Kathy Takes Up Mountain Climbing

Donna was game for an adventure and neither of us had seen the Western-style houses in Yokohama's Yamate neighborhood, so I printed a map, verified train directions, and off we went. Between the sweltering heat and steep inclines, both of which approached 100 degrees, we were glad (a) we had remembered to tuck little towels in our purses and (b) we had not invited any of the under-50 mountain goats on this adventure to witness our wheezing, gasping, handrail-clutching ascension of the first 200 or so stone steps. Remind me to study a topographical map the next time I'm planning an adventure . . .

Yamate is situated on a high bluff overlooking Tokyo Bay. It was designated for foreign settlement in the mid-1850s when Japan opened its doors to the rest of the world. Most of the 19th Century houses were constructed of wood and all but one - currently the Yamate Museum - were destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 (gulp). The museum was worth the $2 (roughly) admission fee. We learned that the vases and ceramic doodads our grandmothers dusted daily (perhaps weekly in the case of my grandmothers) are considered quaint and historic by lots of Japanese people.

The eight houses on the self-guided tour (example above) were all built in the late 1920s, after the earthquake, one of my all-time favorite housing decades. There is no charge to tour the houses (assuming Donna and I did not commit a gross cultural faux pas and overlook a ticket booth while mopping sweat from our faces) and they are blessedly air-conditioned. The two we toured, including the former British Consulate, were not large by Biltmore or even contemporary McMansion standards, but the Japanese tourists wandering through the rooms seemed impressed. Or maybe they were simply smitten with the a/c like the two glistening American ladies.

Donna says we hiked about five miles along that bluff. I decided to reward her for all that effort by introducing her to Mr. Donut and she was so appreciative she let me eat half of her donut after I inhaled mine.