Motomachi in Yokohama – old foreign quarter

On Halloween, that spooky foreign day on which all Japanese kids seem to dress up in super cute witches and warlocks costumes, I headed down to the old foreign quarter of Yokohama.  Motomachi is a district with old foreign residences that sits on a hill above the city.  Wandering around this area even feels like not being in Japan.

I only walked past the fence of the foreign cemetery (Gaikokujin Bochi), but it’s perched on the hill with a view over the city.  I wonder what stories those buried there could tell about their time in Yokohama, which were very different times to now.  I wonder what being a foreign resident of Japan was like then?

Now that I’ve finally been to Motomachi in Yokohama, in the last year or so I’ve manged to visit all (I think) of the main old foreign trading ports from the Meiji period (or in the case of Nagasaki, well before then).

• Nagasaki
• Mojiko (not a major port, but has an art-deco history and Albert Einstein stayed there!)
• Kobe
• Hakodate

Related posts:

Anzac Day 2009 in Japan Yokohama Aka Renga warehouse Nissan stadium Inside Nissan Stadium Summer excursion to Kamakura & Yokohama