First Japanese port: Yokohama, Tokyo Bay

 

After a very rough 12 hours at sea, with 30-foot waves and 65-mile-per-hour (hurricane force) winds, we arrived in Yokohama Sunday, January 27. Captain Jeremy said the storm was supposed to move east, but a low-pressure system hung above, causing the ship to swing from side to side and the cancellation of the evening classes. We were advised to go to our cabins, but we could barely stay put in our beds and did not get much sleep.

Yokohama, a city of 3 million people, is the largest port in Japan, on the northwestern edge of Tokyo Bay. The city of Tokyo, which has a population of 12 million, is further north. Click here for a map of our location.

In the 1850s, when Yokohama was a small fishing village, it became the first Japanese port to open to international trade after Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Uraga in 1859. Pulling into the harbor on this crisp, sunny Sunday was breathtaking with majestic Mount Fuji in sight. A fireboat shot sprays of water 50 feet into the air to welcome us, while a band, dressed in navy and white and waving huge yellow flags, played Western marches. People jogging or walking their dogs on the miles-long boardwalk stopped and waved.   

Japanese people are kind, reserved and well-mannered. They genuinely like Americans and go out of their way to help with directions and information. Emperor Akhito is beloved, but many Japanese have no confidence in their politicians whom they blame for the state of the economy in which they see a shrinking middle class while the rich get richer.

Few couples have more than one child because it is expensive to educate them well.  There is bullying in public schools (by teachers as well as fellow students), which sometimes results in suicide by teen-agers, since Japanese culture discourages complaining or snitching. Lone children feel isolated, lack social skills and often crack under the pressure of doing well in school. The government encourages families to have more children with tax incentives. In addition,  a family with a third child is given a Toyota, according to our guide in Tokyo. She also explained that 60 percent of women are in the work force because educating their children is expensive. Every household’s income tax rose 2 percent after the Fukujima disaster and will stay in place for the next several years. The rich pay as much as 40% in taxes.

A few other interesting facts:

1. Japanese women live longer than any other people in the world.
2. During the dry winter months, one out of five people wear white medical masks to keep moisture in and germs out.
3. Japanese drive on the left side of the street.
4. Yokohama boasts the world’s tallest lighthouse, the 106-meter Marine Tower, which made the Guinness Book of World Records, although it has not functioned as a lighthouse since 2002.
5. Skytree Tower in Tokyo is, for the time being, the world's tallest tower at 2,000 feet. It was built this century in the new commercial district to accommodate the high-tech needs of Japanese businesses. It also houses restaurants and retail shops.
6. Tokyo is the most densely populated city in the world with a highly efficient transportation system.
7. Tokyo General Railroad, privatized a few years ago, hires “pushers”: strong young men, wearing white gloves who shove passengers onto trains during rush hour.
8. There are no trash cans on the streets of Tokyo, a decision made after the 1995 terrorist attack of poisonous gas in the subway system, and yet people still do not throw things on the streets.
9. Household garbage is divided into three kinds and put in clear plastic bags so the collectors can see inside. Perishable waste is picked up one day, the aluminum cans another and paper picked up the third day.  If you get confused, you get fined.
10. There is no graffiti, no jaywalking and very little crime. 
11. Homeless people leave the city center during the day and can come back to their designated place after dusk where they have stored and locked their belongings in large blue canvas bags provided by the city. 



City-issued carts and canvas used by the homeless