Located
south of Tokyo city, Yokohama is also considered a major commercial hub in
Kanto region. Since it lies on Tokyo Bay, the city is also one of the major
ports in Japan. That said, we took the opportunity to visit the Hikawa Maru, an
Ocean Liner that once played a vital role in transatlantic voyages in the 1930s
and is now anchored at Yokohama as a musuem.
Hikawa
Maru is the first baby of NYK Line, a Japanese maritime company now ever
present in moving goods around the world. The ship has been retired from sailing and is now offering a walking tour for the publis to see the workings of an Ocean Liner of the olden times. It’s located
across the Yamashita Park and is of walking distance from the Yokohama
Chinatown.
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| The park; the Bayside, and Chinatown's entrance |
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| Hikawa Maru |
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| Souvenir couple shot |
Inside the ship's receiving area, an AVP is being played for the guests to learn about Hikawa Maru's history. I wanted to watch this being the documentary junkie that I am but the boys got bored so we proceeded to roam around. One of the first areas that we saw were the dining hall and guest cabins which appeared to be too cramped for my liking. I guess it is really not fair to compare this vessel to the megacarriers we have nowadays since liners from decades back were way smaller. Anyway, the mess hall exude this classic charm through the wooden furniture and dusky color palette while the cabins looked so vintage.
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| Dining Hall and Guest Cabins |
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| Mirror Shot |
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| At the dining hall |
Making our way to the upper locations, we stumbled upon this staircase which reminded us of Titanic's grand staircase. Haha.
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| By the staircase |
We continued to follow the marked path and were eventually led to the ship's deck. From this area, you can enjoy a good view of Yamashita Park and Minato-Mirai, Yokohama's city center.
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| View from the deck |
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| Minato-Mirai area |
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| By the deck |
Some areas were restricted to the guests including the bow (front-most part of the ship) and the exact area where the mast stood high. Good thing the deck also gives a good view to such zones.
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| The Bow and Mast |
Located also in the deck are access points to the upper deck, the captain's office, and most interestingly, the steering room. We found it real cool to see actual levers and controllers for a huge vessel such as that. The boys goofed around while we were there and ensured that they have solo shots with those cool machines.
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| Lazy pose |
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| Archie in character |
Lounging chairs were lined up along the deck and provided a window for
us to rest our aching feet.
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| Resting |
Little did we know that after the deck is already the way out (via passing through the basement and engines area) and so upon reaching the disembarkation point, we had our last snaps with Hikawa Maru.
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| Tourist pose |
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| OFW pose. Hehe. :) |
All in all it was a good experience visiting a ship museum since the displays and exhibits are far from the typical art museums. It was a first for the three of us and I believe we enjoyed it.
Read the rest of the Turning Japanese
Series here:
Part
7 - Shinjuku and Shibuya
'Til the next one,
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