In 1859 Yokohama was transformed
from a tiny fishing port into a massive foreign trade port that almost immediately became a party town. After
200 years of the Tokugawa shogunate (shogun warriors) prohibiting travel into or out of Japan, (enforced by the death
penalty), US Commodore Matthew Perry and his armada of Black Ships fired on Edo (now Tokyo) Bay until they forced the shogunate
into signing a peace treaty that allowed for trade through a few ports in Japan. This event sparked Japan's modernization
and rise to world power and not-so-coincidentally moved Japan's imperial seat of power from Kyoto (west capital) to Edo which
was appropriately renamed Tokyo (east capital). :-)
Today, Yokohama is still a thriving foreign
port and for natives of the area it's known as a fun fair of international culture and worthy of a visit.
Pictured above is Yokohama's Minato Mirai area as seen from the observation deck of Yokohama's Landmark Tower. The building
on the left that's shaped like the sail of a ship is the Intercontinental Grand (Hotel) Yokohama, and across the
water from it (featuring the big ferris wheel) is Cosmo World.
You can check out our visit to Yokohama in 2010 at the YouTube link below. :-)
This amusement park isn't your typical ocean side amusement area
it has a ferris wheel and nearby are carnival games but the comparisons end there. Rather than having the reputation
(that it might in the U.S.) of having the cheap thrills of a Coney Island or Santa Monica pier, this type of amusement
is foreign to Japan and therefore exotic and romantic. Why travel abroad when you have it all here? The rides
are made to look like their cheap American cousins, but no expense is spared in the dynamic construction and upkeep of these
unique rides.
Cosmo Clock 21
This Ferris Wheel was the largest in the world when it was built,
but that wasn't enough for the planners of Cosmo Clock 21. They also added a digital clock and a light show
to the face of the wheel. Why? Well, it makes for an awesome countdown on New Year's Eve, with
the lights reflecting in the water and the countdown visible for miles there's no mistaking when the fireworks start
in Yokohama.
Even without
the clock, this ferris wheel is pretty sweet. It's a 15 minute ride to go around the clock
once and at the top (about 37 stories high) the view of Yokohama harbor is absolutely breathtaking.
This fun fast coaster is the first of its kind to appear to dive
into the water and vanish for a second, then re-emerge with dry passengers. The engineers also used their
ingenuity when presented with such a small space to build their original coaster, Vanish wraps around Cosmo Clock
giving the passengers the feeling they've gone through the huge ferris wheel.
Please see Vanish in action in the YouTube video below:
The
pool of water that Vanish disappears under belongs to the small park's log flume ride.
Cliff Drop
This flume ride has one
of the steepest (46 degrees) and longest flume ride drops (60 feet) in the world. It literally lifts you out of
your seat on the way down and for that reason may be the only flume ride to have added seat belts.
Cosmo World
also has a spinning coaster, alot of little rides that spin and rock, a video arcade, a row of carnival stands and another
cute attraction called Ice World.
Ice World
Yes...this seemingly
harmless attractive-to-lil'-kids entrance might fool you into thinking that this lame attraction gives the
illusion of being cold by painting the walls blue and keeping things nice and air conditioned. Actually, this ice box starts
in a chilly room and cools down per room to -30ºC (-22ºF) in its final room. This attraction is prohibited for
children under 5 and adults over 65.
The ice around
the door below isn't a special effect. Do you dare enter?
Two men brave Ice World, seemingly on their lunch break.
The ice sculpture below has a warning label on it "do not touch!"....
ice burn! Yeowch!
Although, we've seen some
"freak-out" videos on YouTube, those people have withdrawn their videos. So we decided on our visit in 2010 to visit
Ice World for ourselves, the video follows. :-)
Between Cosmo World and the Minato Mirai
station in Yokohama's Queen Square lies a restaurant called American House!
Yes, as you might expect,
they sell authentic American food! yay!
If you're thinking..."Why
would I travel all the way to Japan to eat American food in a partially comforting American setting?" then click here to link to our Practical Tips section on American food in Japan.
For good american food
and the atmosphere you're missing, you'll find it at American House. They even have mixed drinks like Margaritas
and will pick up your bill at your table instead the traditional japanese way where you walk up to the front and pay.
They recommend the tableside quacamole for ¥1200 ($12)...
Pictured above is an American House hamburger, fries and beer. Look! They
even have ketchup on the table! It's not so amazing checking this out in the U.S., but trust us...on the flip side,
when you're in Japan and looking at this...you...will...be amazed.
See a map below or click here to see how to get to American House from Minato Mirai station in
"Queen's Square", Building 2 on the First Floor.
If you get lost on the way you can ask someone "Where is Queen's
Square?" "Doh-koh wah Koo-weenz Soo-koo-way-ah dess kah?" romanji is "Doko wa kuwinzu sukuwea desu ka?"
Chinatown -Another really cool feature of Yokohama is the largest Chinatown in Asia
(and one of the biggest in the world).
There are four gates
at the entrance to Chinatown, Goodwill Gate is seen above. There are five more gates inside the borders.
Maybe you'll pass under one on your way to over 200 restaurants, a gorgeous shrine, and Daska (a mall and theme park designed
to emulate 1920's Shanghai).
Beautiful shops line
the streets.
Check out this YouTube video to catch the easy-going vibe
in Yokohama's Chinatown right in front of Daska:
Daska (known in english as the "China Museum") is an 8 floor
chinese "theme park" decorated like in the 1920's - 30's style of Shanghai's golden era. If you're a bit confused about
what the golden era in Shanghai would have been like, we've included a clip (click link below) of "Anything
Goes" from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". It's not perfect, but you'll get the idea. :-)
You'll probably recognize
it first by the Chinese Fu (dog statues) at the entrance, it costs you ¥500 to get in.
Daska was built to coincide with Yokohama's 30 year trade relationship
with Shanghai, on the 1st floor you'll find a specialty food stand that serves dim sum.
Trick Art Museum
Among the features on these floors is a Trick Art Museum for ¥1,300
on the 4th through 8th floors.
Art in this
museum is set up so you can take pictures with optical illusions.
TEMPLES
Kanteibyo Temple
This buddhist temple
(built for the chinese deity Guan Gong) was originally constructed in 1862 in the middle of town so that the
neighboring businesses could benefit from its good luck. Guan Gong is the deified personification of a real person
named Guan Yu, a war hero (of the Three Kingdoms) who helped to defeat the Han Dynasty and is respected for
his loyalty and righteousness. At this temple he is worshipped as the Chinese God of Prosperity.
Masobyo Temple
Also in Chinatown is this
temple to the goddess of the sea "Ma Zhu" (sometimes "Mazu" or "Matsu") protector of fisherman and sailors. Built
in 2006, this quickly became a major tourist attraction, it was built in response to the a city effort called "citizen
based town planning". The community voted down an apartment project in favor of this beautiful shrine.
As with the deity above, Ma Zhu was a real person named Lin
Moniang who stood on the shore near her hometown wearing bright red clothing to guide sailors (including her father
and brothers) home no matter what the weather was like. There are at least two versions of Lin Moniang's death.
In one version, she died in 987 at the age of 28, when she climbed a mountain alone and flew to Heaven and became a goddess.
Another version of the legend says that she died at age 16 of exhaustion after swimming far into the ocean trying to find
her lost father and that her corpse later washed ashore in Nankan Island of the Matsu Islands.
These shrines are probably most famous for their celebration of
Chinese New Years including parades and lion dancing. Please see YouTube video below:
For a detailed map from the station in Chinatown, please click the
link to a map below:
From Shinjuku
新宿
- Take the Shonan Shinjuku 湘南新宿
Express to Yokohama 横浜 then
transfer to the Minato Mirai みなとみらいline.
On the Minato Mirai みなとみらい line
-- Get off at Minato Mirai みなとみらい
station for Cosmo World and American House.
Price: ¥720
Time: 42 minutes
OR continue on to Motomachi-Chukagai
元町 中華街 station for Chinatown.
Price: ¥740
Time: 47 minutes
From Nakano 中野 - Take the Chuo 中央 line or Chuo-Sobu 中央総武 line to Shinjuku 新宿, then transfer to the Shonan Shinjuku 湘南新宿 Express to Yokohama 横浜 then transfer to
the Minato Mirai みなとみらいline.
On the Minato Mirai みなとみらい line
-- Get off at Minato Mirai みなとみらい
station for Cosmo World and American House.
Price: ¥800
Time: 52 minutes
OR continue on to Motomachi-Chukagai
元町 中華街 station for Chinatown.
