Side Trips from Tokyo - Tokyo - page 284

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ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE Because many Yokohama residents work in Tokyo, it's as easy to get
to Yokohama as it is to get around Tokyo. Although Yokohama Station is the city's main
train station, I suggest taking a train from Tokyo that will take you farther to Sakuragicho,
Minato Mirai, or Motomachi Chukagai station, since most attractions are clustered here.
(However, if you're headed first to Sankeien Garden, you'll want to disembark at Yoko-
hama Station and transfer to bus no. 8 at the east exit.) Best is the Minato Mirai Line
(of the Tokyu-Toyoko private company), which departs from Shibuya and reaches
Minato Mirai in about 30 minutes on the limited express. A one-way fare costs ¥440; an
all-day Minato Mirai Line pass, including transportation from Shibuya and back, is
worth the cost of ¥840. Alternatively, the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line travels through Ueno,
Tokyo, Yurakucho, Shimbashi, and Shinagawa stations before continuing on to
Sakuragicho, with the journey from Tokyo Station taking approximately 40 minutes and
costing ¥540 one-way.
VISITOR INFORMATION There are several Tourist Information Centers in Yokohama,
but probably the most convenient and easiest to find is Sakuragicho Station Tourist
Information Center ( & 045/211-0111; daily 9am-7pm), located in a kiosk outside JR
Sakuragicho Station in the direction of Minato Mirai and its Landmark Tower. The main
office, the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau, is located in the Sangyo Boeki
Center (nicknamed Sambo Center), 2 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku ( & 045/641-4759; www.
welcome.city.yokohama.jp/tourism; Mon-Fri 9am-5pm), close to the Silk Center and
Yamashita Park. Both have excellent city maps and brochures.
Next door to the Convention & Visitors Bureau, in the Silk Center, is the Kanagawa
Prefectural Tourist Office ( & 045/681-0007; www.kanagawa-kankou.or.jp; Tues-Sun
10am-6pm), with information on Hakone and Kamakura, both in Kanagawa Prefecture.
GETTING AROUND If you start your day in Yokohama at either Sakuragicho or
Minato Mirai Station, you can visit the museums and attractions there and then walk
onward to Yamashita Park via a waterfront promenade (about a 30-min. walk, with a
stop, perhaps, at the Red Brick Warehouse shopping mall on the way). If you prefer not
to walk, there's a red retro-looking tourist bus called the Akai Kutsu, which makes the
rounds of central Yokohama, including Sakuragicho Station, Minato Mirai, Yamashita
Park, and Chinatown throughout the year, with departures every 20 to 30 minutes and
costing ¥100 per ride (pick up a map and timetable at the Sakuragicho Station tourist
office). To reach Sankeien Garden, take bus no. 8, which departs from Yokohama Sta-
tion's east exit and passes Minato Mirai, Chinatown, and Yamashita Park on its way to
the garden. If you end the day with a meal at Chinatown, you can catch the Minato
Mirai Line back to Shibuya at nearby Motomachi Chukagai Station.
SEEING THE SIGHTS
MINATO MIRAI There's no mistaking Minato Mirai 21 (www.minatomirai21.com)
when you see it—it looks like a vision of the future with its dramatic monolithic build-
ings. It boasts a huge state-of-the-art convention facility, three first-class hotels, Japan's
tallest building, office buildings, two great museums, and an amusement park. It's all a
bit too sterile for my taste, but its museums make a visit here worthwhile.
If you arrive at Sakuragicho Station, take the moving walkway that connects the sta-
tion to the Landmark Tower in Minato Mirai in 5 minutes. Otherwise, the Minato Mirai
Line will deposit you directly in the middle of the massive urban development.

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