What's in Kanagawa?
 

I'll be staying in Yokohama for a week. Aside from the usual Kamakura, Yokohama, Enoshima and Hakone, what else is there to see?

My number one reason to visit Kanagawa is the beautiful Nihon Minka En.

The Nihon Minka En hosts some very vibrant communities who are keen to preserve and share the love they have for their interests.
Their presence is ongoing, but they do expand their activities on certain days.
List of some of these is here
Demonstration of making folk crafts (April ? July) | Activities | Japan Open Air Folk House Museum NIHON MINKA-EN
Aha - this is out of date. And I couldn’t see one for 2019 in the Japanese pages either. http://www.nihonminkaen.jp/archives/1004/

Concerts are rare, but when they happen they are very special indeed.
This event is happening 23-24th March (2019)
http://english.nihonminkaen.jp/archives/2367/
Seems to be a mini matsuri

Here’s a photo of LapGirl with the delightful Straw craft enthusiasts, double whammy for me as it helped bring to life many of the folk tales we’ve brought her up with.

That's actually a lot. Hakone alone is a full day. The Nihon Minka-en, which Lap Lap mentioned, is in a corner of Kawasaki near the border with Tokyo.

If you're willing to step outside the boundaries of Kanagawa-ken, you can take the train to Atami and then transfer to a local to visit Shimoda, at the tip of the Izu Peninsula, to see one of the first treaty ports after Japan was opened.

Another full-day trip would be the Fuji Five Lakes area. Take the Yokohama Line to Hachioji, transfer to the westbound Chuo Line, stay on it till Otsuki, and then transfer to the private Fujikyu Line for Kawaguchi-ko.

All in all, though, my opinion of Yokohama is reflected in what another American said about it, "It's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there."

I've never been here but I'm interested in checking this out Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji Temple

Also the end of Keikyu station has nice beaches

Also.....YokohamaHakkeijima Seaparadise | ????????????? - YOKOHAMA HAKKEIJIMA SEA PARADISE

Went last year, planning to return,
https://www.haneda-tokyo-access.com/...gro/index.html
LapGirl viewing the wild fish from the Niziiro Sakana Go - this is covered by the ticket.

+1

Kanagawa has always been my favorite prefecture in Kanto, if not all of Jpn.
First-time visitor to Jpn will probably want to stay in Tokyo but, over time, it wouldn't surprise me if Kanagawa comes to grow on you. It's got Shonan's sunny beaches, Hakone and onsens, Minatomirai, Chinatown, Kawasaki which is a very multi-faceted and underrated town, and many great chic urban developments where I find it to be much more relaxing to hang out in and get all the shopping done at than in Tokyo.

But you drive. And I’m pretty sure that plays a big part in how you view Kawasaki/Kanagawa and how you and your family make the most of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very fond of Kanagawa, but my view is that it is easier as somewhere to get to than as a base for anyone dependent on public transport.

I pretty much never drive in Tokyo/Kanto. I take trains everywhere (limo bus to/from HND).

I was commenting more about Kanagawa's virtues in general rather than its feasibility as a base for Tokyo visitors. Nonetheless, it's worked well for me as my base over many years... Kawasaki and Yokohama stations are convenient, but the best is Musashi Kosugi which has all the shopping you need and fast trains going in every which direction. It's a cinch to get to Shinjuku, Tokyo, both airports, Tachikawa, even Saitama. Far more convenient for me than Shinbashi/Shiodome which is another area I stay a lot at.

Apologies, evergrn. I took “we usually drive anyways” to mean “we usually drive”.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26129763-post7.html

No worries.
I have family in/near Tokyo. When I go driving with them, I just sit. In urban areas of Tokyo, Kanazawa and Saitama, I'm taking the train 95% of the time.

What's the best beach there? I too, will go there and yet another beach area popped up on my radar, Isshiki Beach.

Don't forget that Tokyo is within pretty easy reach of Yokohama Station, if that's near where you'll be staying. For example Shinagawa is about 17 minutes away and Tokyo Station 24 minutes, while Nihon Minka-en is almost an hour away and Hakone is an hour and twenty minutes away.

I've posted this in another thread before but there is an Mitsubishi MRJ simulator among other things in this museum in Yokohama

https://www.mhi.com/expertise/museum/minatomirai/

That was on my list to hit. It has a few rides and looks to be a small scale Sea World.

To each his/her own, but I personally didn't think much of it.
There wasn't much interesting to see. Went there primarily for the kids, but even the kids seemed a bit bored and what they liked more than anything was the little additional-fee play area at the top which has nothing to do with noodles.

I'm glad you said this. I may skip it. I plan on the Ramen Museum near Shin-Yoko Station then moving over to Cosmo, Chinatown, Landmark Tower. Maybe no CupNoodles.

Personally I would skip Cup Noodles Museum, although that is just my opinion.
Ramen Museum might be worthwhile, but it's a bit out of the way.

I would start at Sakuragicho Station (esp if coming from Shin-Yokohama), taking the people mover / skywalk into Landmark Tower, checking out the mall there and walking down through the adjoining Queen Square, exiting out to the street by McDonald's, heading over to Cosmo (ferris wheel's probably the only thing worthwhile for you), then walking through World Porters, then over to Red Brick Building complex, then along the seaside promenade to Yamashita Park, then explore Chinatown.

I stayed in the Royal Park in the Landmark Tower. I had an amazing room on the 67th floor. The shower had a porthole. My view was toward land. Every night at sunset and every morning I was there, Mt Fuji would make an appearance. I stayed there for 2 nights and felt that was enough time to really enjoy that part of Yokohama. I didn't have any kids with me and I was pretty wore out from a week in Tokyo, so it wasn't a very action packed couple of days.

The Cup o Noodle museum was closed when I was there, but I did roam around World Porters, the Red Brick Building complex. I also enjoyed the park at the end of Minatormirai past the Intercontinental (Rinko Park and the Fruit Tree sculpture). I was going to take a water taxi/harbor tour, but decided against it as the water was pretty rough that day.

The new cruise ship terminal (Osanbashi) was very cool to me. Its a wonderful design and you can walk up on the roof of the terminal. If there are cruise ships docked, you get a close up look at them. If there are not any, you get a clearer view of the Harbor and the Bay. I think kids would love roaming around the top of the Pier buildings as well, its all wood planking like the deck of a ship. Then a nice stroll through Yamashita Park.

I found Chinatown more fun to explore at night with the neon and the latern lights all lit up. The narrow streets and fun places to get little sweets and little snacks.

I didn't venture very much further. I took transit back to the Landmark Tower from near the end of Yamashita Park inland from the Doll Museum (which I did not go into).

In the building across the street from Cup Noodles (not World Porter, across the other street), there is an urban onsen where you can spend an hour or two. It even has a foot bath river on the roof.

If you're a fan of Hawaiian food, the only branch of Leonard's Malasadas outside of Oahu is in the World Porters mall.

I wanted Ramen > Chinatown > Cosmo > Landmark (dusk to night view). I like the tall structures to get both views (day/night), especially Landmark with a view of the lights from Cosmo.

Edit; Ramen just looks like a short train ride.
My itinerary looks like it'll have Abeno Harukas, Umeda Sky Building (both day), Skytree (day/night), Landmark Tower (day/night), and maybe Tokyo Tower (not too pressed).

Noted: evergrn said to do Chinatown at night. I may have to switch. I can always hit Landmark Tower before leaving back to home base.

It's a bit distant from downtown Yokohama, but Sankeien is a lovely Japanese garden in the Honmoku area.

https://www.sankeien.or.jp/en-about/index.html

On weekends and holidays there is a bus that goes straight there from Yokohama station in 45 minutes.