Japan’s Second Largest City

Yokohama (横浜)

Yokohama, a Japanese city south of Tokyo, was one of the first Japanese ports opened to foreign trade, in 1859. It also contains a large Chinatown with hundreds of Chinese restaurants and shops. A super cool thing is that Yokohama is known for Sankei-en Garden, a botanical park containing preserved Japanese residences from different eras. 

Yokohama is the largest port city and high tech industrial hub in the Greater Tokyo Area and the Kantō region and is also the main location for many many HQs and it only houses a mere population of over three million people.

Let’s Talk about Food

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum

I mean, if you LOOOOVE Ramen, then you must go here. This is less of a museum and more of a giant food court, make sure to wear your expansion pants when you visit this beloved attraction in Shin-Yokohama. Pick your way through several ramen restaurants which specialize in regional variations of the dish, all housed in a 1:1 replica of 1958 downtown Tokyo, the year the ramen boom began. FYI: Expansion Pants are a term that I coined when on vacation with a friend when we were eating our way through Bulgaria BUWAHAHA.

Let’s Talk about Theatre

Yokohama Noh Theater

The Yokohama Noh Theater’s main stage was built in 1875 for the estate of former lord of the Kaga domain and was later moved to the estate of former lord of Takamatsu domain, where it was known as the Somei Noh Stage.

If you are in Japan you must see a production of this classical Japanese performance art. Noh drama is the oldest surviving form of Japanese theater. It combines music, dance, and acting to communicate Buddhist themes. Often the plot of a Noh play recreates famous scenes from well-known works of Japanese literature such as The Tale of Genji or The Tale of the Heike.

What’s the Difference between Kabuki and Noh?
There are many significant visual differences between the two art forms. In noh, performers wear a mask, but in kabuki, they use face paint. Kabuki is also more exaggerated – for example, while both employ wigs, the ones used in kabuki are a lot longer and more voluminous. Noh Theatre is also 600 years old, while Kabuki is only 400 years old.

Tour the Kirin Beer Factory

Kirin Brewery Company Yokohama Factory

As beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Japan there are plenty of interesting beers and beer history to discover. Yokohama Factory is one of nine factories of the Kirin Brewery Company, Limited (Chitose, Sendai, Toride, Yokohama, Nagoya, Shiga, Kobe, Okayama, and Fukuoka). Yokohama factory offers tours that last around 90 minutes.

During the tour, you can taste the malt, touch the hops, and smell their aroma. The tour will then take you on a guided tour of the beer-making process and the actual equipment using and the latest videos. After the tour, you can sample freshly brewed draft beer. You can enjoy the factory tour using all five senses.

Visit China in Japan

Yokohama Chinatown

Yokohama Chinatown is known as the world’s best Chinese food spot. With more than 600 shops in only a 250,000 square meter area there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. Workers from restaurants and food stalls, cute and colorful sundries shops, and more call out in loud voices to entice customers. The buildings and signs glitter and dazzle in brilliant colors and you soon realize Chinatown is a completely different world!