Japan: Central Tokyo

I wouldn't have chosen to visit Tokyo in December. It turned out the weather wasn't cold and the city was rather festive. Japan, along with the other East and Southeast Asian countries, used to celebrate the lunar Chinese New Year. However, in 1872, during the Meiji Restoration, as a deliberate shift towards the West, Japan decided to celebrate the Gregorian New Year instead.

This being our second visit we were covering sites far and wide. A week was easily absorbed by the metropolis. I decided to report our visit by geographic sections of town, just to be organized and comprehensive, by no means exhaustive.

Highlights from central Tokyo

• We walked around Tokyo Station, Ginza (ground zero of all shopping areas) and Nihombashi (kilometer zero of Japan road system) area. The highlight was Maison Hermes, an architectural jewel, reminiscent of a shoji lantern. The exhibit at the top floor gallery Le Forum on climate catastrophe by Korean artist Jaeeun Choi was particularly evocative.
• On December 14th, there was a remembrance of 47 Ronin. While the event is a true historic event, the commemoration itself is a Western style of parade or procession (both words directly transliterated to Japanese), by way of well known landmarks for photo sessions, another example of Japan's adaptation of the West, or is it appropriation, lol.
• In the evening, when we walked by Tokyo Station there were three couples taking wedding photos, a common enough occurrence during our travels, but three may be a record.
• Marunouchi, the business district next to Tokyo Station, had lights in the trees all along the street. We also went by the amazing Christmas tree at Kitte mall which happens to have an outdoor terrace with fantastic views.

Maison Hermès




47 Ronin Festival








Some architectural landmarks of Central Tokyo.








Street Scene.


Inside Tokyo Station (lobby is first below), we ate lunch at T’s Tantan, an excellent vegetarian restaurant. Second below: Veggie Gyoza (Pot Stickers), Seitan, Plant-Based Cheese, and Sprouts; all over Rice. Third: Noodles in a Sesame Seed Sauce/Soup.






Christmas Tree at KITTE Marunouchi Mall




View from KITTE Marunouchi Terrace with Tokyo Station at right.


Tokyo Railway Station.


Wedding Photography in front of Tokyo Station


Marunouchi streets.








Bonus train video.

Yokohama by Night

Japan appears to embrace winter festive illuminations leading up to the New Year celebrations. We embarked on a pilgrimage between Chinatown, Minatomirai 21, and Yokohama Station. The weekend brought warm weather and a festive mood, but unfortunately, we were navigating it with jetlag.

Chinatown


Light Show at Yamashita Park




John taking a break at Yamashita Park. Whew.


Harbour.




Y-Cube








John (center) at the Christmas Market






Minatomirai 21 Skyline.




Holiday Fireworks


Near our hotel.


Mazda Miata Santa Claus Parade gets rolling. ;-)


Queen's Square Mall




Nippon Maru


Minatomirai 21


Yokohama Station

Yokohama: Old and New

Our visit to Yokohama turned out to be a history lesson. Yokohama was a sleepy fishing village when American warships landed in 1853, which began a few decades of colonial occupation of Japan, sowing seeds to Japan's eventual imperial aspirations. This history may be brief, but left indelible marks on the city. Today a number of the colonial mansions high up on a bluff are public cultural venues. This time of the year they are decked out in Christmas fineries, sponsored by various embassies .e.g. Vietnam, Austria, Peru.













The number one tourist attraction for Yokohama has to be Chinatown, the biggest in Japan, among the top 5 in the world. It started by Chinese workers brought by the colonists. It harbored many anti-Qing activists, such as Sun Yat-Sen, who eventually established the Republic of China in 1911.









Another stop was the New Grand Hotel, where General MacArthur first set up shop for Occupation after WWII after he landed in Yokohama. Only a couple of commercial streets/areas are still reminiscent of that time, Motomichi and Noge.









Much of Yokohama has shiny new buildings, most notably the redevelopment of the old Mitsubishi shipyard. While there are kilometers of waterfront promenade, the shopping and amusement areas seem to attract many young people during the weekend, quite a few speaking foreign languages. There may be easy and immediate solutions to Japan's aging population.











Flying Into Haneda Airport.




Lunch spot.




Art Deco Government Building from the 1930's.


More Fall Foliage.