Beers for Books in Yokohama again

Well, it’s not like we need an excuse to drink but here is an reason to try out (or return to) a few bars in Yokohama. Here is some info about the Beers for Books events happening in Yokohama this year.

At a Beers for Books event, the bar/restaurant owner agrees to donate 100 Yen for each drink (of any type, alcoholic or non-alcoholic) to the charity. Guests come along and have a good time and we (the organizers) try to make sure the owner has a full bar so everyone is happy. You can check the Beers for Books page at Facebook or www.beersforbooks.org for more details.

Here is a list of the upcoming events. The first one is Friday of this week.

Full Monty British Pub (3 minutes from Kannai Station) Friday, March 26, 6 p.m.-closing. At the request of Clive, the owner, all proceeds will benefit the children of Nepal. (www.fullmontyyokohama.com)

The Green Sheep Irish Pub (8 minutes walk from Yokohama Station, West Exit) Sunday, April 25, 3 p.m.-closing. (www.foodcom.jp/green-sheep)

Benny’s Place (5 minutes walk from Ishikawacho Station, Motomachi Exit) Saturday, June 5, 6 p.m.-closing (www.bennysplace.net)

So if you have time and have the thirst why don’t you check out some of these events. If you are new to Beers for Books, the concept is simple: For every drink you have, 100 yen will be donated to Room to Read and that buys a treasured book for children via Room to Read.

Room to Read is an amazing NPO whose mission is to provide quality educational opportunities to children in developing countries with the goal of empowering kids via literacy. Room to Read has projects in 9 countries in Asia and Africa including Nepal, Cambodia, Zambia, etc. For more details see www.roomtoread.org or in Japanese www.roomtoread.jp.

Yokohama Immigration Office Has Moved

This is a bit of bad news for many people living in Yokohama and good news for a few people possibly. The Yokohama District Immigration Office moved from its central city location near Motomachi to Kanazawa on June 1st of this year. The new location:

Kanagawa ken, Yokohama Shi, Kanazawa ku, Torihama cho 10-7
神奈川県横浜市金沢区鳥浜町10-7

Phone: 045-769-1720 (General Affairs Division)
045-769-0230 (Foreigner Residence General Information Center Yokohama)

(Official link)

Transportation: At the bus terminal of JR Keihintohoku/Negishi Line station “Shin-Sugita”, use the Yokohama Kotsu Kaihatsu bus line “Torihama 61” and get off at the new bus stop Nyukokukanrikyoku-mae” (about 15 minute bus ride)

Japanese Notice (.pdf)

Information c/o Living in Yokohama Yahoo Group

Cuauhtémoc in Yokohama Photo Gallery

The Mexican sail training ship, Cuautemoc, arrived in Yokohama this morning and was welcomed by the Japanese navy. A small greeting ceremony was held.

Read more about Cuautemoc’s visit to Yokohama.

Bubby’s Pie Company Yokohama

In New York’s Tribeca area there is a popular restaurant called Bubby’s Pie Company and soon this same restaurant will be here in Yokohama. In Sakuragicho, to be precise. It’s always good to have new restaurants to choose from and other places to get western style food. It will be opening on June 1st near Sakuragicho Station. It seems that it might just be open for two years but perhaps if it is successful it will remain longer.

I expect the menu to be altered slightly for Japanese taste and the portions may even be smaller than the Tribeca restaurant but who knows. They will be serving things like hamburgers, pies and pasta and other fare typical of American style restaurants.

Cafe and Restaurant
It looks like there may be two areas because according to this website (Japanese) there will be 43 seats in the cafe with 123 in the restaurant  and the cafe is open from 08:00 to 22:00 while the restaurant is open from 11:00 to 23:00. And believe it or not, it will be a no smoking establishment.

Lunch will be around 850yen, dinner 1500yen.

Link: Bubby’s Yokohama (Japanese)
Link: Bubby’s New York

Drink for Charity

I think that there are many people who don’t need the extra incentive to go out for a drink but this is incentive to drink at a particular place, Benny’s Place. Benny’s Place is a lively American sports bar near Motomachi in Yokohama. On June 5th they are hosting Beers for Books event where 100 yen will be donated to create a treasured book for children in Cambodia, for every drink that is sold on that day.

Yokohama’s first Beers for Books! Please come to Benny’s Place in Motomachi. Benny’s is an American style sports bar that serves beers, wines, and cocktails along with great barbecue, nachos, chicken wings, and many other delicious dishes. It’s just a 5 minute walk from JR Ishikawacho Station. At Benny’s you can eat, drink, play darts, and meet new people in a casual, friendly atmosphere.

You can find out more about the event on the Beers for Books website.

ARM Cuauhtémoc BE-01 Coming to Yokohama

*Updated May 26th, 2009 (Thanks Jose!)
The “Cuauhtemoc” visit to Yokohama is to celebrate both the 400 anniversary of the first friendly contacts between Mexico and Japan, and to celebrate Y-150. Actually, Y-150 organizers invited her to take part in the celebrations and is part of the official Y-150 program.

The vessel will arrive into Yokohama in May 27th at 10 am and it will be open to the public from May 28th to June 5th (10:00 – 17:00 hrs).It will dock at the Port of Yokohama, Shinko Pier, No. 5 Berth.

Below is the old itinerary that has been changed because of the swine flu.

More information on the Y150 website (Japanese).

Supplementary Income Payments

Today, I received the Supplementary Payments Application forms and while I haven’t filled it out and sent it off yet I did have a quick look. Good news for English speakers is that some English instructions have been included. Not everything though as you can see in the images I have provided in the download link below. These images are scans of my application form and can’t be used by other people to apply for this supplementary income. The redacted areas just cover my personal details.

  Supplementary Income (2.3 MiB, 361 hits)

If you are not sure about how to fill in the application form leave a comment here or in the forum and we will try to help you out.

Y150 – Port of Yokohama 150 Year Anniversary

On July 1st 1859 (June 2nd on the old lunar calendar) Yokohama officially opened the port and the effectively ushered in modern Japan. This year Yokohama is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Port and it is going to be a big celebration with many events.

The events will be mainly held in three areas: the Bayside Area, centered in the Minato Mirai district; the Mother Port Area Yokohama Station and the Yamashita-Yamate neighborhoods; and the Hillside Area near Zoorasia.

You may have already been to some of these events or perhaps you have seen the news. For instance, the spectacle art group LaMachine from France brought over their huge spider for a performance that has to be seen to believed. And there are a host of other events which you can check out on the official Y150 web site.

While many events are free some of theme require you to purchase a ticket. You can find more information on their ticketing page but to give you an idea. An adult day pass costs 2,400 yen. Befor purchasing your ticket I recommend that you plan your schedule carefully so that you can take in as many of the attractions as you can. If you think that you are going to be a repeat visitor you might consider buying the Bayside Unlimited Use Entry Pass which costs 10,000 yen for an adult. These tickets also entitle you to discounts at other great Yokohama venues such as the Nippon Maru and the Yokohama Museum of Art

The Hub Comes to Yokohama

The British Pub franchise, the Hub, has come to Yokohama. This is great news for people living in Yokohama as the selection of pubs to choose from is pretty slim, especially in the area near Yokohama Station. I went there for a couple of beers on opening night when a pint of beer was just 480 yen. I may be wrong but I think that offer is on for the first week. There is another British pub near Yokohama Station called the Tavern which I like but it was expensive before they added a table charge. Soon another Hub will open up near the Tavern and I imagine that it will force a bit of competition.

The Hub Yokohama is very stylish and I imagine that it will steal a lot of customers away from both the Tavern and Captains as well as being more accessible to Japanese people. You should check it out when you just want to grab a beer and don’t want the hassle of an izakaya.

Smoking Ban in Kanagawa

It seems that the governor of Kanagawa is proposing a prefecture wide ban on smoking in public and state facilities and requiring separate smoking areas in restaurants and hotels. His original proposal was even more severe, completely banning smoking in public facilities and other places, including stores, restaurants, bars and pachinko parlors but I he gave up on that because of objections from local businesses. The Japan Times posted that the ordinance may not be approved because some members of the the assembly are taking a cautious stance on the health hazards presented by passive smoking. (Maybe they have relatives working for Japan Tobacco. Wink, wink.) Anyway. it’s good news for us Yokohama residents because even if it doesn’t go through this time the proposal is out there and it will surely make a comeback.

Source: Japan Times

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