ただいま! I’m back from a full 7 day trip to 日本 Japan, and man was it amazing. I took my good friend Jed’s advice and journaled each day to make sure I was able to keep track of all the little details of the trip that would be lost over time. I’m crazy excited to share my experiences, photos, and how my efforts in learning 日本語 Japanese helped. In order to make this more digestible, I’m going to make a post for each day I was there, starting with Day 0. Let’s get into it!
The Flight: Chicago to 成田, 東京 Narita, Tokyo
Let’s start with the flight. I departed from Chicago at around 10:45am on a direct flight to 成田 Narita airport outside of 東京 Tokyo via ANA (All Nippon Airways). The flight time? Just about 14 hours. Thankfully the space was fairly generous, at least as far as legroom goes. It was tight side to side, but I wasn’t actually that uncomfortable. Being able to get up and move was really helpful. Those first class seats with full beds looked miiiiighty nice, though!
Seating wasn’t too bad
We had pretty large, high-resolution screens on the back of the seat for entertainment and travel updates. I opted to watch my own media that was downloaded from my Plex server, but it was really nice to see travel distance, GPS location, and external camera views from my seat.
Meals were pretty good, too
We received two full meals, dinner and breakfast, and these were a lot better than I expected despite how they look in the picture. Not gourmet, by any means, but FAR better than anything I’ve received on an American airline.
We were able to choose from two dishes for each meal, one 日本食 Japanese food and the other a bit more American. I chose the 日本Japanese option for both – even got tempura! Meals were wrapped up with a tiny container of Haagen-Dazs ice cream and お茶, or green tea. For the record, this was the start of officially not recording any food or tracking any macros. There was no way I was going to be restricted after waiting for 11.5 years to get back!
Touching down in 東京 Tokyo
After 14 hours (with no sleep, unfortunately) we touched down in 東京 Tokyo at about 3:00pm. Departure and customs were thankfully very quick, and I was immediately greeted by Super Mario branding everywhere. There was even a dedicated seating area with Nintendo Switch consoles on display. I knew I was in for a ride – I made it!
Day 0: Getting The Basics and the First Night
Japan Rail Pass (JRPass)
Before hopping on the Narita Express bullet train to 東京 Tokyo proper, I had to get the JR Pass that I’d purchased at the JR ticket desk. For anyone going to Japan that plans on visiting multiple cities, I’d HIGHLY recommend this. It’s only available to tourists visiting Japan temporarily and made all train rides extremely easy for my entire trip. The total cost was a single fee of ¥39,600, or around $225, based on the exchange rate when I booked. This lasted for 7 full days starting on the day of arrival, but can also be purchased for 14 or 21 day timeframes as well.
The 成田 Narita Express
Once I was all set with my JR Pass, I got some coffee from Starbucks and hopped on the 90-minute train to 東京 Tokyo. Let me just tell you guys, it was SO nice to see 日本 Japan from a comfortable train seat with almost no one else there. I put on some jams (New Genesis by Ado and Katamoi by Aimer were two heavy hitters for this trip) and enjoyed taking in the sights as I looked out the window.
Arriving in 新宿, 東京 Shinjuku, Tokyo
Arriving in 新宿 Shinjuku was jarring, I have to admit. This is the busiest train station in the world with over 3 million people using it every day. I experienced the full brunt of it, but MAN was it awesome! I was able to read the signs (mostly avoiding the English that was also available) and it still took me 20 minutes to get out. I loved it. And once I got out I was immediately hit with bright lights and signs everywhere. It was just like I expected.
Checking into ホテル松野井 Hotel Matsunoi
The hotel I chose for my first night was perfect. The staff were fantastic, walking a very clearly exhausted foreign guy through the policy with complete patience and humility. I was shown to my room, small space with traditional tatami mats and a floor mattress. I settled in, journaled my experience thus far, and headed out to get some food.
Let me tell you, that first night – after around 27 hours without sleep – was actually really disconcerting.
Grabbing food before bed
Stepping out of the hotel to find food, I was in shock. The entire area was so busy, and while I was able to read a fair bit of what I saw I realized that I was was out of my element when it comes to speaking…or so I thought. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case as the trip went on.
After walking around and seeing that most restaurants (there were many) had lines, I found one with tasty options and no line. I was seated by the server, but no one came to serve me in the full 15 minutes that I was sitting at my table. Other groups came and were served in that time, and I wondered if this was one of the places I’d read about that was unfriendly to foreigners as I got up and left.
Immediately below the stairs to this restaurant was a street food vendor, so considering how tired I was I just stood in line and ordered there. It was good, but man was it unhealthy! It was half a hotdog and half a cheese stick on a spear, coated with corn dog batter that was rolled in diced French fries. Then it was deep fried. Uff da!
After food, Day 0 was a wrap
As I walked back to my hotel to crash hard for the night (at around 8:00pm), I found that I was asking myself a few questions. Did I visit too quickly? Was 5 months of study not enough to enjoy my time here? Was it a mistake to come alone, now without the comfort and support of my Air Force brothers?
No, it was not too early to visit. Yes, 5 months of study was enough to enjoy my time. And it was absolutely not a mistake to visit alone. In fact I’d encourage anyone else to make their first visit to 日本 Japan a solo trip, and we’ll get into why once this series concludes.
I made it to my hotel, took a bath (these are a big deal over in 日本 Japan), and knocked right the hell out. The sleep was sound but didn’t last long – jet lag is real, folks, and I found my body up and fully alert at about 3:30am. It was time to start Day 1!
Check back next week for an overview of Day 2 in Part 1 of this series!
Before I go, though: a photo of the best mobile store in existence, In Butter.
