Yokohama

Having successfully navigated my way through the Metro I decided to take on Sinjuku Station and visit Yokohama which has a number of nautical item of interest plus the Landmark Tower which has the second fastest lifts in the world (they were the fastest until 2004) that reach 45 km/h - it takes only 40 seconds to get to the observatory on the 69th floor.

I got a train from Shinjuku to the main Yokohama station and then walked to the Bay Quarter which is a massive redevelopment of the harbour area.

From the Bay Quarter I caught the water bus (called the Sea Bass) to Minato Mirai 21 (Port Future 21) which is a major development on reclaimed land in another post area.

Minato Mirai is the location of the Yokohama Landmark Tower which is the tallest building in Japan.


	The Sea Bass takes you out into Yokohama Bay where, as well as zillions of birds, you have an excellent view of the 860m-long Yokohama Bay Bridge.






	Here is the arrival point at Minato Mirai 21, after dropping passengers here it departs to call at a number of points in the bay including the historic Red Brick Warehouses.


	There are a number of features of the old port area which remain and have been converted to new use like this small dry dock which has been fitted with stairs and balconies and has a water feature installed. Behind it is one of the many new buildings in the area.

Located in the Minato Mirai 21 is the Nippon Maru - a four masted sailing ship that was built in 1930 as a training ship for cadets. The ship trained 11,500 cadets over 54 years until her retirement in 1984 (it was replaced by the Nippon Maru II). During her service she travelled the equivalent of over 45 times around the world (around 1,830,000 kilometers in total). Unfortunately the Nippon Maru was not open during my visit - it was being prepared for the coming season.

Next to the Nippon Miari is the Yokohama Port Museum which has a very interesting collection on the history of the area. Unfortunately photography is not permitted in the body of the museum, the photograph below was taken from the entrance area. The the black square in the centre is a diorama of Commodore Perry and the Black Ships - Commodore Perry landed at Kurihama which is in modern-day Yokosuka (just down the coast from Yokohama.)


	I then went to the Yokohama Landmark Tower and took the super fast lifts to the top (they have a speedometer!). The following photographs are some views from the 69th floor observatory.


	Here are the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses that were built around 1910, they are now include a shopping mall, banquet hall etc.

To add a slightly bizarre touch in an area to the left of the Red Brick Warehouses Nissin Foods has opened a new museum that displays the history of the noodle, taking visitors on a journey from its invention to its cultural influence within Japan and the rest of the world. Visitors given the chance to create their own instant recipe from thousands of combinations at the My Cup Noodle Factory.

There are still some traces of the nautical side of the area, the Japanese Cost Guard have a base there.


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