Nippon Maru in Minatomirai

"And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
- John Masefield, "Sea Fever"

Nippon Maru (literally "Japan Ship") is a sailing ship built in Kobe in 1930 to train sailors entering the merchant marine.  Sadly, many of the cadets it trained were killed in World War II.  In 1984, Nippon Maru was retired, declared a museum ship, and docked in the port city of Yokohama.  Over the past thirty years, the modern neighborhood of Minatomirai has sprung up with its Ferris wheel and skyscrapers, but Nippon Maru remains a symbol of Yokohama and of Japan's maritime history.