Down to the harbour Travel Video Guide

Down to the harbour Travel Itinerary

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From the cemetery, drop down through Motomachi-koen and cross Motomachi shopping street to find one of the several entrance gates to Chinatown . Founded in 1863, Yokohama's Chinatown is the largest in Japan: its streets contain roughly two hundred restaurants and over 300 shops, while some eighteen million tourists pass through its narrow byways every year to browse among stores peddling Chinese herbs or cooking utensils, and grocers, silk shops and jewellers with windows full of flashy gold. Few leave without tasting what's on offer, from steaming savoury dumplings to a full-blown meal in one of the famous speciality restaurants .

The fortunes of the Chinese community based here (around 2000 ethnic Chinese) have followed the vagaries of mainland history: during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries hundreds of radicals (most famously, Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek) sought refuge here, while Communist and Nationalist factions polarized Chinatown in the 1940s and later during the Cultural Revolution. The focus of community life is Kantei-byo (daily 10am-8pm; free), a shrine dedicated to Guan Yu, a former warlord and guardian deity of Chinatown. The building is a bit cramped but impressive nonetheless, with a colourful ornamental gateway and writhing dragons wherever you look. Inside, a long-haired Guan Yu sits on the main altar, gazing over the heads of supplicants petitioning for health and prosperity. The best times to visit are during the major festivities surrounding Chinese New Year (late Jan or early Feb) and Chinese National Day (Oct 1).

From the eastern edge of Chinatown it's a short hop down to the harbour - aim for the pink-grey Marine Tower (daily: Feb-Nov 10am-9pm; Jan & Dec 10am-7pm; Y700; joint ticket with Hikawa-maru Y1300, or Y1550 including the Doll Museum). The 106-metre-high tower, built in 1961 to celebrate the port's centenary, is supposedly the world's tallest lighthouse, but better to save your money for the Landmark's much higher observation deck. In front of the tower, Yamashita-koen is a pleasant seafront park created as a memorial to victims of the Great Earthquake. Here you can pick up a Sea Bass ferry or take a harbour cruise from the pier beside the Hikawa-maru (mid-June to mid-Sept daily 9.30am-9/9.30pm; mid-Sept to mid-June Mon-Fri 9.30am-7.30pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am-9pm; Y800), a retired passenger liner. The vessel, also known as the Queen of the Pacific , was built in 1930 for the NYK line Yokohama-Seattle service, though it was commandeered as a hospital ship during the war. It now serves as a "floating amusement ship" whose best feature is a small museum full of nostalgic

memorabilia from the days of the great ocean-going liners.

At the south end of Yamashita-koen, the Doll Museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; July & Aug 10am-7pm; Y300) offers a more diverting display of dolls from around the world. Unfortunately there's little information in English, but the vast collection of Japanese folk and classical dolls is worth a look. Don't miss the exquisite, ceremonial hina dolls, traditionally displayed on March 3 during the Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival).

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