Yokohama station
[Open 1-8pm. Closed some Thursdays.]
This rescue-cat cafe had around ten cats in residence when we visited, although the number may vary depending on new arrivals and adoptions. Some of these former stray cats are still shy around people, and one of the goals of the cafe is to...
[Open 11am-11pm daily.]
This five-story shopping mall overlooking the bay offers a diverse and affordable range of shops and restaurants, including several that cater to dog-owners. There's also a docking area for water buses running along the bay.
The Seabass water bus leaves two to four times per hour for Minato-Mirai, Akarenga and Yamashita Park piers. From 10:10am-6:15pm weekdays; 11:10am-7:35pm weekends. Price Y400-700.
[Open 11am-5pm (enter by 4:30pm). Closed Tuesdays.]
Two gigantic room-size layouts are the main draw at this impressive model-railway attraction. The larger diorama is European in character, with urban streets, town squares and outdoor restaurants, as well as a couple of mountain resorts connected...
[Open 11am-7pm. Closed Mondays.]
BankArt Station, spread out over 1,500 square meters inside Shin-Takashima Station, is the largest of several Yokohama galleries run by the government-supported BankArt 1929 arts program, and it's probably the best venue for contemporary art in...
[Open 10am-5pm (last entry 4pm) daily.]
Aimed squarely at the six-and-under crowd, this popular mini-museum and shopping zone is devoted to the cartoon-pastry hero and his many plush and collectible friends. The second and third floors of the building house the actual museum, which...
Minato-Mirai
[Open 10am-5pm (enter by 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
Fans of rockets, ships and big machinery in general will find a lot to see in this two-story technology museum run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Exhibits focus in particular on the realms of aerospace, deep-sea exploration and shipping. There's...
[Open 10am-6pm. Closed Thursdays.]
[Update: the museum is scheduled to reopen in March, 2024.] The focus here is primarily on twentieth-century modern art, with works by Dali, Picasso, Cezanne and Magritte as well as notable Japanese artists. Several special exhibitions are held...
[Open 10am-9pm (enter by 8:30pm) daily.]
Yokohama's tallest building (the second-tallest in the country) is located in the middle of the city's picturesque harbor area, and its 69th-floor observation deck offers a 360-degree panoramic view of Yokohama and the bay. Even far-off Tokyo Tower...
[Open 10am-5pm. Closed Mondays.]
The main museum building has exhibits on the 150-year history of Yokohama port, but the main attraction is the Nippon Maru, a real-life sailing ship built in 1930 and retired in 1984. You can walk around admiring the big white sails and the...
[Open 11am-10pm daily.]
This huge complex anchoring the redeveloped Minato-Mirai area includes several office buildings, a concert hall, a hotel, more than 100 retail shops spread over two separate shopping malls (called at! and Queen's East), and dozens of restaurants.
The Seabass water bus leaves two to four times per hour for Yokohama Station East Exit, Akarenga and Yamashita Park piers. From 10:25am-6:30pm weekdays; 11:25am-8:35pm weekends. Price Y340-400. There are also 1-hour and 2-hour cruises on...
[Open 10am-6pm (enter by 5pm). Closed Tuesdays.]
If you love instant ramen and want to learn much, much more about the ubiquitous snack and its inventor, Momofuku Ando, you've come to the right place. Walk around inside a replica of the original shed where Ando first created instant ramen back in...
[Open 11am-9pm. Closed Thursdays.]
The giant ferris wheel, 112 meters in height with a capacity of 480 riders, is the main attraction here and a prominent part of the Yokohama skyline. There's also a roller coaster and a water-rafting ride.
Bashamichi, Kannai, Nihon-Odori, Motomachi
[Open noon-7pm (LO) daily.]
Somehow the residents at Miysis seem friendlier and more playful than the usual cat cafe denizens. Perhaps they're just happier in their environment - the playroom here is a big, sprawling space designed to keep cats content, with lots of carpeted...
[Open 11am-8pm (LO). Closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays.]
Lizards, tortoises, snakes and other reptiles - plus the odd amphibian - are the main attraction at this charming animal cafe. While most of the animals are confined to tanks or cages, several giant tortoises cavort around a large play area, where...
[Open noon-8pm (from 10am on holidays) daily.]
When we visited in Autumn 2017 the playroom here was full of tiny kittens play-fighting and chasing each other around, making for a very energetic cat-cafe experience. The seventeen resident cats also include some beautiful and exotic breeds to...
[Open 11am-6pm. Closed Thursdays.]
This relatively large contemporary art gallery is conveniently located just behind Yokohama City Hall, in one of the beautifullly restored Imperial Silkworm Warehouses originally built in 1926. Run by the BankART 1929 NPO, they exhibit a range of...
[Open 9:30am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
This excellent three-story museum covers the history of Tokyo's neighboring Kanagawa region from prehistoric times to the present day. Themed exhibition areas are devoted to ancient archeological finds, medieval life under the Kamakura shogunate,...
[Open 9am-9:30pm (rooftop 24 hours) daily.]
Osanbashi Yokohama International Passenger Terminal is an inspiring piece of architecture and an exciting addition to Yokohama's vibrant waterfront. The undulating rooftop, with its natural grass lawns and deck finished in Brazilian wood, feels...
[Open 11am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm) daily.]
Officially known as the Japan Newspaper Museum, this beautifully designed modern facility is both entertaining and informative. Three floors of exhibits cover the history of the newspaper industry in Japan as well as the nuts and bolts of print...
[Open 9:30am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
[Update: currently closed for renovation, the museum will reopen in July 2024.] The permanent collection of this compact museum includes ancient pottery, coins, and ethnic costumes; there are also frequent special exhibits lasting two to four...
[Open 10am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
Built in Yokohama as a state-of-the-art luxury liner, the Hikaru Maru was launched in 1930 as a passenger ship traveling the route between Kobe and Seattle-Vancouver. Nowadays it's docked permanently in Yokohama Bay, where you can explore the ship...
[Open 9:30am-6pm (weekends -7pm) daily.]
In the early twentieth century Japan exported huge numbers of tin-plate toys to countries around the world, and this charming little musuem traces that history, displaying some 3,000 antique toys made between the 1890s and the 1960s. Shelf after...
Yokohama elsewhere
Sankeien Garden - Park/garden: Yokohama
[Open 9am-5pm (last entry 4:30) daily.]
This traditional Japanese-style garden, which first opened to the public in the early 1900s, is spread out over a massive 17.5-hectare site. Amid the various garden areas are seventeen reconstructed buildings of historical importance. Guided tours...
Zoorasia - Zoo: Yokohama
[Open 9:30am-4:30pm (enter by 4pm). Closed Tuesdays.]
Established in 1999, this modern, animal-friendly zoo shows off its residents in spacious habitats that mimic their natural environments. It's divided into seven separate ecological zones - Asian tropical forest, subarctic forest, Oceanian...
[Open 10:30am-3:30pm. Closed Mondays (Oct. - May).]
Highly organized factory tours like this one are an interesting phenomenon. While you're technically inside the factory building, you're not actually on the factory floor wearing a hairnet and watching people at work, but instead wandering from one...
[Open 10am-9pm daily.]
One of four Tokyo-area branches of the Swedish retailer, Ikea Yokohama is spread out over two levels and offers the usual selection of housewares. Free shuttle buses run from JR Shin-Yokohama every thirty minutes on weekdays and every twenty...
[Open 11am-10pm (last admission) daily.]
A miniature historical theme park, Ramen Town, located on the bottom two levels of the Ramen Museum, is a recreation of a bustling urban neighorhood in the year 1958 (which happens to be the year instant ramen was invented). Scattered among the...
[Open hours vary between 9am-9pm (summer weekends) to 10am-5pm (winter weekdays). Open every day.]
Hakkeijima Sea Paradise is one of the best aquariums in the country and also one of the largest, housing over 100,000 fish and other marine creatures, including polar bears and sea otters. In addition to the main aquarium building there's also a...
[Open 10am-8pm daily.]
The American-based big box store is set up warehouse-style, with towering stacks of consumer goods stretching off to the horizon. You'll find everything from frozen pizzas and disposable contact lenses to gasoline-powered lawn mowers. Exercise...
[Open 10am-9pm daily.]
This massive outlet mall reopened in Spring 2020 after expansion and remodeling, and it now houses more than 150 outlet shops and restaurants. Sportswear and fashion brands like Armani, Ralph Lauren, Timberland, Eddie Bauer, Puma, New Balance, Gap...
Kawasaki Station
[Open 10am-9pm daily.]
Petit-Escalator, the shortest escalator in the world, is located in the basement of Kawasaki More's Department Store, across the street from Kawasaki JR station. Five steps and 83.4 centimeters in height, the escalator takes approximately eight...
[Open 10am-5:30pm (Sat, Sun -6pm). Closed Mondays.]
Aimed primarily at school-aged children, this science and technology museum covers a broad range of topics, including image-recognition technology, paper recycling, geothermal generation, smart buildings, and nanotechnology. Many of the exhibits...
Kawasaki City
[Open 8:30am-4:30pm. Closed Sundays.]
Fans of Ajinomoto's MSG seasoning can learn all about the world of umami flavors and get a glimpse into the operations of a 21st-century food factory with Ajinomoto's very comprehensive factory tour. The ninety-minute adventure includes a...
[Open 10am-8pm daily.]
The American-based big box store is set up warehouse-style, with towering stacks of consumer goods stretching off to the horizon. Fresh produce, meats and seafood are significantly cheaper than in Tokyo supermarkets, and they also do a brisk...
[Open 10am-4:30pm (last entry 4pm). Closed Thursdays.]
Tokyu Railway's transportation museum offers plenty of hands-on activities for children and train enthusiasts, with numerous driving simulators and three different room-size model-train layouts. There are lots of features geared towards younger...
Mukogaoka Yuen, Kawasaki
Nihon Minka-en - Museum: Mukogaoka Yuen
[Open 9:30am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
Also known as the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum, this sprawling park is home to two dozen old houses that were built between the 17th and 19th centuries. The buildings were transported from various parts of Japan and reconstructed here, and they...
Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum - Museum: Mukogaoka Yuen
[Open 9:30am-5pm. Closed Mondays.]
This small natural-science museum provides some geological and archeological information about Ikuta Ryokuchi Park, where it is located, and also has a small planetarium. A visit here can be combined with trips to the nearby Taro Okamoto Museum of...
Ikuta Ryokuchi Park - Park/garden: Mukogaoka Yuen
[Open 8:30am-5pm (visitor center) daily.]
Set in the gently undulating Tama Hills of suburban Kawasaki City, this attractive park is home to the Nihon Minka-en collection of folk houses, the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, and the Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum.
Taro Okamoto Museum of Art - Art museum: Mukogaoka Yuen
[Open 9:30am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm). Closed Mondays.]
The artist Taro Okamoto was famous for his whimsical sculptures, paintings and large-scale murals, and one of his best-known works, "Tower of the Sun," became the symbol of the Osaka Expo in 1970. This museum is devoted to his works, and holds...