We Live in Japan Now

A look into our first week in Yokohama

After arriving in Tokyo last week we have been off to a swift start in Yokohama (a half hour drive from Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport by car). Highlights have included:

• Being in a metropolis with modern conveniences

• Experiencing our first earthquake here

• Meeting new people

• Getting the apartment settled

Besides the necessary formalities of getting bank details, SIM cards, and apartment details settled, we are going shopping nearly daily for furniture, small appliances (coffee maker first!), food, and fun! This week has seemed like a month in some ways as we have hit the ground running. So far, Japan is the delightful place we remember visiting last fall with quiet streets, quirky sights, and wonderful people.

First things first: it’s hot. Like, really hot. Coming from the Midwest and a culture of marching band throughout all types of weather, I usually view claims of “humidity” and “heat” as dubious unless we’re talking Arizona or Saudi Arabia. However, the first week has been relentless with temps in the 90s and humidity in the 80-90 percent range. Okay, I admit it: It’s really hot here.

Second: we have already experienced an earthquake! We were out with my new coworker and his wife at a kushiage restaurant they recommended when every phone in the joint blew up with an obnoxious alarm (similar to when Amber Alerts are blasted). Just a few seconds later the place was wobbling like it was on an Amtrak train, then ten seconds later returned to a completely normal restaurant scene (they do this all the time). The earthquake was a magnitude 5.1 with an epicenter just an hour’s drive west. This Friday we have a typhoon warning with potential wind speeds reaching 100+ mph. It could keep everyone inside all day, or it could blow over. We’ll see.

Other events have included: riding the public transportation a lot, trying new things, finding simple joys at the convenience/"konbini” stores (these things are on a different level here), and discovering the area. Within walking distance is a Don Quixote store, which as you may recall from our post in October 2023 has EVERYTHING. Think Costco but weirder, louder, and split up over six levels. You can click here to hear their delightful theme song, which plays throughout the store. I love the funky boogie-woogie with a pinch of Happy Days feel thrown in. It’s kinda legit.

While we’re on the subject of convenience stores, let’s just jot down a few things they have:

• fully prepared meals

• professional baseball tickets (going to a Baystars game in September!),

• the option to pay your utility/rent bills

• full-size bottles of wine and liquor (which are cheaper than the US somehow despite some being bottled in Kentucky)

… as well as delightful snacks such as salmon jerky, shredded smoked squid, soft-boiled eggs, triangles of sushi called “onigiri,” and a coffee machine that grinds and brews on demand (all of which have been purchased this week). You could easily live in Japan and never need to visit a legitimate grocery store (but don’t worry, Mom, we’ve done that too!).

While writing this update we received our washing machine/dryer combo (one machine) and our new SIM cards, all of which are fully installed and functional.

Life is moving!

The first glimpse of the apartment (we are constantly working on getting it furnished, so… updates later. The school has provided a dining table to borrow.)

The school supplies futons while you get settled. Ours take up the entire width of the bedroom when laid out.

We are extremely grateful to have a Japanese bidet toilet (and a tiny sink). Besides being from the future, they usually get their own room as the Japanese prefer this, which means someone can use the toilet while another brushes their teeth or takes a shower in another room. Also, you can also save a lot of toilet paper owning one of these.

What’s THIS?! And why are there five of them in our apartment?

Oh, of course, it’s a filtered vent to the outside to regulate air pressure inside the apartment when you use air conditioning.

A view from the balcony. The white tunnel is actually a really long street that serves as a covered market, and we can walk into it from the apartment building.

This is a picture of the market (Yokohamabashi) pulled from TripAdvisor.

Our first subway while living here

Minatomirai is the port hub for shopping and strolls here

Yamaha has a cafe and instrument showroom in Yokohama. The showroom was filled with families trying all the instruments.

A night out along the port

Landmark Tower and the air cabin/cable car ride (as well as a roller coaster out of sight to the right)

What does shredded smoked squid taste like, you may ask. Besides the faint hint of seashore, it has an almost pulled pork sandwich taste and feel.

Eggs in cartons are sold with individual expiry dates

Leandra choosing from about 40 types of hair dryers with a representative from the school

In the small park next to Yokohama Stadium (baseball). Do you see all the turtles?

The first glimpse of the school. I start New Staff Orientation Thursday, then start school on August 26th. The school is a bit farther than we’d hoped with a 15-minute bike ride, 40-minute walk, or 35-minute bus commute (my option until it cools down and I actually get a bicycle). Apparently this elevation change is an irritation to many, but after climbing up to our house every day from Woodstock, this will be no problem.

Walking around Don Quixote

Conveyor belt sushi for the win