Arriving in Japan

Getting Here

Traveling over the International Date Line is a bit of a mind-fuck... We traveled for near to 20 hours straight, and the sun never went down during that time. We left the East Coast of the US in the morning, and arrived here in Japan on the evening of the next day. That's right... we lost an entire day somewhere in the middle of things. People have long commented on how weird this is, but you really have to go through it personally to experience just how strange a feeling it really is.

Getting Here, Once We Were Here

We're staying in Tokyo, which isn't really near Narita airport. Depending on the mode of transportation into the city, it's between say 75 and 90 minutes to where we're staying. We chose the 'friendly airport limousine' to get us to our hotel over the train, simply because it's easier than trying (with no sleep) to navigate a rail system that we know nothing about, in a language we can't even read, with two weeks of luggage in tow...

90 Minutes later, we're on a raised highway in the middle of Tokyo, but it looks more like a scene from Bladerunner, which I'm sure a lot of people draw comparisons to when they're here for the first time. From there, the remainder of the journey was short, and we found ourselves at our terminus, finally asleep around 9:00 PM, which meant we had officially been awake for 27 hours.

Our Corner of Tokyo

We are staying in an area of Tokyo called Akasaka. Technically we're in Chiyoda, but all of the things to do, including the nearest metro station are in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It's more of a business district than a shopping, or residential district. 

The closest Metro station is a very short walk from our hotel, and it serves at least 4 of the 9 subway lines. So although we're not in the center of Tokyo (actually, after a week, I'm not sure where I'd peg the 'center' of Tokyo), we're in the middle of everything to do in Tokyo.

The Next Morning

First meal after we arrived? Hotel buffet... no need to get crazy with the local cuisine just yet. After that, with no specific plan in mind, other than to arrive at some hotel in Shinjuku to join a tour group visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum, we set off into the local Metro Station to figure out how to get around. I'll probably describe the train experience in more detail later, but suffice to say, this is the the first time we really experienced the slope of the cultural learning curve. It's not just that the language is a barrier, it's that there seems to be a complex system for accomplishing everything over here. Admittedly, once you get the hang of it, you begin to appreciate it. But, that was at least 4 to 5 days down the road for us...