Zou no Hana Terrace

Cultural centre with art, elephant ice-cream, pop-up stalls, cafe

Designed as a cultural centre, this bright airy modern building with large terrace is a nice relaxing space on the original quayside of Yokohama. The shop / cafe / museum / terrace / workshop is on the site of the 2nd port Commodore Perry landed which was one of five ports to make up the original port of Yokohama . Back when the port of Yokohama was being developed the area of the site of this cafe and terrace was known as Zou no Hana, literally Elephant's trunk. Supposedly at that time the dykes that used to be in the area were said to resemble elephant's trunks. Hence, the interesting name of the shop and its most popular product: ice-cream in the shape of an elephant's face. There is a life sized wooden elephant on display and outside there are some small elephant statues. There is usually some sort of pop-up shop or stall there at the weekends, often selling home-made produce. The cafe is a permanent fixture and other than ice-cream sells a few other things. The menu is quite small and in terms of meals there is only two things on offer; curry or sandwiches. They do have some nice desserts including a roll cake with the centre filling shaped like an elephant. They also have a choice of beverages, including locally brewed beer and a nice selection of tea. Beside the cafe there is an open space which is used for a multitude of things such as art exhibitions and displays. The centre runs different workshops too, for both adults and children. Some of the staff speak good English and are willing to use it. There is some English on their website. It is open from 10 am to 6 pm Sunday to Friday, closed on Saturdays. It is about a 5 minute walk from Nihon-odori station on the Minato Mirai line. There is charged parking nearby.