See a 1930 sail training ship set every sail, in the dry dock she was built beside
29 sails, 80 volunteers, 12 days a year
Nippon Maru, a cadet training ship launched in 1930 that trained about 11,500 cadets over 54 years, berthed in the preserved masonry Yokohama Dock No. 1. Both the ship and the 1898 dry dock she sits in are designated National Important Cultural Properties.
Why it's unique
Two separately designated Important Cultural Properties, one sitting inside the other: a 1930 sailing ship in a stone dry dock completed in 1898 that repaired ships until 1982.
The reason to plan around a date is sohantenpan, the full sail setting. It is not a staff demonstration. Twenty-nine sails are set by hand by about 80 trained volunteers drawn from a register of roughly 2,000, twelve times a year.
Before you go
Setting runs 10:30 to 12:00 and furling 14:30 to 16:00, and you cannot board during either. Onboard access is only 09:30 to 10:30, 12:00 to 14:30 and 16:00 to 17:00. Since watching from the dockside is free, the move is to watch the set from outside in the morning, pay to board over lunch, then come back out for the furl.
Bad weather can cancel the drill or cut it to partial sail, decided on the morning and posted on the official site. At low tide on any day you can see the stone walling and brick coursing at the dock head. The combined ticket with the Yokohama Port Museum is ¥100 for students on Saturdays.