Exploring Yokohama

Sunday, July 22

We requested a vacation day from work on Monday, allowing us all of Sunday for exploring Yokohama. The two of us shared a quiet breakfast at Cafe de Crie, where Chris ate the tandoori chicken sandwich and I had the pastrami with pesto over mellow love songs from the early nineties.

Me and my travel buddy, waiting for the train.

For the morning, we traveled to 中華街, Yokohama's Chinatown, known as the largest Chinatown in Japan. Savory smells wafted from every store, ducks with glistening caramel skins hung in the windows, and every few paces, vendors attempted to stuff freshly roasted chestnuts into the mouths of passersby.

For lunch, we met up with Taka Endo, a college friend of Chris's, as well as a Tokyo resident. Having attended school in Yokohama, he knows the city well, and he acted as our guide for the rest of the day.

Artwork at the station outside Chinatown.
I love the character at the top, ripping into the char siu bao.

We next walked through 元町 (Motomachi), a shopping district with sun-filled, cobbled streets and premium stores such as Barney's New York. Yet the three of us passed the temptations of gorgeous leather bags and designer clothing, hiking uphill, where we took in Taka's school and the residence of one of Yokohama's early foreigners. Taka explained that way back when, foreigners had been given the steep city hillside (much as in Kobe) as a place to establish themselves. The area is speckled with beautiful Western-style homes, as well as a Foreigners' Cemetary with gravestones enscribed in all languages.

Atop the hill, we took in the view of the Yokohama harbor, then descended to Yamashita Park, located beside the water. Young couples and families filled the park, relaxing on benches, watching a magic show, and visiting the "Happy Lawson"--a "happy" version of a Japanese convenience store. Inside Happy Lawson, Chris bought a "Happy Lawson" bag, I munched a juicy piece of fried chicken, and Taka sipped a cocktail (from the in-store bar) all while watching yelling children crawling across the playground equipment located at the back. Ahh, Happy Lawson indeed.

From the park, we walked to the 赤レンガ倉庫, a pair of red brick buildings housing a variety of trendy shops. The boys waited as I did a bit of shopping, then we were off again.


I mentioned reading about a famous wall of graffiti to Taka, and at the end of our "Yokohama Tour," he took Chris and me to see it. I snapped pictures of of my favorites. Here are a few.

From 桜木町, we caught a train into 有楽町 in Tokyo. There, Taka guided us to a yakitori shop he frequents, a sprawling stand snuggled under the overpass where customers squat on stools clustered around tables of plastic beer crates and wooden planks. I couldn't understand a word of the exchange between Taka and the shop owner, despite that we were only ordering chicken. In any case, the atmosphere created a nice end to our busy day. Customers sipped cold, frothy beers from large, frosted mugs, their laughter ringing through the smoke billowing white and delicious from the kitchen grill.

For the remainder of our time in Tokyo, we hung out at Hub, an English-themed pub chain popular throughout Japan. Taka this time led us to the branch he usually frequents. We talked story over drinks and Backstreet Boys on the jukebox before Chris and I left for Tokyo Station, where we caught another cramped bus home.