Will arrive in Japan in just over a month and will be spending a few days (at least) at the Navy Lodge and am looking to see what there is available to do, either on base or off, within walking distance and if there is a fully-active CPO club on base.  I'm coming in as a geo-bach SCPO and don't want to wander around aimlessly as soon as I get there.  Also, is there wifi available around the base or in town?

One of the answers to your questions is yes. There is an active CPO Club on base.

http://mwryokosuka.wordpress.com/cpo-club/

There is free WiFi at almost every MWR club or restauraunt on the Main Base. I am not sure about Ikego and Negishi. There are a million things to do here. Think of Yokosuka along the lines of Manahttan or San Francisco as far as the accessibility to transportation and things to do goes. The flavor of the transportation and entertainment is obviously different though. You will get a lot more information about that by looking at the boards on this site as well as at the mandatory Area Orientation Brief that you will go to.

I hope that this helps. You will find that Yokosuka is a lovely place to be stationed and that there are a million things to do here.

The CPO club is very active and the Cove bar is always occupied. There are lots of civilians and retirees here, plenty of folks to chill with. ITT also runs great tours, while we were in the lodge we took tours on the weekends (we were there for a while) to get out. You'll likely move into Negishi fairly quickly, so you won't have to wait long.

Just throwing this out here, a lot of people have been getting denied Negishi that have been requesting it.

I cannot think of anywhere in Ikego that has free Wifi but I could be wrong about that. Ikego is pretty much housing only with a minimart, a restaurant and a gym. I don't mean that in a bad way by any means it's just not a fully developed military base.

Just realized you are a geo-bachelor, so my above post irrelevant. Sorry about that.


Once you leave the base there is a ton of stuff right outside the gate. Plus Yokohama is really easy to get to which is a very neat place.

Head over the ITT and tell them you're new in town & looking for some day trips to do. They will give you lots of ideas, like Kamakura, etc., along with detailed train instructions. Day trips are a great way to get familiar with the local area included trains, food, etc. and from there you can branch out to more challenging expeditions.

Anyone ever been to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama? It's a real blast; my wife & I were there last summer.

As already noted, the CPO Club is a great spot and likely where you can link up with some fellow Chiefs to get the lay of the land.

I was here as a temp-geo bachelor for over a month and did fine even before going through AOB/Indoc. Folks are great here and will gladly show you around. I assume you have a command sponsor, they should be able to point you in the right direction based on your tastes.

Venture out if only in the surrounding area. You will surely get your bearings and will soon find yourself on the train to Tokyo.

All in all the previous posts are spot on for where to go and who to see about trips.

If you will be a geobachelor, ENSURE you have a copy of your lease/mortgage and a utility bill for your dependent(s) home (not to mention an updated NAVPERS 1070/602 with the same address as the lease/mortgage and utility bill) in the U.S. so that you can get your BAH at Dependents Location started. It can take a while to get that money started, and until that point Japan's expenses can be rough on new folks. Just my two cents of advice.

Thank you everyone for the information. I've been underwater for the past few weeks since I posted so I'm very thankful for the data while I was away. I have detached my boat and am on leave now preparing for my move. On the mortgage and utility statement, a copy will be good correct?

While I'm quite fond of our location, I wouldn't exactly refer to Yokosuka in the Manhatten/San Francisco vein. If you're really feeling adventurous (and aren't afraid to get your feet wet, as it were) then Yokohama is definitely the place to head.

And this site will come in very handy:

http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/travel/