Tours

Yokohama is one of Japan's most important international ports, and with a population of 3.4 million, the nation's second largest city. It is a vibrant city, with an incredible diversity of attractions, including first-class hotels, fine dining restaurants and incredible shopping opportunities. That combination draws an average 2.5 million people from Tokyo alone every weekend, and for good reason. This is a city with an abundance of places to see, things to do, and delicacies to taste, all pleasing to the senses, and all easily accessible.

Yokohama Station

A hallmark of any trip to Yokohama involves shopping, and there's no better time to start than right when you get off the train at the JR Yokohama Station, the area around which you can shop in huge department stores, chic malls and underground arcades. Stroll through the elegant Yokohama Takashimaya Shopping Center, wander through Lumine, or lose yourself in Porta Plaza.  Nearby attractions include the Yokohama Bay Bridge, a centerpiece of the city's futuristic landscape, and Minato Mirai 21, home of countless attractions, and the next stop on any tour of Yokohama.

Minato Mirai 21

When you have had enough of the downtown shopping district, move on to Minato Mirai 21—Yokohama's futuristic waterfront wonderland, where you can get a bird's eye view of Yokohama and its surroundings from the Sky Garden Observatory that sits atop the 69th floor of Landmark Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Japan and architectural centerpiece of Minato Mirai. Minato Mirai 21 is known as Yokohama's "Harbor City of the Future," and visiting can take much longer than a full day, but for those in a rush, let the world's fastest elevators whisk you 900 vertical feet in just 40 seconds to Landmark Plaza, where 190 shops and boutiques await. Walk next door and you will find hundreds more shops, boutiques and restaurants in the immense Queen's Tower shopping complex. Then, when you are ready to sit down in style, take a seat on the world's tallest Ferris wheel, at Yokohama Cosmo World.

Motomachi Shopping District

Perhaps the best Yokohama Sightseeing Tour starts at Ishikawacho Station on the JR Negishi Line, which will take you through two of Yokohama's finest neighborhoods and end with a stroll in Yokohama's spiritual heart, the seaside Yamashita Park, which was built on debris dumped into the bay following the 1923 earthquake. Just outside the station lies the Motomachi shopping district, which is comprised of five blocks of fashionable boutiques and restaurants, including Uchiki Pan, the oldest working bakery in Yokohama. Located nearby is the Gaijin Bochi, the historic foreigners' cemetery, next to which are Motomachi Park and the historic Ellisman Mansion. This mansion is perhaps the best place to see how the wealthy foreign community in Yamate lived during the golden years, before the catastrophic 1923 earthquake destroyed that world forever. The Ellisman Mansion is also the perfect place for a rest before you climb the Bluff to Harbor View Park. This park has an elevated viewing platform that offers the best panoramic view of Yokohama after dark.

Chinatown

If you walk down French Hill, cross the overhead walkway, you will enter nearby Chinatown. Enjoy strolling through the streets and savor the varied aromas. Here you can choose from more than 160 restaurants offering cuisines from every region of China. If you prefer Cantonese, try the classic Heichinro. For Beijing style, try Kaseiro. There is something here to suit every taste.

Yokohama is certainly an impressive city, and with so much to see, there are plenty of tours available to help show you around.  Whether by land, sea, or air, there's an option for every visitor that will get them to all the major attractions.

Walking Tours
Kanagawa Systematized Goodwill Guide Club (http://www.ksgg.org/english-top/index.html)

Bus Tours
Yokohama Bayside Line (+81 45 465 2077/ http://www.yokohama-bus.jp/baysideline/en/1day.html)

Boat Tours
Yokohama Cruising (+81 45 671 7729/ http://www.yokohama-cruising.jp/)
Keihin Feryy Boat Co. (+81 45 201 0821/ http://www.keihinferry.co.jp/)

Helicopter Tours
Excel Air Service, Inc. (+81 45 2231155/ http://www.excel-air.com/english/cruising/index.html)

Self-Guided Tours
Akai Kutsu Tour (http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/tourism/favorite/01.html)
Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau Recommended Tours (http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/tourism/courses/index.html)