I was just wondering if it is true that this was the first store
to sell ice cream in Japan.
Pharmacist: Ice cream. Okay.
Gordon: They understand ice cream.
Renata: Yeah. [laughs]
They're so lovely. [laughs]
[music]
Konnichiwa (hello) from Yokohama, Japan.
Yokohama is such an interesting city because in terms of population,
it has more people than any other city in Japan.
Yes, Tokyo is bigger as a metropolis.
But if you compare just city numbers, city side-by-side,
there are more people here in Yokohama,
and yet the streets are so quiet, you know?
Look at this.
Of course, tourist areas are busy, but not the average street.
And I love it.
Do you know what's better here? Depending on where you stay,
you can walk to up to 80 percent of all the top attractions here.
For example, we're in Kannai near Bashamichi.
And if we walk 15-20 minutes that way, we're in Minato Mirai.
15-20 minutes that way, we're in Chinatown.
Five minutes here, this is Isezaki shopping street.
I'm absolutely loving it.
We've been here for almost a week now since my last vlog
Getting to know the area, getting familiar with everything
And we haven't used public transport not even once.
As on the last video I showed Minato Mirai and the waterfront,
today I'm going to show you another major attraction: Chinatown.
And also what we find along the way.
-You are here. -We are here.
-I'm here. -No, we are here.
Everything is... -I'm right beside you.
[laughs]
Yes, we are.
Minato Mirai, you can walk.
Then you can also walk to Chinatown right here.
-You can walk all over.
So, let me get started by introducing this street here
This is Bashamichi.
And this street is so important because as soon as Japan
opened up the ports to foreign trade by mid-19th century,
all the foreign fashions were concentrated here.
There's even a guide here to the street.
It's just a shame it's only Japanese.
-Can you read that, baby? -Yes.
-Yeah?! What does it say?
-Bashamichi. -Oh! [laughs]
The name Bashamichi means horse-drawn carriage in Japanese.
And it comes from the fact that carriages carrying foreigners
would be seen all the time up and down here on this street.
There's even a design here representing this past.
It's so cute.
[music]
Oh, they have the horses right here, too, in the middle of the street.
Yokohama was the very first port opened up to trade in Japan
and it quickly became the center of international trading.
As a consequence, Yokohama was the scene of many notable firsts in Japan,
like the first ice cream, the first gas lights,
the first boulevard trees.
And guess where all this happened?
Right here in Bashamichi.
[music]
The very first ice creams in Japan were sold in this pharmacy right here.
Heiandoo Pharmacy.
They opened in 1870 and the pharmacy is still here.
Let's see if they have ice cream.
Konnichiwa (hello)! Do you speak English?
-No? -Pharmacist: [in Japanese]
-Ah, I was just wondering if it is true that this was the first store
to sell ice cream in Japan.
-Pharmacist: Ice cream. Okay.
Gordon: They understand ice cream.
-Renata: Yeah. [laughs]
-Pharmacist: It's the first.
-This is the first one... -Yes.
-Wow.
-Yeah, I'll take this one here. -Okay.
The first ice cream in Japan and they still sell it.
No preservatives.
First ice cream sold in a drugstore.
This is so historical.
As in Japan, you don't eat on the streets,
you got to eat right here inside the pharmacy.
Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much).
-Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much). -That was so nice.
Thank you very much for welcoming me here.
-Oh, no problem! -You are very, very friendly.
- Very nice -Thank you very much.
-Thank you, thank you. Arigatou gozaimasu.
They're so lovely.
-Sayonara (bye) -Sayonara (bye)
-Arigatou (thank you). -Thank you very much.
Those ladies were so, so lovely
and they were so proud of the history.
I'm really happy I came here. It was so beautiful to see.
[music]
Another historic location here in this area,
the Port Opening Memorial Hall.
I saw online that it only opens for visits once a month.
And that today is not the day.
But it's not what this sign here says, according to Google Translate.
Hmm, it looks like you can just walk in.
Free admission.
Host: This building is 102 years old.
-Gordon: Oh, yeah. -Hai (sim).
-Renata: Wow.
Host: In Japan, this bird is called Ho-o
This is an imaginary bird
-Ah. -Hai.
They're supporting the city.
That's the symbol of the city.
Host: In Japan, we closed our country for 260 years
-Yes. -No trade with other countries
-It was the policy of isolation.
-Uh-hmm. -Uh-hmm.
-Our ancestors went to Brazil
-Yes. -Yes, yes, yes.
-We are very close. -Yes.
-Just like friends
[laughs]
You won't believe what happened. It was exactly that.
We walked in and a lady welcomed us,
and showed us all around the building.
She explained the history, the importance of this building.
Very kind of her.
-It's a beautiful building, huh? -Gordon: Yeah.
Yokohama Park.
We're now getting close to Chinatown.
Right in the middle of the park, look at this,
Yokohama Stadium, this is a baseball stadium.
And baseball is one of the top sports in Japan.
Just for you to better understand where we are,
remember in the previous vlog,
we walked from the pier to Yamashita Park?
Well, the park is right here.
Today we walked about the same thing, but from inside the city.
-Meu amor (my love)
-Meu amor (my love) -Oh
-You can see the gate from here?
-I don't know if that's the actual gate.
-There are several gates. -That might be one of them.
-Yeah, it's probably just one... -I thought it was one that was further
-Yeah, there are several.
There's a main one, we're going there but...
-Yeah. -...there are several.
-The one right here, it's got way down the street.
-Yeah. -Down at the end.
-Yeah, but we discovered another one here.
-We're at this gate.
-That must be the main street. -Yeah.
As I talk about foreigners in Japan,
ta-da, Chinatown.
When the port of Yokohama was opened for business
with the international community,
a lot of Westerners brought Chinese to act as interpreters here,
and some of them stayed.
-The Westerners are not very smart.
-Yeah. -It's Chinese.
-Exactly. I don't know how they could understand each other.
-Oh.
There are several gates here in Chinatown today,
but this was the first, Zenrinmon gate.
Translating it means good neighbor gate.
[music]
Now, being in Japan, why would you visit Chinatown?
Because this Chinatown here is important.
This is the largest in the entire country.
I've seen online people saying that it's the largest in Asia,
second largest in the world,
I can't guarantee which statistic is correct,
but it is big.
It's so big that you need a map.
[music]
Oh, this seems popular, baby. Look at the line.
-Number one, number one. -All right, number one?
-Arigatou (thank you) -Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much).
Go ahead, be adventurous
-They're full of soup -Yeah.
Full of soup, remember
-Yeah. -They'll spill out.
-And they're hot. -Oh, I'm glad you tried it first.
[chuckles]
Mmm.
I love it.
It explodes as you bite.
You got to be very careful eating this.
Look at this. Look at this here inside.
It's so tasty.
I love it.
-Yeah? -Uh-hmm.
[music]
This is the Kanteibyo Temple.
It says here that it houses Guan Yu, a famous general in China,
and later deified.
He was the inventor of the accounting method used in ancient China.
And because of that, he became the guardian God of the nation
and the God of Commerce and Wealth.
And people come here to pray for him.
[music]
To be continued
-Because I'm here... -Uh-huh.
-...and you're here. -Both are here, baby.
Do you see Casa d'Angela there? That's Portuguese.
Meaning Angela's house.
Let me tell you something funny. Did you know...
[laughing]
Do you know that guy who talks the whole thing...
-Yeah. -...on live?
-Uh-huh. -I saw him and his wife go here.
-No way! -Yes, right here in Chinatown, Yokohama.
-He just went in or you saw in the video? -No, in the video.
-Oh. I wanted to meet him. -His wife went in.
-No. -Oh.