Arriving at Yokohama Station, I felt like I was back on my old stomping grounds. I lived here for about a year, my senior year of high-school and the summer after. I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch with my Hodogaya High classmates, but that didn’t stop us from putting together a little reunion. Most everyone is married now, with kids and jobs and such, and it was fun to see which directions we all went in. We shared photos, lots of food and drinks, and laughed over old memories and scandals. I had worried too much about keeping up in Japanese, and I think they were as relieved as I was that I hadn’t lost it completely. It turned into a late night, and after promising to keep in better touch, we scrambled to catch the last train. Our hotel wasn’t in the nicest area, but it was cheap, free to use their laptop, and had a small balcony with a nice view of one of Yokohama’s symbols, the 70 storey Landmark Tower.

In the morning, we began a nostalgic city tour. Yokohama’s Chinatown is one of the world’s largest, and has been around since 1859 when the port was opened to foreign traders after the arrival of Commodore Perry and his Black Ships. It’s marked by ten ornate Pailou gates, built according to Feng Shui principles. The area is filled with delicious smells and sights, as well as lots of photo ops. We made our way slowly through, and finally emerged near Yamashita Park.

Yamashita Park has sculptures, fountains, gardens and sitting areas lined along the old Bay port, with the Yokohama Marine Tower in the background. One of the most distinguished landmarks is Hikawa-maru, Queen of the Pacific. Inside the ship, after a short movie on its history as a cruise liner passenger ship, wartime hospital ship, and later historical treasure, you get a real feel for the original design, walking through five levels. There are passenger cabins (Charlie Chaplin traveled on the ship several times) , crew areas, the wheelhouse and Captain’s office, galley, dining saloon, and lower level engine rooms.

Minato-no-mieru-oka-koen (harbor view park) lived up to its name in a big way, and there was a beautiful rose garden in full bloom. We sat for a while and watched a dozen or so seniors create masterpieces with watercolors, oils, chalk and pencil.
Nearby is the Foreigners Cemetery, where over 4800 people of forty nationalities are buried. Among the noteworthy are the French confectioner who introduced French bread to Japan, Elizabeth Scidmore, who advised planting cherry trees in Washington, the missionary who completed the translation of the New Testament into Japanese, and the USS Oneida and Great Kanto Earthquake Memorials. There are quite a few Western style houses and buildings in this area too.
By the time we walked back through the popular shopping area, Motomachi, to the hotel, we had built up an appetite, but we waited til we hit Chinatown for our snack. The pork bun and milky bubble tea were just the right thing.
Later, it was about an hour or so by train to meet with some teachers from Hodogaya High School at a Cambodian restaurant in Machida, Angkor-Thom. The food was awesome (can’t wait to get some in Cambodia!) and the company was even better. It was fun to reminiscence about what were, for all of us, young and relatively carefree days. One former teacher brought her daughter, who had recently returned from a month-long dance workshop in LA. It was another full day and late night!