[Feb. 2023] On the second day in Yokohama, Japan, the sun was shining and completely opposite of the bad weather of the previous day.
And it was warm, too.
If we had planned this trip one day later, my mother and brother-in-law would have come with us.
We checked out of the Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu, put our luggage in the coin locker at Yokohama Station, and headed out to Motomachi.
I cannot remember the name of the street, but we kept going back and forth on that one street lined with shops.
Shopping is a great pastime for my sister who wants to stretch her wings away from everyday life which is dominated by our mother’s care.
Before the coronavirus pandemic began, we used to visit Motomachi with our mother, who was nicknamed the “Great Shopping Demon King”, almost every time we returned to Japan.
It was a pity that Great Demon King was not here with us this time, but my sister fully enjoyed herself spending hours of shopping.
However, to my surprise, some of the shops lined up in Motomachi were gone.
I was particularly disappointed when we discovered that my favourite shop specialising in leather clothing disappeared.
I wonder if that shop could not survive the pandemic.
It seems that the number of shops has decreased as a whole.
As for clothing, it may be difficult for individual shops in Motomachi to survive, not only because shops that sell cheap items like large supermarkets have become mainstream, but also because online shopping is gaining dominance.
I hope somehow they survive.
After shopping, including souvenirs, we went to Chinatown.
How long has it been since I came here last time?
Everything had changed.
First of all, I was surprised by the number of people.
It’s as crowded as Ameya Yokocho at the end of the year, and the age group is low.
And all the restaurants were offering “all-you-can-eat”.
Every restaurant looked similar.
Those who are familiar with the Chinatown may distinguish between good and bad, but we don’t know anything about it, so we went to the restaurant where we could get in without waiting and had all-you-can-eat.
I didn’t count, but I think the three of us ate more than 10 dishes.
I don’t recall any of the dishes being particularly delicious, but overall it wasn’t bad.
I was interested in Chinese-style castella, but when I ordered it, it turned out just a piece of sweet steamed bread, which was disappointing.
That’s the end of our overnight trip to Yokohama.
Although my brother-in-law had told us that there were many things to see in that area, our excursion ended with just shopping and dining.
I think my husband was not satisfied.
We will come back to Yokohama one day for sightseeing.
We didn’t have the energy to take the crowded train because of the tiredness from shopping and full stomach, so we took a Green Car (first class) on the way home.
By the way, my sister takes the Green Car even when she’s not tired.
That is something I never do, but I think it’s atavism because our grandmother was that kind of person.
