At 5:30am I arrived at Haneda in Tokyo with nothing opened. I needed to wait until 7:30 for the JR traveler's office to open to get my Japan Rail Pass. The pass is so good with unlimited shinkansen and JR train rides. All you have to do to use it, is walk through and show your pass to the staff and you are on your way with no hassles trying to buy tickets at the machine.
Ok, the line for JR looked long, however it moved fast thanks to the friendly staff. After my pass was assembled and handed to me, the girl at the counter reserved me a seat on the shinkansen. Japanese customer service is the best in the world. I had an assigned seat.
Lugging all my bags, I hopped on the Tokyo Monorail. I have always loved monorails ever seen I first rode one as a kid at Tampa International Airport. At that time I imagined people living in dome cities and commuting by monorail, thanks to the Jetsons. I am still impatiently waiting for my hovercraft car.
Tokyo is amazing to view from the monorail. Looking at the sea, I half expected to see Godzilla rising up. Just seeing all the apartments with clothes hanging out to dry caused me to remember my old apartment back in Shin Osaka. I had a washer but no dryer so I would have to dry everything outside.
Soon I was at Tokyo Station, quite possibly the busiest and safest station in the world. Momentary confusion caused me to ask for help. A very kind elderly gentleman took me to where the shinkansen was and even took me to the right place to stand in line on the platform. I was really craving a CC Lemon so I got one from a vending machine. Back to the land of the best vending machines on the planet.
Soon, I was on the shinkansen for Utsunomiya where my good Japanese friend, Junichi lives. I first met Jun at the University of South Florida where we became college roommates. I helped him with English and helped me with Japanese. He has been a great and reliable friend and I truly treasure our friendship.
In less than one hour I was at Utsunomiya Station. Inside I got a quick bite of my favorite lunch, croquette curry rice, for only 500 en. For whatever reason Japanese curry is around $10 in Tampa and no one adds the fukujinzuke pickles and that does irritate me. You do notice when it is missing and it does change the taste.
Next I had no idea how to contact anyone, so I saw hotels outside the station and asked the counter person to call my friend's company. I got Jun's wife on the phone and decided to stay at this hotel I was calling from, Chisun Hotel.
It was still too early to check in, so I sat in a chair in the lobby, falling asleep in the chair. The reason for being so tired is because my flight from LAX to Tokyo was 12 hours and the jet lag is fierce. Also Japan is 13 hours ahead of EST. Finally my room was ready.
I went inside to take a hot bath and a quick nap. Waking up and feeling refreshed after an hour, it was time to check out Yodobashi Camera, the best electronic store chain in Japan. I left my hotel and walked over, which was a short walk.
I live for those moments that I can shop at Yodobashi Camera, all the Canon camera products, anime on Blu-ray that will work in the US, and all the toy stores that are stocked with the very latest Gundam models. The latest HD TVs to look at all make this store seem like heaven. Every time I'm here, I always check out the Yamano music store.
Looking at the guitar effects pedals, I saw the Hatsune Miku Stomp box that will make your guitar sound Vocaloid. So mainly because I was in Japan and the Miku Stomp isn't available to check out in Tampa, I decided to test it out. I asked the store clerk and she handed me a Les Paul style guitar and found an amp for me.
Leaving Yamano Music, I found a cool pop culture store called Village Vanguard that carries a unique assortment of America and Japanese goods. I saw a strange oversized Popeye plush head that made Popeye look like he had been decapitated. There were so many plush Gremlins from Gremlins 2. I did find a cool photobook that I have been wanting to check that is a collection of out of the way, rundown, and old things in Japan like abandoned buildings just out there in rural areas and small train stations covered in rust. If you can find it, I think you will like to see these broken down structures that have been left behind that create a bitter sweet melancholy feeling for the viewer. Something cool to see that is not the usual tourist sites.
For more on Village Vanguard check out the link below.
http://www.village-v.co.jp/
Soon it was time to meet Karoi and the kids and head over to one of the many izakaya in town. Utsunomiya has literally hundreds of izakaya all over, serving up delicious Japanese pub style foods.
Taking off my shoes and placing them in a shoe locker, I followed everyone to the table. Then the food came out including authentic yakitori. So much better than any yakitori I've had back home. For all the foodies see all the pictures below. Everything was so good and fresh.
Following this fantastic fest it was time to plan my day for tomorrow with Kaori's help. Then I luckily remembered my shoe locker number and got my shoes back.
Trying to sleep that night I notice a bright glare from my window. I walked over to see what it was and saw this neon Pachinko sign. I admired it for a few seconds, close the curtains, and fell back on the nice soft bed and went into a deep sleep.
Be sure to check out Day 2!!
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