Yokohama Port Museum

Situated in front of Landmark Tower of Yokohama’s Minato Mirai 21 District the Yokohama Port Museum’s star attraction the sail training ship Nippon Maru’s sails tower above the museum.

The waterfront district of Minato Mirai 21 was in fact a busy port until it was converted into a park in 1985. A few years later the now remodeled Port Museum was opened as the Yokohama Maritime Museum to complement the sailing ship that now calls the park home.

The Port Museum is made up of two zones known as the Port of Yokohama history zone and the Port of Yokohama rediscover zone. These zones looks back at the 150 year history of the port and the roles the port plays. The museum is housed in a semi-circular building across two levels that also houses a library, a special exhibition room, a cafe and a gift shop. The museum is situated along side the Nippon Maru ship on a small peninsular known as Nippon Maru Park that is scattered with various monuments to Yokohama’s nautical past.

The NIPPON MARU was built in 1930 as a Sail Training Ship as a training ship for cadets. Over 11,500 cadets have trained on the ship over her 54 years of service until she was retired in 1984 and given to Yokohama as an attraction for Minato Mirai. While she is no longer training people at sea her new role helps plenty of Japanese school groups learn about her and the ports history.

The Yokohama Port Museum is a 5 minute walk from Sakuragi-cho Station on the JR Negishi Line or the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line or a  5 minute walk from Minato Mirai Station on the Minatomirai Line. Admission to both the Yokohama Port Museum and Nippon Maru is 600yen for Adults while junior high school students and seniors65 years & over are 300yen