Jul 26, 2026

Yokohama – Hungry visitors to Yokohama tend to flock to two main destinations: the sleek Minato Mirai district with its many shopping complexes and modern, international eateries, or Chukagai, the city’s historic Chinatown, with a densely packed street of restaurants, stalls and mainland-style temples at its center.

However, just nearby these well-trod neighborhoods are down-to-earth eateries that speak to a different gastronomic history of Yokohama.

JR Kannai Station sits close to where a late Edo Period (1603-1867) security checkpoint once split the area into kannai (literally, “inside the checkpoint”) and kangai (literally, “outside the checkpoint”). Today, the former neighborhood retains its name and includes cosmopolitan cityscapes as well as Chukagai. While the latter area’s name has fallen out of common usage, the marshland-turned-commoners’ district has come to encompass the charming, restaurant-packed neighborhoods of Isezakicho, Nogecho and Fukutomicho.