Minato Mirai

'Harbour of the Future'......Minato Mirai......a development whose construction began in 1983, is built mainly on reclaimed land. Located in Yokohama, it's home to about 1,200 companies and 7,000 residents. This beautiful area boasts the famous Cosmo World Ferris Wheel, Landmark Tower (Japan's tallest skyscraper), Yokohama Museum of Art, Queen's Towers Shopping Mall, many large hotels and a huge convention centre to name but a few.

It is always a gorgeous place to wander around, particularly at night when trees festooned with fairy lights illuminate the walkways and tall buildings and the ferris wheel light the sky. During the long, hot summer an evening stroll offered a brief, but welcome, respite. Living in Chinatown, adjacent to Minato Mirai and Yamashita Park, we have an extensive view of the area from our perch on the 16th floor of Leyton House. It was from this perch that we also enjoyed many firework displays over summer. Living so close means it's a place we often frequent, both on foot and on bike!

Landmark Tower, the obvious centre piece of the area, was built in 1993 and is 927 feet or 296 metres tall. It is a magnificent building, very glamorous really, and is home to the world's first circular escalator.

Its interior is stunning and, on a clear day, a trip to the Observation Deck gives you 360 degree views of Yokohama, Yokohama Bay and in the distance Tokyo and of course Mt Fuji. Fuji San is shy though and hides behind clouds most of the time! The photo below shows Cosmo World with the ferris wheel and in the left foreground the Pacifico Hotel. World Porters is to the right of the wheel.

Now here's a 'Where's Wally?' Look carefully at the photo below. The Yokohama Stadium can be seen in the middle, there is a small cluster of tall buildings behind and slightly to the left of the stadium......keep looking......there is a lone tall building slightly to the left again and a little behind that cluster with its upper level set back and green behind it......that's us!! Leyton House.....can you see it??

To herald the arrival of Autumn and advertise the Edgar Degas Exhibition at the Art Gallery there was a beautiful display on one of Landmark Tower's upper floors.

When you leave Landmark Tower on the waterfront side you can cross directly to Queen's Towers or take a detour to the Yokohama Museum of Art and an attractive boulevard complete with fountains and cherry trees. As is the norm throughout the area, there are many beautiful stainless steel sculptures.

The Red Brick Buildings are always a popular spot and offer many shops and places to eat. World Porters, next to Cosmo World, is a great place to shop and eat. We often eat an Indonesian Restaurant, Sura Baya, on the 5th floor. World Porters has six floors, with each one dedicated to a certain theme. From the ground floor up, they are food, fashion, sports and hobby, home and living, cinema and restaurants, relaxation and interiors. If you are keen movie goer, the big cinema offers many movies in English with Japanese sub titles (a very useful feature). The food floor includes an extensive supermarket which is surprisingly is quite well priced.

Collette Mare adjacent to the Sakuragicho Station offers many eating places on its upper floors and the views are nothing less than stunning. Even if you are not really hungry, it's a great place to just sit, sip on a wine and look. If you are a 'shopaholic' this place, and everywhere else in Tokyo and Yokohama, is for you.

The Nippon Maru a beautiful old sailing ship, built in 1930, is permanently docked at Minato Mirai and is open to the public. Located adjacent to Landmark Tower and Cosmo World it is a beautiful sight. Nearby is the Yokohama Port Museum, a place which to date I have not visited.

One of my most recent missions has been to thoroughly explore the whole Minato Mirai area. On my trustworthy bicycle I can cover a wide area very quickly. Usually  free to roam at will,  everyones' movements mine included, were hugely compromised by the APEC Summit which was held at the Pacifico Hotel. That's the building with the curved top.

Japan took a very serious approach to security and mobilised 21,000 police to the area. The number of VIP's being protected was.....80.....not a bad ratio!! The huge numbers of police were housed in hotels across the Kanagawa Prefecture and hundreds of buses were used to ferry the them throughout Yokohama. Without a doubt I have never seen such intense police presence. 

Consider this.......Australia with an area of 7, 659, 861 sq km's has 59,000 police......Yokohama with an area of 437 sq km's, of which Minato Mirai occupies 88 acres......had 21,000 police. Just a bit of silly number crunching on my part but it's interesting to see the comparison. Naturally the place was teeming with police cars, buses, armoured cars and patrol boats.

A ride around Minato Mirai meant limited access to many places. Residents had been notified.....unattended bikes forbidden in the area....failure to obey....bye bye bike.....impounded!! The ferris wheel lay idle, Cosmo World was silent and the entire area around the Nippon Maru was cordoned off. I enjoyed poking around discovering where I could and couldn't go. 

Observed photographing a group of policemen one day, I was quickly approached. Uh oh!!!... would it be "Show me your camera"?.... no......instead I heard " Please show your alien card or passport!!" Alien card quickly produced....no longer a terrorist threat...... move along!!

With the closing of APEC the residents of Yokohama breathed a collective sigh of relief.  It is over.....security extreme to the maximum has returned to normal!! Police cars patrolling constantly with incessant sirens and loud hailers blaring, a sky full of helicopters, a sea crowded with ships and patrol boats, 100's of police buses, even more cars, all those police....but wait.....we did see President Obama go past! At least we think we did...there was more than enough security around this particular car...it's the Presidential car with the American flag!! Who knows....??

What an amazing 'Japanese spectacular'!!! Finally peace......what will it be next....maybe Christmas? Maybe I will get a bike like this for Christmas!!

Minato Mirai....this has been but a glimpse of another location in Japan. All I can say is thank goodness for digital cameras......a compulsion to take photographs is only ever limited by the patience of those who are accompanying you. Constantly left behind because I am taking yet another shot of fairy lights or the ferris wheel or the buildings or............well everything!!!! 
I don't apologise because I am totally addicted!

Hey, hey it's......Harajuku!!!

A visit to Harajuku in Tokyo will always provide plenty of entertainment....even more so if you visit on a Sunday. Harajuku has many attractions.....the 'out there' Harajuku fashions, Omotesando Street, Takeshita Street, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park ......to mention but a few.

To reach Harajuku from where we live in Yamashita-cho means, as normal, catching a variety of trains. We leave Ishikawacho on the blue Keihin-Tohoku Line then change to the orange Tokaido Line at Yokohama. At Shinagawa we change to the green Yamanote Line heading towards Shinjuku. Harajuku is one stop after Shibuya but two stops before Shinjuku. Research on Train Route Finder by Jorudan Co Ltd shows that we could also catch the Shonan-Shinjuku Line from Yokohama and change to the Yamanote Line at Ebisu but to date I have not used this route. It is about 35km's and takes 48 minutes travelling time, plus changeover time, and costs 540 yen ($6.60) each way. 

The railway network map below shows the journey, plus I have marked a couple of other places mentioned in earlier blogs.

The Harajuku Station looks very different to all other stations in Tokyo.

A visit to Harajuku on a weekday, although still busy, is far more relaxing than a weekend visit.  There are many things to see so it is definitely worth a visit at anytime but really ........Harajuku on a Sunday is a must! On a Sunday it is insanely busy and it's guaranteed you'll see some very different fashions-Gothic Lolita, Visual Kei, Decora, Punk, Rock-a-Billy, Hip-Hop...... Takeshita Street is a busy, busy place!

Like anywhere in Japan, return visits will always deliver a new experience. Whether it be a celebration, parade, ceremony, festival......someting will be happening somewhere. One Friday, with 'alien visitors' Marion and Sandy, it was exciting to witness many traditional wedding ceremonies underway at a large temple. Steve and I had earlier witnessed one on a Sunday.

In terms of seeing something new, our last visit was no exception. We wanted 'alien Paula' to experience some Tokyo crowds and crazy fashions so, although decidedly not Steve's idea of fun, we headed off on a Sunday. We weren't to be disappointed! On this occasion it was the 90th Anniversary of the shrine adjacent to Harajuku Station. As we blended into the crowd and made our way along Takeshita Street it was business as usual....tourists galore, energetic spruikers, 'out there' fashions and more tourists. Not surprisingly, Asian tourists far outweigh Western tourists, although this is one place you do see plenty of 'Euros'! 

In this place basically anything goes.....as these outfits clearly demonstrate!!

At the end of Takeshita Street we turned right and made our way to Omotesando Street. This street is famous for its upscale fashion shops...Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada.....and in recent times has been referred to as Tokyo's Champs Elysees. 

With trees lining either side, it is a lovely street to stroll along. On our last visit with Paula large groups of people, dressed in traditional Japanese costumes, were moving excitedly along the street. A certain indicator that something special was happening somewhere.

We continued up the street towards the Harajuku Station and Jingu Bridge where it's common to see large groups congregating. Once over the bridge you reach the very impressive Meiji Shrine (明治神宮)entrance.

Just before the entrance we were entertained by a variety of performances.

But wait there was more!! As we strolled along the broad walkway, with its overhanging trees, shrines to be carried by groups of men were being unloaded from trucks and there was an abundance of people in traditional costumes.

Further along we came upon another highly decorated area with even more performances and excitement!! 

 Ceremony or no ceremony ....like anywhere...everyone has to stop for food!!

Talk about sensory overload. 

One cannot help but be fascinated by the abundance of celebrations occurring so regularly in this wonderful country. Truly, the Japanese are specialists in this domain. Visits to Indonesia over the past few years have introduced us to the many religious ceremonies, which are an inherent part of life in Asian countries. We should not be surprised that these ceremonies are so prolific in Japan.

Everything here is big (except the people)...celebrations are big.....crowds are big....and  politeness, patience and enjoyment is huge!!!

HARAJUKU-WA SUBARASHI-I MACHI DESU!!

'Yeah, yeah, yeah!'......it's the Beatles Bar.

Just one night at the Beatles Bar in Shinagawa and you'll be addicted....... you'll be wanting to go back again and again.

In a tiny little room very near to the Shinagawa station you can find this very unobtrusive venue. There is nothing remarkable about the location at all and it would be very easy to overlook. Bek and Paul became addicted and Steve has returned often with various work and personal friends. To date I have only been a couple of times as I have either been the designated nanny or away.

You pay 2000 yen to get in with drinks on top. Patrons can purchase a bottle of whisky which the host, Oshima, clearly labels. The bottle is stored on a shelf over the bar and taken down upon return visits. Naturally once it's depleted you replace it. Due to a typical 'lost in translation' mistake the first bottle Steve had purchased was amusingly labelled 'Stephen and Lewis'. Somewhere along the line Paul and Canadian Steve finished off the 'Stephen and Lewis' bottle but duly replaced it for the next visit. It has now been replaced quite a few times. Even though whisky can be bought incredibly cheaply in Japan you do pay 'top yen' for it at the Beatles Bar.

The host of the bar is a very funny guy. He is very humourous and to prove it he proudly pokes his finger through his glasses to show there is no lens.......... 'Just for looks!'

You are never quite sure what sort of music you'll get but it's all good. One night Paul even did a song or two! People crowd around the musician and simply listen or converse with other patrons.

On one visit there were six in our group; Moses, Steve and Sandy, Marion and Steve and I. We started the evening with a meal in a Japanese restaurant. You should have heard the complaints when we had to sit cross legged. There isn't actually much room in the eating spaces and if you are tall it's hard to find a space for the extra leg length.

As the Beatles Bar occupies a very small space and up to forty people often squeeze in, it can be very squashy and 'up close and personal'. We make sure we get there early enough to secure a spot. By the end of the night the tables and seats have been constantly moved around to accommodate everyone. One very friendly Japanese gentleman had been staring from across the room and finally took up residence next to me. I was happy to move next to Moses as things got a bit close. It is fun though, and yelling over the music makes for even more 'Lost in Translation' experiences than normal. The music is fantastic and the general ambiance of the place is so friendly and Japanese. No loud, anti social displays just respectful, enjoyable appreciation of excellent talent/s.

You can be sure it won't be an early night after any visit to the Beatles Bar. We were lucky to catch the last trains. We couldn't physically fit on one train leaving from Shinagawa so had to wait for the next one, then we caught the absolutely last train from Sakuragicho. On an earlier visit (when I was home in Australia) Steve and Moses had to walk from Yokohama because there were no connecting trains till the morning and then Steve borrowed Mose's bike to get home from Sakuragicho to Ishikawacho. He arrived home at 4am. Shame!!

On our most recent visit we had a group of  eight, all team project people.  We once again started with a traditional Japanese meal in a nearby restaurant. The food was very nice, particularly the tempura prawns, and of course, there were plenty of beers and wines to go with the sashimi.

'What a lucky man!'......Steve had two lovely ladies entertaining him.

Recovering from an irritation Moses looks just a little bit 'too cool for school' in his sunnies.

After the meal we relocated to the Beatles Bar where the entertainment was brilliant. The guitarist and vocalist were excellent. They asked for requests and we kept a constant supply up to them. There was not one request they didn't play. It was a fantastic night and after lots of singing out loud, playing supplied percussion instruments and too much whisky we all travelled home on the last, overcrowded trains. As the trains were so tightly packed we didn't even need to worry about falling over!!

Be prepared to (maybe) have too many drinks, go home smelling of cigarette smoke and have ringing ears for the next few days!! You'll never know if you don't have a go....