Yokohama is where modern Japan met the outside world. After the arrival of Commodore Perry's black ships in 1853 and the treaty signed here the following year, the little fishing village of Yokohama was chosen as a treaty port, and when it opened in 1859 foreigners settled on the Bluff and traders built warehouses along the waterfront. Today it is Japan's second-largest city, with more than three and a half million people, and the old brick warehouses by the harbour, now shops and restaurants, stand next to the high towers of Minato Mirai.
At sea level, this is the flattest of starts, and the stop is mostly about logistics. Fuel stations are everywhere, many open around the clock, and the roads are wide and well signed. It is also worth knowing that Yokohama has a number of expressways that carry traffic across the bay and around the port, among them the Bay Bridge, a double-deck structure completed in 1989, with a viewing parking area at Daikoku, where motorbikes and cars gather on weekend evenings. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and you will see all kinds of machines.
Food in Yokohama is an experience of its own. Chinatown, the biggest in Japan, has hundreds of restaurants, many offering steamed buns, noodles and dim sum, and it is lively until late in the evening. Ramen is another local obsession, and the district around Shin-Yokohama has a museum devoted to it with a recreated street from the 1950s. Seafood from the bay and the nearby Miura peninsula is fresh and varied, and a morning at one of the fish markets can be fun.
The ride from here goes south toward Kamakura and the Miura peninsula, a lovely stretch of coast with views of Fuji on clear days. Be ready for traffic on weekends, when day-trippers fill the roads, and take care at the many tolls and junctions. The air has a salt tang, the breeze is steady, and the quiet hours before dawn are the best for riding. In summer the humidity can be heavy and typhoons can bring strong winds and rain in early autumn. Parking for motorbikes in the central district is limited, so look for designated areas, and remember that illegal parking is quickly ticketed.