(Top 3) Chinatown’s In Japan February 21, 2012
Posted by Dru in Japan, Kansai, Kanto, Kyushu, Tokyo, Travel.Tags: Chinatown, Chinese Street, Chukagai, Chuukagai, japan, Kobe, Kobe Chinatown, Minato-mirai, Nagasaki, Nagasaki Chinatown, Nanjing Machi, Nanjingmachi, Top 3, Top 3 Chinatowns, Toyoko, vancouver, Yokohama, Yokohama Chinatown
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Author’s Note: Dru’s Misadventures has moved to HinoMaple. Please venture on over there to read “(Top 3) Chinatown’s In Japan” complete with photos. http://wp.me/p2liAm-LA
There are 3 major Chinatown districts in Japan. They are located in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. I have had the pleasure to visit each one and all of them are different. To me Chinatown is a tourist destination that isn’t really an actual Chinese area. When people say you must go to Chinatown, I feel like I am about to head to a tourist trap with various vendors hawking their wares. Japan, unfortunately, continues this stereotypical trend. Being of Chinese descent and having visited China I feel that Chinatown is not a great representation of Chinese people or China in general. While the surrounding areas may be more representative, I feel as if I entered an amusement park where stereotypical Chinese culture is on display.
The biggest Chinatown in Japan is in Yokohama. Located at the end of the Minato-mirai Line, which happens to be connected to the Tokyu Toyoko Line, is the Chinatown where most people will visit when they come to Japan. It also happens to be the most crowded and touristy of the three Chinatowns. I found that the area is almost completely filled with Japanese people and various restaurants selling different types of buns. I never had a great time visiting Chinatown in Yokohama and rarely recommend it to tourists. Japanese people tend to love it there and think that the food is all authentic Chinese food. Unfortunately most of it is Japanese variations of traditional Chinese dishes. It can be hard to get excited when the Chinese chefs adapt their dishes to Japanese tastes, but that is how they make their money. I may also be slightly biased due to the fact that I found a small worm/maggot in a buffet lunch and all they did was use the tongs to throw it in the garbage. Not the most hygienic method of fixing the problem if you ask me. If you enjoy large crowds and Japanese style Chinese food, Yokohama’s Chinatown is a nice place to visit.
As you can tell, bigger does not equal better. Kobe has the second largest Chinatown in Japan. It is actually called Nankinmachi (after Nanjing) rather than Chukagai (Chinese Street). It is one of the best Chinatowns in Japan, in my opinion. It is lined with various food stalls and a few touristy souvenir shops as well as the stereotypical Chinese style architecture of Asian styled red roofs. Once you get past the touristy look of this Chinatown, you can get a lot of good food and a large variety of it too. Kobe’s Chinatown is also less crowded than Yokohama which makes it a lot easier to move around. Sometimes trying to get around in Yokohama can be a challenge as there are people spread across the entire street making it nearly impossible to move faster than a snail. In Kobe, this is not a problem at all. The only problem with the Kobe Chinatown is the fact that it is very touristy. It is hard to escape the fact that they do cater to tourists but thankfully I also saw many Chinese tourists when I visited so it couldn’t be that bad. I’m sure they are curious as to how Japan views Chinese culture just as Japanese people are curious to try sushi in other countries.
The last Chinatown, and smallest is Nagasaki. It spans just a few blocks and it is lined with various large and small shops. Like the other Chinatown’s, it is dominated with restaurants but the unique feature of this Chinatown is the number of other types of shops such as fireworks and medicine shops. You can easily notice a huge difference in atmosphere in Nagasaki. I felt relatively safe in Yokohama and Kobe however in Nagasaki I felt it was a little dangerous, comparatively. It could also be the fact that I walked in the area around midnight. In Nagasaki, it is common to see Chinese people as in Kobe but you can also eat the famous Nagasaki Champon, Sara Udon, and Kakuni Manju. These are all delicious, yet Japanese variations of originally Chinese dishes. I do enjoy them the most as they are fairly close to Chinese tastes. Due to the size of Nagasaki’s Chinatown, it is difficult to elaborate a lot on the different things in Chinatown as there really isn’t a lot.
Chinatown in Japan is something that a resident should see once in their stay in Japan. However for the average tourist, I doubt a trip to Chinatown would be very high on their list of things to see or do. I find it to be overly touristy and focused on Japanese people. As with many other Chinatown’s in various other countries, I rarely visit them. I prefer to go to the real thing. I have already visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing. I doubt I could find anything that is specifically Chinese in any Chinatown in the world, even in my hometown Vancouver. The food is good, for the most part, but dealing with the crowds and tourist activities is not as enjoyable for me. I would much rather go to a normal Chinese restaurant in another area than head to Chinatown. In fact, for people looking for a more authentic Chinese food, Ikebukuro is reputed as a secret Chinatown. Many Chinese people take up residence near Ikebukuro leading to many Chinese restaurants being located there. It is also somewhat contentious as the Chinatown merchants in Yokohama have complained openly about the idea of starting a Chinese Business Association in Ikebukuro as they feel it will create a rival Chinatown to their destination. I doubt things will really change in the near future but who knows about the long term.
2012 Tokyo Auto Salon January 24, 2012
Posted by Dru in Japan, Tokyo.Tags: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon, Auto Salon, Back to the Future, BBS, Bridgestone, Chiba, Chiba-ken, DeLorean, GD, HKS, japan, Lexus SC430, Makuhari, Makuhari Messe, Mazda, Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-8, Motor Show, NATS, NATS to the Future, Nihon Auto College, Nissan GT-R, Nissmo, Rays, RE Amemiya, SEMA, STi, tokyo, Tokyo Auto Salon, Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo Motor Show, Tokyo-to, Tommy Kaira, Toyota Prius, Toyota Soarer, Toyota Soarer Z40, tuner, tuner car, Veil Side, VeilSide, Yokohama
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Author’s Note: Dru’s Misadventures has moved to HinoMaple. Please venture on over there to read “2012 Tokyo Auto Salon” complete with photos. http://wp.me/p2liAm-M4
Last week I had written about going to the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of 2011. In January 2012, a second motor show of the season called the Tokyo Auto Salon is held. This is a very different car show compared to the Tokyo Motor Show. The Tokyo Motor Show is a typical auto show that focuses on new cars and concepts from the major car manufacturers. The Tokyo Auto Salon is a tuner car show that is similar to the SEMA show. For those who are unfamiliar with the auto industry, a tuner car is any car that has been modified from its original form. This can be anything from upgrading engine parts, changing the paint or any other part of the car. It can be very subtle to very crazy. The Tokyo Auto Salon is the best way to see all of the potential craziness people can do to their own cars.
The first thing to understand about visiting the Tokyo Auto Salon is to know where to go. The Tokyo Auto Salon is held in Makuhari Messe in Makuhari, Chiba. It is one of the most famous convention centres in Tokyo with concerts and various trade shows being held at all times of the year. Due to the layout and cheap rent relative to Tokyo Big Sight makes this a very attractive location for trade show organizers. The Tokyo Auto Salon is a large show that encompasses the main 8 halls as well as a small exhibition outside. While they don’t make use of the entire facility, they made use of a huge space nonetheless. Compared to the Tokyo Motor Show, it felt somewhat smaller, yet more tiring. The show itself has a lot more to see and it is all crammed into a somewhat smaller space than the Tokyo Motor Show. There are relatively less people at the Tokyo Auto Salon but with the area being more cramped makes getting around the show floor difficult. When visiting the Tokyo Auto Salon, like the Tokyo Motor Show, I highly recommend going early and being as patient as possible.
As I mentioned, the Tokyo Auto Salon is very different to the Tokyo Motor Show. It focuses on tuner cars. The entire Auto Salon in 2012 was loosely divided into sections. There were the custom car areas, the manufacturer custom car division, accessories, sound systems, paint, and custom car displays. While there are many sub-sections in each area, they generally kept close to their theme. All of the major Japanese aftermarket tuners were at this show. Many of the well-known Japanese aftermarket companies such as VeilSide, Tommy Kaira, and HKS were present at the show. Wheel and tire manufacturers such as Bridgestone, Yokohama, BBS, and Rays were also present. You could easily spend hours just visiting these booths to see what new and innovative products they had. Each company had their own theme. HKS was very much performance based while VeilSide was all about looks. The major Japanese manufacturers had their own booths as well showcasing the products of STi, GD, Nissmo and others. These names may not seem very familiar but companies like STi stand for Subaru Tecnica International. They are subsidiaries set up by their parent companies to be somewhat independent but loyal to their parent company. In fact, most of the companies were fairly loyal to one or two manufacturers. RE Amemiya is a well-known tuner company that is known for their ability to tune Mazda RX-7s and RX-8s. It provided a lot of variety into the designs of each car that can be both a blessing and a curse.
The other aspect of the show is to showcase individual cars. At the Tokyo Auto Salon, some of the aftermarket companies brought cars to be judged. Other individuals from around Japan also brought their cars to be put on display. Most of the cars on display in the general area were street legal. By far the most memorable was one by NATS (Nihon Auto College). It is a school that teaches the students how to fix and modify cars. They modified a Lexus SC430 (SoarerZ40 in Japan) to be a modern take on the original DeLorean from the “Back to the Future” movies. It was a work of art and craftsmanship that was nearly unmatched in the entire show. There were other great examples of their work that was present in the auto show but that one still sticks out in my mind. NATS is a great college that probably doesn’t get much attention overseas. It is a very creative group of students and teachers working together like a master and their apprentices. In fact, I would say that most of the companies at the show acted in a very similar way. From my very limited knowledge of the aftermarket industry, a lot of it is art with a healthy dose of mechanics. With enough time and money, you could create anything you wanted but you still need the ideas to make something good.
One other aspect of the show is the women. No auto show would be complete without having beautiful women posing in front of the expensive cars. The Tokyo Motor Show was the same yet very different. The women at the Tokyo Motor Show had to either fit in with the theme of the manufacturer. Many times you would see women in the strangest costumes just to fit the theme. At the Tokyo Auto Salon, that seemed to be less apparent. Most of the women at the show were there to get as many people to their booths. You could tell which booth had a woman modeling by the crowds surrounding them. If there was a large crowd, it was highly likely that there was a woman there. It was a bit sad as the most beautiful women, rather sexy looking, were getting the most attention. The women who dressed in a regular way or those who didn’t go the extra mile to look beautiful or sexy didn’t get large crowds of men with cameras in front of them. It is an unfortunate part of life that men usually think predictably. Each booth that had girls had a slightly different taste but in general. When you see a few booths, you have basically seen all of the girls as they all have girls that are differentiated by the colour of their clothes and a little difference in taste or style but generally it is similar and gets numbing after a while.
There are several final thoughts I have about the show itself. My first thought is that it was cramp and crowded the entire time. At the Tokyo Motor Show, I had a lot more energy to see the entire show whereas at the Tokyo Auto Salon, after an hour or so I was exhausted. I would also say that the types of people that went to the show were different. The Tokyo Motor Show is geared towards the average person. I saw more families at the Motor Show compared to the Auto Salon. I also saw more young people and “gangsters” at the Auto Salon. While I would not say that they are gangsters, some of them did fit the bill in terms of style. There were also more camera geeks who would do anything to push their way forward to get dozens of photos of the same girl. It was annoying and difficult to manage. For those who love fixing cars and seeing tuners, I highly recommend visiting the Tokyo Auto Salon. In fact, you might enjoy it a lot more. Unfortunately, since it is a tuner crowd, expect to see a plethora of Nissan GT-Rs, Toyota Prius’, and Mazda RX7s. It is an unfortunate reality that domestic cars will get more attention as it is cheaper to buy a domestic car than an imported car and easier to get parts for it. Either way, there are some great cars to see and if I had the time and patience, I would go for a second day as well.
2012 Tokyo Auto Salon is part of a series of posts about various car and bike shows in Tokyo. To read more about the other car and bike shows, please follow the links below:
Information:
Tokyo Auto Salon: http://www.tokyoautosalon.jp/
NATS (Blog with Tokyo Auto Salon information): http://www.nats.ac.jp/pc/as/ebizo/index.php?day=20120114
Outlet Malls of Tokyo November 16, 2010
Posted by Dru in Japan, Kanto, Tokyo.Tags: Chelsea Premium Outlets, Chiba, Gotemba Premium Outlets, Gotenba Premium Outlets, Iruma, japan, Keihin Makuhari, Lalaport, Machida, Makuhari, Makuhari Messe, Mitsui Outlet, Mitsui Outlet Park, Odaiba, Olinas, Outlet Mall RiSM, Outlet Malls, Premium Outlets, RiSM, Shizuoka, tokyo, Tokyo-to, Toyosu, Venus Fort, Yokohama, 日本, 東京, 横浜
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Author’s Note: Dru’s Misadventures has moved to HinoMaple. Please venture on over there to read “Outlet Malls of Tokyo” complete with photos. http://wp.me/p2liAm-pk
Shopping is a major attraction of Tokyo, and the Outlet Malls are no exception. While there is a lot of information out there on the different outlet malls, the information isn’t very detailed, and it’s difficult to understand the history of outlet shopping in Tokyo. In Japan, shopping in large shopping malls, much less outlet malls, is a new concept. Based on my short research, the first outlet mall is Outlet Mall RiSM located in Saitama. This was opened in 1993. It’s a fairly small outlet mall, from what others have said, and from their website, caters mostly to Japanese brands. It isn’t too far from central Tokyo, but probably not worth a trip for the average person. There are several other “independent” outlet malls with locations in Machida (western Tokyo) one on Chiba which is east of Tokyo, and a new one that opened in Odaiba’s Venus Fort in December, 2009. Do note that the Odaiba outlet mall is small but worth a short visit if you are in the area.
In general, there are only two companies that have outlet malls that are worth visiting. Mitsui Outlet Parks are the largest chain of outlet malls in Japan. They have 10 locations throughout Japan and 4 within the Tokyo area. Depending on where you are staying or living, each one is convenient. For those living on the east side of Tokyo, or in Chiba, the Makuhari branch is the best. It is located next to Makuhari Messe and a lot of their business is from people visiting the convention centre and doing a little shopping at the same time. This outlet mall is pretty good overall. While it isn’t huge, nor is it the best, for those looking to go somewhere close by, and for only half a day, this is a good location. Due to its relative close proximity to Tokyo, it can be very busy at times. The other close mall would be the Tama Minami Osawa branch, located in Tama. This one is best for those living on the west side of Tokyo. From what I have heard, it isn’t that great, but very convenient and close enough to Tokyo to enjoy. The last convenient branch would be the Yokohama Bayside. This isn’t convenient for anyone in Tokyo, but for those in Yokohama, it’s a wonderful place to visit. It’s large with many shops to see. Unfortunately, it’s far from the station, about a 5-10 minute walk, and there is nothing else to do after you have finished. It can take nearly one full day if you are travelling from Tokyo. For those living in Saitama, or north western Tokyo, a trip to Iruma is also an option, but not convenient unless you have a car. This is one of Mitsui’s largest outlet malls, and the newest one in the Tokyo region. Unfortunately, it’s too far from the station making it tough for a regular tourist to visit.
Personally, and by many accounts on the internet, Gotemba Premium Outlets is the best outlet mall near Tokyo. It is locate about 1.5 hours west of Tokyo and requires a bus to get there. It’s located near the foot of Mt. Fuji creating a very picturesque scene for shopping. Do note that Mt. Fuji is often obscured by clouds, and I have never really seen it when I have been to Gotemba. Then again, I have been very unlucky and only visited Gotemba when it was raining. This mall is huge, to say the least. It can take several hours to get through all of the shops, but it can be worth it. The food may be expensive, but thankfully, there are several places for children to have fun, including a small amusement park. Do beware of the crowds on the weekend as it’s very popular. Compared to the Mitsui outlet malls, Chelsea is more upscale with more foreign brands due to its foreign ownership.
For those looking for a cheap shopping experience near Tokyo, you can’t really go wrong with the outlet malls. The only down sides are that they tend to be farther away from central Tokyo. They also can’t compete well with the large sales that happen every few months at the department stores. The amount you save on travel expenses may be more than enough to say home. However, it’s still a great experience to see the other areas of Tokyo that few people experience. If you are looking for a basic shopping mall, there are a few in eastern Tokyo, such as Lalaport Toyosu and Olinas Mall in Kinshicho.
Information:
Wikipedia index of Outlet Malls in Japan (Japanese): http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:日本のアウトレットモール
Wikipedia on Mitsui Outlet Malls (Japanese): http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/三井アウトレットパーク
Premium Outlets (English): http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/
Premium Outlets (Japanese): http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/
Gotemba Premium Outlets (English): http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/gotemba/
Gotemba Premium Outlets (Japanese): http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/gotemba/
Mitsui Outlet Park (English): http://www.31op.com/english/index.html
Mitsui Outlet Park (Japanese): http://www.31op.com/english/
Venus Fort (Japanese, but logos of the outlet shops): http://www.venusfort.co.jp/index.html
このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。
