Tokyobling's Blog

Yokohama Sea Taxi

Posted in Places by tokyobling on February 1, 2014

One of the things that makes Yokohama one of the most interesting cities in Japan right now is their great use of the city’s prime oceanfront location. There is a great network of sightseeing boats, cruise ships and sea taxies crisscrossing the harbor and if you feel like you need to save your legs while sight seeing or want to try something else than a train or subway ride back to Yokohama station, then the Sea Taxi might be worth checking out. It is not that much more expensive than other public transportation and certainly cheaper than a normal taxi (although not cheaper than a rental bike or bicycle taxi).

I went on the little Sea Bass, the speediest sea taxi in Yokohama bay to save me from walking all the way back to a station and then get on a train back to Yokohama station. At 580 yen (children half price) the ticket price was not too much, especially considering that the night time view of Yokohama from the ocean is pretty sweet.

The Sea Bass commutes from Yamashita Park – Pier Akarenga – Minatomirai Pukari Sanbashi – Yokohama Station East Exit. On the way you will see all these destinations and more. In the last two decades there has been massive development in this area of Yokohama and I see new buildings every time I pass through, for example several new upscale apartment houses and a brad new commercial center at the east end of Yokohama Station. Well, brand new for me at least! You also get a good view of the Japan Coast Guard ships anchored at harbor and the opportunity to spot a lot of other ships and boats coming into or out of the harbor. In winter this ride was pretty chilly but it is fantastic in summer!

Here is a visitor guide to all the tour boats in Yokohama harbor, and here is the official site of the Sea Bass.

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Yokohama – Minato Mirai Ferris Wheel

Posted in Places by tokyobling on January 18, 2014

The outermost edge of Yokohama city, towards the ocean, is known as Minato Moirai. Unlike Tokyo, Yokohama City makes as much use of their waterfront as possible and for the last 30 years the whole area has been under constant development with massive skyscrapers, piers, marinas, amusement parks, museum ships and observation towers, as well as the usual shopping centers. It seems like every year they finish a new part of the area. If you walk from the old Sakuragicho station area toward the harbor it is impossible to miss the giant Cosmo Clock 21, which until 1997 was the world’s tallest ferris wheel. Even though it has been heightened over the years it is still not the tallest in the world or even in Japan, even though its 60 cars bring passengers up to 112.5m height. At night the wheel lights up and functions as a clock, making it the largest clock in the world. It stands on the edge of Cosmo World, which is a comparatively small amusement park built right on the edge of the harbor.

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Yokohama Sakura

Posted in Nature, Places, Special.T by tokyobling on June 13, 2013

Better late than never – here are some photos from the gorgeous sakura season a couple of months ago, this time in Yokohama’s Minator Mirai area. I took these for the sakura tea campaign for the French Special.T brand, you can find more of my photos on their Pinterest page, along with several other photographers both Japanese and foreign. I think I have gotten hooked on getting photos of kids trying to catch or smell the flowers, I always manage to get one of those shots! Enjoy!

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Japan Coast Guard In Fog

Posted in Places by tokyobling on November 24, 2011

Here’s the proud PC-16, or Patrol Boat Suzutsuki of the Japan Coast Guard coming in to port in Yokohama earlier this month. A very foggy day, the name of this vessel actually means “clear moon”, 涼月 in Japanese. She is an old ship, having been around since 1950 she was one of the first of the newly restored Coast Guard after the war, but still serving her country. Interestingly her main mission is not stealth, or she wouldn’t have been equipped with a rolling text signage board and huge loudspeakers. I saw so many wrecked coast guard vessels after the big tsunami in March, it feels good to see the ships that survived working hard!