Noge / Miyakobashi
Across the river from the station where Japan’s first railway arrived, a town of slopes.
A long two-story building that keeps the memory of the street-stall years, and small bars that light up night after night.
A town where you find your own places, one at a time.
From Street Stalls to a Town of DrinkersNoge
In 1872 (Meiji 5), Japan’s first railway opened between Shimbashi and Yokohama. That first Yokohama Station is today’s Sakuragicho Station. In the Old Yokohama Station Gallery, on the ground floor of the commercial building next to the station, stands a steam locomotive imported from Britain around the time the line opened. Across the Ooka River from Sakuragicho, on rising ground, lies Noge.
In November of the year the war ended, the Yokohama Market, a gathering of street stalls, opened along Noge’s streets, and Noge became the largest street-stall district in Yokohama. To give those stalls a home, the Noge Miyakobashi Shopping Street Building went up along the Ooka River in 1964 (Showa 39). About 90 meters long and two stories high, it bends gently with the flow of the river; it was also the building that finally settled the question of the street stalls, left unresolved through the years of postwar reconstruction. In 2016 it became the first postwar building to be registered as a historic building by the City of Yokohama. Small shops still sit shoulder to shoulder inside, and it is known as a filming location for Abunai Deka, the Yokohama police-drama franchise.
Noge, which calls itself a town of nonbe, cheerful drinkers, is also a town of street performance. Noge Daidogei, the street-performance festival begun in 1986 at the call of local shopkeepers to bring new life to the area, still takes the town itself as its stage. Nogeyama Zoo, at the top of the hill, is free to enter.
Our Suggestion
Don’t fill up in one place.
The pleasure of Noge and Miyakobashi lies in going from place to place. At the first, a drink or two and a few small plates. Just when you would like a little more, hold back and move on to the next. Exchange a few words with the owner across the counter, and take quiet note of the dish the person beside you ordered. Somewhere around the third place, you come upon one that makes you think, “I’ll be back.”
A favorite is not found in a single night. With each visit, you add one more. That, too, is a way of enjoying this town.
*This is the Executive Committee’s suggestion for enjoying the area. Many of the places are small; when it is crowded, don’t linger too long, and make room for others, so that everyone has a pleasant evening.
Where the Stories Were FilmedOn Location
Our Suggestion
Walk Mike Hama’s Yokohama, starting at dusk.
Yokohama Nichigeki, a real cinema that once stood in Koganecho, was where Mike kept his office in The Private Detective Mike (Shiritsu Tantei Hama Maiku). Much missed, it was demolished in 2007 (from “Yokohama Shining on the Screen” on the City of Yokohama’s official tourism site).
The building is gone. Yet if you set out from Koganecho along the Ooka River at dusk, there are moments when the damp air of those stories suddenly returns. Follow the river to Miyakobashi, and end the evening with a drink in Noge. An hour when the Yokohama on the screen and the Yokohama of today overlap.
The same article also touches on “the darkness of Koganecho” and “the brightness of Isezakicho” as they appear in Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963).
*This route is the Executive Committee’s suggestion. We mention only filming locations made public in articles and location guides on the City of Yokohama’s official tourism site.
PlayPlay
The pool halls are clustered in Kannai and Isezakicho, a short walk from Noge. To the Kannai & Isezakicho page →
Eat & DrinkEat & Drink
The flagship of the craft brewery with the longest history in the city of Yokohama. On the second floor is the restaurant UMAYA; on the ground floor, a beer stand with its own brewery. Its Alt won silver in the German-Style Altbier category at the World Beer Cup 2024. In Sumiyoshicho, Naka Ward, a 5-minute walk from JR Sakuragicho Station or Bashamichi Station on the Minatomirai Line. A fine first stop for an evening of hashigo-zake, bar-hopping.
Long-loved local places (we accept no fees for these listings)
A yoshoku (Japanese-style Western) restaurant that opened in Noge in 1946 (Showa 21), shortly after the war. Known for its thick-noodle Napolitan and its signature omelet rice.
Official websiteWhere to StayStay
On the official website of the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau, you can narrow your search to the Kannai, Bashamichi and Isezakicho area. BASEGATE Yokohama Kannai also has a hotel in the old City Hall building: OMO7 Yokohama by Hoshino Resorts.
Nearby AreasNearby
Sources (Japanese-language documents; checked October 1, 2026)
- JR東日本「桜木町駅と旧横ギャラリー」
- 横浜市中区『中区史』（1985年）関内・関外・野毛の章
- 横浜市都市整備局『横濱新聞』第33号（2017年）
- 文化庁「野毛都橋商店街ビル」
- 横浜市観光情報サイト「桜木町・野毛」
- 野毛大道芸 公式サイト
- 神奈川県観光協会「野毛」
- 横浜市観光情報サイト「あぶない刑事」ロケ地
- 横浜市観光情報サイト「スクリーンに輝く横浜」
- 横浜ビール「本店レストラン」「横浜ビールとは」
- センターグリル 公式サイト
- 横浜市観光情報サイト「横浜市内のホテル情報・ツアー予約」
Travel times, prices and opening hours may change. Please check each official website before you go.