Yamate Italian Garden in Yokohama

 The Yamate Italian Garden is a beautiful little spot on the outskirts of the main sightseeing area of Yokohama.

Per the Yokohama "Things to do" website: Yamate Italian Garden is a beautiful park with a fountain, stone pavements and flowerbeds, having a surface area of approximately 13,000 square meters. The name derives from the fact that the Italian consulate was located here during the Meiji period. One can view the verdant Yamate area from the lookout on the hill. Two western houses, the Diplomat's House and the Bluff 18 Ban-Kan have been rebuilt. The website also has a map to show one how to get there.

As far as I can tell the Italian Garden can be approached from 4 different directions. If one is so inclined the shortest but hardest way to get there is up these 105 steps (yes, I counted them).

Once you arrive at the Garden this house is the first thing you'll see.

In front of the house is a pleasant little rose garden.

When you go behind the house... wow! You're in for a big surprise. 

There's a beautiful fountain.

And, a lovely and well manicured garden.

From here you can see the back of the house which is much more picturesque than the front.

The Garden is high up on a bluff with an excellent view of Yokohama city. On a clear day one can also see Mt. Fuji from here.

This is another website for the Yamate Italian Garden

And, there's more!

These steps lead to another house and a special lookout point.

This place is so big it even has a tree lined avenue.

This is the lookout point. In the distance one can see the Marine Tower and the Bay Bridge.

I like the Italian Garden so much I came back a couple days later with a extra-wide angle lens to get these pictures.

BTW, it's free to walk around the garden.

On this day gardeners were at work trimming the hedges.

Another beautiful fountain.

The front of the second house complete with Halloween decorations.

For some reason the Japanese people have really embraced Halloween.

After leaving the Italian Garden there are other sights to see in Yamate. All of them within walking distance of the Italian Garden.

Yokohama Sacred Heart Cathedral

Berrick Hall

Ehrismann Residence

Bluff No. 234 Residence

Yokohama Christ Church

On the left: Yamate Jyubankan

Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery; yes, it's a sightseeing spot with a very interesting history.

There is also Yamate Park (not shown) that is the birth place of Tennis in Japan. And, there is the marvelous Harbor View park, also not shown.

After visiting the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery it's only a short walk down a hill to get to the Motomachi Shopping street and from there one can easily walk to Chinatown! By this time you should be very hungry and Chinatown has over 200 restaurants to choose from for an excellent meal. 

After eating in Chinatown it's a short walk to Yamashita park where one can sit on a park bench and think about all the wonderful places they just visited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots!