So here I am again with completely useless information just for you. After our 10K run in Yokohama the weekend before last, we did a little spontaneous sightseeing in the Port of Yokohama and visited a few historic buildings which for one reason or another are named after Chess pieces - King, Queen, and Jack. All built 80 to 100 years ago, they are actually important historical landmarks in the development of Yokohama as Japan opened its doors to trade with the outside world at the dawn of the Edo era (circa 1860s). "King Tower" is the Kanagawa Prefectural Government building; "Jack Tower" is the Port Opening Memorial Hall; and "Queen Tower" is the Yokohama Customs House. "Queen" was my favorite as it featured a free museum tour showing the history of the port area as well as a detailed description of how all foreign goods entering Yokohama are screened by customs officials. On display were multiple luxury/designer goods and their Chinese counterfeit copies which have been confiscated. One display case has the copies and the originals and you have to guess which is which. I did so poorly - I got one right out of about a dozen pairs!! Guess I'm not the guy to put in charge of determing which Prada handbags are real and which are fake! Also shown were samples of confiscated illegal drugs and all of the ingenious ways dealers have devised to try to smuggle them into the country, including inside antique furniture, Budweiser beer cans, and behind "blind" walls inside of shipping containers. Several volunteer retirees were on hand to provide more information than you could ask for. Overall a thoroughly interesting place to see if you have a hour to kill in Yokohama. Below, the buildings from top to bottom are King, Jack, and Queen. The last pic is, I guess, the Customs House mascot "Sniffy" - he can tell "Gucci" from "Pucci", "Chanel" from "Channel", and "Coach" from "Goach". But then again, doesn't every government building in Japan have its own adorable cartoon mascot?
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