Saint Maur International School will host its annual Food Fair on Saturday, April 29, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Food Fair has been a Golden Week tradition since 1988, but the pandemic forced its cancellation for the last three years. This year, as the school celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding, it will be bigger and better than ever. As always, it is open to everyone! Food from around the world will be on sale, representing the cuisines of Australia, Britain, China, France, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, and Spain. You won’t go thirsty, with beer,…
Author: Seasider
Need to escape the city? How about a refreshing day-walk in Hakone? Set out after breakfast, be back in time for dinner. Sneakers or hiking boots fine. Take a picnic. All for under ¥4000! Begin on the wonderful Hakone Tozan railway. The bus is faster, but the railway is more relaxing. After the jangle of the urban railways, relish the view from three scenic switchbacks, while driver and conductor stroll an external catwalk to change ends. Leave the train at Kowakudani Station, cross the main road and ascend the steep concrete road with the rustic sign pointing to Chisuji Waterfall…
The month of March heralds the end of winter and the beginning of spring with cherry blossom viewing throughout the city. Many places to discover including Negishi Forest Park, Mitsuike Park, Ookagawa River and of course, Sankeien Garden. In this issue, we feature our “Pioneers of Yokohama” series with insight on architect Antonin Raymond and a look at another wonderful hiking trail through the prefecture. We also feature an article supporting community charity work as part of our Community Arts and Action mission. As the famous composer Gustav Mahler once said “Spring won’t let me stay in this house any…
Chūya Nakahara (1907-1937) was one of 20th century Japan’s greatest poets. He’s admired by both casual readers and scholars alike. The former are drawn to his intimate voice and his universal themes (love, heartbreak, personal doubt, wonder, happiness). Scholars discuss his rich rhythms and expert use of techniques adapted from European poetry, especially French Symbolists. He’s most closely associated with Yamaguchi prefecture, where he was from, but he spent formative teen years as a student in Kyoto before moving to the Tokyo area, where he lived out most of the rest of his life. He died young in Kamakura of…
Reading childhood picture books aloud is key to nurturing the minds of children. Through illustrations, one’s reading style, warmth of voice, and the atmosphere, children engage their senses more than adults imagine, absorbing the material and grasping meaning. Four minutes on foot from Hiyoshi-honcho station is Kodomo no Hon no Mise, Tomodachi (Children’s Bookstore, Friends), where you can pick up pointers on parenting and where rows of carefully selected books for reading aloud line the shelves. Its roots go back to 1964 in Hiyoshi when the couple Akira and Tokiko Tokumura founded the bookstore Nisshindou Shoten. There were few spaces…
Yokohama has a reputation as an open-minded, cosmopolitan city, welcoming newcomers from across Japan and around the world. The reality is sometimes less carefree, especially for those caught in cross-cultural conflicts. How would you resolve a dispute with your landlord? Labor relations can be fraught with complex problems. Even more troubling are family issues, such as divorce and inheritance. Situations such as these are hard enough for the ordinary Japanese without specialized legal or welfare knowledge. They can seem insuperable for foreigners who are less familiar with Japanese custom and law. Tomoya Yamada and Kei Sumikawa understand these obstacles and…
It’s with great pleasure that we greet the new year with a preview of our exciting activities planned for 2023. As of this writing, we have submitted our official application and look forward to establishing our NPO status early this winter. We plan to expand our featured series of articles including “Anaba: Hidden Spots”, “Pioneers of Art and Architecture”, “Yokohama: Past and Present” and, of course, our restaurant and cafe reviews. We toast the year of the rabbit–all of us at YSM wish you and your families health and happiness in the new year ahead.
As I mentioned in last month’s column, I want to talk about jibie for this issue. The term is borrowed from the French word referring to wild game. For most of Japan the official hunting season is a three-month period from 11/15 to 2/15. Back in the day, the French considered jibie a luxury generally only consumed by the upper class and aristocrats. Game was commonly eaten in Japan long ago, but meat consumption declined with the introduction of Buddhism. Meat regained popularity following the Meiji era, though it was mostly farm-raised meats. Game stayed predominantly in the shadows. As…
One might be surprised to find a restaurant under a railroad track, yet, the Koganecho Kitchen Studio is one unique location and one special place. Located about a three-minute walk from Koganecho Station on the Keikyu Main Line, Koganecho Studio is the collective name for the cultural and artistic facilities operated by the Koganecho Area Management Center. One corner of the studio is a shared kitchen, where the owners change daily. On Sundays, Donguri Kitchen, opened in May 2022, operates under chef and pâtissier Yuki Fukumoto, who owns Donguri Tart Shop, a reservation-only specialty shop in Noge. Donguri’s fare is…
Tsurumi-ku is a distinctive area of Yokohama with a cosmopolitan identity. There are as many foreign residents as in Naka-ku, from Brazil, Myanmar, and the Philippines, not to mention a long-established and vibrant Okinawan community. It has its own bus system and train line. The Tsurumi Line follows a complex route, trifurcating through the coastal industrial zones along Tōkyō Bay, with Umi-Shibaura Station mere inches from the water. Another station, Kokudō, is a favorite for urban photographers, with a mid-Shōwa retro atmosphere. The Tsurumi Line is now the scene of an ambitious project designed to free Japan from fossil fuel…