Photo of the Day: Seagulls in a Row

So, this isn’t Kamakura; it’s Yokohama. BUT, Yokohama is really not that far off, so it still counts. Right?

My parents are visiting now, so we took them to Yokohama to see the sights. Yokohama is home to Asia’s largest Chinatown, the area’s oldest foreign settlement (including a cemetery, cenotaph and more churches than you can shake a stick at), and a beautiful park along the bay. It has plenty more going for it, but we’ll stick to those points for today.

My parents explored Chinatown (home to many, many all-you-can-eat restaurants) on their own the first day, but Kaede and I got in on the action on their second day in the city.

We started at Motomachi-Chukagai Station—Motomachi being a ritzy shopping street and Chukagai being Chinatown. From there, we headed up to Yamate, the fancy-pants part of the original foreigners’ settlement. My parents, being fairly involved in their church back home, were keen to see both the cemetery and the area’s churches.

The Yamate area is gorgeous, and very unlike other parts of the city. It’s up high on the bluffs, so the view over the city and ocean is spectacular. Combine that with old Western architecture (of the upper-class sort), and you could be overseas were it not for the Japanese on all the signs.

While the usual way up to Yamate involves a rather steep hill, at the Motomachi-Chukagai Station exit that we used, there’s an escalator. Hurrah! We came down off the bluffs on the opposite side of the station and wandered down Motomachi (the ritzy street) back towards the bay area.

From there, we hit up Yamashita Park, a long stretch of grass, trees, harbour and quite a few fountains, and ended the day with much deserved ice cream.

The photo above is of a boat permanently anchored in the harbour. It was in service for many, many years, and now serves as a museum.

Anyone visiting the Tokyo area should take a trip down Yokohama-way (and of course, to Kamakura, too). It has a much different vibe than Tokyo, and is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle.

I was invited by Terri over at Perspectives On…Life, Work and Leisure to participate in the Five Days Challenge, which asks us to post five photos, one per day for five days, and to write a story to go with each photo. For each day that we post we are supposed to invite one person to participate.

Today I’m inviting Jen from Hamster Central. Jen writes about living and raising kids in Japan. Jen, if you would like to participate, post a photo every day for five days and write a story to go along with each photo. Your story can be fiction or non-fiction. It can be a short paragraph, a page, or a poem. Each day, please select one person to carry on the challenge. The challenge is not mandatory and can be refused. I hope you accept and have fun!