Japan · Kanagawa · Yokohama
Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Hodogaya-ku is a ward near the centre of Yokohama, built around the old Tōkaidō post town of Hodogaya-juku.
About Hodogaya-ku
Where to stay in Hodogaya-ku
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Most beds sit near Hodogaya Station on the JR Yokosuka Line, a short ride from central Yokohama. Stay close to the tracks. Rooms around Hoshikawa and Tennōchō on the Sotetsu Main Line suit travellers who want a quieter residential base on the western side of the ward, within easy reach of the Katabira River path and the campus of Yokohama National University.
About Hodogaya-ku
What are the main landmarks in Hodogaya-ku?
Two very different eras anchor the ward. Out at Kawashima-chō, the Yokohama Waterworks Commemoration Hall records the city's early piped-water system, the network that let a growing port drink safely. A far older layer survives above the valley, where 瀬戸ヶ谷古墳 marks a sixth-century burial mound of a chieftain who once held the Katabira River basin, its slopes ringed by rows of clay haniwa figures long before Yokohama had a harbour.
What is the history of Hodogaya-ku?
Hodogaya grew up as Hodogaya-juku, a post station on the Tōkaidō where travellers between Edo and Kyoto broke their journey. The highway made the town. After the Meiji Restoration the district passed to the new Kanagawa Prefecture, and Hodogaya Town was formally established in 1889 while its inns and shops still lined the old road.
In 1927 Hodogaya was annexed by Yokohama and became one of the growing city's wards.
Where is Hodogaya-ku?
Hodogaya-ku is largely flat. The Katabira River threads between scattered low hills near the geographic centre of Yokohama, giving the ward more open valley ground than the packed districts down by the port.
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Updated July 2026