Nov. 22 – Yokohama



View of Yokohama from Minatonomierouka Park
MV Explorer, our ship, in Background



We docked in Yokohama this morning.  This is our last non-American port of call.  The pier and the visitor center are relatively new or updated -  possibly something that was done for the World Expo that ended a couple of weeks ago.  The roof of the center is all grass and it appears to be a  very eco-friendly design.  There are lots of people walking, jogging along the river walk and quite a number taking pictures of the ship as it docked.  The weather is similar to what I would expect Seattle is like this time of year – gray, cloudy and on the cool side.  Autumn is definitely in the air.

Statue in Minatonomierouka Park

We did not really have much planned for Yokohama for today.  We thought we would take our chances and just walk around the city.  Our first stop was the Minatonomierouka Park.  Yokohama was the first city in Japan to be opened up foreign trade.  As a result many British and Americans located in Yokohama and many of the elite built houses in this area.  Some of the houses for the Diplomats are open to public tours and gives one a glimpse of life in the mid 1800 for the expats living there. The park also provides a wonderful view of the city and harbor areas of Yokohama.



Dave and an Item for his wish list



After walking the park we walked down the main street in the Motomachi Chukagai area.  This was the original area where Yokohama started.  Today this area a full of high end stores and has a very British feel to the area.  All the shops had their Christmas decorations up and you could hear American Christmas carols all along the street.  We had lunch in a small restaurant that a local shop owner recommended.  The restaurant was small and warm, and severed terrific food.  At the time, we were the only non-Japanese customers. 

This area is also not far from the Yokohama’s Chinatown.  In addition to being able to buy goods from China, this area is full of Chinese restaurants and is where people from Tokyo come to have Chinese dinner.  Yokohama is only about 40 minutes by high speed train from Tokyo.  We wondered through the Chinatown area and headed back to the ship for dinner.