The fourth day in Tokyo was so eventful that I’m going to have to split my posts into a part one and part two.  That also helps so that I can add even more photos to my posts!  You better be excited, hahaha.

Yeah that’s right; we went to Chinatown…in Tokyo, Japan!  Normally, we might have overlooked checking this place out, but during our dinner the night before, Ayaka’s friend Michi mentioned that it would be a good place for me to check-out.  I’m glad we did, there was plenty to see in the general area.  Chinatown is located in Yokohama and there is a reason why it is located there.  Yokohama was one of the first Japanese ports to be opened to foreign trade (in 1859).  Many people from China moved into the area and settled.  Now, the area is a huge Chinatown that is comprised of a number of narrow streets with restaurants, shops, markets, schools, temples, and even residence.  There are a few gates found marking the entrances to Chinatown, but you can also find a few inside China Town.  Upon arriving, we saw one of the larger more decorated gates, the East Gate.  It was such a deep blue color, with a lot of detail done using gold leaf/paint (from what I can tell).  Beside that was Blue Hills – Urban Square, a blue building that houses a large arcade with a lot of video games.  Ayaka quickly noted that on the outside of the building, there were some “very Chinese” designs in yellow neon, which are typically used to signify Chinese Establishments within Japan.  Not to say that that is the purpose of the symbols, just that you can tell the place is most likely Chinese, based upon the symbol showing up in a design or on the building itself.

The East Gate located in Yokohama Chukagai (Chinatown)

Dumb truck got in the way of my photo!

Blue Hills - Urban Square : An arcade full of games

As you walk down the narrow streets, you are immediately hit with the smell of so many different foods.  You can smell buns (filled with meat, vegetables, or bean paste), soup stands, Peking duck, etc.  But the buns are where it’s at.  Seriously, there are so many stalls and full-fledged restaurants claiming to have the “World’s best buns”.  It is so funny, that some are even located across from one another.  They typically have the photo of one or up to four chefs that cook their specialty buns within the confines of the restaurant, and then claim the “world’s best buns” based upon their use of a mix of ingredients, spices, and cooking methods.  Ayaka noted that she saw mostly Japanese tourists eating at these so called “world’s best” chain of restaurants.  I thought to myself, “…maybe because the Chinese know where the REAL good places to eat at are located”, hahaha.  I think Ayaka read my mind because she pretty much came to the same conclusion.

Chinatown is just waking up...later on, the streets were packed

A typical street in Yokohama Chukagai (Chinatown)

WOW! These buns are huge...look below them for comparison

Yum, black duck eggs!

Within Chinatown, there is a temple called Kanteibyo Temple, which is very famous, and a must see for any visitor to the area.  It is elaborately decorated using many hues of red, green, blue, and gold.  Ayaka and I walked in and out, but as we walked out, we both noticed that there was a Chinese school next door.  We looked out into the court/gym yard and saw a large class of boys practicing their Lion Dance.  I’m not sure if that is a class, or if it was in preparation for a local parade or celebration, but it looked like everyone was taking it seriously (especially the trainers), but that the boys were also having fun.  One kid was on crutches, he may have hurt himself during a previous practice or performance.

The Kanteibyo Temple - very colorful huh?

Some Japanese tourists took like 20 photos of the temple, finally my turn

I love the bright colors used throughout the temple

Just look at the detail of this one dragon!

A look inside the Kaneibyo Temple

The boys practicing the Lion Dance

After the temple, we walked back towards the East Gate and then on to Yokohama Harbor.  From the direction we came from, the first thing we saw as we approached the harbor was the Statue of the Guardian God of Water (from the backside).  A bit past that, we saw the Hikawa-Maru.  The Hikawa Maru is a large Japanese ocean liner that was launched back in 1929/1930 and assisted refugees to and off the island.  It was later converted into a hospital ship (painted white with green stripes and red crosses) around 1941 during the war.  Finally, it was converted into a mainstream Japanese passenger/cargo liner; one of the only to survive World War II.  More recently, the ship was converted into a museum with a restaurant inside but it was then closed.  Apparently in 2008, the ship was renamed to NYK Hikawa-Maru, after the NYK company bought its rights and began renovating the hull and other parts of the ship (History info from: http://www.ssmaritime.com/hikawamaru.htm).

It was a rather gloomy day, but it was absolutely wonderful weather for being beside a harbor.  I mean, you have grey skies, birds flying in patterns, the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and port, and the smell of ocean water filling every breath you take…pure bliss and harmony.  Did I ever mention that I love gloomy weather and rain…weird huh?

The Statue of the Guardian God of Water (from the backside)

The Statue and the Hikawa-Maru in the same shot

The NYK Hikawa-Maru

This was pretty funny to me. All these birds were just sitting on this one rope

I love the prominence of the flag against the gloomy sky

Yeah, this ocean liner is pretty large!

After attempting to soak in everything, and obtaining a sensory overload, Ayaka and I noticed the famous Yokohama Ferris wheel that is still one of the largest in the world.  The Ferris wheel is located in Cosmo World, a local theme park.  Oh sure, the fact that we can see the Ferris wheel from the harbor means that we can walk there…or at least that is what I thought.  Wow, was I wrong.  Sure we walked there, but it took forever.  Ayaka told me a story that back in College, which is located “near” the Tokyo Tower, she decided to walk to the Tower one day…she thought to herself, “hey I can see it over those buildings, it can’t take that long to get there!”  Yeah, that day, she said that she walked for almost an hour until she finally arrived at her destination.  I was a bit worried after that story!  I mean, the Ferris wheel is extremely tall, so of course you could see it from far away…very misleading Mr. Engineer, very misleading indeed!!

You can see the Yokohama Ferris Wheel...look under the spire/tower on the left

As we walked, we passed a very cool shopping area that was celebrating the 150^th year of the port/harbor opening up to international trade.  One of the shopping complexes we passed was the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, a former set of government buildings; they now house an assortment of very modern shops that sell clothing, accessories, shoes, and food.  As I mentioned before, the area was celebrating its 150^th year anniversary, and thus event planners had set up a make-shift building that housed a market inside and even contained a large scale cafeteria, all offering products and foods form other countries.  The food court/cafeteria had food from South Korea, the US, China, Turkey, and Britain to name a few.  Seriously though, what is ethnic about US and British food?  Oh well, it is still considered foreign in Japan, so whatever…lol.

A family of elephants...located in a courtyard that had the story of Yokohama

The Yokohama Archives of History - 150 years is a long time!

A painting depicting what Yokohama was like when it first opened to foreign trade

The Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse - now a set of shops selling different merchandise

I would have cropped this but I wanted to show you how big this place is!

Celebrating 150 years of Yokohama History

The International Cafeteria

Getting closer to the Ferris Wheel...but yet still so far!

Next we went to a mall, I believe it was called Yokohama World Porters, but I couldn’t’ find a link to a site to make sure that that was the name.  Regardless, this “mall” was a decent size.  The reason I say “mall” in parentheses is because I noticed, more so after Ayaka pointed it out, that Japan doesn’t really have malls.  In the United States, malls are typically comprised of individual shops that are usually large brand name shops selling their own products (American Eagle or Express), or major shops that sell an assortment of brand name items (say a department store or even something like Pac-Sun or Foot Locker).  Well in Japan, their so called shopping arcades/complexes are often comprised of individually owned shops (yes they have names to them) but sell their own brand (very rare) or very unique underground brands.  Now, if you go to Ginza or your walking down a major street, you will see Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Apple, Coach, Nike, Adidas, H&M, etc.  But in their shopping malls, you see these individual stores, that don’t have doors/entrances to get in, the “shops” are simply separated by two walls.  And yet, each store has its own merchandise and décor.  Anyways, this “mall” had cool “stores”, and so I bought a few shirts from one .

We were a bit hungry, so we decided to eat at the food court.  Wow I was in awe of the foods being served in this food court, which I’m sure the Japanese take for granted.  No pizza and hamburgers in this food court, instead, you walk in to be awakened by the smell of fresh baked breads and sweets from Le Bon Pain and then are meat by the mixed aromas of Raman, Udon, Yakitori, and Tempura.  Ayaka ordered a bit of Ramen that came with a side order of dumplings, while I ordered a steak dish with teriyaki and a mayonnaise sauce, all on top of fried rice and cabbage.  Wow, why can’t US food courts offer food this good…and yet still cheap enough to not put a hole in your wallet!  Yes, the beef was very tender and the sauces added a lot of flavor, without overpowering the meat, a very delicate balance indeed – and at a food court…I still can’t get over that!

Family time - the shops near Yokohama World Porters

The Food Court offering so many wonderful foods

The restaurant with the striped overhang is called - STEAK MOUNTAIN

You better believe I went to STEAK MOUNTAIN...it's steak...duh

This dish was so good...and from a place in a food court!

Le Bon Pain...a wonderful french style bakery

This bread would be perfect for french toast

I believe this is suppose to taste like Takoyaki

Don't these look so tempting!

I wanted to buy and then try everything

Looks like bread with Tonkatsu or some kind of breaded meat inside

This chocolate bread looks so good huh?

Yes, those are corn flakes on top of the bread!

As soon as we left Yokohama World Porters, we saw the Yokohama Ferris wheel.  Wow it was VERY tall and full of color.  There were different colored sections on the Ferris wheel, just like a large color wheel.  Strategically placed where a few white cars, not sure if they represented a break in the sections of color or that the designers forgot about them and never painted them .

Finally, we get to see the Yokohama Ferris Wheel up close

Bye bye Ferris Wheel...it was a journey just to get this close, hahaha

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon