Exploring Japan: Yokosuka – February 21, 2010

On a pleasant winter day in 2010, I visited Yokosuka for the first time.  Yokosuka is the home of both the American Naval base and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force base, so there is a lot of military in the city.  There are many Americans walking around here.  I started my visit at Yokosuka Station, through Verny Park and ended at Mikasa Park.  Enjoy the pictures!

Across the water is the American Naval Base.

This is Verny Park, dedicated to Leonce Verny, the man who helped create the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

Here's a bit more of Verny Park.

This is a major shopping centre in Yokosuka with a Daiei store.

The tall building is the tallest commercial building in Yokosuka.

This is the Mikasa, a pre-dreadnought ship built in Britain in 1900, and is now a museum. It's the only pre-dreadnought ship left in the world.

Mikasa guns. This ship was actually sunk in 1905, then refloated and back into service.

Sarushima, or Monkey Island. There's a boat that goes over to the island, and is a popular picnic area.

Here is the nearby Mikasa Park.

Looks like there are performances here sometimes.

A big metal arch in the park.

This park has plenty of fountains and ponds.

A look back to the Mikasa.

Here’s a map of the area.

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This post is taking part in “Show Me Japan #27.”  Check it out and see many other blog posts!

Palm Trees in Japan

When you think of Japan, you usually think of Mt. Fuji, Tokyo, temples, shrines, cars, robots and sushi. But did you know that you can find palm trees in the warmer parts of the country? Kanagawa Prefecture is in a humid subtropical climate, and has very mild winters and tropical humid and hot summers. Palm trees thrive here, even though they aren’t native to this part of the country. The two pictures below were taken by the beach in the Kurihama area of Yokosuka. If you looked at them without knowing where they were taken, you might think it was Hawaii or California.