Thanks to its open harbour-frontage
and generally low-rise skyline,
YOKOHAMA
feels far more spacious and airy
than neighbouring Tokyo. Locals are
proud of their city's international
heritage, and there's definitely a
cosmopolitan flavour to the place,
with its scattering of Western-style
buildings, Chinese temples and world
cuisines, and its sizeable foreign
community.
Though it can't claim any
outstanding sights, Yokohama has
enough of interest to justify a
day's outing from Tokyo. It might
seem strange to come all this way to
look at nineteenth-century
European-style buildings, but the
upmarket suburb of Yamate is
one of the city's highlights, an
area of handsome residences, church
spires and bijou teashops. Yamate's
"exotic" attractions still
draw Japanese tourists in large
numbers, as do the vibrant alleys
and speciality restaurants of nearby
Chinatown . There's a clutch
of assorted museums along the
seafront, and north to where Kannai
boasts a few grand old Western
edifices, in complete contrast to Minato
Mirai 21 's high-tech
skyscrapers in the distance. This
half-completed "harbour-city of
the 21st century" forms the
focus of Yokohama's ambitious plans
to grab some of the initiative away
from Tokyo.
A tour of these central sights
will easily fill a day, but with a
little extra time Sankei-en ,
just south of Yokohama, makes a good
half-day excursion. This extensive
Japanese garden provides a perfect
backdrop for its collection of
picturesque temples and other
ancient buildings. If modern
culture's more your thing, don't
miss Shin-Yokohama's Ramen Museum
en route back to Tokyo, which
celebrates Japan's answer to the
hamburger.
