Yokohama

On Saturday the 14th I traveled to the nearby port city of Yokohama. Yokohama is about one hour from my school by train, and lies on Tokyo Bay. I had wanted to go there because I heard Yokohama has an interesting Chinatown, and I wanted to see how it compared to San Francisco's Chinatown.

Beautiful red lanterns.

San Francisco has a fun Chinatown, but Yokohama's is larger and has many more restaurants. There are also several shrines along the streets. These shrines were quite beautiful - red lanterns hung on strings from the shrine gate, red incense sticks were burning in a large metal pot with sand, and the shrine itself was painted with brilliant red, green, and gold. On top of one particular shrine there was a colorful, intricate dragon statue.

A shrine with a colorful dragon on top.

There were many food vendors in Yokohama's Chinatown as well. Many of them sold Chinese treats, like pork buns. It was fun to walk around the narrow streets and see all of the different foods, clothing, and souvenirs for sale. On one particular crowded street I looked down and saw a frog trying to make its way across. No one else had noticed the frog yet, so I pointed at the frog and pretty soon there was a crowd gathered around the frog. One girl exclaimed, "Kawaii!" (Cute!) Many people were taking photos of the frog. It was pretty funny. I just hope someone eventually picked the frog up and brought it to a safer place.

After Chinatown, I walked to Yokohama's bayshore. The bayshore has a lot of interesting things and attractions to see. I walked along for a bit and came across two large brick warehouses. Reading the sign, I learned the warehouses were built in the early 20th century, and were the first brick warehouses to be built to such a size in Japan. Each was probably more than 100 meters long. One of the warehouses was partially destroyed in the 1923 Kanto earthquake, so that one was only half as long as the other. The warehouses had many shops and restaurants. I mostly walked along the outside and admired the brick and ironwork. The architecture reminded me of San Francisco's Fort Point. 

The Yokohama warehouses.

Yokohama has a beautiful skyline, especially later in the day when the sun reflects off the shiny skyscrapers. Something that makes Yokohama's skyline interesting is the tall ferris wheel on the island of Minato Mirai. It was a beautiful city and going there reminded me of the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

View of the skyline from the warehouses.

It was a beautiful day in Yokohama!