A day excursion to Yokohama!

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My third day in Japan is getting to an end and tomorrow I'm flying to Osaka to visit Kyoto and Hiroshima in the southern part of Honshu.

Lots of things are very different in Japan and the first two days were quite overwhelming, but I'm slowly getting used to the Japanese behaviour and the Japanese way of doing things, and now I just love it!
Fortunately I spent some time before departure studying the basics of Japanese, and it turned out it was well worth the time as many people speak virtually no English.
I can't say I know a lot of Japanese, but I do make myself understood and the people seem to appreciate my efforts to speak the language.
The Japanese language course we had at home (on video) also explained the basics of the Japanese culture which was also very useful and helped me understand a bit how the society works.

Today I made a visit to the city of Yokohama, 30 mins south of Tokyo by train.
Yokohama was from the beginning only a fishing village with 100 houses, but today it is the second largest city in Japan.
Both Yokohama and Tokyo are so large that you actually don't notice when you leave Greater Tokyo and enter Greater Yokohama.
Before leaving Sweden I bought a Japan Rail Pass which gives unlimited travel on all JR trains in Japan during 7 days, so my excursion to Yokohama didn't cost me anything.

I quite liked Yokohama, it is a little less stressful than Tokyo and beautifully located along the sea.
I visisted the largest lighthouse in the world which also doubles as a viewing platform and Chinatown, the largest in Japan.
I also did some shopping, great shopping in Yokohama!! I bought some really nice hand- painted chopsticks and a nice box in wood to put them inside. The service in Japanese department stores is just fantastic, the sales assistants bow when you arrive and leave and all the time you hear "irashimashite" - welcome! You literally feel very very welcome 😊

In the lighthouse a young Japanese woman actually tried to hit on me, or otherwise she was really really eager to practice her English. :D
Well I kind of got a free orientation tour of Yokohama which was appreciated (she was a local) so I didn't really mind and she was quite friendly after all.

In the evening I went to the Shibuya district in western Tokyo where I had dinner in a "vending machine restaurant".
You order and pay using a machine outside the restaurant, you then enter the restaurant and give tne little ticket to the staff and have a seat, your food arrives within a few minutes.
Very cheap and great food!

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Photos

Yokohama
Yokohama city centre seen from the lighthouse/viewing platform. Unfortunately the weather was a bit grey and foggy in the morning.

Yokohama
The large port in Yokohama.

Yokohama
Landmark Tower, the highest building in Japan (296 meters). A large part of the building is used as a hotel.

Yokohama
Minato Mirai 21, an area of redeveloped docks in central Yokohama. Quite nice!! The building to the right is the Intercontinental hotel.

Yokohama
Chinatown, the largest in Japan.

Yokohama
Yokohama Chinatown, very colourful!!

Yokohama
The skyline of Yokohama seen from the Yamashita Park. Unfortunately a very grey morning!

Vending machines
Japan is the land of vending machines! There are vending machines absolutely everywhere selling everything from hot and cold drinks to cigrarettes, ice cream, cameras, souvenirs and snacks.
Some of them have cold coffee which is surprisingly good (I know, it sounds awful).

Yokohama
The ground floor of the SOGO department store. Notice the nice girls at the information waiting to give newly arrived customers directions. Cool uniforms!

Yokohama
The nice food hall in the SOGO department store.

Yokohama
Yokohama railway station. Notice how neatly the people are lined up waiting for the train. There are markings on the platform showing where the doors will be to ease the boarding once the train arrives.

Yokohama
Yokohama railway station. The markings on the platform where you are supposed to form a queue.

Tokyo
Last night in Tokyo I decided to have dinner in a "vending machine restaurant". You order and pay using a machine before going into the restaurant to eat. Fortunately the menu was translated into English.

Tokyo
After I had ordered and paid using the machine I went into the restaurant, gave the ticket to one of the employees, and had a seat. The food was really good (noodles and pork) and not expensive either. Seemed to be a very popular place!

Tokyo
In the Shibuya district I found Hotel Sunreon (among others), you can choose between "a rest" or "a stay". For those who are not familiar with these institutions, you don't really sleep here! A "rest" means a few hours and a "stay" means the whole night. There were actually couples walking into these "hotels"...