One day in Yokohama

Yokohama is not only a famous brend of motorcycle : it is also the name of one of the biggest cities of Japan (with more than 3.5 millions of unhabitants), located in the suburb of Tokyo. You need less than 45 minutes to reach Tokyo when you are in Yokohama and many students who are from this city just make the back and forth everyday. A journey that you absolutely should do to discover this city if you are staying in Tokyo for more than one week.

To go to Yokohama from Tokyo

It is particularly easy to go to Yokohama from Tokyo, thanks to the numerous lines of train which are between the two cities and which are regulated by the JR East. The shortest and cheapest solution is to depart from Shibuya Station, with Tokyu Toyoko Line which leads you to the main station of Yokohama (whose name is Yokohama station) in 25 minutes for 260 yens (less than 3 euros !). But you can also depart from Shinjuku and Ikebukuro Stations with Shonan Shinjuku line (around 30 minutes and 540 yens, or 20 minutes and 380 yens if you go on the train in Shibuya). And one another solution (but there are actually plenty of them) is to depart from Tokyo or Shinagawa Stations by Tokaido line : 25 minutes and 450 yens from Tokyo Station or 20 minutes and 280 yens from Shinagawa.

Once you are in Yokohama, you can decide to walk through the city (which can be interesting and beautiful as the balnear city is quite calm and net) or to take the subway to go faster to the place you want to see. There are also some bus which can drive you to the main stations.

Yokohama’s places to visit

There are numerous to see : the parks, the stadium (where the Final of World Cup of 2002 was payed and where many concerts take place), the port, the museum of ramen (yes, it actually exists), a shrine where many soccer players go to pray before matches or the Chinatown… Yokohama is also one of the first place in Japan where strangers arrived and that explain the presence of an international graves. And this is also a balnear city where it is really agreable to pass by and to buy souvenirs. Yokohama is not only a dormitory but a real city, particularly specialised in entertainment, as a giant Odaiba, with some amusement parks and commercial centers. Some characteristics which turn the city into a place to visit for at least one day or more.

Zoom on the Chinatown

If Tokyo does not have a Chinatown, it has been settled in Yokohama for more than one hundred and fifty years. Officially recognized in 1955 with the construction of a goodwill gate as the main entrance of the district, it has been built after the landing of the first Chinese migrants in Japan. It is the biggest Chinatown of Asia with between 3000 and 4000 unhabitants, even if only a few of them are Chinese nowadays. It also counts a lot Chinese restaurants but if you really want to eat Chinese food there exists a lot of cheaper places in Tokyo : it seems that the status « Chinese restaurant of the Chinatown » is quite expensive for the same quality.

Even though Yokohama is close to Tokyo (in situation and in architecture), it is a slower city. Maybe it is more european in its way of living and of being organised. It is a beautiful city to discover if you are going to stay during a quite long time in Tokyo. However, if you are only spending some days in Japan’s capitale, you should choose to go either in Odaiba (which is closer and an Island of entertainment) or in Kamakura, a little farer but actually more interesting as a cultural visit (with shrines, temples and the Daibutsu).

Marièke Poulat