AN EVENING IN YOKOHAMA! Scenes from Minato Mirai 21!

Pikachu (and several lookalikes) make a special appearance at Yokohama Landmark Plaza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Tuesday, August 25, I took a trip to Yokohama to visit my friend. We spent the afternoon and evening taking in the area. We walked around the Minato Mirai 21 area, and there was much to photograph.

Land ho! The Nippon Maru is Yokohama's floating museum. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I've been to Minato Mirai 21 a couple of times over the years, and there is still much left to do. For example, even though I've seen the Nippon Maru from the outside, I've never entered this museum on water. It certainly seems like an intriguing place, and I'd like to check it out sometime.

Standing tall: The massive Yokohama Landmark Tower dwarfs all other structures in its vicinity. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

The Yokohama Landmark Tower was a new location for me. It was featured in the Godzilla film GMK (2001), and since that film is one of my least favorites, the locations used therein hold little interest for me. Still, the skyscraper itself is impressive, and I enjoyed looking around the adjacent Yokohama Landmark Plaza.

The Yokohama Bay Bridge is always an impressive sight to see. It's even more impressive to drive across! Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Yokohama Bay Bridge is another GMK location, but it's a cool landmark all its own. I drove across the bridge with Ulf Otsuki in 2011. It's a sprawling bridge that starts to become a little less fun if you drive across it on a windy day!

Minato Mirai 21 at dusk: A beautiful view of a unique cityscape. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The area itself is a quite beautiful, and during the summer there is a lot to do and see. (That is, if you can stand the heat!) For example, while walking around, my friend and I saw a Bon Odori dance performance taking place. August is certainly the time to visit if you enjoy seeing such performances.

The Cosmo Clock 21 (the Ferris wheel on the left) and the InterContinental Yokohama Grand (the crescent-shaped structure on the right) were both featured in the Godzilla series. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Last year, I took a ride in the humongous Ferris wheel that is the Cosmo Clock 21. During the ride, I got a great view of the nearby InterContinental Yokohama Grand, both of which appear in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). Like GMK, that movie is far from a favorite, but it is nonetheless fun to see Godzilla locations up close and personal.

Wanna take a ride? The Cosmo Clock 21 invites you to reign over Yokohama. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Overall, we had a great time. Of course, we visited other places that day, but the next couple of blog posts will tell you all about them!