Irashaimase! (Welcome.)

I type this on a public computer in the lobby of the Hotel Kazusaya while I should be sleeping so I can get up and catch a train in the morning. Meh. I can just blame jet lag.

Anyway, the flight was long and uneventful. I slept, ate, slept, watched some movie, listened to some crazy J-pop, slept, probably ate again, then slept some more. Then I got to Japan. Awesome.

Let me see...where do I start? Narita Airport is sort of in the rural area east of Tokyo, so the first images I saw of Japan are not what one typically thinks of, or at least not what I typically think of. I saw nothing but green; none of the bright flashing lights and futuristic cityscapes you see on the postcards. It is mountainous here. It seems like there is not a flat piece of ground in the entire country. (Allow me to here point out that Japanese keyboards lack an obvious apostrophe key, and since I am tired and lazy, you will have to read every word spelled out.) Anyway, the train ride from Narita to Tokyo was lots of fun, as I got to see the green, rural Japan of my arrival slowly grow more and more developed. From bare mountains and trees, I started seeing farms and rice paddies. Then some small villages. The houses look a little crazy, since, as I said, it is very hilly, and the houses are built accordingly. They look as though they are growing out of the mountains. From there it just got more and more urban, until we finally reached Tokyo, a spectacle of urbanity and development. I took a bunch of pictures, most of them total crap, and hopefully I will be able to get them online sometime in the near future.

The people here are super friendly. Upon my arrival to Tokyo Station, I of course had no clue how to get to my hotel, so I payed a visit to the kooban (police box), and the cops helped me find my way. The hotel employees are nice too. One of them even speaks pretty decent English, so I got to talk to him for a little while as I checked in.

After that, it was still pretty early, so I decided to check out Tokyo before leaving in the morning. It would seem a waste to spend the night here and stay in the hotel the whole time. The city is amazing. I have never seen anything like it, which probably has to do with the fact that I have never been to Japan. First of all, everyone is wearing a suit. All the time. Men and women, old and young, they are all wearing suits and carrying a briefcase, umbrella, and cell phone, all of which were undoubtedly issued to them at birth. Every building around Tokyo station is a ginkoo (bank). So not only are they all wearing suits, they are all wearing suits because they all work for a bank. Once you get north of there, though, a little bit past my hotel, you reach one of the smaller entertainment districts, Nihonbashi. There the people (still donning suits) sing karaoke, play pachinko (a gambling game much like slots), hit the arcade, or for some good old fashioned fun, visit a gentlemans club (excuse the lack of apostrophe). The commercialism here is a thing to behold.

Well, I head west to Ishikawa in the morning, away from the crazy metropolis to where it is supposedly much more quiet and laid back. Hopefully I will get the chance to further explore Tokyo before I leave Japan.

Konbanwa. Jaa, mata.