Wow! So many people came to see us. Yokohama is great.
Akito, come on. Help me pack. You know what? Maybe we should change our performance a little. We always do the same things.
Isn't that better than doing something new and making mistakes?
If we keep doing the same things, we’ll never get better.
Oh, come on, Ben. Don't be so serious. The audience liked our performance.
I’m Ben. Akito is my street performance partner. We are in Japan right now, so we can learn some new performance skills. Akito is a great guy, but we both needto become better performers.
Didn’t I tell you? The Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse if full of people, even on a weekday. Maybe we should performe here for about a month
No. Let's leave tomorrow. But we just got here yesterday.
Well, it's better to perform in lots of different places.
But we were in Narita for a week.
We were just starting out in Japan.
Anyway, let's get something to eat. I want to go to Chinatown.
Okay.
Is that a gate? It's really colorful. What does it say on it?
It says, Choyomon.
Choyomon?
It means, Gate of the morning sun.
That’s sound nice.
There are ten gates in Yokohama Chinatown.
Choyomon is the largest one.
Something smells great. Is that smoke over there?
No. That’s steam. They're selling steamed meat buns and sweet azuki buns.
I want to try them. Do you think we can get a table?
We can eat while we walk. That’s what people do here.
Ah, I see.
Let's walk toward Kanteibyo.
Kanteibyo? What's that?
It's a shrine made for the Chinese god of business.
Look at that building.
Yokohama Chinatown was originally called Nanking town. Many Chinese traders moved here after Japan became open to foreigners in 1859. Then, in the 1950s, Yokohama city took a hint from San Francisco and made Chinatown into a place for tourist.
It is said that many Kakyo people gave money to help this big project.
Kakyo?
Kakyo is the word for Chinese people who have moved to different contries to start a new life.
I see.
Chinatown has more than five hundred restaurants and shops. During the Chinese new year, people cerebrate by lighting firecrackers and playing drums.
That sounds like fun. We should come back for the Chinese new year.
Yeah, but didn’t you just say we should peform in different places?
Yes, but the Chinese new year is many months away. It’ll be the same place, but by that time we’ll have a new program, right?
Yeah, sure…
I don't think Akito wants to change the way we perform. How can I get him to try something new?