How to Dress for the Most Fun in Yokohama Chinatown

Chinatowns are popping up in every international city in the world now, like New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Bangkok, and so on. Among them, is the tourist-renowned Chinatown located just 30 minutes outside of Tokyo by train, in Kanagawa Prefecture’s Yokohama City. This Chinatown in Yokohama was originally established as a Chinese traders’ town during the 19th century. Gradually its number of residents increased, and at the beginning of the 20th century, its population was over 5,000 people. However, at one time it burnt down during the air raids of World War II, and after the war was over, struggled to overcome and recover from a number of difficulties, where it is now one of symbols of friendship between China and Japan.

Currently it crowded no matter if it’s a weekday, weekend, day, or night, with tourists not only from Japan, but from all around the world. With over 300 establishments in total, not only does it offer food and drink, but anything from massages to crafts.

Among these shops, just a five-minute walk from Motomachi-Chukagai Station and immediately after passing under the Tencho Mon Gate, you’ll find China House Kamome, a place where you can purchase, wear, and take photos in Chinese dresses. And so, for this reason, kumicky (Kumiko Funayama) and Pikarin (Hikaru Shiina), were especially excited to join us on a visit there.

Established over 30 years ago, China House Kamome is Japan’s largest retailer specializing in Chinese dresses. Using its own trade route between China and Vietnam, the shop offers a wide selection of high-quality Chinese dresses at a low price. Chinese dresses aren’t the only thing you’ll find here, either. The shop also sells Vietnamese áo dài, tai chi pants, stretch blouses, and men’s Kung Fu outfits. All of their clothing is originally designed, and just browsing through all of them is a lot of fun. They also supply Chinese dresses to various media outlets, including the dress that appeared in the 2014 movie hit Mogura no Uta, directed by Takashi Miike and starring Toma Ikuta.

For our particular visit, kumicky chooses a sleeveless, sexy dress. At once she appears to be enveloped by a sensuously magical and beautiful witch-like aura. Meanwhile, Pikarin opts to go with one of the men’s Chinese outfits that pique her interest. One of this shop’s unique characteristics is that you can enjoy trying on both sexy and casual clothing.

Both kumicky and Pikarin were happy to find something “kawaii” in Chinatown. After transforming into even more charming versions of themselves, they were ready to enjoy hitting the streets of Chinatown.

China House KamomeKawaii Asia

Author

KAI NAGASE

Writer, Book Reviewer. Having the degree of MA. (Japanese Literature)　I love Japanese Girl's Popular Music, such as YUKI, Chara, Makoto Kawamoto, and Seiko Oomori.

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