859, the city was open to foreign trade. Prior to this, for three centuries of self-isolation in Japan, only the Japanese lived. The result of lengthy negotiations between the Japanese government and the governments of America, England, and Russia was permission to enter foreign ships at the port of Yokohama.
Yokohama was once an ordinary fishing village, and turned into a city after the signing of the trade agreement ("Harris Treaty"). The treaty referred to Kanagawa, not Yokohama, as the port belonging to Tokyo. The city of Kanagawa was on the Tokaido Highway, the main highway between Kyoto and Edo, and was therefore ideally suited for quick connections. Yokohama was a few miles from Tokaido and had only one access road, which simplified the control of all trade with the rest of Japan. That is, it was a fait accompli that a remote fishing village found its place in Japan’s infrastructure this way.
Geographic coordinates of Yokohama
Latitude: 35 ° 25′59 ″ s w.
Longitude: 139 ° 39′00 ″ in. d.
Altitude: 21 m.
The main attractions of Yokohama are the Motomachi shopping district, Chinatown and Yamashita Park. They are easily accessible from Shibuya Tokyo Station on the Minatomirai line, which connects directly to the Tokyu Toyoko line .
Minato Mirai District
Tourists coming to the city turn their attention more to new buildings than to historical monuments. The grand territory of the harbor is the Minato Mirai area ("Port of the Future"). Many buildings in the area have not yet been completed, but the highest skyscraper in Yokohama in Japan rises in the port.
It has original architecture and is a symbol of the city - this is the Landmark Tower, whose construction was completed in 1993. On the upper floors of the skyscraper is the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel with magnificent views of the harbor and a public gallery is open to view the Sky Garden on the 69th floor. From this height, the city and surroundings of Yokohama, the Boso Peninsula and Tokyo Bay are perfectly visible. The elevator located on this building, the fastest in the world, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
The city's attractions
In Yokohama, modern buildings can also be attributed to the beautiful Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel, built in a semicircle. Cosmo Clock operates in this area. Big Ferris Wheel, one of the largest in the world. Its height is 112.5 meters, passenger capacity is 480 people. From the height of this wheel, you can see the amazingly beautiful bridge, having a length of 860 meters, connecting the moorings of Hommoku and Daikoku. It was opened in 1989. This unique bridge is one of the longest in the world.
Sankeien Garden is one of the main attractions of the Japanese city of Yokohama. In the photo below, the old Janojar house, located in the garden.
Sankeien Garden was built by the silk merchant Sankei Hara and contains a number of historic buildings and artifacts brought from other parts of Japan. The inner garden includes:
- Rinshunkaku mansion, built for the son of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1649;
- the graceful teahouse that once stood at Nijo Castle in Kyoto;
- Kayganmon gate from the Saikhoji temple in Kyoto;
- Tenju-in is a 17th-century Zen temple dedicated to Jizo and brought from Kamakura.
The main attractions of the Outer Garden:
- the large old house of Yanohar, built in the style of gassu architecture;
- three-story pagoda of the Muromachi era;
- the main hall of the temple of Old Tomoji.
Sankeyen Garden is open from 9am to 5pm every day.
The Yokohama International Stadium is located north of the station and has a capacity of over 77,000, making it the largest in Japan. In 2002, he hosted the World Cup finals.
Yokohama Museums
Yokohama has many interesting museums and galleries, many of which are related to the history of the city. So, the vibrant Yokohama Art Museum, designed in Kenzo Tanga near the Oryx Tower, focuses on art created after 1859, the year the Yokohama was founded. He is well known for his exhibitions of surrealism and contemporary art.
The Yokohama City History Museum focuses on the construction period of the modern city. Next to it is the Museum of Jewish Culture, which displays exhibits of crafts, clothes and sculptures of Yokohama.
The Yokohama Doll Museum on the southeastern end of Yamashita-ken, opposite the harbor park, displays 1,000 dolls from around the world, including an excellent collection of Japanese chin dolls . The first newspapers in Japan originated in Yokohama, and the history of the Japanese press is set out in the Japan Newspaper Museum, which is located in the Yamashita Park area of the city.
Yokohama is associated with silk, which was exported to the West. One of the rarest museums in the world is the Silk Museum, where an extensive exposition of silk products is presented. The first floor of the museum acquaints visitors with the silk production process, and the second is fully furnished for the exposition telling about the history of silk products in Japan.
Unique museums in Japan
The Japanese Overseas Migration Museum is located on Cinco Island and traces the history of Japanese migration mainly to North and South America. Nearby is the Japan Coast Guard Museum, which details the work of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) and shows a North Korean spy vessel that the Coast Guard flooded in 2001. It was later moved here. Both the Japanese Museum of Overseas Immigrants and the Japanese Coast Guard Museum are open to the public.
The Yokohama Tram Museum, located south of Kannai, showcases some of the street cars that have worked in Yokohama for seventy years, as well as models, photographs, and posters.
Yokohama Parks
The Motomachi Yamate area in Yokohama, south of Kannai, is the southern part of a historic foreign settlement. The central element of Motomachi-Yamate is Yamate Park, the first Western-style park in Japan founded in 1870. It was here that the first cedars were planted in Japan. And in 1930 Motomachi Park was opened . Its territory is 20,000 square meters. The park is especially beautiful in early April, when sakura blossoms. There are about 100 different species in the park.
This is not to say that Yokohama is a forest city, but there is such a park in the city. This is Negishi Park . Horse racing is held in this park. There is a museum of ponies and horses in Negishi Park that is open to the public. Here you can ride ponies and horses in the park. In the beautiful Hommoku Shimin Public Park, visitors will enter the Chinese Garden and the lawn. It has bike paths.
Yokohama is a modern metropolis, which has something to see, where to have fun and where to relax.