Yokohama, Japan

When we first arrived in Japan in Nagasaki, we were fingerprinted and photographed before we left the terminal. Now in each port in Japan, all we have to do is show our passports. Going through customs and immigration, we were greeted by smartly dressed and polite agents. A number of them wore facemasks, which made me wonder about pollution levels in Japan. The Japanese are so polite, they probably also wear masks if they have a cold or illness so they won’t infect others. Even teenage boys wore masks, which you think they would never do.

In Yokohama, because we were docked in a container port instead of at the cruise terminal pier, the city provided a fleet of coaches to shuttle people downtown. The coaches rather than city buses were quite comfortable and had lace coverings on the headrests.

Since it was Palm Sunday, we planned to stay in Yokohama and visit the Catholic cathedral there for mass. Earlier we had checked online for the local churches and learned that Sacred Heart Cathedral had one mass in English at 9:30 a.m. and that we could reach it from downtown by taking the No. 20 bus, which would drop us off directly in front of the cathedral.

The shuttle ride into town from the port area took longer than we expected, which didn’t leave us much time to get to the cathedral by bus. One of the tourist information people where the shuttle dropped us off gave us information about getting there by taxi and, in English, directed the taxi driver where to take us. He also told us that there is no tipping in Japan.

The taxi driver spoke limited English, enough to ask us where we were from. He must have approved because he gave us two pieces of wrapped candy, which we ate later and found delicious. The taxi was immaculately clean, and the tops of the seats were covered in lace cloth. One thing we have found so far in Japan is that the Japanese as a whole take pride in their appearance and where they live, and the cleanliness and maintenance of their communities reflect it.

On the long drive up the steep hill to the cathedral, we passed several western-style churches, including a Christ Church and a Church of Latter-Day Saints, and the Foreigners Cemetery. The benefit of going off the beaten track using local buses or taxis is that you get to see a lot of things away from the busy tourist areas.

The driver dropped us outside of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, and we arrived ten minutes before mass. We definitely wouldn’t have made it on time on the bus.

Sacred Heart Cathedral

We were greeted warmly by several women at the door of the cathedral and given palms. The mass was the same as it is worldwide except when it came time for the exchange of peace. Instead of shaking hands, everyone bowed to each other. The church almost has two separate parishes: Japanese and English-speakers. The announcements after mass laid out the schedule for both during the week. It was such a pleasure joining with people from various countries in the service. We felt more like visitors and less like tourists.

We had been in such a rush getting to the cathedral that we hadn’t given much thought to getting back downtown. We couldn’t even remember the name of the station we had come from. Lesson learned—make note of where the shuttle bus drops you off. We didn’t have a waiting taxi or a phone to call for one. To further complicate things, we didn’t know if we had the right money to take the bus. We had previously heard that you need exact change for the bus, which I knew we might not have. Or had that been in Korea? One of the greeters at the church told us we could use large coins on the bus and get change. Talk about innocents abroad!

Fortunately, we had two large Yen coins and the bus stop was directly across the street from the cathedral. We hopped on like natives and tried to look like we knew what we were doing, knowing that as westerners we stood out in any crowd. We were on a No. 11 bus headed either to the downtown area or we would find ourselves up in the hills of Yokohama. If nothing else, we could stay on the bus and come back to the cathedral. It was definitely an adventure.

We have found getting around in Japan using public transportation remarkably easy, especially since most of the street signs and the signs on the buses/trains are in both Japanese and English. If you take the wrong train or bus, it’s not hard to turn back around. It only becomes a problem when you have little time left to get back to the ship. We made sure we never cut our travel time that closely. Twice we’ve had younger people get up and offer us their seats.

The bus took us back to the Sakuragicho Station, near the Port of Yokohama, which also happened to be in the central part of town and an area busy with tourists and locals out for the day. Thankfully, we recognized it when we got there. It was a huge shopping area as well as the location of various amusements. It rather reminded me of the Inner Harbor of Baltimore but on an even grander scale. The ubiquitous Ferris wheel was nearby, along with amusement rides for the children.

We ran into a couple from the ship who said they were headed to the Cup of Noodles Museum. Not high on my list of things to see, but when we talked to them later, they said it was interesting—something different.

The first thing to catch our eye was the three-masted sailing ship, the Nippon Maru, white and gleaming in the harbor. During its heyday, it served as a training ship before becoming a museum anchored in the port. All over the ship the gleaming brass and shiny wood showed that it was being beautifully maintained. We spent a pleasant hour touring the ship, helped by elderly volunteers who had once served on the ship.

Sailing Training Ship Nippon Maru and Port Area

Large Piece of Artwork

Our ticket to the ship also included admission to the nearby Yokohama Port Museum, formerly the maritime museum, which we always find interesting. In the museum, we were surprised to find an extensive exhibit about Commodore Perry’s voyage with a fleet of U. S. ships to Japan in 1853, which following negotiations, resulted in the opening of Japanese ports to western trade. Perry’s goal also included rescuing shipwrecked sailors held in Japan. Treaties with the U.K., Netherlands, Russia, and France quickly followed the Japanese treaty with the U.S.

It’s amazing how many of the things we’ve seen throughout this voyage have related to events covered in my high school history classes. It’s only now that I realize the importance of so many of those events. Travel definitely broadens your knowledge and understanding of world events and helps you piece them together.

The museum also displayed pictures of famous people who had visited Yokohama, including Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, and a U.S. baseball team that included Babe Ruth. A paper fan autographed by Babe Ruth and other players was on display. Baseball is very big in Japan, and at one time, Yokohama had a Lou Gehrig Stadium.

The port area was filled with people out for a Sunday afternoon. It was fun watching children on the amusement rides—John taking pictures of one ride he particularly enjoyed as a child. Long lines of people waited to get into numerous restaurants—especially the MacDonald’s. Given the prices for things in Japan, which is very expensive, the cost of a meal for a family at MacDonald’s could easily have been the equivalent of a day’s wages.

Yokohama’s Version of Tower Bridge

We walked through a department store just to see what they were like in Japan. Smartly dressed young women in identical dresses and wearing black gaucho-style hats sat at information booths and walked the floors giving directions. Everywhere we went in Japan, we came into contact with neatly and modestly dressed people. It reminded me of how people in the West dressed during the 1950s before dress became much more casual. The Japanese really take pride in their appearance.

The department store restroom was an education. Each stall contained a complex control panel. I’ve heard about Japanese toilets, but this still surprised me. From what I could figure out from the symbols, the panel had buttons for a spray, heated seat, sanitation, air dry, a shower, and several buttons for things I couldn’t figure out. I was thankful that it flushed itself and I didn’t have to push anything. Sometimes you can be given too many options.

The visit to Yokohama by the Queen Elizabeth had created a lot of interest, and while we were waiting for the shuttle back to the ship, a camera crew came up and interviewed us about the ship and our voyage. We may be showing up on Japanese television someday.

Traveling back to the ship, we passed a colorful and ornate gate into Chinatown. There seems to be a Chinatown in every country. Later I saw on the map that ten separate gates defined the area of Chinatown, which covers a large area of the city.

We had a very pleasant day in Yokohama. My only disappointment was not getting to see Mount Fuji, which was close but couldn’t be seen from Yokohama. We could have taken a tour into the countryside to see the volcano but opted for a day in Yokohama instead since we had wanted to go to the cathedral. Two passengers who took the tour said that cloud cover prevented them from seeing any of the volcano. That information made me feel better, knowing that we had made the right choice.