I am in the early stages of planning a 20-day trip in September-October. One of my must-sees is the *Mikasa* in Yokosuka.
I know it’s entombed in concrete but it doesn’t matter, it’s the last of its pre-dreadnought kind and I’m (somewhat morbidly) fascinated with the Tsushima battle. It would be amazing to tour it, but if it’s closed to be it, I’d be happy to just see it in person up close and take pictures of my own.
That said, Yokosuka seems a bit out of the way as far as my itinerary goes. The general order of things will be Tokyo+Yokohama – Hakone – Kyoto – Osaka – back to Tokyo (I know it’s recommended to fly back from Osaka but I could not find any flights that worked for me time- or price-wise). Just looking at the map, it seems that I could potentially combine Yokohama and Yokosuka visit. My plans for Yokohama are: the Landmark Tower Sky Garden, the Gundam factory, possibly the HARA model railway museum. Could I make a day trip of it and still make it down to Yokosuka and not be completely wiped out? Or should I set Yokosuka aside for its own day, in which case, what else is interesting nearby besides the ironclad?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
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I think you could do most (if not all) of your Yokohama + a Yokosuka visit in the same day if you get up early enough. If not, Yokosuka is a cool place to walk around for a lil while, and you could make a day trip out of Yokosuka + Kamakura
Frankly, because the Battleship Mikasa Museum has the earliest opening time, I would start with Yokosuka and then move on to Yokohama.
I would not set it a side as a day by it self, I was able to go from Kawasaki to Yokosuka in about 45 mins by train. The ship i think was maybe about an hour to an hour and a half, to walk around and that did include the inside. The longest but still enjoyable part is walking to Verny park to get on the Yokosuka line.
If you’re interested in the Japanese navy, there’s a battleship Yamato museum in Kure, and directly opposite is an SDF submarine that you can walk through, Kure is a short train ride from Hiroshima and it’s where the Yamato was built
If even remotely interested in Japanese naval stuff (as you already said you are), I do think the Mikasa is worth the trip, even if you can’t walk onboard. I was stationed at Yokosuka for a couple years before I finally visited it (a friend of mine re-enlisted on the Mikasa’s deck), and I couldn’t believe I let myself almost not check it out. I enjoyed it and that nearby park a lot after that.
Yokosuka truly is a short train trip away from Yokohama, but trying to squeeze it into your day in Yokohama might be tight, considering the potential to get sidetracked and the likelihood you’ll feel pressed for time (though I could be projecting the way I always felt when trying to tour around that city. There’s just never enough time!)
I think I’d recommend breaking the combo of Yokohama and Yokosuka into a two-day experience, which should give you more than enough time to enjoy all the things you mentioned, and maybe find another thing or two to attend in Yokohama to round out the two days. Alternatively, Yokosuka+Kamakura is a solid idea as well (to echo another commenter). The Kotoku-in temple and giant Buddha there, walking the streets around it, after a couple hours at the Mikasa, would make for a relaxing day-trip.
Three things in Yokohama and a fourth thing in Yokosuka is a lot for one day.I don’t think it’s impossible, but you’re definitely getting into “feeling wiped out” territory trying to fit it all into a single day.
As an aside, Mikasa is not an ironclad, it’s an all-metal build with Krupp cemented armor.
Very historic for Japan, and worth a visit. Yokosuka also has a JSDF naval base and US Navy base where you can do some ship-spotting of submarines and frigates, others.
my retarded weeb ass was thinking about a huge ironclad statue of Mikasa Ackerman or something like that lol
I’m a military history nerd and visited the Mikasa in 2019. It was a huge disappointment.
The key thing to know is that the ship was converted to little more than a metal shed under the terms of the peace treaty in 1945, with its armament being scrapped and remnants of its engines removed. It was badly restored 20-30 years later.
As a result, there’s not much to actually see there, as the ‘guns’ are simply metal pipes and the interior of the ship mainly comprises poorly executed museum spaces. The museum displays include nationalist slants to Japanese history – a false claim that Russia started the Russian-Japanese war, for instance.
I’ve also been the the Yamato Museum in Kure, which is much better. The nearby JMSDF museum is meant to be good.
Visiting Yokosuka is actually pretty easy from Tokyo – I did it as part of a day trip to Kamakura, as Yokosuka and Kamakura are linked by rail.
Just finished a 4 month work trip in Yokosuka. As someone else said getting to Yokosuka from Yokohama is super easy. You just take the Keikyu line from Yokohama to Yokosuka-Chuo. It is a 45 minute train ride station to station and about a 20 minute walk from chuo to Mikasa park. I’d stay in Yokohama and leave early and catch Mikasa as soon as it opened, then go back to Yokohama. A combined Kamakura+Yokosuka trip is another excellent idea. Kamakura is one of my favorite places I’ve stayed in Japan.
If you do end up going to Yokosuka, there is a curry udon place near the station that is amazing. Highly recommend getting lunch there.
Also Yokohama Chinatown is definitely worth seeing.
Lots of stuff to do Mikasa from spotting current JNSDF vessels (or visiting American ones), check the little museum and the gift shops in town are kinda fun, you can buy the curry from each Japanese navy ship. As said above it’s good combined with Yokohama or Kamakura
You could easily see it as part of your day around Tokyo. It should only be a train ride to and from
Yokosuka-chuo is 29 minutes from Yokohama station by the limited express, then a 10 minute walk to Mikasa park. It’s definitely doable, as someone said above I would start early in Yokosuka then go back to Yokohama. You can also take a harbor boat tour which goes around the Japanese and US Navy bases. It leaves from Verny Park which is about a 15 minute walk from the Mikasa.