Yokohama Waterfront

Friday, July 30

I'm wondering -- I thought yesterday was Friday. I must be slipping! Today is our last day of sightseeing in Japan and the last day, really of our trip. We head home tomorrow.

This is a leisurely day. We arise to gray skies and a thick marine layer in the distance. Perhaps, like yesterday, this will keep the heat down. We meet A at Yamate Station at noon, and head out toward his favorite mom and pop restaurant. He hasn't been there in a while. And we don't find it. Presumably it closed and something took its place. We choose a restaurant on the same street somewhat at random. The food is good nonetheless, and quite inexpensive.

When we emerge after lunch, the cloud cover has lifted, and the air is hot and sticky. We hike the 15 minutes uphill to A's quarters in the Negishi residential area. He's an hour or more from the main base at Yokusuka. A signs us in at the front gate, and again at the quarters building. His room is spacious -- he's the only one in a 2-man room. And his monitor is bigger than his flat-screen TV. Goodness.

Now we will approximate his trek to work, across the city, but in pieces. We start back down the hill to the station. We get almost to the bottom of the steep hill when I realize I have left my camera. Back up the hill we go, complaining all the way, to collect it. At least we're getting some exercise, eh?

At the station we ride two stops on the line to Sakuragicho, where B and I strolled along the waterfront this morning before traveling to Yamate to meet A. We head straight for the Landmark Tower, and ride the amazing elevator to the observation platform on the 69th floor. The high-speed elevator reaches a top speed of 750 meters/minute. Be sure to clear your ears!

It's not too crowded at the top, so we are easily able to enjoy the views in four directions. This is the tallest building in Yokohama, and by city statute will remain so. It does make for a great view. We enjoy the salt water fish tanks on one side of the tower. In addition to brightly colored reef fish, one features small sharks and tiny, evil looking eels poking their heads from out the corals. Since we're not in any hurry, we sit in the bar enjoying the view and have a beer.

 We descend to the waterfront and walk out to the pier, where there is shade and a breeze. We sit idly on a bench, debating whether to take a harbor cruise. In the end we decide to ride the Sea Bass shuttle to Yokohama Station and ride the train one more stop to A's work place. The warehouse where he works is a good 15-minute walk from the train station in an industrial district. It's not exactly picturesque, but the whole district is well kept, like most things in Japan.

So now we have a picture of A going to work, as he must tomorrow. A 15-minute walk downhill to Yamate Station, a 12 minute ride to Higashi-Kanagawa Station, a 15-minute walk to the Yokohama Fleet Mail Center. Reverse that for the way home, except when the back gate is closed and he must ride one stop further to Negishi.

We board the train again for Kannai Station, and walk into the shopping street. We ride a rickety elevator to the fourth floor of a building on a side street and make a dinner reservation at a Yakiniku restaurant that A knows. Then we stroll, and I do a little last shopping. We cook our dinner (beef, chicken, ox, vegetables) over a charcoal fire in a firepot set on the middle of our table. An exhaust hood over the firepot evacuates any harmful fumes. It makes for a leisurely meal, very enjoyable.

We part from A at Kannai Station, and make our way back to Shin-Yokohama for the last time. We have our tickets for tomorrow -- a short ride to Tokyo and then the Narita Express to the airport. It doesn't seem quite real that we will be going home.

Today's pictures start here.