■Yokohama Chinatown

Yokohama Chinatown is Japan’s largest Chinese enclave, though the roughly 2,000 Chinese living here are vastly outnumbered by the 18 million tourists who pass through each year to browse the tiny shops and eat in one of the district’s 200 restaurants.

 Chinatown’s fortunes are tied directly to the rise of Yokohama itself following its opening for trade in 1859.  The earliest Chinese community was made up of traders and laborers who were restricted by the Japanese government to designated foreign settlement areas (Yokohama also contains some wonderful old homes and churches built by European settlers).  Over the years, except for the period of war between Japan and China, the community grew steadily and in 1955 was officially recognized with the construction of a large goodwill gate and the name Yokohama Chukagai.

 Chinatown has played host to some of China’s best-known radicals and exiles, including both Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, and has in the past been fractured along political lines reflecting developments on the mainland.  In recent years, the actual Chinese population has gone into decline even as the area’s popularity continues to grow.  Today, though, Chinatown is primarily a weekend playground for Japanese and foreign tourists who pass beneath one of the four colorful gates to feast on dumplings, gawk at the flamboyant Kantei-byo temple, and paw over the bewildering array of goods on sale in the shops.


>>Access
JR Yokohama station====(7 min. by Minato Mirai line)====Motomachi/Chukagai station====(1 min. on foot)====Yokohama China Town


■Yokohama Daisekai

Yokohama Daisekai is an eight-floor food theme park in Yokohama Chinatown, attempting to recreate the atmosphere of Shanghai in the roaring Jazz Age of the twenties and thirties. 

 The elevator first carries you to the eighth floor, where you’ll find the “Tower of Time,” a clock tower surrounded by a simulated starry sky, before passing on through a serious of recreations of period residences.  On the seventh and sixth floors, performances of Shanghai Jazz, Chinese acrobatics and opera, and more take place along with impressive light shows.

 The heart of the attraction is on the next three floors, the “Gourmet Town and Market,” which includes thirteen different eateries, all operated by well-known Chinese and Japanese restaurants, offering a range of traditional Chinese cuisines.

 Finally, you’ll arrive at the shops before exiting on the ground floor.  These can safely be avoided, as the real shops on the narrow streets outside are much more interesting.  The same is probably true of Yokohama Daisekai’s restaurant options, but the light shows and performances on the upper floors are worth a look if you’ve got time to spare.


>>Access
Motomachi/Chukagai station====(2min. on foot)====Yokohama China Museum

>>Hours
Chinese Art Museum: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Chinese Entertainment: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Chinese Food Court: 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Sunday - Thursday) 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 (Friday, Saturday, and the day before national holiday)
Chinese Gift Shop: 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
*Schedule may change.

>>Fee
Chinese Art Museum: Adult 500 yen, Child (6-12 years old) 300 yen
Chinese Entertainment: Adult from 1,000 yen, Child (6-12 years old) from 700 yen, Senior (over 65 years old) from 900 yen　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

-Matt Mangham

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