[2020 Dec] Fancy Shopping Street, Yokohama Motomachi in 4K

“JAPAN Streets & Spots” introduces the popular, famous, and unique streets and sightseeing spots in Japan, especially focusing in Tokyo and nearby areas. All videos were filmed and edited in 4K quality with stereo sound, so that you could feel as if traveling here virtually.
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“Motomachi-Chūkagai Station” （元町・中華街駅）
Only 8 minutes on subway from Yokohama Station – In this video we’ll walk through the fancy “Motomachi Shopping Street”.

Motomachi (元町) is a district in Yokohama, Japan, located immediately east of Chinatown. It consists mainly of the “Motomachi Shopping Street” where we’ll walk through in this video, a five-block 600 meter long stretch of 240 boutiques and shops, well known in Japan for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, original fashion, and Western influence.

Motomachi was originally a quiet farming and fishing village until 1859, when the Port of Yokohama was opened. Since then, the close-by Kannai district became the foreigners’ business district, and the adjacent Yamate and Yamashitacho districts became the foreigners’ residential districts. Situated in-between these districts, Motomachi became frequented by many foreigners. Shops and businesses were opened, catering to the needs of foreigners.

In the early 20th century, the number of foreign residents increased. And western influence became more evident in Motomachi, with the opening of many cafés, bakeries, and boutiques. Such shops were uncommon in Japan at the time, and Motomachi helped introduce Western culture into Japan. This was the beginning of the Motomachi Shopping Street as it is known.

Phoenix Arch
Constructed in 1985 as the symbol of Motomachi. Authentic spirit of tradition but always with new challenges ‘Fly through the Light’ as the image of Motomachi. The arch is 10.5meters in height, and on top of it, stainless steel piped phoenix sizes 4.8 meters in width and 2.3 meters in height.

JR “Ishikawachō” Station
Since its opening on 1964 until 2004, this was the nearest train station to Motomachi Shopping Street – until “Motomachi Chukagai” Station (where this video started) opened on the other end of the shopping street.

“Carillon Clock” カリヨン時計
Performed every hour between 8am and 8pm. The music changes every once in a while. In this video filmed in December 2020, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” was played.