The Maritime Museum is located in the Minato Mirai and dedicated to the Maritime history of Japan. It was opened in 1993. The main exhibit of the Museum of naval sail training ship Nippon Maru, which was launched in 1930, and now is at the foot of the tower the landmark tower.

The Museum owns a large shipping company NYK Line, the history of which originates in 1870. Currently, its fleet consists of 776 courts, representative office opened in 27 countries, including in Russia. The company is in the Mitsubishi Group.

The Museum tells the history of Yokohama as one of the ports of Japan, which in the nineteenth century were open to international trade. It is believed that the opening of Japan to the rest of the world was largely due to the Commodore Matthew Perry, policy officer and naval forces of the United States. In 1852-1854, he successfully held two diplomatic missions, in which between the U.S. and Japan was signed Kaniewski contract, weakening the isolation of the rising Sun. The Perry expedition were the fourth and fifth U.S. attempt to establish trade and diplomatic relations. Perry was ordered to use force if Japan will not negotiate. His ships fired in the air and let out black smoke, so the Japanese squadron nicknamed the "black".

The Museum exposition tells about how to develop the Japanese and global shipbuilding industry since the mid-nineteenth century, about the modern technologies in this industry and the importance of the port of Yokohama. A large collection of models of modern and ancient ships, a collection of books on shipbuilding.

The sailing ship Nippon Maru – a four-masted ship with a length of 300 feet. For the years passed, according to estimates, about 1, 8 million kilometers and as the training ship was prepared for sea service about 11, 5 thousand people. Was launched in January 1930. After the Second World war it was used for the repatriation of people from former colonies of Japan. In 1984 Nippon Maru completed service and was moored at the foot of the Tower the landmark.