Gardens, Chinatown, Even Baseball Fill Two Days in Yokohama

Day 20, 2024 Majestic Japan

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024; Yokohama, Japan

When I sent my cold weather clothes out for cleaning a few days ago, I requested they be returned folded so they could go straight into my suitcase. The Alaska temperatures in the 40s and 50s are a distant memory. Yokohama highs have been in the 90s, with humidity almost to match.

I braved the heat yesterday with friends Sharon and Alan to spend a wonderful morning at the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, a short ¥2,500 ($20) taxi ride from the cruise terminal. This 43-acre garden features 17 temples and other historic structures that were gathered from throughout Japan.

Much of it encircles a large pond, with a three-story pagoda built in 1457 sitting atop a hill. It offered several outstanding views competing for the best composition for a painting. The winner was the one from a shaded bench under a wooden arbor. Sharon and Alan are great touring companions, as they don’t mind waiting while I paint. We watched as a couple in traditional garb posed for photographs on a scenic footbridge.

While wandering the paths through the garden, we enjoyed refreshing shaved ices. On a cooler day, we would have explored further. I’ll look forward to returning here – ideally in the spring when the cherry trees are blooming or later in the autumn for the wild chrysanthemums and fall foliage.

Frequently when we stay overnight in a port, our evening entertainment in the World Theater is by local entertainers. Last night’s Esa and Lion Dance troupe provided an energetic program of drumming and dancing in a style common in Okinawa. Dancers dressed as Okinawa’s famous Shisa guardian lions moved throughout the audience. Outside, lights on a giant observation wheel joined the skyline.

This morning I followed a familiar route from my 2018 visit, admiring more decorative manhole covers and tiles set in the sidewalks.

Just a few blocks from the cruise terminal is Yokohama Stadium, home of the Yokohama BayStars professional baseball team. Had it been cooler, I would have been more jealous of my fellow cruise passengers who attended today’s game.

Instead, I enjoyed painting in the adjacent small park, where the modern stadium above contrasts with a stone lantern replica of one in Portland, Ore.

In 2018, I sketched the same lantern in my sketchbook.

Next, I walked over to Japan’s largest Chinatown, getting there along with the lunch crowds forming lines to order stuffed buns and dumplings, fruit on a stick and fiery fried chicken, among other treats. Nothing really tempted me, so after taking photos I continued on toward the park along the bay. Soft-serve ice cream hit the spot, but melted faster than I could eat it.

For years Yokohama’s Osanbashi cruise terminal has been the primary port for cruises calling on Tokyo. Ships reach it first and pay less for pilot services. And until recently Tokyo’s original cruise terminals were blocked by a bridge too low for today’s cruise ships to pass under.

On my world cruise earlier this year, our ship docked at the new Tokyo cruise terminal, so we took advantage to our proximity to tour the city and the Yanaka district to its north. From the Yokohama pier, it takes about an hour by bus or train (with connections) to reach Tokyo’s tourist attractions, and many passengers on this cruise opted to spend a day or two in Tokyo, as I did on my first cruise to Japan.