Three Days in Tokyo and we haven't had Sushi Yet
First impressions landing into Japan: The airport was surprisingly chaotic (remenisent of Egypt). This was because we needed to line up twice, first to scan our QR code, passports for our biometric data to be taken at a machine. We then lined up for a second time to speak to a border agent prior to entry. A large group of the Argentinian Karate team was ahead of us (entering Japan for a tournament) and it's clear that their Visa requirements were extensive. Eventually, we were quickly waved through the gate after waiting behind the Argentinian delegation in line for over an hour.
The hotel we are currently staying at is in Takadanobaba. The area is bustling with shops and restaurants, and it's extremely well connected with transit. We visited many shopping districts in Tokyo including the Nakano Broadway (the place to buy anime figurines or used luxury watches), Shinjuku, Shibuya (home of the famous Shibuya crossing) and the luxury highend retail stores at Ginza. Each neighbourhood has it's own distinct flavour and character.
Japan is amazing, what stood out to me is how easy it is to get around. The commuter trains, subway etc all run so efficiently. We traveled everywhere including during the rush hour traffic and despite Tokyo having a population roughly 4 times that of Toronto, there were zero disruptions. The flow of people moved fast, as I would expect in Tokyo, a large metropolitan city. I didn't bump into a single person, there wasn't a single delay! (Let's not talk about the TTC in Toronto 😭). If you ever visit Japan, I highly recommend using a luggage forwarding service, this will make your life much easier not needing to lug suitcases around on the train when travelling between different cities.
Tokyo is very clean, chalk full of amenities and teaming with street life at all hours of the day/night. Surprisingly, it feels much quieter than North American cities. Back home, they have zoned mixed use city amenities out of existance in residential areas, yet it's not a problem placing loud highways and busy aterial roads next to homes. Japan allows small business to set up shop everywhere due to zoning that supports mixed use density that allows for these truly vibrant and distinct neighbourhoods to exist. I am in awe of the prestine state of their roads, highways and trains.The infrastructure is over engineered (out of necessity unfortunately due to earthquakes, one just occured in the Kumamoto prefecture in the south).
They have no daylight savings time in Japan, which confused me. At 4 am it's bright daylight already.
A lot of the buildings have tiling everywhere that remind me of buildings in Southeast Asia. If only Bangladesh wasn't plagued with so much institutional corruption, perhaps that country could have reached this level of development.
All summer my son was complaining there were no 'train' summer camps. We promised him that Japan would be the ultimate real life 'Train camp' and it exceed his expectations. In Japan you can get a stamp book from Tokyo station that can be used to collect stamps at each of the subway stations and also at popular destinations/ sites (So much fun!). One of our first stops in Japan was to the Popondetta Model Railway shop and a restaurant located between two train tracks! Another highlight for my son was him visiting the Kato model train headquarters in Nishiochiai, Shinjuku.
My son found it fascinating that each train line has it's own musical jingle and that different subway lines have their own merch, some even selling treats (different snacks for each of the different coloured lines) to raise funds. He finds it amusing that when he taps his IC card, the faregate makes bird chirping sound to designate that he's a child 🐦. Anotherl observation is that the doors are left completely open at many of fare gates, you simply tap and walk straight through the open gate. (Anyone know why? are the doors broken?). You could NEVER do that in North America, you would get 100% fair evasion.😅. FYI transit is not cheap here, the costs adds up when travelling, I suppose that's why most employers pay for transit passes in Japan.
My husband has been studying Japanese the last few months, so he can do basic communication and greetings with the locals. Meanwhile I am the typical North American tourist, wigging it. I told my husband I would study *a few* Japanese words on the plane, but I ended up sleeping instead.
The Japanese convenience stores (known as Kombini) all have fantastic food. Thank you Brett for suggesting them and especially @Patrick_invests for recommending the egg salad sandwiches specifically. I have been eating those everyday since we landed. My son's favourite is the FamilyMart's fried chicken called 'Famichiki' that only costs 230 yen. Browsing the convince store isles here, I use Google translate image/ photo when buying processed snacks to understand what I am getting. Tobacco and Alcohol products are extremely cheap in Japan, these vices are taxed at a MUCH higher rate in Canada. What's fascinating to me is that you will have one row with cold refrigerated drinks and then the row immediately below will be heated for warm beverages such as tea!
My husband and I DEEPLY missed living in a big city (we consider downtown Ottawa a small town at best). The human interactions of living in a city are universal. My husband noticed as a family got off the subway, a little girl left her hoody behind on her seat. He immediately sprang to action, running to it, grabbing the hoody, yelling to try to get the attention of the family that had left the subway car and were walked away. Finally rolling and throwing it off the train towards them once he got their attention, seconds before the subway doors closed. A group of old people sitting across from us all smiled and gave my husband thumbs ups👍🏽 Mission accomplished!
Honerable mentions:
1. Japanese toilets with heated seats and water bidet with different settings and even a blow-dryer (press the button that looks like bacon 🥓 to dry your butt).
2. Vending machines everywhere outside for everything, hot drinks, ice cold drinks, full meals, ice cream etc.
(more photos in comments)
