Sunday, July 23: I have wanted to return to Yokohama to visit the Yamate Bluff for a long time. After visiting Ofuna and the bamboo garden at Hokokuji Temple in Kamakura, I head to Ishikawacho Station on the JR Negishi Line. Frankly, I’m exhausted from my busy day yesterday, as well as my outings today, but I’m determined to visit at least a small bit of this place. I probably could spend a whole day here, but alas, it’s not to be.
For most of the Edo Period (1603-1867), Japan isolated itself from the outside world. When the period of isolation ended after the 1850s, Yokohama was one of the few port towns where foreigners were allowed to reside. Many traders looking to find business and profits in the newly opened country moved into the hills of the Yamate area, known as “The Bluff.” Most of the homes and buildings in this residential district for Westerners were built after the Kanto Earthquake of 1923; today, some of them are designated as historical sites. Yamate is now mainly a hilly residential area with leafy parks, international schools and churches. It is still a residential area for Westerners.
It’s 3:23 when I make my way up a very steep hill to Bluff No. 18, a building sitting pretty in the Yamate Italian Garden. It was first built at the end of the Taisho period (1912-1926) as a foreigners’ residence after the Great Kanto Earthquake. After World War II and until 1991, the house served as the parish house of the Yamate Catholic Church; it was moved to its current location and restored in 1993.
Bluff No. 18: Museum of Bluff Area Housing
I have a great view of colorful Yokohama from the Bluff.
View of Yokohama from the Bluff
Bluff No. 18: Museum of Bluff Area Housing
The lifestyle in a foreigner’s home during the reconstruction period after the Great Kanto Earthquake is recreated inside the house. Reproduced classic Yokohama-style furniture reflects the interiors of that day.
Dining room in the museum
Living room in the Museum
sailing ship in the museum
bedroom in the museum
The Diplomat’s House served as the residence of Uchida Sadatsuchi (1865-1942), a diplomat of the Meiji government, who held various important positions such as Ambassador to Turkey and Consulate General in New York. The house was originally built in the American Victorian style at Nanpeidai in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo by the American architect James Gardiner. It was moved to the Italian Garden and designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 1997.
The Uchidas’ Former Residence: Home of a Diplomat
The Uchidas’ Former Residence & Yamate Italian Hill Garden
The Uchidas’ Former Residence
I’m not sure what this blue building is, but it sure is pretty.
Universal Arts
There are many more historical sites in the former foreign settlement of Yamate, but I’m hot and exhausted and it’s getting late in the day. I’m still hoping to see the Foreigner’s Cemetery, but first I have to walk down Motomachi Shopping Street, which runs parallel to the Nakamura River. The street served the needs of the first foreign residents of Yokohama, and introduced many products to Japan.
Motomachi shopping street
Nowadays it seems similar to other shopping streets in Japan but with a slightly European feel. There are a large number of high-end fashion shops, hair salons, florists, home decor and souvenir shops, as well as cafes and restaurants.
Florist on Motomachi shopping street
Florist on Motomachi shopping street
Motomachi shopping street
Motomachi shopping street
Motomachi shopping street
Motomachi shopping street
Motomachi shopping street
By the time I arrive at the Foreigners’ Cemetery, it’s 4:09, and I’m kindly informed by an older gentleman at the gate that the cemetery closed at 4:00. He allows me to take a photo of two tombstones and then I have to be on my way.
The cemetery dates back to 1854, when a sailor, Robert Williams, on Commodore Perry’s flagship The Mississippi died after a fall on the ship’s second voyage to Japan. Commodore Perry, the American navy officer who forced Japan to open its ports, asked permission from the Japanese shogunal authorities to bury that sailor on a hill overlooking the water and to provide a resting place for any future Americans who died in Japan. A few months later, a couple of Russian sailors were buried as well. In 1861, part of the grounds of Zotokuin Temple were set aside and have since become the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery. Today, a small section of the 4,200 graves can be visited, and the inscriptions often offer an interesting glimpse into the life of the interred (japan-guide.com: Yamate and Motomachi and Japan Visitor: Yamate the Bluff District Yokohama).
Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery
The worst thing about my unfortunate arrival time at the cemetery is that I had to climb a very steep hill to get here, so I’m sweaty, hot and irritable. I decide it’s time to call it a day. It’s a shame I won’t have time to see all of Yamate Bluff, but at least I have a general idea of what it’s like.
I make my way back to Motomachi Shopping Street and the train station through the largest park in Yamate, the Harbor View Park, which is named after the view that the park affords onto the water and the Yokohama Bay Bridge.
view of Yokohama from Harbor View Park
view of Yokohama from Harbor View Park
view of Yokohama from Harbor View Park
view of Yokohama from Harbor View Park
windmill in Harbor View Park
Harbor View Park
Harbor View Park
Harbor View Park
Harbor View Park
Harbor View Park
On Motomachi Shopping Street, I stop in for a rest and an iced coffee at a cute little cafe. Then I get on the train and return home to Fuchinobe to prepare for my last day of class tomorrow. I can’t believe my time in Japan is almost over. 😦
Thursday, May 4: On the second day of my Golden Week holiday, I have a bit of a leisurely morning and then head to Sankei-en Garden, south of Yokohama. I plan to follow Walking Tour 22 from Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City. After taking the train to Yokohama, I have to take a bus. This is the first bus I’ve taken in Japan, so I’m a bit worried I won’t be able to figure it out. However, as I’ve already found during my numerous day trips, Tokyo’s public transportation system is fabulous and easily negotiable. I do believe it might be the best public transport system in the world. I can only speak to my travels in 25 countries, but so far, it’s the tops.
When I get off the bus, two Japanese ladies, a mother and daughter, who overheard me ask the bus driver about Sankei-en, point me in the right direction. They have both visited the U.S. and can speak decent English. They tell me this is their first time at Sankei-en too, and I should follow them. We walk about 10 minutes down a long straight road. They tell me about their travels to the U.S. and ask where I’m from and what I’m doing in Japan.
At this point, it’s lunchtime and I’m hungry. As we walk along, I stop to look at menus posted in front of several restaurants we pass, but I don’t find anything appealing. As we get just outside the gates of Sankei-en, the women point out a cute souvenir shop/restaurant and tell me I might want to try it.
What a cute little restaurant! I order tempura on soba noodles, which hits the spot. A small porch at the back overlooks a pretty garden; sadly the two tables in the porch are occupied, but I do snap a photo over someone’s table. At the table next to me are three young Americans; it always surprises me that when Westerners run into each other while traveling abroad, they rarely speak to each other. It’s as if all of us want to experience the new culture and not be reminded where we come from. I know I often feel that way. I don’t want to waste time getting embroiled in a long conversation about where we’re from and what we’re doing in Japan, so I don’t say anything to them, nor them to me. I prefer it that way. I enjoy just sitting silently, enjoying my meal, and watching the people around me.
the store/restaurant
the garden view from the back porch of the restaurant
soba with tempura
the little backyard garden
After my enjoyable lunch, I buy my admittance ticket and enter the garden. The Sankei-en (Three Glens Garden) was created by local entrepreneur Hara Tomitaro (1868-1939), an artistic Yokohama businessman who grew wealthy in the silk trade; he was also a poet, a calligrapher, and a classical Japanese scholar. He was known by the pseudonym Sankei Hara.
The primary residence for the Hara family (Sankei) was built around the 30th year of the Meiji era, or 1898. The compound includes a parlor room, living quarters, study, guest room, a Buddhist prayer room, and other facilities. The house is an example of modern Japanese architecture from the Yokohama area. In its time, the compound hosted many artists of the Meiji era art world, including Taikan Yokoyama. Thus the building is highly regarded as a major contributor to the art of Japanese painting.
To the natural beauty in the garden, Hara Tomitaro also added 16 historic buildings brought from central Japan. He built his Haku-un-Tei (White Cloud Residence), a traditional shoin-style retreat, in 1920. A shoin is a drawing-room or study, a tatami-room dedicated to receiving guests.
Haku-un-tei (White Cloud Residence)
pagoda at Sankei-en
trees at Haku-un-tei
Immediately, beside the Main Pond, I come across this adorable Japanese couple having photographs made. I figure they’re in a public garden, so I should be able to enjoy their poses and take some photos as well.
bride & groom at Sankei-en
Aha, but the young man sees me and catches me in the act. His face looks glum here, but he and his entourage laugh about it shortly after I snap this photo.
caught in the act 🙂
From across the pond, I can see Nakano-shima Island and its little bridge.
Main pond and Nakano-shimo Island
The couple seems to be following me! Of course, I don’t hesitate to snap a few more shots.
the bride and groom again
Soon I come to Rinshun-kaku Villa, brought here in 1917 from the Kil Peninsula beyond Osaka. It was built in 1649 by Tokugawa Yorinobu, one of the ruling Tokugawa clan (1603-1868), as his second home.
Rinshun-kaku Villa
I love the tatami-matted rooms with the sliding doors and the painted walls.
inside Rinshun-kaku Villa
inside Rinshun-kaku Villa
Rinshun-kaku Villa
Tenzui-ji Juto Oido
bridge over a small pond
back of Rinshun-kaku Villa
more inside views of Rinshun-kaku Villa
inside views of Rinshun-kaku Villa
The Gekka-den Guest House was built in 1603 by Ieyasu Tokugawa in the compound of the Fushimi Castle in Kyoto. It was used as a guest house where feudal lords stayed when they came to pay their respects to the Shogun.
stairs to Gekka-den Guest House
Gekka-den Guest House
Kinmo-kutsu Tea Arbor was built in 1918 by Sankei Hara and has a one-and-three-quarter-mat tea ceremony room.
I am intrigued by the references to the number of tatami mats in the tea arbors. I find at The Japanese Tea Ceremony that “in Japan, the size of a room, and that of a house is typically measured by the number of Tatami mats or Jō. The traditional dimensions of the mats were fixed at 90 cm by 180 cm by 5 cm (1.62 square meters)(35.5 inch by 71 inch by 2 inch). Half mats, 90 cm by 90 cm (35.5 inch by 35.5 inch) are also made. Tea rooms and tea houses are frequently 4½ mats (7.29m²) which is called a Koma style room.”
Kinmo-kutsu Teahouse
lush foliage
a litlte pagoda
Choshu-kaku Teahouse was built in 1623 by the Third Shogun, Ietmitsu Tokugawa, in the compound of the Nijojo Castle in Kyoto, perhaps as one of the garden buildings. There are only a few buildings with a structure like this still in existence. This two-storied building of a light style, in its front view, was designed on the basis of a balance that avoids symmetry as much as possible. It was moved to the garden in 1922.
inside Choshu-kaku Teahouse
inside Choshu-kaku Teahouse
Choshu-kaku Teahouse
Choshu-kaku Teahouse
Sekikan (stone coffin)
Shunso-ro Tea Arbor has a three-and-three-quarter-mat tea ceremony room, which may have been built by a devotee of the tea ceremony. It was moved to the garden in 1918.
Shunso-ro Teahouse
inside Shunso-ro Teahouse
bamboo grove
The Renge-in Teahouse includes a tea room with an uncovered wooden floor between two mats, a six mat hall, and an unfloored space. It was built in 1917 by Sankei Hara.
Renge-in teahouse in a bamboo grove
gate
Syusse Kannon
Sanju-no-to is a three-story pagoda of the former Tomyo-ji Temple that is a companion to the main hall which I’ll visit down below. It is 82 feet (25 meters) tall; it was built within the temple grounds in 1457 and is the oldest pagoda in the Kanto region.
Sanju-no-to Pagoda
Sanju-no-to Pagoda
view from Sanju-no-to Pagoda
Sanju-no-to Pagoda
The Nobel prize-winning India poet Tagor, famous Japanese literary Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and many others have visited this arbor. In the autumn of 1915, Akutagawa composed a haiku poem on his impressions when he enjoyed tea in the arbor. I wish I had a copy of that haiku!
Hatsunejaya
stream and bridge
bridge over stream
a meandering stream
Rindo-an Teahouse consists of a six-mat hall and a four-mat hall. Inside the word “Rindo” was written on a board by Sohen Yamada, the founder of the Sohen school of tea ceremony. It is the origin of the name of this arbor.
I happen upon a young man posing with an umbrella here for a photographer. Of course, I must take a surreptitious photo. 🙂
young man with umbrella at Rindo-an Teahouse
The Tomyoji Temple, like the three-storied pagoda, was formerly in Kamo Village in Kyoto. After being damaged by a typhoon in 1947, the main hall was disassembled and put in storage. In 1986, it was transferred to the garden and restored.
Tomyo-ji Main Hall
What draws me to Tomyo-ji is the quilt exhibit by Fumiko Endo. I love the tiny kimono is pretty fabrics on the black background.
kimono quilt
Other quilts have cranes, people in kimono, a single kimono and cascading blossoms.
crane quilt
quilt by Fumiko Endo
quilt by Fumiko Endo
quilt by Fumiko Endo
I continue my walk through the outer garden and enjoy the ponds, streams and bridges.
another little bridge
Nakano-shima Island has a Kankatei Arbor and panoramic views.
views from Nagano-Shima Island
views from Nagano-Shima Island
views from Nagano-Shima Island
Yokobue-an is a country-style tea arbor and it is so named because in this arbor, there was a statue of Yokobue, a tragic heroine of a famous love story.
Yokobue-an Teahouse
The trunk of an Ume (Japanese apricot tree) looks like a crawling dragon. This tree was the model for “Yoroboshi,” one of the famous masterpieces by artist Kanzan Shimomura, in which the famous “Yoroboshi” sits by a big Ume tree.
Yoroboshi, by Shimomura Kanzan, Tokyo National Museum, Japan (Wikipedia Commons)
Kankabashi Bridge
The Old Tokeiji Sanctum of the Zen Sect Style was moved to the garden in 1907 from the compound of the Tokeiji Temple in Kamakura.
Old Tokeiji Sanctum
Little is known about the origin of the old Yanohara Farmhouse with its roof laid with stones. The paper screens are patched with deeds, calendars, and children’s calligraphy exercises. A straw raincoat, sedge hat and hoe stand by the entrance. Seasonal vegetables and bamboo were planted around the cottage, which also features a bamboo chicken coop and a well. Simple rustic scenes like this were the things Sankei loved best. He used this cottage as a place to entertain guests and visitors, according to an interpretive sign.
The farmhouse is in the gassho style, noted for its steeply pitched, thatched-roof that resembles hands clasped in prayer. The three-story design was built without nails and its beams are secured by thick straw ropes, according to Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City.
Yonohara Farmhouse
From the south gate of Sankei-an, I cross over a waterway to the Honmoku Civic Park. Here, I find the Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden, a classical Chinese-style garden with a Chinese Pleasure Barge, a building in traditional Chinese style on an island in the lake.
Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden
Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden
Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden
Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden
Shanghai-Yokohama Friendship Garden
I don’t plan to continue the walk, which would take me to Hasse-den Kyodo Shiryokan, the Hall of the Eight Sages, just outside the Honmoku Civic Park. From there, I’d have to find a different bus to take me back, or take a taxi. I haven’t yet had to take a taxi in Japan and I fear they’re expensive. So, I opt to backtrack though Sankei-en to the bus stop where I disembarked earlier.
wisteria arbor in Sankei-en beside the Main Pond
I loved my outing to Sankei-en today. The weather was fabulous, the crowds weren’t too thick for a holiday, and it was charmingly scenic. I highly recommend this enchanting garden. 🙂
Saturday, April 15: Heading inland from Yamashita Park, I come to Port Opening Square, which commemorates the the 1854 treaty between the U.S. and Japan at what was at that time a small village on Yokohama Bay. The square has fountains, flowers and trees and a memorial to U.S.-Japanese Friendship.
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Monument to U.S. – Japanese Friendship
Yokohama Kaigan Kyokai, on the border of Port Opening Square, was founded on March 10, 1872, as the first Protestant church for the Japanese in this country.
Yokohama Kaigan Kyokai
Continuing inland on Minato-odori, I pass the Yokohama Archives of History, established on June 2, 1981, at the historic site where Japan and the U.S. signed the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854; it exhibits historical materials from the Edo period to the Taisho-Showa era.
Yokohama Archives of History
All along Kaigan-dori, I find miniature garden dioramas under the auspices of the “Spring Flower Festa.” I can’t read any of the Japanese, so I can’t tell what each one represents.
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Spring Flower Festa
Kanagawa Prefectural Office (The King) is one of the Three Towers, a group of historical towers at the Port of Yokohama. They have been given the nicknames The King, The Queen and The Jack.
Kanagawa Prefectural Office
As I approach Yokohama Park, I hear crowds roaring and yelling before I can even see the Stadium, which opened in 1978, holds 30,000 people, and is used primarily for baseball. It’s noisy and I don’t really feel like walking through the park with that stadium in it. By this time my legs are killing me, so when I find a Starbucks on the corner across from the park, I sit at the window bar and enjoy a slice of orange cake and a peach smoothie drink. After a bit of a rest, I am greeted by some pretty tulips dancing in the wind on the border of the park.
tulips at Yokohama Park
tulips at Yokohama Park
tulips at Yokohama Park
After leaving Yokohama Park, I walk parallel to the harbor (quite far inland) for several blocks, and then turn toward the harbor again on Basha-michi. This is a very long stretch, with the road eventually turning into Bankokubashi-dori, and I wonder if I’ll ever get back to the harbor. Finally, after what seems an eternity, I reach Shinko Pier, and my book of trusty walks informs me I’ve “left the first part of the tour, which covers the old center of Yokohama, the Kannai (Inside the Checkpoint) sector, in which foreigners were at first restricted to this transplanted foreign community within Japan” (Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City).
At the western end of Shinko Pier is the huge steel Ferris wheel I spotted from as far away as the south end of Yamashita Park. It’s part of the Yokohama Cosmo World Amusement Park; the wheel takes 15 minutes to complete a full circle.
Ferris Wheel at Yokohama Cosmo World Amusement Park
Yokohama’s Ferris Wheel
Past Cosmo World, I cross a bridge and can immediately see the 32-floor sail-shaped Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel. Between the Ferris wheel and the hotel, Yokohama’s skyline is whimsical and welcoming.
The Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel
Waterway around Shinko Pier
a children’s area, which seems to be part of Cosmo World, is at the base of Yokohama’s Queen’s Square
I make my way through the National Convention Hall complex, a sprawling building of no particular interest, to Seaside Park (Rinko Park), which looks out over Yokohama Harbor from the north side. At this point, I’ve seen Yokohama Harbor from south to north. Beside the Convention Hall is the Yokohama Grand Intercontinental. Rinko Park is a little scruffy and has just a smattering of folks sitting on the concrete steps lining the harbor side walkway or picnicking on the grass.
Yokohama Grand Intercontinental
From here, I get a good view of the 1989 Yokohama Bay Bridge, a suspension bridge that extends 860 metres (2,821 feet) from shore to shore.
View of Yokohama Bay Bridge from Rinko Park
view north from Rinko Park
I leave the rather unimpressive Rinko Park and head inland, passing the Convention Hall to my left and walking several blocks past modern but characterless apartment buildings.
walking inland north of the National Convention Hall
residences?
I reach the inviting wide pedestrian walkway, with fountains and sculptures, bordered by the Yokohama Museum of Art and Landmark Tower on one side, and a huge modern shopping complex on the other.
Landmark Tower at the Minato Mirai 21 Complex
I don’t have time to visit the Yokohama Museum of Art today, but at least I know where it is for a rainy day. This 1989 museum is the second largest art museum in Japan. Its permanent collection includes paintings by Cezanne, Magritte, Dali, and Japanese artists, as well as paintings related to Yokohama. It was designed by Kenzō Tange, a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture.
Landmark Tower and the Yokohama Museum of Art
Yokohama Museum of Art
The 70-story Landmark Tower is supposedly Yokohama’s best known sight. Designed by American architect Hugh Stebbins, it has a 5-story-high central atrium, with offices and the Royal Park Hotel above. Over 200 shops and restaurants are also inside.
sculptural detail and Landmark Tower
Landmark Tower
Fancy sculpture at Landmark Tower
I continue my walk through this huge complex, with a glimpse of the Ferris wheel from a different angle.
The Ferris Wheel from the Landmark Tower side
I pass the Nippon Maru training ship docked in an 1896 ships’ basin of stone. Built in 1930, the Nippon Maru was a sailing vessel used to train naval students. It circled the globe 46 times before it was decommissioned in 1984.
Nippon Maru training ship
Nippon Maru training ship
Hard Rock Cafe
After passing the Hard Rock Cafe, I realize I need to walk through Landmark Tower to get to Sakuragicho Station. At the basement level, I walk past shops and restaurants and bakeries until I finally emerge on the other side, on a pedestrian walkway over the Metropolitan Expressway K1 Yokohama Route.
Yokohama overpass
My plan is to cross through Sakuragicho Station (two stops northwest of where I got off this morning) to continue the rest of the walk to Kangai (Beyond the Checkpoint), which is the original area for Japanese citizens when Yokohama was founded.
view heading toward Sakuragicho Station
As I cross into this area, I can see remnants of the old Yokohama, with its food stalls and red lanterns. If I continue the walk, I should see two parks, a temple, a shrine, and shopping areas. I walk for almost one kilometer, but it’s getting darker bit by bit, and I keep thinking I should get back on metro and go two stops south to where I started the walk, at Ishikawacho Station near Chinatown. After all, I did promise the shopkeeper at Amina Collection that I’d return to buy a few things. 🙂
Noge District
I’m getting awfully tired by this time, and have walked 20,000+ steps, or over 9 miles. This part of town looks confusing, as it’s not laid out on a grid pattern like the more modern part of Yokohama. To be honest, I have no idea which direction I should go to find the Nogeyama Fudoson Temple, the first place on my walk, and I’m too tired to figure it out. I decide instead to cut this part of the walk short. After all, I can easily continue another day, as I live less than an hour from Yokohama.
Noge District
Noge District
I return to Amina Collection at Chinatown (how I have the energy for this, I have no idea, but when shopping calls, I must listen!), where I buy a blue kimono jacket with orange flowers, a lavender blouse with aqua embroidery on the sleeves, and a royal blue cotton top with bell sleeves. The two tops are “one size fits all” and are rather billowy. The shopkeeper, the same thin hippie-ish Japanese girl with the turban and the maize-colored skirt, is still there, and she helps me with the purchase. She can speak and understand English, so she talks nonstop. However, her pronunciation is so abysmal that I can only decipher a few words here and there. She’s very nice and encourages me to go to the tax-free office to get reimbursed for the tax I paid, but it’s in the opposite direction to metro, and I am just too exhausted to bother.
I take the train back to Sakuragicho Station, where I have to change to the JR Yokohama green line. I’m not positive I’m on the right train when I get on, so I ask a man sitting directly across from me: “Machida?” There are two lines at that station, one to Tokyo and one in the direction of Machida; this one is nearly empty and we sit at the station for quite a while as the train originates here. The man across from me, who introduces himself as Kaz, can speak English very well, and he asks me where I’m from and what I am doing in Japan. Since he is speaking across the train to me, he asks if he can come sit next to me. He is all dressed in proper business attire; white shirt, tie, black suit; he informs me he has spent the day at the National Convention Hall at a medical products convention. I tell him I had walked past the convention hall earlier in my walk and I show him the map of today’s walk; I admit I’m exhausted as I walked about 10 miles. He says he sells medical imaging technology and tells me about technologies at the conference such as cryo-ablation (freezing of tumors) and RFA (Radio Frequency Ablation, or burning of tumors). He says both treatments result in the tumor dissolving, due to the normal body temperature and the treatment. We talk the entire time back to Fuchinobe, about all kinds of things. He sheepishly tells me at one point, with exasperation but humor, that talking to me all this time has exhausted him; he’s not used to thinking and speaking so much in English, although he seems quite natural at it. He has clients all over the world in many Western and Asian countries, so he is actually used to speaking in English.
We both admit when we part ways that the 1-hour train ride back from Yokohama seemed much shorter because of our conversation; I know has been enjoyable for both of us.
When I finally arrive back to Fuchinobe, I grab a bite to eat at a basement restaurant that serves sushi and beer and chicken grilled on sticks, and then I ride by bicycle home, exhausted and yet exhilarated by the entire day’s adventure. 🙂
Saturday, April 15: This morning, I head for Yokohama at around 10 a.m., taking the JR Yokohama Green Line to Sakuragicho Station, then changing to the Negishi Line for Ishikawacho Station. When I ride my bike to park at Fuchinobe Station, I find an attendant there charging 100 yen to park: I guess it’s only free on Sundays. Oh well, 100 yen is hardly going to bankrupt me.
It is easy to find the beginning of Walking Tour 20 (Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City) at Chinatown’s Nishimon-dori (West Gate Street), as it’s right outside the station and there are signs pointing the direction. The 11:15 start to my walk is later than I intended. Little do I know I’ll end up walking over 10 miles today, from the south of Yokohama to the north, all along Yokohama Bay and in and out on a circuitous route through the city streets.
The West Gate of Chinatown
Yokohama’s Chinatown, or Chūkagai, is the largest of three Chinatowns in Japan, followed by Nagasaki and Kobe. It was set aside by the Japanese government in 1863 and now has about 3-4,000 residents, mostly descendants of Chinese from Guangzhou who came as servants of Western merchants or as traders. Some acted as treasurers to Western firms, while others came as craftsmen who could make clothing and other essentials needed by foreigners. When war broke out between China and Japan in 1937, the growth of Chinatown came to a standstill, but it started thriving again in 1955, when a large goodwill gate was built and Chinatown was officially recognized by Japan.
Yokohama’s Chinatown
Almost immediately, I’m enticed into a three-story shop called Amina Collection. It has cute clothing, accessories and home decor mainly imported from India and Nepal. Why it’s in Chinatown, I don’t know; the shopkeeper, who has her hair wrapped in a large turban and wears a maize-colored flowing skirt, tells me her corporation owns many similar shops in Japan. What I really love are the incense aromas and the whimsical and enchanting music piped in through the shop. I ask the shopkeeper if they sell the CD with the music playlist, but unfortunately for me, she says the owner downloaded the playlist to an MP3. I also find some cute tops and kimono toppers (the kind of kimono cover-ups sold in America, not traditional Japanese kimono). Since I’m just starting my walk and don’t want to buy anything yet, I tell the shopkeeper I’ll return later. At this time, I think the walk will bring me full circle back to Ishikawacho Station, where I can easily return to shop before heading home.
ceramics in Amina
more ceramics and what-nots
Amina
I continue into Chinatown, overwhelmed by crimson and yellow signs, fierce dragons twisting and turning on buildings and signs, shops with Chinese lanterns and masks, huge restaurant boards with pictures of enticing dishes, and touts in front of each restaurant beckoning tourists in. It is getting to be lunchtime, but my stomach takes a turn at the thought of eating Chinese food. When I was in China, I was sick almost constantly from the food, but I think maybe in Japan the Chinese food will be fine. After all, the Chinese restauranteurs must cook to Japanese tastes, just like they cook to American tastes in the USA.
North Gate
Restaurant in Chinatown
Streets of Chinatown
shop in Chinatown
colorful marquees
Streets of Chinatown
dragon motifs
stride-by in Chinatown
more street views
Though the large multi-ingredient dishes look mouth-watering, I figure maybe I can stick to something like steamed dumplings that aren’t cooked in oil. My hunger gets the best of me, and I drop into a tiny joint where I order three shrimp steamed dumplings with a Pepsi. It costs nearly $10 for that tiny meal, which is meant to sustain me all day. After I leave the restaurant, my stomach immediately cramps up and I wonder if it’s because of the food or just my fear of eating Chinese again.
Those stomach cramps are to stay with me the rest of the day, yet I end up walking over 10 miles. 🙂
Yokohama’s Chinatown
a pagoda in Chinatown
East Gate
After lunch, I’m in search of the Kantei-Byo. The original temple, known as the Kuan-Ti Mao Temple, suffered many disasters. It was built in 1887, destroyed by the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, and suffered damages during the 1945 Allies air attack. In 1981, it was struck by lighting and caught fire. It burned down again in 1987, and finally, was reconstructed in 1990 as Kantei-Byo despite the political differences of the Taiwan and Beijing Chinese.
According to Japan Travel, Kantei-Byo is dedicated to the famous Chinese warrior “Kanwu,” who excelled in the areas of power, courage, justice, and loyalty, as well as business. For all these reasons, the people of Chinatown follow Kanwu as their “God of Business.” However, another source, my book Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City, says the new shrine is dedicated to Sangokushi; to him, the Chinese can pray for good fortune and good business. Oh well, whomever a person prays too, he’s sure to be successful in business. 🙂
I finally find the temple, with a huge Coke Zero truck parked in front. The light doesn’t favor this view, so I go immediately into the temple courtyard.
Kantei-Byo
Kantei-Byo
Two golden dragons greet me on the wall of the temple.
Dragons at Kantei-Byo
I love the wonderful details under the eaves of Chinese temples.
Kantei-Byo
The visitors to the temple light incense sticks and bow and pray to the gods within.
incense burner at Kantei-Byo
Here’s the view from the temple to the outside gate. Much better than the outside-to-inside shot with the Coke Zero truck.
Kantei-Byo
I find colorful and intricate architectural details and relief carvings under the temple’s eaves.
Details of Kantei-Byo
placards
under the eaves at Kantei-Byo
under the eaves at Kantei-Byo
Kantei-Byo
Inside the temple is gorgeous, but they want 100 yen to go inside and I’m not allowed to take pictures. If I were allowed to take pictures, I’d gladly pay the entrance fee, but as I can see the altar from outside, that’s enough for me.
Kantei-Byo
incense at Kantei-Byo
Kantei-Byo
Just outside the temple, I find another in the line of Amina shops and I go inside to try on more cute tops. The two salesgirls look so cute, I can’t help but try on tops in the shop that are similar. They look terrible on me, sadly. I guess when you’re super tiny, you can get away with wearing anything!
Outside the shop, I encounter these two characters, one of them next to a wide-mouth panda entrance.
a cool character near the East Gate
creature with wide-mouthed panda
Another Chinatown gate
Finally, I make my way out of Chinatown and head to the waterfront. First, I encounter the memorial commemorating the Reverend James Curtis Hepburn, a medical Protestant missionary who created the first Japanese-English dictionary in 1867 and Romanized the Japanese characters. He often treated Japanese and Chinese patients for free in his house if they couldn’t afford payment. The memorial marks his and his wife’s work from 1859-1892.
Hepburn Memorial Marker
The south end of Yamashita Park extends 2/3 mile from the Yamashita Pier to the Osanbashi Pier. To cover the flood control pumping station at the south end, a raised platform has an ornamental water cascade that extends from the upper level to street level.
south end of Yamashita Park
ornamental water cascade at Yamashita Park
ornamental water cascade at Yamashita Park
ornamental water cascade at Yamashita Park
At street level, the ornamental water cascade ends in a pretty pool.
ornamental water cascade at Yamashita Park
From Yamashita Park, I can see Yokohama Harbor. Today is the perfect day for a walk, with temperatures in the high 60s and a brisk wind. How I love windy days when the temperature is right.
view of Yokohama Harbor from Yamashita Park
Looking inland, I can see the buildings fronting the park. The Marine Tower was belatedly constructed in 1961 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Yokohama’s founding in 1859. There is an observation deck at the 100-meter level, but I don’t go up today. At 106 meters is a lighthouse lamp visible over the bay for 24 miles; it is the biggest inland lighthouse in the world.
Marine Tower
General MacArthur stayed at the Hotel New Grand on the evening of August 30, 1945 to begin his stint as the commander of the occupying American forces in Japan. Also from the hotel, he boarded the USS Missouri battleship on September 2, 1945 to accept the Japanese surrender, thus ending World War II.
Hotel New Grand
A fancy rose and flower garden in the park invites a stroll.
gardens at Yamashita Park
Along the harborside walkway, I can see the north part of Yokohama.
view of northern Yokohama and Yokohama Harbor
Off a small pier south of Osanbashi Pier, the Hikawa-maru, a luxury ocean liner built in Yokohama in 1930 is permanently moored. It made 238 crossings between Japan and the U.S. West Coast from 1930-1960. It is now retired from service.
The Hikawa-Maru
Yamashita Park and the Hotel New Grand
The Guardian of the Waters statue was a gift from sister city San Diego to Yokohama and its people.
Guardian of the Waters
Guardian of the Waters
YOKOHAMA 2017
tulip mania at Yamashita Park
tulips at Yamashita Park
Looking south along the waterside walkway, I can see the 1989 Yokohama Bay Bridge.
Yokohama Bay Bridge and view of the North Dock
a ship in port
As I approach the north end of Yamashita Park, I have a better view of Yokohama with its iconic Ferris wheel.
looking to the north
The Osanbashi Pier is at the north end of Yamashita Park. From here, I’ll be heading inland.
Osanbashi Pier
Here are a few notes on how I get to places in the Tokyo area without access to GPS:
Westgate provides teachers with a phone, but we’re only allowed to use it to make calls to a pre-programmed list of numbers. We are not allowed to use it to call anyone who is not programmed into the phone. We can accept calls, but we can’t make them. Besides, it is an old-fashioned flip-phone and not a smart phone with fancy features like GPS.
I have my iPhone from the U.S., but so far I haven’t had the need to get a pre-paid SIM card for my phone. As long as I have access to wi-fi, at home and at work, I can use the phone for data or messaging. I was advised that I can Google directions to a destination by just entering in the beginning station (in my case Fuchinobe) and the end station, and I can get directions as to when to switch trains, how many stops between stations, etc. I can even get a timetable.
The problem of course is that I don’t get GPS when I’m out and about. My phone is worthless at these times. So, before leaving my house, I look up the information and take screen shots of the train route. Below is a version of how I made today’s trip. I have another screen shot that expands the 12 stops so I can know exactly which stops I’ll be passing, so I can be on the lookout for my particular stop. So far this method is working pretty well for me. 🙂
Thursday, March 23: In late February, I was offered a job teaching EFL to Japanese university students in Japan beginning on March 28 (the term actually begins April 7 and ends August 1). I’ve opted to extend my stay for one week, until August 8, so I can travel around Japan for a week.
I’ll be living in Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture. This is part of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. The capital of Kanagawa is Yokohama. Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan by population (3.7 million), lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu, and is today one of Japan’s major ports.
I leave on Monday morning, March 27, and will arrive at Narita Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday, March 28 at 3:55 p.m.
I found this long video (24 minutes) about an apartment for Westgate teachers in Sagamihara City. It’s possible this will be my apartment building!
I’ve been reading a number of practical books to get ready for my time in Japan. Here’s my PRACTICAL reading list:
I always love to read novels and travelogues set in a country to which I’m traveling. Over the years, and in the month prior to my upcoming trip, I’ve read the following novels and memoirs. If I wrote a review on Goodreads, I’ve included it here.
Crawling at Night. Though this novel takes place in New York City, it tells the story of a Japanese sushi chef. It was written by a friend of mine, Nani Power.
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki: I enjoyed this book about Ruth, a “stuck” author, who cannot seem to finish the memoir of her mother’s death. Instead, she happens upon a diary that has washed up on the shore of the island where she lives with her husband. The diary is written by 16-year-old Nao, a Japanese girl who grew up in Sunnyvale, CA but had to move back to Tokyo when her father lost his job after the dot.com bubble burst. In Tokyo, she is subjected to harassment by her classmates; in addition, she has to deal with her father’s multiple failed suicide attempts. Nao is writing the diary to tell her great-grandmother Jiko’s story, but she ends up not really completing that mission, as the diary is mostly focused on her own life. Jiko, a Buddhist nun, has lived to the ripe age of 104 and has a strong influence on Nao’s life. Ruth, the author who finds the diary, gets caught up in Nao’s story and worries she might have been killed in the 2011 tsunami. There are interesting twists with time and quantum physics and multiple & parallel worlds toward the end, which makes the story even more fascinating. I learned a little something about quantum physics, which seems way out of my league, but the author made the subject accessible. I enjoyed the book immensely.
The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd: I enjoyed this book which is written as journal entries and letters. A young Scotswoman, Mary Mackenzie, sails to China in 1903 to marry a military attache in Peking; her marriage is unsatisfying, and when she has a love affair with a Japanese nobleman, her daughter is taken from her and she becomes an outcast from the European expat community. Two years after arriving in China, she ends up in Japan, where she lives for 37 years, only sporadically seeing her married Japanese lover, yet having a son by him. She is open about her struggles and her status as a “fallen woman,” yet she still can never resist her lover, despite his taking her Japanese-looking son from her. If the child had looked white and European, the child would have been able to stay with his mother. Since he looks Japanese, he is sent off to be raised by a Japanese family, as the lover is already married with his own family. This is a story about a woman’s survival, resilience, and enduring love, both for a man and for a country. I found this line, written in 1942, to be particularly resonant: “There is nothing like living in a country as an enemy alien to really thin down the roster of your friends.”
Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto: I enjoyed this quiet book about Yocchan, a young woman trying to create a life for herself after her much-loved musician father is found dead in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. She moves into a small apartment across the street from a bistro where she works in Shimokitazawa, in an attempt to establish some independence for herself, when her bereaved mother asks to move in with her. Though living with her mother is not exactly what Yocchan has in mind, she can’t turn her mother down. Yocchan’s daily life is like a meditation: she revels in her repetitive tasks in the bistro, walks in the neighborhood, and engagement with the local shopkeepers. She comes to fully appreciate her mom and her now-deceased father. She derives pleasure from watching people and how they eat; she believes a person’s relationship with food reveals nuances of character. The title of the book, Moshi Moshi, is “hello” in Japanese when talking on the phone; it reflects Yocchan’s obsession with her father’s phone, which he inadvertently left behind on the day he died. She has recurring dreams that her father is trying to reach her by phone, as if he has some unfinished business with Yocchan and her mother, some last message he wants to impart. The book is like a Buddhist meditation on life – quiet yet revealing and, ultimately, satisfying.
Here are books I’ve read about the shameful period in U.S. history when we put the Japanese into internment camps during WWII.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford: How ironic that I’ve been reading this book as the Donald Trump campaign is raging here in America. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is first and foremost a story about love and family, but it is set in 1942 Seattle during the unsettling time after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese-American families were rounded up and put into internment camps because Americans feared there were spies among them. Though told they were being imprisoned “for their own safety,” they were in fact treated just as Trump today would have all minorities treated: walled-off, separated and denied rights. Although the Japanese were not methodically murdered or used in horrific scientific experiments as the Jews were under Hitler, their homes and belongings were taken from them and they were forced to live in camps under armed guard for the duration of the war.
The protagonist, Henry, is a Chinese-American whose father is consumed by the Japanese atrocities in China. His father’s obsession with the Japanese as enemies, and the fear that Henry might be misidentified as Japanese, leads his father to insist on Henry wearing an “I am Chinese” button. Henry attends an all-white school on scholarship and is continually bullied by the white students for being different. When Keiko, a Japanese-American girl, appears at school, Henry and Keiko strike up a friendship that is strained not only by Henry’s family’s fears, but by the unsettling historic events around them. I found the book disturbing but also redeeming. While living through our current unsettling political times, I can only hope that we won’t repeat this dishonorable period in U.S. history.
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende: This book seemed so promising, but in the end, I felt it just didn’t deliver. I’d say my star rating is more of a 3.5 than a 3. This story of a love affair between a Japanese man, Ichimei, who spent much of WWII in a Japanese internment camp in the USA, and a Jewish woman, Alma, whose parents perished in WWII, just skimmed the surface. For such a love affair, one that Alma supposedly counted as the love of her life, she couldn’t make the leap to give up her wealth and her station in life to marry a Japanese man. The parallel story of Irina, a care worker at Lark House nursing home, and Seth, Alma’s grandson, isn’t all that intriguing either. I agree with another reviewer who said the story seemed to be hurriedly written. There was more telling than showing, and not much dialogue, and it just seemed generally without structure or deep feeling. I expected more from Isabel Allende; overall I found it disappointing.
Finally, I’ve read a number of books about Zen Buddhism.
I traveled to Kyoto, Japan in February, 2011, and found the short trip delightful. I loved the Buddhist temples, the ubiquitous vending machines, Japanese food, the cleanliness and efficiency of everything. You can read about my trip to Kyoto in earlier posts on this blog.
I’m excited about meeting my Japanese university students. I’m looking forward to exploring the Tokyo area (using my 29 Walks book), eating a lot of Japanese food, and hopefully finding time to visit Hiroshima at some point. I’m sure other expats in Japan will be able to advise me on other good places to visit. As I’ll be working 9-hour days during the weeks, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to wander, but I look forward to exploring as much as I can over the next four months. 🙂
catbird in japan 
