Japan In Focus

‘Bar-Hopping Pantheon’ in Yokohama Retro Landmark Building; Landmark Curved Building Offers Refreshment, Closeness

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Noge Miyakobashi Shotengai Building, which runs along a curved riverbank, attracts customers with sings that invoke nostalgia.

By Jun Murao / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:47 JST, September 24, 2024

YOKOHAMA — The steel-framed, two-story Noge Miyakobashi Shotengai Building houses 60 businesses, all of which are eating and drinking establishments except for a lone electronics store. The beloved “bar-hopping mecca” building is sometimes called “Harmonica Yokocho” (harmonica alley).

It is considered a landmark in the Noge district west of JR Sakuragicho Station, providing a strong contrast to the skyscraper-filled area east of the station.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The lights from the building illuminate the surface of the river with skyscrapers in the background.

The illuminated form of the retro, arched building located along a curved section of the Ooka River stands out in the dusk. Two regulars were relaxing at the counter in a snack bar on the first floor of the building.

One of them, an about-80-year-old gentleman on his way home from work, started to tell a story of memories from half a century ago, saying, “Back when Ogishima island was reclaimed in Kawasaki …” But he then said, “Aki-chan is up next.” When he took the microphone, music for a song by Aki Yashiro began to play.

The building was constructed in 1964, the year of the first Tokyo Olympics, to house street vendors in the area.

Yoko Okada, one of the longtime business owners in the building, started her bar, called Hana, on the second floor around the end of the Showa era.

“At first, I had thought it would only last three or four years. But with the bubble economy, I didn’t have a chance to close it,” she said with a laugh.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The space for each business in the building is about 10 square meters.

In the beginning, the first floor was a real “shotengai” (shopping street) with many stores side by side, selling shoes, clothes, glasses and other items. But the spaces were too small to run retail businesses. As owners got older and started closing their stores, eating and drinking establishments gradually took their places, Okada said.

Today, the building is home to various places for eating and drinking, mainly bars as well as Brazilian, Italian and yakitori restaurants.

The building was registered as a historical landmark of Yokohama in 2016. The following year, its ownership was transferred from a public corporation of the city to the Yokohama Heritage, a public interest incorporated association.

Junichi Yoneyama, 72, executive director of the association, said: “It’s a building that’s representative of postwar architecture. I want to preserve it as part of the Noge landscape for many years to come.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A sign on the stairs thanks departing customers for their visit.

The building has lived with the ups and downs of the Japanese economy for 60 years. Recently, it has been attracting more young customers. It is also popular as a good “photo spot.”

“The flow of the river never ceases …” On my way home, I found myself murmuring the famous opening phrase of “Hojoki,” a philosophical essay written in the early 13th century, as I looked at the lights of the building reflected on the surface of the river.

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