Exploring Yokohama — Japan's Original International City | Life in Japan Episode 91

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In this episode of Life in Japan we are exploring the fascinating city of Yokohama.
This international city has a vibrant downtown full of shops and towering skyscrapers.
And the largest Chinatown in all of Japan is found here.
This city close to our home has many surprises in store, as we explore Yokohama Life-in-Japan style!
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
Today I'm being chauffeured by the beautiful, illustrious Ruth Reutter.
Yes, yes.
Right over here we're going to have Yokohama station.
Yokohama is Japan's original international city,
the first seaport for international trading to be opened after Japan's isolation era.
With over 3.5 million people, it is the second largest city in Japan by population.
It blends seamlessly into the larger urban sprawl of greater Tokyo and is included when counting Greater Tokyo's overall population.
But make no mistake, Yokohama is a unique and special place all it's own.
You can immediately tell when you enter Yokohama by car.
The roads system goes from a chaos resembling spaghetti on a plate to a methodical grid and block structure.
Whoa girlfriend! City driver! Come on!
Not my cup of tea.
We are visiting nearby Yokohama in typical Reutter family fashion, finding an affordable hotel and exploring new areas,
staying within the confines of government regulations and recommendations during Covid.
While many things are closed or restricted, there are a number of new experiences to be had.
MyStays. It says we're arrival right Right there. Straight ahead.
Oh! There it is! Perfect! Do I have the right of way here?
I think so.
Hotel MyStays. Here we go, guys.
You did it, Zoot! Awesome, yea!
Here we go. Going to check in.
Go to the very top number.
What do you guys think?
Look at all the beds!
I'm going to sleep right here.
Pretty cool.
We're going to have to... oh, there's two bigger beds. That's good.
Should we turn on the lights in here? Turn on some heat!
Look at the view!
Whoa! Red train! A very slow train.
That's the train station there.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. We forgot the [Nintendo] Switch at home? Oh boy!
(Fake cries)
Wah! But we're going to survive, huh?
Very cool guys. I like our room.
Hit basement. That's where the car is parked.
Here we are at our parking spot. Let's get in our car and go!
Our exploration of Yokohama begins with the historical district where old and new meet in beautiful juxtaposition.
Red brick warehouses that once served as customs buildings now serve as shops, museums and event spaces in this beautiful area.
You have a little visitor?
Yea. What is it?
Who is it? It's a Shopkin.
It's a Shopkin? Cool!
This is an area that Ruth has always wanted to explore more, and tonight we're just getting a taste of what it's like.
Many shops fill the inside of these old buildings with novelties and specialties you'll only find here.
In fact, most of them ask that you don't film inside, so we can only show you a part of what it was like.
Where's Joshua?
What do you see Anna? Is it cool?
This is where mommy wanted to go. The Red Brick Warehouse.
Warm up!
I'm a horsey. You're a horsey!?
All kinds of attractions for shopping and dining fill this area, and they are all beautifully connected with ample scenic walkways.
You can imagine how special this would be on a cool summer's evening with festivals and fireworks, bustling with people having a good time.
Isn't it real, Daddy? Yes!
Look at all those bugs in there. My goodness.
That's a lot of bugs!
Oh, did you find a little Lion? King of the jungle?
Where are we going to eat?
I'm so hungry! So hungry? OK.
Look at the beautiful dinner! Oh my goodness.
Some pancakes, yum! And Orange juice.
How is it, Anna? Good!
Good? Becca, have you even tried yours yet?
No, I smell it though. It smells so good.
Yea, I want butter.
Look what came for us. Oh my yes-ness.
I want to go on this Roller coaster!
It looks pretty fun.
That is really freakin' cool, huh guys?
The Minato Mirai area of Yokohama boasts the Cosmo Clock 21, one of the biggest Ferris wheels in the world.
Clocking in at 108 meters, it held the record as the tallest Ferris Wheel,
only to be surpassed by another Japanese Ferris wheel shortly after it was built.
There's, I hear people laughing.
It's doing like a psychedelic flip-eye ball
The eye of Sauron.
Since everyone was so chilly, we decided not to do the 15 minute car ride to the top and back,
but to keep moving along and keep warm.
Hopefully we can get back here and try it sometime soon.
That is beautiful! What is it? Anniversarie?
Anniversarie? We should come here for ours!
It's a place for weddings — that's what we have discovered.
Going going going going
Oh my goodness
It's expensive!
I betcha it is expensive — it's a beautiful wedding chapel.
Look at that place.
It looks like a Disney-land for getting married.
Parks fill the seafront of Yokohama and add even more beauty to one of Japan's most iconic skylines.
The open spaces between the skyscrapers is a rarity in Japan,
and that open feel mixed with the waterways and internationality of the city makes it feel like Chicago to me,
another iconic city along the water.
Oh look! I think its...
Oh! It's still 5:33?!
I know! And it's already this dark?
It's already this dark. Doesn't it feel way later than 5:30?
I feel like it's 7:00.
Huh Momma chan? What?
It feels way later than 5:30. It's only 5:30?!
Well it's 5:33 according to the giant Ferris wheel.
I thought it was like 8:00.
And past everyone's bed time.
Oh my goodness.
I don't even feel that tired because I was... let's dance again!
OK, let's dance again.
I want to dance!
Let's go take a picture with the Angel Wings?
Move Joshua, move.
Right there. Ok.
Now smile at Mommy, one, two, three
OK go Sarah. Awesome!
OK, we can do you again.
One, two, three.
OK. My turn?
OK
OK.
OK, look at Mommy when you do that pose.
Wings don't come out of your... ok.
Ok perfect. Let's go.
Whose kids are these?
I don't know. They're dramatic like their father.
I love it!
Come Joshua and Sarah! Hurry Anna!
What a way we have to do this!
We're freezing, let's get going!
Let's get going!
We made it back, yea!
What a night on the town.
Are you enjoying some ice cream?
Yummy, Sarah!
Oh!
Watching some Mr A Game?
And having some ice cream.
Fun!
Cheers! Cheers
Well it didn't take us long to find a park right by the hotel.
This is fun!
Hey Dude, are you going to do this one? Show me.
This is like the one at our park.
So slow. So slow?
Do you know what else Chinatown is famous for?
Chinatown!
Yokohama's Chinatown is the largest in Japan and one of the largest in the world.
Since Yokohama become Japan's Front door to the world,
it's only natural that one of the biggest settlement of foreigners, including Chinese, would happen here,
especially because foreigners needed special permission to venture outside of this area.
The food looks very authentic, doesn't it?
Yeah- those are interesting candied strawberries.
They have so many shops with lots of good looking stuff. Where are we going to end up eating?
Look at the end of the road!
It looks like Bowser's Castle down there, doesn't it?
Ha ha! It's like a real Bowser's Castle, Dude!
Yeah. I'm just walking backwards.
You're walking backwards now? OK watch where you're going, watch where you're going!
OK tiny street, here we go.
What are you going to get?
It's a strawberry. Strawberry one?
It's sweet Strawberry. Can I have money? Yes.
Whoa!
Mmmmmm.
And right next to it is something that looks good to Daddy.
Should I get some Karege and some French fries?
Yes. Is it good, Becca?
Oh! It looks good.
Who else is going to try it now? OK Sarah, why don't you try it real quick.
Well we ordered some chicken, some big chickens and fries,
It's got chili powder on it!
It's got chili powder and they are spicy, whew!
How is it, Becca? Spicy.
Spicy, but good? Yea.
I like it. Anyone want to try a bite of Daddy's huge chicken?
Is it spicy? A little bit. It's hot.
Look, let me show you on her.
Move. Turn around, please.
Isn't that pretty? Whoa.
Should we buy some? Yea, let's buy it and wear it right now.
We're getting some fun souvenirs here from Chinatown.
What did you get Sarah? Turn your head and let me see.
Oh, that's so pretty!
And Anna's getting one now. Anna can you turn your head and let me see?
Very nice.
Very nice Rebecca.
What are those things? Hair things.
Hair things. Not for us, Dude.
Well, that was a fun little shop. That was.
I'm cold. I'm cold too, let's go!
Everyone ate spicy food and now we're all thirsty.
Oh Mitsuya, Mitsuya!
Do you want Apple Tea Nate? Yes please.
Apple Tea for Daddy!
Look what we found... Mommy's favorite grocery store
Gyomu Super, right by Chinatown.
I'm sure they're selling food to all the vendors here.
Alright, now it's time for our next excursion.
Where will we go? What will we see?
They were being too noisy so I said "Skidadily-do"
(Kids laughing)
Let me out!
OK, should we get ready to go now? We're going to go to the big park with a big slide.
Yokohama is home to some truly beautiful parks,
and we've come to Kanazawa Natural Park to see if their roller slide is one of the best in Japan.
When traveling with kids, it's good to let them get their energy out at fun parks along the way.
There's where we want to go: massive slide.
And there's where we are, so what do we have to do?
We can go over here the boring way, or... The boring way!
Or walk down that huge mountain side?
I think we want to go the "boring" way.
What? Why?
It's not going to be boring.
Are you going on the massive slide?
Yes we are.
The "Master" slide? The "Master" slide.
I wonder if it's going to be bigger than the other one we just did?
What do you think? It's longer than the other one?
No.
It looks like a long slide. We're about to find out.
Look- it's under construction, the big roller slide, the whole reason we came!
Ohhh. But we still can have fun!
Look, there's the start of the slide, and then it goes down, down, down...
This may be bigger than the other one we just did now
But I don't know, we'll have to come back and see, huh?
I think the other one is longer.
Cheese! (Imitates camera shutter sound)
We found some fun things to climb on.
Becca did it.
Anna did it — almost.
Sarah's in the process of doing it...
I'm in the process... You too?
Joshua's doing good.
This is a steep mountainside here.
Way to go, Dude!
OK, Becca's trying without any hands. Let's see if she can do it.
No hands Becca.
No hands — whoa!
Yes, Becca! Awesome!
Anna too! Oh, she used an arm...
Oh! She used both hands!
I'm going to try again
You're going to try again?
Well that was a fun park.
It will be way more fun with the slides open.
Going up!
We're exploring close to our hotel now.
There's some fun-looking stores here.
Girlfriend, did you see? I did.
Another Gyomu.
I wonder... do you think this is Gyomu land, where they all started?
Maybe? Maybe not.
Yokohama has a number of pedestrianized streets that are dedicated to commerce.
Tonight we're checking out two, starting with the Isezaki Mall,
a long shopping street with local & International stores, restaurants and outlets.
It went on so long we didn't even make it to the beginning, as we came in at the end near our hotel.
The shopping streets are marked with decorative markers to let you know you can buy, buy, buy.
Oh this is cool in here now.
This will be fun on the way back too — we'll have to walk back this way.
After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed over to the Yokohamabashi Shopping District,
a bustling covered shopping gallery lined with over 130 stores & stalls selling, fresh & prepared foods.
The atmosphere was vibrant and fun, we loved it!
Look at their door here! Their whole door is a screen that lights up.
Isn't that cool?
Can I try opening it?
There's a cool little fish market here — all kinds of stuff in here.
The is cool!
I don't like it because it smells like fish. The smell?
(Market noise & conversation)
It will be a yummy snack tonight. Mikans? Right here.
Whoa — that's a really good price on apples.
What did you think there, Zoot?
So it reminded me a lot of the markets in Brazil
Where you have fish and fruit and veggies and random clothing stores...
It was a really cool shopping street.
Yeah, that was a cool street.
Alright guys, now time to head back.
And we're back at the hotel.
Enjoying some drinks, right?
I was playing a game.
Do you want to take off your jacket, Dude? Aren't you hot?
No. I want to be hot.
Movie time! Movie time!
Oh my goodness, everybody's enjoying a movie here.
So girls, Daddy was doing the comments on our YouTube videos and I got a comment that says
Do you think or dream in Japanese? Anna?!
First you. No, never.
You don't think in Japanese?
Think, yes. But I didn't dream in Japanese.
You don't dream in Japanese? No.
What about... What about Becca?
I think in Japanese but I don't think I dream in Japanese.
Oh, really?! Sarah?
I don't dream in Japanese but maybe I think in...
I think you probably think in it, because you girls have been speaking it a long time.
And Joshua, he's still learning Japanese. So you think a little bit in Japanese, huh?
Yea. Yea?
[Ruth] Girls, do you remember when you didn't know Japanese? [Joshua]I didn't have a dream in Japanese before.
Because it's just not real in the dream.
I see.
Is that what you expected?
I expected them to dream in Japanese.
But I knew that Becca and Anna don't remember a time that they didn't know Japanese.
But when they were 4 years old, what two languages did they speak?
When they were 4 they spoke English and Portuguese,
They were learning Portuguese and now they don't know any Portuguese.
But they don't ever remember not knowing Japanese.
So now it's just English/Japanese.
The kids are in bed, it's time for mommy and daddy... Just about to go to bed.
The next morning I got up early and headed out to grab a hot cub of 7-11 coffee
and hike up to nearby Nobeyama park where I could get a sunrise view of the city.
It was cold but beautiful, and from the vantage point I had a commanding view of the city.
From here you can see the features that make up Yokohama's geography
the low areas, hills and bluffs that come and meat Tokyo bay.
If you look closely in this urban sprawl, you can see the individual personalities of the people coming through in their homes and gardens.
Now it's time for our last morning in Yokohama before heading home.
Where's your masks?
I didn't use those. This one was in my pocket.
OK
There's no better way to finish our trip than along the bay at historic Yamashita Park.
Wow, that's a giant shipyard over there, huh?
Now we've seen it... Now we can go.
Now we can go!
There's some nice yachts or boats
So Ruth and I just did an absolutely epic shopping trip at Don Quijote
We thought maybe it was just going to be a moment,
It turned out to be so big that it's going to be it's own separate video.
You liked it, huh?
Oh, it was glorious.
Boo!
Is it lunchtime yet?
Daddy, give me a back ride! A back ride?
Oh, let's go check out all these flowers, guys, OK?
Look at that water-thing! Yea, let's go see it.
Let's go check out this little flower park. Rose Garden of the Future
Rose Garden of the Future?! Well we found it here!
Having an adventure during a pandemic can be a challenge, as you have to be flexible and careful.
But just because there's a pandemic doesn't mean that you have to stop enjoying life.
We're a little out of season for these roses.
Life is a gift from God, just like family is.
If you value life and value family, you can have an adventure anywhere at anytime, even if it's close to home.
It's a fairy fountain! A fairy fountain?
There's some song written out there.
Our quick excursion to Yokohama was a breath of fresh air,
and we look forward to exploring it more in the future.
What was your favorite part of the trip? Comment below and subscribe!
We pray for your good health and until next time, we'll see you on Life in Japan. Bye bye!
It's finally almost 11:00, we can go eat!
Yeah! Does that sound good?!
Let's go!
Let's find Mommy and say "It's time to eat, Mommy!"