Birthplace: Hodogaya
Born: 1976
Food Coordinator, Sanagi Cafeteria

■ What brought him to this job: volunteer work
■ Future plans: “I don’t know yet. For the time being, this job.”
■ What he likes about Yokohama: It is a little more relaxed than Tokyo, there is much of interest here and there is a mix of cultures. “I also like port towns.”
■ Hero: “The people I meet everyday and my friends.”

Words of Parting: “All kinds of people come to Sanagi. We have elite business people, the elderly, students, foreigners and homeless people that all come to eat the same meal at the same table. If they can feel something special about such a space, then that’s fantastic and it makes us happy.”

Just a five-minute walk from the glitz and glamour of nearby Ishikawa-cho lies a whole other reality. To Japanese and foreigners alike, the Kotobukicho area of Naka-ku is hardly recognizable as a part of Japan. The contrast to the city surrounding it is stark and unbelievable.

Kotobukicho’s modern history goes back to the end of WWII, when the land was occupied by a US military barracks. It then became a place to find day labor during the Korean War; the American forces began hiring locals on a casual basis to help move munitions to the port. From 1955, it became the preferred home of longshoremen engaged in temporary labor at the dock.

The workers usually stay in “doya.” They are cheap, 3-tatami rooms with communal baths that cost about ¥1600-2200 per night. Some rooms have TVs, radios and windows, but kitchen facilities are rare. Most guests could afford to live in a normal home, but finding a guarantor is the biggest hurdle. These doya multiplied during the 1960s, 70s and 80s when migrant workers came to Kotobukicho from all over Japan to provide cheap labor for the construction boom and the port. Today there are about 120 doya operating in the area.

These days the work has dried up, but the workers are still here. Most of the people in Kotobukicho are too old to continue to work in construction and they have little to occupy their time. Women are virtually absent. Kotobukicho has been cleaned up in recent years, but there is much to be done. The area houses an estimated 6500 people. About 85% are on welfare and about half are over sixty—many of the doya’s clientele are slowly dying off. But as is the case in Sanya, a similar neighborhood in Tokyo, some of the doya are turning into backpacker hostels.

Thankfully, there is some good news for these aging men. Some NPOs are working to make life better for the residents of Kotobukicho. One NPO has been running the Sanagi no Shokudo, a non-profit cafeteria, since 2002. Each day, about 400 people come to enjoy a hot, tasty meal in this clean, spacious restaurant. The meal costs only 300 yen. The NPO gets their food from donations. A sizable chunk of their donations includes food that has passed the expiration date but is still safe and nutritious. The bread, rice balls and other items that would otherwise be wasted from just two Lawson’s stores provides 10% of the food that Sanagi serves in the course of a day.

They also assist Kotobukicho residents in finding medical care and other services from the city. When Sanagi staff recognize that a customer seems to be having trouble, they offer counselling in a room near the cafeteria. With cooperation from local hospitals, they help sick Kotobuki residents get the care that they need. Sanagi has recently been renovated and they are planning to start delivering food to the many Kotobukicho residents that are too sick to leave their rooms. All are welcome to come for a meal, and volunteers are also needed.

Please help Kotobukicho by volunteering, donating, eating at Sanagi, staying in its hostels, or encouraging others to stay.

Sanagi Cafeteria さなぎの食堂
横浜市中区寿町 2-7-7　神崎ビル 1 階
Naka-ku, Kotobuki-cho 2-7-7
Tel: 045-228-1055

Site: www.sanagitachi.com

Haraguchi Noriyuki is an artist who has set a particularly unique course in the history of Japanese art. His stunning debut, which resists the label “postmodern,” was with what has become one of his representative pieces: a pool of oil. Since then, he has continued to take aim at matter itself, unveiling works of art that are both hard-edged and supple, capturing the feel of society.

With this exhibition, Haraguchi uses the entirety of BankART Studio NYK’s space (3000 square meters). Take a sturdy warehouse built in the immediate postwar period and renovated by the architectural design firm Mikan, pair it with 30-years’ worth of Haraguchi’s varied work—how will that chemistry play out? While large scale exhibitions of his work have been held overseas, this marks the first comprehensive exhibition in Japan.

May 8th to June 12th 11:30am to 7pm
Fee (in yen): general 900 (700), university students 600 (400), high school 300 (300)
*free for middle school (or younger) students, or persons over 65
*fees in parentheses are for groups
Ticket + exhibition catalogue: 2200 yen
Exhibition catalogue (A4 size, 256 pages): 2100 yen
Opening party: May 8th, 19:00-21:00

横浜市中区海岸通 3-9
Naka-ku, Kaigandori 3-9
TEL: 045-663-2812
info[@]bankart1929.com
www.bankart1929.com

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田中 泯 パフォーマンス公演 Tanaka Min Performance 5月16日［土］ 舞踊家。2002年、初出演した映画「たそがれ清兵衛」で日本アカデミー賞最優秀助演男優賞を受賞。 Modern Dancer. Won Best Supporting Male Actor at the Japanese Academy Awards 2002, for his role in Twilight Samurai.
近藤等則 パフォーマンス公演 Kondo Toshinori Performance 5月17日［日］ 日本を代表するジャズトランぺッター。 Renowned Japanese jazz trumpet player

19:30 (19:00 open)
2000 yen (1500 yen for ticket holders of the Haraguchi exhibition)

Honey is a delicious alternative to white sugar and quite possibly very good for you. Scientists have only recently begun to understand more of its beneficial qualities—the first international symposium was held in 2008. Research suggests that it has antioxidants and beneficial bacteria. It boosts the immune system and is easy to digest. It can provide quick energy for athletes and may help with overcoming hangovers. It has been used to treat sore throats in children for centuries. Since ancient times, cultures around the world have used it in a variety of dietary and medicinal ways.

If you ever wanted to look into its delicious and healthy qualities yourself, then you need go no further than the Tenguya honey store in Motomachi. This specialty shop carries around 30 different varieties of honey. Some of the products cost well less than 1000 yen. The store has been open for five years now, but it is a branch of a honey cultivating company in Ibaraki that has been open for around 60 years. Besides pure honey, they carry a number of other related products. If you can’t make it to the store, check out their website with convenient on-line ordering. Phone orders are also possible.

天狗屋養蜂店「横浜元町店」| Tenguya Honey
横浜市中区石川町1-13
Naka-ku, Ishikawacho 1-13
Tel: 045-663-1088
営業時間:10:00〜20:00 不定休
Hours: 10:00 – 20:00, occasional holidays

Site: www.tenguyayouhouten.co.jp

Kurosawa is perhaps best known for his period pieces set in ancient Japan, such as Rashomon and Seven Samurai. “High and Low” (lit: Heaven and Hell) is a film noir set in mid-century Yokohama. It begins with Gondo, a shrewd self-made businessman arguing in his spacious living room with his fellow executives over the direction of his National Shoes Company. He has barely finished revealing his plans to buy the company out himself when the phone rings and he finds that his son has been kidnapped. The exorbitant ransom could cast him down from his mansion on a hill and into bankruptcy.

The film is full of contrasts between rich and poor, high and low, chaos and order. The first third of the film is almost exclusively set in Gondo’s living room. The background is formed by his grand windows, arrogantly looking down upon the chaotic city below. When he opens the window, the silence of his modern chateau is invaded by the hubbub down below. The window from which Gondo imperiously looks down on the city is the same window through which Takeuchi, the kidnapper, peers from his cramped 3-tatami apartment below. Tortured by his jealousy of Gondo’s rich lifestyle, Takeuchi sought to bring Gondo down from “heaven.”

For Yokohama locals, this movie is especially interesting because it brings us to places that have very familiar names. Now, though, most of us would hardly recognize those places. Much of the film was shot on location in a Kanagawa of the past. A chase scene brings us deep down into the “hell” of noisy factories, trash pits, filthy alleys swarming with junkies, and raucous bars full of drunken sailors and gangsters making dope deals.

This film is not just a thrilling police procedural mystery, but also emotionally and morally rich. It gives us a glimpse into the Yokohama that existed before the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipyard was replaced with the glittering towers of Minato Mirai. Beyond the stunning direction, an exemplary performance from Toshiro Mifune also makes this film a standout classic.

Most restaurant-goers in Japan tend to put their trust in specialization over versatility. We would usually prefer to have our sushi prepared by a chef who has prepared sushi and nothing else for as many years as possible. Koganecho’s Punuh is just the opposite. The first thing that you might notice— before the art covering the walls, the turntables, the nouvelle-vague film set furniture, or the unique jellyfish-like light fixtures— would probably be the custom bicycles hanging from the walls and ceiling.

The owner, Nago, a former Toronto bike messenger, simultaneously operates Punuh as a café, bar, art gallery, restaurant, live space and custom bicycle store. Punuh has a free-flowing atmosphere that is unusual, even for an artsy place like Kogane-cho, which is undergoing a city-sponsored renewal. It feels more like a house party in a really hip living room. On nights when Punuh hosts dance parties there is no cover charge or undue pressure to keep buying drinks. Free snacks are often up for grabs at the bar.

The food selection usually includes a special dish and finger food. Vegetarian options are available. Punuh also has an eclectic selection of uncommon wines, liquors and soft drinks from around the world as well as dirt-cheap Heartland. Don’t miss the monthly party every third Saturday. It features both regular and guest DJs, and gathers the new Koganecho’s young and trendy.

Punuh Cafe & Bar
〒231-0002 横浜市中区初音町3-63
Naka-ku, Hatsunecho 3-63
Tel: 090-3436-4119
Hours: daily 18:00 – 24:00, Mondays
営業時間： 18：00〜24：00
休日： 月曜日

Site: www.punuh.com