Nakagawa Kenzô is one of those people who make you feel cool just because you live in the same city. As iconic looking as some of the many designs he has created for Yokohama businesses, he has a restless energy beneath his outward calm. read more »

Yokohama native Chihiro is one of the most talented vocalists to hail from the city in recent memory—pop sensation Crystal Kay was the last to reach widespread mainstream recognition. Chihiro seems to have similar potential for read more »

A fitting couple: as the gregarious Fumiko talks, Tadafumi stands by patiently, waiting for his window. The two are hoping to breathe life back into Chigusa, an old Japanese jazz tea shop that once existed in Noge. read more »

Has the internet really made us more connected? Mineo Ryohei doesn’t think so. Face to face conversations connect us. Especially when they are about good books. read more »

Until recently, Yokohama native Siiya Brown was not much in the spotlight, providing back-up support on guitar for Ohashi Trio, a successful light jazz & pop performer. But Siiya may have to get used to the spotlight soon. His read more »

We’ve asserted several times that Yokohama is the craft beer capital of Japan. There are more bars per capita selling artisanal microbrews here than in any other city in Japan. Most of the beer is domestically produced, but an increasing read more »

Readers of the Yokohama Seasider may remember our having written before about Renjo, the father of modern photography in Japan who opened the first studio in Noge roughly a hundred years ago. Photographic technology, though read more »

by Ry Beville

Teddy Lee is a true hamakko (Yokohama native). He was born and raised in Chinatown, he embraces internationalism, and he also helps run an historic, successful business, the Rose Hotel, in Chinatown. He was educated at the Yokohama read more »

by Sugano Yasuyo

Shirai Takako, an icon of Japanese music and a resident of nearby Kamakura, deserves honorable mention as a Yokohama citizen. How did she come to be part of this community? We decided to ask her about her unique roots here. read more »

by Ry Beville

Every city needs good leaders. It also needs behind-the-scenes movers and shakers who get good things done but rarely get much credit for their work. read more »

Harada Yumi has been a flower arrangement instructor for eight years. Raised in Kôchi, she loved flowers since she was a child and was often surrounded by them in the family garden. In elementary school, she used her allowance to buy flowers read more »