Meet the locomotive that ran Japan's first railway, at the station where it terminated
An 1872 locomotive, free to see
Sakuragicho is the site of the original Yokohama Station, the terminus of Japan's first railway from Shimbashi, opened on 14 October 1872 with the Meiji Emperor aboard. A free gallery in the station building holds a locomotive from that opening and a reconstructed carriage.
Why it's unique
Japan's railway began here. The original Yokohama Station stood on this site and was the terminus of the Shimbashi to Yokohama line, the country's first, opened in 1872.
The free gallery in CIAL Sakuragicho ANNEX holds a genuine Class 110 steam locomotive from that opening, with a reconstructed second-class carriage. You see the actual engine at the actual terminus, and hourly presentations re-stage a Meiji departure.
Before you go
Most visitors photograph the triangular Railway Birthplace monument outside the New South exit, which carries the original 1872 fares and timetable on its faces, and miss the museum thirty seconds away.
Go up the escalator to the second floor for the view down into the carriage; from ground level you can only peer through the windows. On event days you can board. The original survey marker stone is set into the ground outside, and a stone marking the stationmaster's office is embedded in the station's side wall.