I think the best way to do a one-day trip in Yokohama is to get a “Minato Burari Ticket” and use it for the Akai-kutsu bus. You can save both time and money.
The C-route covers … “the Minato Mirai 21 area, Chinatown, and Yamashita Park, and Minato-no-mieru-oka Park. The ‘Minato Burari Ticket’ (500 yen for adults, 250 yen for children) offers you unlimited rides on the subway (Blue Line) and buses to visit areas near the port where popular tourist sites are concentrated.” You can buy the ticket at subway (Blue Line) stations, hotels, and the Tourist Information Center at Sakuragi-cho Station.
The Akaikutsu Bus is tiny and red. You might imagine a red shoe when you see it. Yes, that’s true! It is designed as a red shoe, or akai kutsu in Japanese. There is a sad song about it: A little Japanese girl who wore red shoes had to leave Japan. She went somewhere far away over the sea with a foreigner, departing by ship from a dock in Yokohama. A memorial statue of the girl with red shoes can be seen in Yamashita Park.
Below, I have listed up some of the best places along the Akai-Kutsu bus route! They are listed in the order of the bus stops after leaving Sakuragi-cho Station. And below each, there are links to in-depth articles about the locations mentioned!
Sakuragi-cho Station Bus Stop
World Porters Bus Stop
Chinatown Bus Stop
Motomachi Bus Stop
Minato-no-mieru-oka Koen Bus Stop
Marine Tower Bus Stop
Yamashita Park Bus Stop
Osanbashi Passenger Terminal Bus Stop
Basha-michi Bus Stop
Don’t forget that the one-day pass is also good for the subway (Blue Line), which has stops at Yokohama, Sakuragicho, and Kannai—all very interesting places with lots to do. But if you don’t want to pay 500 yen for the one-day pass, you can take the Akaikutsu Bus for only 100 yen each time!
When you catch this cute bus someday in the future and you see a woman walking on the street waving to you, please wave back. That’s me!
