NYK Hikawa Maru

The visitor route begins on the bridge level, where the wheelhouse, the ship's hydraulic steering-gear control device, and the surrounding deck give a sense of how the Hikawa Maru was actually sailed. The captain's office sits directly below the bridge, positioned there deliberately so the captain could respond quickly to any situation on deck.

A Deck holds the ship's strongest visual highlight: the first-class lounge, an elegant art deco interior once used for onboard receptions and dances, and the Deluxe Cabin, which still carries its original 1930s wallpaper. This cabin hosted some of the ship's most notable guests, including Charlie Chaplin during his 1932 world tour and Prince and Princess Chichibu. Personal, non-commercial photography is allowed throughout the ship, though tripods are not permitted, and this room is where most visitors take their best interior photos.

B Deck's first-class dining saloon spans the full width of the hull beneath a peaked ceiling, alongside an entrance lobby with history displays and a first-class nursery decorated with Japanese-themed ceiling paintings. The scale of the room gives a real sense of how first-class passengers dined during a multi-week Pacific crossing.

One of the most frequently mentioned highlights in visitor reviews, the engine room on C/D Deck houses the ship's original eight-cylinder diesel engines. Seeing the machinery up close is a strong contrast to the polished first-class interiors above, and it is a highlight for visitors with any interest in maritime engineering.

The Exhibition Room brings the ship's history together in one place, covering its 1930-1941 transpacific passenger service and its 1941-1945 years as a hospital ship. According to the ship's official history page, Hikawa Maru completed 73 pre-war Pacific voyages carrying about 10,000 passengers, then 24 wartime hospital-ship voyages carrying over 30,000 wounded and sick soldiers, for a lifetime total of 254 Pacific crossings and more than 25,000 passengers.

Worth noting honestly: the Exhibition Room's own onboard signage states different totals, 127 transpacific voyages and roughly 90,000 passengers and personnel carried, figures that have not been reconciled with the official history page and may reflect a different way of counting round trips or which voyages count as transpacific. This guide treats the official history page's numbers as the primary reference, since that page is purpose-built for historical accuracy.

The visitor route ends with a genuine contrast point: a third-class cabin fitted with eight bunk beds in a noticeably small space. Standing in this room after walking through the first-class lounge and Deluxe Cabin makes the difference between passenger classes on a 1930s ocean liner immediately visible in a way that text alone cannot convey.

Beyond the physical route, the ship's own history is one of its most distinctive draws. Converted into an Imperial Japanese Navy hospital ship on December 1, 1941, Hikawa Maru survived three separate mine strikes, in October 1942, July 1944, and February 1945, while completing wartime voyages that carried over 30,000 wounded and sick soldiers. Separately, in 1940 and 1941, the ship carried Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution to Canada and the United States, including the family of Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig in June 1941.

Outdoor deck areas with period deck chairs are part of the visitor route as well, offering a place to pause and take in the view across Yamashita Park and Yokohama Bay before finishing the visit.

The ship's exterior profile against Yamashita Park and the harbor is one of the most photographed sights on this stretch of Yokohama's waterfront, and it is freely visible from the park without paying for admission. Visitors who do pay to go inside get the added combination of the Deluxe Cabin's art deco interior, the bridge, and the engine room as photography subjects, always personal and non-commercial, since tripods are not permitted.

Because admission is so low, from ¥300, the downside of paying to go inside and finding the ship isn't quite your thing is minimal. Travelers who only want a photo of the ship's exterior can enjoy it for free from Yamashita Park's promenade, a legitimate and common choice; those with any interest in ship history, WWII history, or 1930s ocean-liner design get real added value from the paid interior route described above.