How do I get from the airport to Yokohama?

Haneda is the airport you want, and the Keikyu Airport Line is the train to take. The red trains leave from under Terminal 3 and Terminal 1·2, and the ride to Yokohama Station takes 25 to 30 minutes. Check the destination before you board, because not every train goes to Yokohama: take one marked for Yokohama, Zushi·Hayama or Uraga, as a train signed for Shinagawa or Asakusa takes you north into Tokyo instead. Some services need a change across the platform at Keikyu Kamata, and the staff in blue caps there will point you to the right side. Tap a Suica or PASMO card at the gate, or buy a paper ticket from the machines, which have an English button. On weekday mornings before 9am the carriages are packed with commuters, and a large suitcase will get you some stares.

The Airport Limousine bus is the better choice if you have two bags or have come off a 12-hour flight: it stops at YCAT, the Yokohama City Air Terminal next to the Sogo department store at the east exit of Yokohama Station, and staff load your bags into the hold. The seats are padded, the cabin is quiet, and the bus runs along the Bayshore Route past the container cranes at Daikoku Pier, with services leaving every 10 to 20 minutes for most of the day. Taxis from the Haneda rank use the meter and are honest, but a ride to Minato Mirai usually costs about ¥8,000 to ¥10,000 once expressway tolls are added, about twenty times the train fare. Take a taxi if three or four of you are arriving near midnight, because by then the last direct Keikyu trains to Yokohama have left and the buses are running less often.

Narita is a harder place to land. The Narita Express (N'EX) runs direct to Yokohama Station every 30 to 60 minutes, with the trip taking about 90 minutes and the ¥4,370 fare working out to about $27.73. Every seat is reserved, so buy your ticket at the JR East counter on the basement level of arrivals before you go down to the platform, and check the departure board before joining the queue, since a missed N'EX means waiting up to an hour for the next one. The Limousine bus from Narita to YCAT costs about ¥3,700 and takes 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic on the Wangan expressway. Skip the Keisei Skyliner: it goes to Ueno in northern Tokyo, and from there you still need another 45-minute train ride to reach Yokohama.

Yokohama Station is where you change trains, not where you stay. Locals call it Japan's Sagrada Familia because construction there never seems to finish, and the underground passages still confuse people who have used it for years. For Chinatown or the Motomachi shopping street, change to the Minatomirai Line and ride about 8 minutes to Motomachi-Chukagai for roughly ¥230; for hotels in Minato Mirai 21, the same line reaches Minatomirai Station in 3 minutes. At 8pm on 27 September it was 22°C with 86% humidity and grey cloud, so the air on the platform felt muggy, damp and salty from the harbor. Set up an eSIM at Haneda before you board, and on a first visit, Google Maps is the most reliable way to find the right exit in this station.