Friday 24 July 2009

City Spotlight: Yokohama China Town (Chukagai)

This is Japan's largest China Town. It's full of bright, gaudy, ornate gates and temples, Chinese restaurants, and loads of shops.

This is a good place to buy tie-died hippie clothes, truckloads of cheap souvenir tat, and overpriced Chinese food. It's probably very good - I've enjoyed what I've had - but I would usually expect Chinese restaurants in a China Town to be quite cheap. Instead they sell probably the most expensive Chinese food I've seen in Japan. I guess it may be more authentic?...


You can also see Japan's most over-merchandised character in - wait for it - a panda suit!!


On a less snarky note, it's also a place to walk around while munching on a nikuman (Chinese steamed bun) or eating an icecream, or some hot chestnuts. You can buy various Chinese ingredients, tea, and cooking tools here. I always go here to buy jasmine tea; they're the cheapest and best tea bags I've found. Fortune tellers also do quite a trade here.


This place can be a little sleepy and quiet on weekdays, but on weekends it comes to life. You can also go and be traumatised by the paintings on the walls of Ishikawacho station.


No comments:

Post a Comment