Let’s eat our way through YOKOHAMA | Tokyo Day Trip | Japan
Hey everybody, we are in Yokohama today. A little day trip out of Tokyo, easy to get here, lots to see— Let’s check it out. Since the mid-1800s, Yokohama — which is actually the second-biggest city in Japan — has served as the main port for the central Japanese Kanto region. It’s often overshadowed by its larger neighbor Tokyo, which is further back on Tokyo Bay, but let’s take a look around and see what it has to offer. So I got to Yokohama Chinatown pretty early. Nothing’s really open yet, but I imagine by about 10 or 11 AM, things will be quite different around here. We’ll come back and grab some food when they’re ready for us. Yokohama, being a port city, has a lot of international influence, and that’s nowhere more apparent than in the city’s Chinatown, which is the biggest conglomeration of Chinese culture outside of China, Taiwan, etc. Ok, let’s get some breakfast. We’ll start with a sesame dumpling filled with red bean paste. Pastes de Belem originated in Lisbon and were brought to Macau, becoming part of Chinese Dim Sum and then eventually ending up here in Yokohama. Finally, let’s have a Taiwanese pepper pork bun, a more recent addition to the Yokohama cuisine. Pretty hot today, so I’m taking a little break on France Mountain. It’s just a little hill in this Harbor View Park named for the French, who were some of the first to trade here when Japan opened in the Meiji Restoration. Also, listen to these cicadas. It’s still summer in Japan, even though it’s currently September. [cicada sounds] The Yokohama Sky Cabin cable car network is actually a great way not only to sightsee, but to get from one side of the Minato Mirai neighborhood to the other. This pair of historic red brick warehouses at the waterfront from the beginnings of Yokohama’s international port era are now filled with interesting little local shops. There’s the Ferris wheel that Mothra threw at Godzilla. If you know, you know. Doria is another Yokohama international flavor. It’s based on French gratin, but it uses rice as a base. The traditional ingredient is seafood — I had it here with shrimp, but you can have a lot of different varieties. The Yokohama landmark tower built in the early 90s is a huge building— not just in height, it’s got a lot of stuff in it, including a huge shopping complex in the lower levels. At the time I visited, the Landmark Tower’s observation deck was having a collaboration with Toei Animation’s Pretty Cure. This has been an incredible day in Yokohama, I’m really glad that I decided to come here. I’m gonna be back.
Come with me to the port of Yokohama — an easy day trip from Tokyo — to eat delicious street food, meet anime characters, and get some incredible vistas across one of Japan’s most beautiful modern cities.
AloJapan.com