Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
287
The museum also displays various kinds of silk fabrics, as well as gorgeous kimono and
reproduction Japanese costumes from the Nara, Heian, and Edo periods. Don't miss this
museum, which takes about 30 minutes to see; surprisingly, it's never crowded. Open
Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 4:30pm; admission is ¥500 for adults, ¥300 for
seniors, ¥200 for students, and ¥100 for children.
At the opposite end of Yamashita Park is the
Yokohama Doll Museum,
18 Yamashita-
cho (
&
045/671-9361;
www.museum.or.jp/yokohama-doll-museum; station: Motoma-
chi Chukagai), which boasts a collection of approximately 13,000 dolls from 140
countries, with about 1,300 dolls on display. A trip through the museum begins with a
collection of old Western dolls introduced to Japan when Yokohama opened as an inter-
national harbor, as well as Japanese dolls sent to the West. Exhibits that follow show dolls
from around the world dressed in their native costume, popular international figures of
the past few decades (from Hello Kitty to R2-D2 of
Star Wars
fame), antique dolls
(including those produced by such famous doll makers as Lenci and Jumeau), and Japa-
nese dolls, from
hina
(elaborate dolls representing the empress and emperor, used for the
March Hina Festival) to
kokeshi
(simple wooden dolls). It's open 10am to 6:30pm; closed
the third Monday of every month (except July, Aug, and Dec). Admission is ¥500 for
adults and ¥150 for children. Plan on spending about 30 minutes here.
Not far from Yamashita Park is
Chukagai,
Japan's largest Chinatown, with hundreds
of souvenir shops and restaurants; see “Where to Dine,” below.
SANKEIEN GARDEN
In my opinion,
Sankeien Garden
(
&
045/621-0634;
www.sankeien.or.jp) is the best reason to visit Yokohama. Although not old itself, this
lovely park contains more than a dozen historic buildings that were brought here from
other parts of Japan, including Kyoto and Nara, all situated around streams and ponds
and surrounded by Japanese-style landscape gardens. The park, divided into an Inner
Garden and Outer Garden, was laid out in 1906 by Tomitaro Hara, a local millionaire
who made his fortune exporting silk. As you wander along the gently winding pathways,
you'll see a villa built in 1649 by the Tokugawa shogunate clan, tea arbors, a 500-year-old
three-story pagoda, and a farmhouse built in 1750 without the use of nails. The gardens
are well known for their blossoms of plums, cherries, wisteria, azaleas, irises, and water
lilies, but no matter what the season, the views here are beautiful.
Plan on at least 2 hours to see both gardens. Sankeien is open daily from 9am to 5pm
(you must enter the Inner Garden by 4pm, the Outer Garden by 4:30pm). Admission is
¥500 for adults, ¥300 for seniors, and ¥200 for children. The easiest way to reach
Sankeien Garden is by bus no. 8, which departs from platform no. 2 at Yokohama Sta-
tion's east exit (near Sogo department store) and winds its way past Sakuragicho Station,
past Chinatown (via Hon-cho Dori), and through Kannai before it reaches the Hon-
moku-Sankeien-mae bus stop 30 minutes later (the bus stop is announced in English).
GREAT FOR KIDS
If you have children, you may wish to get on their good side by
taking them to
Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise,
Hakkeijima (
&
045/788-8888;
www.seaparadise.co.jp), a combination seaside amusement park and aquarium. Among
the dozen thrill rides are a roller coaster that juts over the sea, a fiberglass boat that shoots
the currents, a tower ride that lets you “fall” 105m (344 ft.) at bloodcurdling speed, and
a carousel. The aquarium features such popular animals as sea otters, Atlantic puffins,
polar bears, penguins, and belugas; an underwater tunnel moves visitors past stingrays,
moray eels, and exotic tropical fish. There are also marine mammal shows featuring
dolphins, belugas, and seals. Admission to the aquarium and its shows costs ¥2,700 for
adults, ¥2,200 for seniors, ¥1,600 for children 6 to 15, and ¥800 for children 4 to 5.
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