Sankeien & Yamate — A Classic Japanese Garden, a Hill of Western Houses, and Old Yokohama

A Japanese garden of about 17.5 hectares, created by the businessman Hara Tomitaro (Sankei). The highlight is the three-story wooden pagoda from Tomyoji temple, brought here from Kyoto (built in 1457) and set prominently on a rise above the pond. Across the grounds are 17 historic buildings relocated from all over Japan, including Rinshunkaku, an Important Cultural Property. A loop around the pond takes a comfortable 1–2 hours.

The hill foreigners called "the Bluff" is the district where overseas residents settled from the late 19th into the early 20th century. Today several Western-style timber houses are still open to walk through, such as Berrick Hall, the largest residence in the area (built in 1930 in Spanish style), and the Diplomat's House of the diplomat Sadatsuchi Uchida (built in 1910 in Victorian style). Going from one to the next feels like stepping back in time.

A public park on a rise of about 35 metres, named for the view over Yokohama Bay and the Yokohama Bay Bridge you get from here. Inside is the "English Rose Garden", one of Japan's well-known rose gardens, and nearby sits an Italian-style garden with Bluff No.18. It's the best place to start a Yamate walk, since you can head downhill from here to the Western houses and on to Motomachi.

On the Yamate hill stands an old cemetery with a history reaching back to 1854, designated as a burial ground for foreign residents in 1861. Today it holds around 4,200 graves of people from many nations who once settled in this port city. Part of it is open to visitors, with a small museum beside the entrance — a quiet spot that tells the story of the open-port era well.

A shopping street of about 500 metres running parallel to the Nakamura River. It once served Yokohama's first foreign residents and was where many goods first entered Japan. These days it's full of long-established boutiques, local brands, bakeries, and retro-feel cafés — and it picks up right where the Yamate hill leaves off as you walk down.

What sets Sankeien apart from an ordinary garden is the genuine old buildings relocated here from Kyoto, Kamakura, and elsewhere — 17 in all, 10 of them Important Cultural Properties. The highlights are the three-story Tomyoji pagoda (from Kyoto) and Rinshunkaku, a sukiya-style building linked to the Kishu branch of the Tokugawa family. Walking through it feels like an open-air museum of architecture.