3 Best Sights in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

The park—a major landmark in this part of the city, known, appropriately enough, as the Bluff (yamate)—was once the barracks of the British forces in Yokohama. Come here for spectacular nighttime views of the waterfront, the floodlit gardens of Yamashita Park, and the Bay Bridge. Foreigners were first allowed to build here in 1867, and it has been prime real estate ever since—an enclave of consulates, churches, international schools, private clubs, and palatial Western-style homes.

The centerpiece of the park, which is on the east side of Minato Mirai 21, where the O-okagawa (O-oka River) flows into the bay, is the Nippon Maru, a full-rigged three-mast ship popularly called the "Swan of the Pacific." Built in 1930, it served as a training vessel. The Nippon Maru is now retired, but it's an occasional participant in tall-ships festivals and is open for guided tours. Adjacent to the ship is the Yokohama Port Museum, a two-story collection of ship models, displays, and archival materials that celebrate the achievements of the Port of Yokohama from its earliest days to the present.

This park is perhaps the only positive legacy of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The debris of the warehouses and other buildings that once stood here were swept away, and the area was made into a 17-acre oasis of green along the waterfront. On spring and summer weekends, the park fills up with families, couples, and groups of friends, making it one of the best people-watching spots in town. The fountain, representing the Guardian of the Water, was presented to Yokohama by San Diego, California, one of its sister cities.