Yokohama and all that jazz

After Kevin had had so many days out in Tokyo, we decided that we’d go and see Yokohama on the Saturday. Neither of us had been and it's a city the size of Paris that is more visible from my side of the bay than Tokyo. If Yokohama was in any other developed country it would be one of the largest cultural, financial and industrial hubs, but placed, as it is, next to the largest city in the world, it’s just a shadow of Tokyo. Its Tokyo’s little brother but it also has a lot going for it. It probably has the most multicultural history of almost anywhere in Japan and claims to have the largest Chinatown outside of China. Yokohama is the city with the second largest population and yet it seems to be vastly underrepresented in the guidebooks. I suppose it's a case of why have cotton when you can have silk? Why have Yokohama when you can have Tokyo?

Yokohama station was like all major Japanese railway stations; a vast labyrinth teeming with people. Kevin was on a mission to validate his JR pass and I was on a mission to find the popular import shop that Kathryn had spoken so highly of. I didn’t find any of the pickle that I was hoping for but I did find some quirky and banal English imports, such as Coleman’s Mustard and Lea and Perrin’s. It’s sad how these trivial familiarities have now become a novelty. After we met up with Kevin’s friend from Switzerland, we went on a whistle stop tour of Chinatown and the promenade, then took the worlds fastest passenger lift up what is currently the tallest building in Japan; the Landmark Tower. The view was the best I’ve had yet of Tokyo Bay and the bar at the top was remarkably underinflated in price, which was a nice surprise.

It was raining for most of Sunday and so we took shelter in the underground city of walkways in Shinjuku. There are literally miles of tunnels around Shinjuku leading to shops, cinemas, restaurants and the looming government buildings. There must have been millions of yen invested into these projects over the last few decades. You could probably spend a weeks underground visiting a different shop ever 15mins and you’d only run out of shops after 3 months solid. The network really is colossal. All I wanted was a Uni-Clo, which we found plenty of. I bought myself a nice new pair of trousers for school and they even readjusted the length to my request, free of charge. So much better service than you’d find in the UK.

Tomorrow I’m off to visit Vicky in Yamanashi, the prefecture with Mount Fuji in. Kevin’s currently in Hiroshima but he’s coming up to meet me too. We’ve been promised karaoke, lakes, festivals and Fuji-san. Should be a good weekend. Can’t wait.