Ok I know I know, I
promised clowns in the previous post but the writing got away from me so I’ve
had to make it a separate post. So what’s all this about clowns then? Well
being outside of your own country throws you into the paths of people you’d
likely not encounter otherwise I feel, you are limited in some ways by the
people who you are able to easily associate with and in some ways that broadens
the scope of possible acquaintances. What I mean is back home you associate
with who you know. Once outside your preconceptions of people are necessitated
to expand, kind of like the first month or two of University really. 
Anyway my friend a
clown at the Kinoshita circus and we met whilst they were on tour down Himeji
way. We only actually met face to face once and yet through the power of the
Internet, various conversations through the medium of facebook, we realised we
had a fair amount in common, a creative streak and a love of all things geekery
and a friendship was born. So when I mentioned I would be nearby, the circus
was in Yokohama at the time, she asked if I felt like coming over. Why the hell
not ey.
Yokohama is the
capital of Kanagawa prefecture and lies just south of Tokyo. It is one of the
largest suburbs in the world and is particularly historically famous as being
the site of the first American fleet landing in Japan, the beginning of Japan’s
opening up to the world from centuries of isolation.
As such there are two
things that I found really stood out about the city. Firstly there is quite a
thing made of Yokohama’s port roots with many maritime museums and a striking
influence on its architecture. The other is an invasion of quite frankly
European sensibility in some of the buildings. Looking at some of the old stone
buildings I could have almost been back in the UK, I’d guess most of them
sprung up around the Meji era when the emperor had a bit of a thing going for
Europe.
Anyway enough about
that, onto the circus. The big top was mercifully very easy to find, you’d
think it would be but then remember the scale of everything in Japanese cities.
It seemed like the show would be pretty packed, odd since it was a Thursday
afternoon in a working week during term time, but well everyone needs downtime
I guess. When we came to pick up the tickets I was pleasantly surprised to find
they were free of charge, always good to know someone on the inside, and we
merely had to pay for our seat upgrades.
So all sorted out we
had a few hours to kill and decided to go for a stroll. The circus was located
in Naka-ku of Yokohama, only 5 minutes from the main station. It was a really
chill place and, after the hustle and bustle of central Tokyo, it was nice to
step the busy down a notch. If we didn’t have our day planned out already it
would have been nice to spend a bit more time wandering. It is the former
central business district something that was evident by the large
administrative buildings everywhere, though now it is more well known for its
huge Chinatown and annual Jazz festival.
After a hunt for a
post office and international ATMs we wandered out towards the prom, you know
seaside town roots we just can’t help it, and then into a rather fancy looking
central mall to stop for a much needed coffee. In fact we ended up in something
called a “Dog Cafe”. At first I thought this was like a joint café and dog
fashion shop but it is in fact a place where you can share a cuppa and a treat
with your beloved 4-legged friend. Some people even came in with dogs in prams,
mental.
Revitalised at last it
was time for the show. Now the circus was, well a circus. I’ll admit I’d not
been to once since I was maybe 8 years old and would have had no inclination to
had it not been for my friend. Still it was a good giggle and our seats were
awesome. My friend and her partner were sadly just filler between the ‘main’
acts but to be frank (she’ll hate me for saying this) they were the best part.
As I mentioned our seats were awesome, in fact a little too awesome as I was
dragged out for some audience participation, I should have expected as much.
It was fun but my only
gripe was the animals. I was a little surprised, as been expecting them to be
such a main focal point. I guess when you think of the circus classically you
think of lion tamers and stuff but, well I’ve only been like once before and I
think big animals are banned in the UK. Still Japanese people have totally
different perceptions when it comes to animal rights, I’ve seen it on many
occasion and since for many people here there is very little opportunity to
travel this may be their only encounter with such animals. Doesn't mean I’m
happy about it though.
Anyway moaning aside
it was a nice reunion and after quick costume change we met up again by the river
side. Whilst waiting for my friend to get into her civvies we bumped into the
lion tamer and his son. From appearance during the show we thought he was
central European or something but much to our surprise and amusement he was a
real Geezer from Oxfordshire.
After about ten minutes of listening to him bemoaning the cost of
“Faackin’ PJ tips” we were off to do what you do in any major Japanese city.
Climb the tallest building and see everything from above. In Yokohoma this
would be the very stunning and aptly named Landmark tower. I don’t know what it
was about the building I liked in particular; maybe it just had nice angles. 
A quick ride up to the
observation deck and you are treated to some spectacular views across the bay
and into Yokohama. The city is really quite a sight, metropolitan zone after
metropolitan zone as far as the eye can see, can you tell I’m still not used to
this big city stuff? One funny observation was the sheer number of helipads on
most of the skyscrapers. We speculated that they were either for emergency
earthquake evacuation or relics of the 80’s bubble economy and the extravagant
spending of top Japanese execs, awesome either way. The trip was capped off
nicely by a lovely sunset and also a bit of eavesdropping on a local baseball
game through one of the pay binoculars, we could see the pitchers throwing from
the mound up close which was quite cool.
After some
deliberation, not much really, we settled on a Hawaiian restaurant for dinner,
marking yet another day of avoiding Japanese food as my dad was quick to point
out. I can’t remember what I ate but I do remember it being some tasty white
fish. By the end of the meal my folks were pretty exhausted so they headed back
the hotel giving me a bit of time to catch up with my mate.
We spent the night
doing what I do best wandering, aimlessly. Fortunately her sense of direction
is waaayy better than mine so we didn’t end up aimlessly lost. There isn’t much
to Naka-ku once the lights go down so we headed back towards central Yokohama
and where greeted once more to hordes of Japanese men in business suits.
I managed to drag her
along to a game centre. I love these places and the collisions of social
backgrounds that occur there in. We couldn’t help but gawp at the businessmen,
suited and booted, shaking their things on dance dance revolution machines, or
the chain smoking forty year olds battling it out on beat-em ups against
teenagers. I was feeling a bit rhythmic so we had a go on a Taiko drumming game.
The idea is to pound along to the rhythm of various popular J-pop sings on
giant fake taiko drums. I lost badly; my former African drum teacher would be
ashamed.
A common feature of
Japanese game centres is Crane games, or UFO catchers whatever you want to call
them. These are several times more awesome in Japan because the prizes are
actually good and also obtainable. I mentioned there was a trick to them and
since I was met with disbelief put my money were my mouth is. I became the
proud owner of an oversized mushroom called nameko.
We ended the night at
Yokohama station with coffee, a good chin-wag and a lot of people watching. It
amazes me how similar our experiences of life in Japan have been, considering
how different our working backgrounds are. It seems that there are just so many
rules and conventions deeply entrenched in the Japanese mindset that it bleeds
over into everything. I was particularly saddened to hear about what a rough
deal the Japanese circus workers had when compared to the performers from
outside the country. They literally do everything, from tent pitching and
cleaning, taking tickets and performing. I’m amazed they don't collapse mid
show. Anyway now is not the time to vent so I’ll leave it at that. Yokohama was
cool and I most definitely plan on going back.
Ja mata ne
