Play on the ground where tennis entered Japan
Book a court on Japan's first
Six public omni courts in Yamate Park, on the ground where lawn tennis was first played in Japan in 1876 and the country's first courts were built in 1878. The free Tennis Birthplace Memorial Museum stands beside them.
Why it's unique
Tennis entered Japan on this ground. It was first played at Yamate Park in 1876, two years after the game was codified in England, the first courts in Japan were built here in 1878, and the Ladies' Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club of the same year was the country's first tennis club.
The point is that you can play. The courts are public and bookable, so rather than looking at a plaque about the first game you can hit a ball on the ground where it happened.
Before you go
Courts are booked through the Yokohama city facility reservation system at 2,200 yen per court per two hours; check in at the management centre on the day.
You cannot try period wooden rackets or costume here, whatever you may have read: the century-old rackets are no-touch exhibits. The best object in the museum is a Meiji woodblock print of foreign women playing on this ground, shown as both the original print and a stained-glass reproduction. The museum takes about twenty minutes.