A museum that examines chocolates from a multitude of angles opened in January last year on the second floor of Yokohama Daisekai, an entertainment facility in Yokohama's Chinatown.
Featuring a shop and cafe among its attractions, the museum was crowded with ladies scoping out chocolates ahead of Valentine's Day.
But why chocolate in Chinatown? Because the port town is thought to lie at the root of Japan's chocolate history. During the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japanese craftspeople came to Yokohama to learn how to make Western sweets, chocolate treats, among them.
One of the museum's panels describes the "Long journey of chocolate."
Originating in Central America, the Mayan civilization drank "xocolatl," a bitter beverage they believed had restorative properties made from ground cacao, chili peppers and cornmeal.
Chocolate was first sweetened after it was brought to Europe by Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard who conquered the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. It was not consumed as a food until the 19th century.
The main ingredient in chocolate is cacao beans, which are grown in West Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. Each cacao fruit contains 30 to 40 seeds. The museum has a full-size model of a cacao fruit that is 30 centimeters long.
The manufacturing process is described before a glass-walled kitchen. A process that includes fermentation, drying and roasting is needed to turn cacao beans into chip-like "cacao nibs." It takes an entire day to grind these into a fine paste.
Chocolate contains cacao polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties, and is thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and suppress arteriosclerosis, leading some to see it as a health food.
-- Yokohama Chocolate Factory & Museum
The 38-seat museum cafe offers a chocolate-centered menu. The "Melty Moon Chocolate," a chocolate sphere with a dessert inside that is covered in a sauce, makes for a great Instagram post.
Address: 97 Yamashitacho, Naka Ward, Yokohama
Open: 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. Open all year. The cafe takes final orders 15 minutes before closing.
Admission: Free
Inquiries: (045) 681-5588
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
