Yokohama: One of My Favorite Cities in Japan

It was such a gorgeous day today. My husband and I went to Motomachi Shopping Street in Yokohama and we enjoyed our lunch and afternoon stroll. I love Yokohama; it has the exotic ambience from its history as one of the crucial port cities in Japan. Yokohama has been the most popular city to live in and Kanagawa which has Yokohama in has been the most popular prefecture: Kanagawa is close to Tokyo, Yokohama is a big city, it has China Town, and it's close to beautiful beaches and nature. We live in Kanagawa and not too far from Yokohama. My husband gets to see Mt. Fuji from the gym he goes to. How luxury it is to be able to see Mt. Fuji during workout!

Since I enjoy getting to know people from all over the world through my job and learn about their countries and cultures, I thought I would introduce Japan as hoping I can be the door to peek inside Japan. Before covid-19, my family and I used to travel a lot inside and outside Japan. Like everyone else, we are waiting for the world to become healthy and open again. Once we resume out travels, I will show you more places from Japan.

So, this is Motomachi Shopping Street. At the both entrances, there is a gate like the one in the picture. It isn't a big street; still I love the cozy feeling and the warmth of local people.

Sadly the street wasn't too busy and there were not many people.

Interesting furniture store. They had beautiful flowering pots, though.

Hard to imagine a Japanese house with these decorations🧐😉

This shop caught our attention due to its window display. My husband thought it was interesting🧐

Starbucks, of course.

And... Brooks Brothers.

Our favorite shop for today was Takarada. It sells so many beautiful porcelain dishes from Royal Copenhagen, Noritake, Takarada, some designers from Arita including Tsuji who designs dishes for the Japanese emperor family, and etc. Actually its display of Royal Copenhagen at the entrance window caught my attention, which brought us inside.

The owner is an old Japanese gentleman and he speaks flawless English. It was very educational to hear all details and the history of porcelain pieces they carry. We bought several pieces and we appreciate their warm customer service which allowed us to enjoy shopping.

Of course, we have to enjoy not only shopping but also eating, which is one of my ikigai!😉 Normally, my husband and I have kaiseki ryori whenever we eat out, but we tried something different today, Italian. Well, to be honest, we couldn't find a restaurant which serves kaiseki ryori nearby and my husband was starving, so we decided to go in an Italian restaurant we saw near us. I had gnocchi and my husband had pizza.

After lunch, we stopped by a cute old-style Japanese cafe, Irori. It serves ice cream, Japanese parfait, red bean soup, ice cream float, and etc. It's the heaven for red bean paste lovers like me😍

The owner was kind enough to let us have a big table with irori. Irori means a traditional Japanese sunken hearth (fireplace). This irori at our table was just for decoration, but it's visually appealing, isn't it.

The inside of cafe...

My dessert: soft-served ice cream, mochi, fruits, bean paste, kanten, and... green tea. Kanten is a jelly-like substance made from a type of sea vegetables called tengusa (Please refer to "Is Kanten a New Superfood? Layered Red Bean Jelly Terrine Mizu Yokan" for more information). YUM😋

This cafe even had a classic-looking cash register, too. Every detail becomes a part of special memory, don't you agree?

What I showed today is just a small part of Yokohama. I hope to keep showing more of Yokohama and Japan. I hope you enjoyed it❤️