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The story
A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board titled “If you’re going to live in Yokohama, it has to be Kohoku or Aoba ward” drew a wave of reactions. Against voices backing Kohoku and Aoba — said to be home to many celebrities — came pushback arguing that the Den-en-toshi Line corridor is “not really Yokohama, just a Tokyo bedroom town,” along with a string of comments praising the convenience and natural environment of areas like the Sotetsu Line corridor, Isogo ward, and Seya ward. Some also pointed out that while Yokohama Station is a perennial fixture on “most desirable place to live” rankings, few people actually live there — sparking discussion about the gap between image and reality.
What people said
Naka and Minami wards feel like rough old downtown areas, and they're far from Tokyo anyway.
Kanagawa ward isn't a bad option either, but there's no reason for rich people to pick it.
The junior/senior high school is in Ishikawacho, but Ferris University itself is in Ryokuendai, Izumi ward.
They're fake Tokyoites riding the Den-en-toshi Line.
Quite the opposite of that "Red Scoundrel of Hama" image (a slangy local nickname, playing on flashy-but-hollow).
As proof, Konan and Kanazawa wards along that line are seeing sharp population decline.
That's just countryside.
Hurry up and fix Kenmin Hall already.
Nothing's moved there since right after the war — the only change was kicking out the food stalls.
The site of the former U.S. military Kami-Seya communications facility is hosting the 2027 International Horticultural Expo next year.
https://expo2027yokohama.or.jp/
Some people like that sterile, cookie-cutter feel, so I won't knock it.
The old post-station towns have all had redevelopment stall out thanks to landowners' egos, which is a shame — though it's not like any actual relics from the post-station era survive there either.
Still, they've got character. Hodogaya and Totsuka are great for just walking around.
But when they're actually heading to the area around Yokohama Station, they say "I'm going to Yokohama."
Sakuragicho seems better, since it has first trains of the morning.
Walk a little south and it's residential. There's plenty of housing within a 10-minute walk of Yokohama Station.
Yoshimuraya's flagship shop is about a 10-minute walk from Yokohama Station's west exit, near Yokohama Hiranuma High School.
Sugitaya, run by a disciple at the brand's founding location, is near Shin-Sugita Station.
Probably because of that drama "Chimudondon" or whatever it was.
Isogo has first trains of the morning, and last trains terminating there run pretty late, so it's super convenient.
The downside is there's no big shopping nearby, so you either bus to Kamiooka or take the Negishi Line into Yokohama.
I had this weird life where a red-light area was just part of my everyday surroundings.
On the opposite side, Miharudai has Kanto Gakuin Junior/Senior High and Kuboyama Crematorium — quite the contrast.
That's just because it's Koganecho.
They jacked the "Musako" nickname that used to belong exclusively to Musashi-Koyama, got full of themselves over it, and then it got rebranded "Un-Kosugi" (a pun working in "unko," meaning poop) once everyone found out it used to be a worthless former factory-and-marsh area.
Musashi-Kosugi is seriously a nice town, no joke. It's as urban as Kawasaki Station, and you can use both the Tokyu Toyoko Line and JR. I just personally have no reason to actually go there.
Background and key points of this debate
Kohoku and Aoba wards connect directly to Shibuya via the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line, making them convenient commuter areas with relatively high land prices — cementing their image as “Yokohama’s upscale residential districts.” But that line grew out of Tokyo-oriented housing development, giving it a different history from Yokohama’s old city center (Naka, Nishi wards, etc.), which is why some locals see it as “not really Yokohama” or “just a Tokyo bedroom town” — a divide that shows up clearly in the thread’s pushback. The backdrop also includes the fact that Yokohama has recently entered a period of population decline, with outlying wards expected to feel it more heavily. Also, Yokohama Station, a perennial fixture on “most desirable place to live” rankings, is primarily a commercial district — its residential areas are confined to a small walkable radius — so there’s a real gap between its ranking popularity and how many people actually live there. Worth noting too are the local details raised in the thread, such as how old Tokaido post-station towns like Hodogaya and Totsuka have struggled to redevelop due to landowners’ circumstances — details that help explain how Yokohama’s neighborhoods took shape.
※This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Apparently living in Yokohama only makes sense in “Kohoku” or “Aoba” ward.”
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