paulbel

Hi. I am a Yokohama native, so I am happy to help you. Probably the easiest and most economical way is to walk from the pier to the "Nihon Odori" Station of the Minato Mirai Line, which is about a seven-minute walk from the pier. The path to the station is very clearly marked, but if you ever get lost, just grab someone on the street, and say slowly, "Where? Train? Nihon Odori Station?"

 

When you are on a Minato Mirai Line train, you have several options to go to Tokyo. You can stay on it (a train for Shibuya) until the end of the line, and you will be in one of the busiest and hippest areas of Tokyo (about 40 minutes' ride). Or you can transfer at Yokohama Station, which is the fourth stop from Nihon Odori, onto a JR Tokaido Line that takes you to Tokyo Station (about 25 minutes). You will be one short stop away from Yurakucho, which gets you into Ginza.

 

The bullet train is actually a tougher option. The Shin-Yokohama Station where the bullet trains pass through is about 25 minutes away from Nihon Odori of Minato Mirai Line, and you would have to make two transfers to get there. In addition, the segment between Shin-Yokohama and Tokyo is actually the slowest-running part of that bullet train line. In other words, you would not experience what the bullet train is most famous for (speed) by taking it from Shin-Yokohama to Tokyo.

 

If you have a particular part of Tokyo that you would like to visit, please let me know. I will give you the exact routing accordingly.

We are disembarking in Yokohama and headed to an airbnb in Shinjuku - nishiwaseda - We will have all our luggage with us. What is it like taking luggage onto the Minato Mirai line? And in Yokohama Station if we transfer to the Tokyu-Toyoko line what is that like with a lot of luggage? Taxis seem quite expensive.

We will be arriving in Japan on the Celebrity Millennium. We know that visitors from the US and Canada don't need visitor visas, but we assume we will go through Japan immigration or passport control at some point before disembarking. The Millennium docks at at Otaru and Hakadate in Hokkaido before it's final disembarking in Yokohama. We're wondering where the passports will be stamped (we assume we will need those stamps to buy rail passes and SIM Cards.

Anyone who can walk us newbies through the process will earn undying gratitude.