1. 50th Hayama Seaside Fireworks Festival This festival, which takes place in Hayama and Morito beach area, celebrates fifty years this summer on July 21st. Guests can expect 1600 fireworks including some on the water. Take a jaunt to Hayama for a heavy helping of visual sky candy. 2. La Maree de Chaya Look first for Harry’s Bar on the first floor. From the wooden deck facing the ocean, grab a cocktail, enjoy some conversation with friends and let the ocean breezes put you at ease. At the second-floor restaurant, you can enjoy French-style seafood dishes heaped with local Misaki…
Author: Seasider
Chanpha offers the best cost-performance lunch we know of in Yokohama, and that’s saying a lot because there are so many places serving delicious food for good value. An affordable Thai buffet, though, is difficult to beat, especially when the quality is so high and the interior so attractive and comfortable. Throw in the convenience of its Bashamichi location and it’s easy to understand why Chanpha is popular. The expansive buffet that makes its lunch a hit is just ¥1030 during weekdays and ¥1280 on weekends and holidays. All kids under the age of twelve are just ¥600. There are…
“To Help Make Japan Greener, All You Need is Wanhando” Japan rightly has a global reputation as a very clean country, influenced significantly by social pressure. People sweep the sidewalks in front of their houses and shops in part because everyone else does. And because they can be held accountable by their neighbors. Although the Japanese are likely tidier than most citizens of other nations, they tend to be less so when they are away from home (except at World Cup matches–remember the world’s amazement at seeing Japanese football fans picking up their rubbish in Brazilian stadiums after World…
Does the Noge district really need another bar? If it is Sakura Taps, then yes. Although simple in its approach, it works. Coffee, craft beer and small dishes are all you need to launch a pleasant evening. The “taps” in the name refers to the eight draft beers the bar serves on tap in peak quality due in part to an excellent server system. That’s what you want when you are drinking some of Japan’s best craft beers. There is something of a craft beer boom going on in Japan right now, but microbrewers in Japan have actually been producing…
Nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood near America-yama Park, just a two-minute walk from Motomachi station, lies the cozy, home-like restaurant Cafeteria CRu. It is the second branch of the same CRu we featured in our June edition last year, but is more intimate and casual. It’s the perfect place for having a relaxing dinner with family or friends. While the atmosphere may be casual, the food and drinks both are top rate. As you might have expected, the chef, Kenichiro Hoshino, is someone with experience, having trained for many years at a famous hotel. Each dish shines with his…
It’s been four years since my father passed away. His faith ran so deep that every morning and night he recited sutras before his Buddhist altar. When I was younger and shared the bath with him, I was forced to recite the sutras before I could get out. In middle school, when I acted like a little punk, I got dragged to Mount Kôya, where we spent several days living with the ascetic monks. My father’s teachings were always tied to Buddhism. My rebellious nature toward him, far from weakening, grew so that I began to question religion deeply. To…
Outdoor music festivals have sprung up all over Japan with the success of Fuji Rock, but this one along Yokohama’s waterfront is our favorite. It’s more than just two days of music; it’s a complete beach culture festival with film, artwork, food, merchants and more. Music highlights include the return of Tommy Guerrero and Ray Barbee for the event, as well as Japanese post-rock jam band Special Others. Many exhibit areas in Akarenga are open to the public. Near Zo-no-Hana, there are even some areas where you can listen to select live performances for free!
Spring Valley Brewery, the new microbrewery restaurant launched by Kirin Beer, has several surprises. The lobby of the attractive building on the Namamugi campus has a beer book library. The bar counters are mounted with the curious American invention called Randalls, which ‘dry-hop’ draft beers; beer runs through cylinders filled with hops, giving the beers a fresh but bitter finish. The biggest surprise, however, was the great quality of the food. Of course the beer was good, but we just didn’t expect such fine eating. This is definitely not some generic chain restaurant operated by an industrial brewery. One must-try item…
Despite the Christmas-like name, you’ll find no trace of Santa or his elves at Jingle Beer & Dining. What you will find is a warm and inviting bar catering to a wide variety of customers from 20-somethings having a get-together to solitary middle-aged businessmen downing a few beverages after work. The bar is cheerfully lit and will likely put you in a good mood as soon as you enter. Jingle Beer boasts eight draft beers ranging from industrial lagers like Suntory Malts (¥600) to Japanese craft beers from Coedo and other smaller breweries. There was even an American craft beer when…
Baye McNeil, Yokohama resident, teacher, author, columnist… activist? Perhaps we’re all somewhat racist, but few people confront their own racism or that in society so determinedly and publicly as McNeil. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he came to Japan ten years ago and took a teaching job. He still teaches, but has made his mark lately as a writer and social activist of sorts. A couple of months ago, McNeil launched an online petition urging Fuji TV to drop a planned broadcast of a performance by Rats and Star, a Japanese doo-wop group that performs in “black face.” While…