Imagine for a moment a Yokohama museum of living culture–not a place where objects and artifacts are displayed, but a dynamic space where Yokohama can celebrate scholars and artists in the moment, whether they be musicians, dancers, poets or some other kind of rare talent. Imagine a community space where visitors can be educated and entertained while also enjoying good food and drink inspired by Yokohama’s rich history as a gateway to the West. This vision is the driving force behind Joseph Amato’s 7artscafe. And if anyone can pull off the creation of such an institution, it’s Amato. Many in…
Author: Seasider
pork spare ribs 500g cajun spice 40g Cajun Spice Mix chili powder 25g cumin powder 10g coriander powder 6g paprika powder 50g onion powder 15g garlic powder 5g oregano to taste salt 8g black pepper 8g * Makes more than required for ribs. Use surplus for other dishes. BBQ sauce soy sauce 100ml ketchup 70ml maple syrup 10ml brown sugar 8g Kahlúa liqueur 10ml (optional) apple vinegar 20ml cajun spice 20g (from above) bourbon 30ml Directions Mix cajun spice ingredients. Sprinkle 40g of the spice on the spare ribs and store in refrigerator for 12~24 hours. Wrap spare ribs in…
Shinya Suzuki, owner and head brewer at Yokohama Bay Brewing has played an important part in the city’s craft beer scene for over a decade. After a stint as head brewer at Yokohama Beer, he established his own brewery in 2013 in Naka-ku before moving to Totsuka to greatly increase its capacity. He is also the organizer of the annual Japan Brewers Cup, held at Osanbashi in January (excepting this year). His efforts have gone a long way toward his personal goal of “making Yokohama the craft beer city of Japan!” Due to his fame, the Keikyu Corporation approached him…
Kazutomo Shimizu is a bilingual, licensed tax attorney based in Yokohama and a long-time supporter of our magazine. We recently spoke to him about accounting, money and life. People often say that a good accountant will actually save you money, not just hassle; in other words, the money they can save you can sometimes pay for their fees. Can you give more concrete examples/cases of how this might work? You can legally save on taxes by having an accountant. For example, if you are a business owner, there is a system called blue return. When people choose that system, they…
Is the end near? No, we’re not talking about the end of civilization as we know it. We’re talking about the end of the pandemic as vaccination rates rise steadily in Japan and around the world. At the very least, we hope for more normalcy for the rest of the summer, if that’s even possible while the Olympics are being held in the region. Times like these, we like to focus on what we can control: checking in with friends, going on long strolls around the city, enjoying food and drink from local businesses, maybe catching up on reading. Sometimes…
According to meteorologists, tsuyu (rainy season) will be upon us a week or two earlier than normal this year and may be slightly longer than average. Sure, the ducks and frogs may be the happiest about this, but fret not: if there is anything positive to take away from the pandemic, we have all mastered the art of amusing ourselves at home with new or improved hobbies. The characters for tsuyu, meaning ume (Japanese plum) and rain, derive from the fact that ume are ready for harvest at the start of the rainy season. Making umeshu at home is a…
Meatballs beef (minced or hand-chopped) 300g onions (minced) 200g celery (minced) 100g garlic (minced) 15g egg 1 oregano to taste cumin to taste Grana Padano grated cheese 80g breadcrumbs 20g fresh cream 30g olive oil to taste Tomato sauce whole tomatoes 200g onions (minced) 80g garlic (minced) 10g jalapeño (minced) to taste bay leaf to taste olive oil to taste Mix all the meatball ingredients and form into about 40g balls Substantially oil pan and fry meatballs till crispy on the outside but still raw inside In a separate pan, stir fry garlic for tomato sauce till fragrant and…
To everyone who has been worried about the survival of Dark Room International during the current crisis, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your concern. It was 22 years ago that we opened the Dark Room in what was then known as the Strong Building (currently the Daiwa Roynet Hotel) in Yamashita-cho. Later, we moved to ZAIM on Nihon Odori street and, eventually, where we reside today at Noge Hana-Hana. We had been closed during the pandemic, but due to the large volume of requests from our customers, we decided to re-open from April 1st with limited…
Cafe Elena is a long-established coffee shop sitting on the hilltop near the Yamate Italian Garden. Its nostalgic atmosphere blends perfectly with the surrounding area. A large window at the back of the restaurant provides patrons with a view of the Yokohama cityscape. From 9 to 11am, in addition to the regular menu, they have special morning mix-and-match sets (¥70~), such as French toast, cheese toast, sweet bread, bacon and eggs to go with your drink of choice (¥550~). During my visit we ordered the recommended house special–homemade pumpkin pudding a la mode (¥1050~ w/drink). Savoring the richness of the…
Walking along Yamate Hondori street one pleasant, breezy spring day, I found Yamanoue on a corner of the Yamamoto-cho shopping arcade. The stylish cafe is easy to miss as the exterior is still that of a retro photo studio that previously occupied the space. The location had been used as a photo studio for over 70 years before being converted to a cafe. Much of the interior also remains as it was years ago. For lunch, I decided on a plate of minced chicken with black rice and local vegetables (¥950) and Odawara olive tea (¥650). The assortment of colourful…