Nippon (Japan) Day 1

As the proverb goes, Good things take time. For Hulya and me, getting to Japan not only took many months of brainstorming and preparation but also 20 hours of non-stop travel. But now that we’ve made it to our first destination, Tokyo, the diligence has paid off rather quickly.

The Chuo ditrict is impressive for being part of the overall 14 million people is living in the overall area of Tokyo. Its relatively peaceful and well-organized, despite its population density. But to get here we had to delete a day of our existence! By that I mean we departed on Wednesday from San Francisco and then somehow arrived an hour before Friday in Tokyo—completely missing Thursday!

(Tokyo was marshland back in the early 1800's before it became the capital of Japan)

Overall, the flight was decent (thank you Zip Air) and with the help of Shōgun, The Iron Chef, a fun romance movie, and fitful bouts with restlessness, we survived the trek (and even saw the stunning display of Alaska as we flew over the great northern continent!) And once arriving to our hotel I was baffled by the sound of Jamiroquai coming from hookah lounge on the rooftop. I leaned out my window and listened while taking in the first close up view of Tokyo. Up to this point, we’d been in a car, a taxi, a bus, two airports, one airplane, and fast train and a subway…but hand’t had a chance to really breath the brisk air of Tokyo and soak up the sights. Needless to say, to be at our destination was heavenly. Not becuase it was a fancy or luxurious hotel (it’s so small I can touch the roof, and the mattress is delapidated and should be recycled) but because it had a hot shower and offered us the basic ability to lay vertically for the first time in 24 hours!

Then, after only 4 hours of sleep, our biological clocks woke us up and we set out to explore the city just before sunrise.

Our first order of business was to gorge ourselves on random food items from Family Mart—such as the legendary yet simple egg salad sandwich. Plus a BOSS coffee (which I’d been romanticising since I saw it in Win Wenders Perfect Day film), some mochi, and other assorted snacks.

The most incredible part of our morning was the chance to be the first people awake and wandering the streets. Each street had something to show us. Almost every alley was worth stopping to wonder about who lives or works there. In this way, we acclimated to our new time zone by slowly watching the city come to life…and I expect over the next few weeks, we will also acclimate various parts of the culture into our systems as we continue to explore.

Now for the quick rundown of highlights!!!

*Strolled through the Ginza neighborhood.

*Ate lunch from various vendors at the Tsukiji Outer Market. The gyusashi (raw beef sushi), black cod, and huge sweet potato chips were delectible!

*Slapped a dozen Mind Hunter stickers across various districts.

Then something unexppected happened...

*When the first wave of jetlag hit, we retreated to a famed Cat Café and lounged around while drinking corn porridge tea and matcha lattes and enjoying the company of two twenty or so rather unique felines. I must admit, this was 200% more enjoyable than I ever expected it to be—and the most wholesome experience of the day.

*The smallness of everything (which Hulya likes for ergonomical reasons) like the door to our room, toilet seats, desks, shoes.

*Speaking of....Hulya splurged and bought some new sandals!

*Walked around the Imperial Palace...stunned by its grandeur.

*Witnessed the Shibuya shuffle just as the evening rain began.

*We found a small shop off the main street and ended up being the only people eating at the narrow counter space. The chef and waiters were so kind. Everyone is kind in Japan.

*The smell of musty but intoxicating tree "Japanese photinia" was constantly in the air.

*We explored the most abnoxious commercial store possible in Japan: Don Quixote. It's SIX FLOORS of consumer nonsense and designed like Ikea: you can walk up a level, but to return down is so confusing. We walked up and through the maze of four floors before I spotted an elevator that was concealed between aisles and plastered over by many advertisements and mismatched colors that I cannot describe.

*The moment this became our unintentional theme song…

After walking ten miles, the day came to a close, and I realized something about Japan…apart from the usual city noise, I never heard a horn honk or people yelling. This country really shines because of the values instilled in the people: respect and modesty. The land of the rising sun, or “Nippon”, has so much to offer. Incredible architecture, the obvious food scene, and a multitude of cultural novelties…but the thing that really struck me today is the people’s principles and integrity. As Hulya said, you don’t need oppressive rules or regulations if people are just good humans. And we are surrounded by some very good people here. 14 million apparently.

Until the next post, sayonara!