Irasshaimase?

 April 17, 2023

Hallelujah! We made it! 

Our plane was almost on time. We made it through the line for immigration. We made it through immigration. Our luggage made it. We made it through customs. 

We found the place to pick up our rail passes. We had a slight hiccup there. We solved the hiccup, but the whole process took of waiting in line plus actually getting our passes took over an hour. 

We also got tickets on N’EX, the Narita Express. We made it to the correct platform, and N’EX took us right to Tokyo Station. 

We almost didn’t, but we eventually found our way out of the station. How hard can it be to exit a railroad station, you ask. It can be harder than you think. Especially after two nights of sleep deprivation.

This is the front of Tokyo Station

This is the back, or Yaesu side, of Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station is HUGE. There are many underground levels. We disembarked N’EX at B5, found an elevator to B1, and then wandered past all sorts of gift shops and restaurants on B1, looking for signs pointing to Yaesu South. There were thousands of people, most of them with luggage, moving through the station in all directions. There were thousands more, most of them with luggage, not moving, but standing in groups everywhere, blocking the passageways. There are, literally, enormous shopping malls down there. It’s kind of overwhelming to someone from a place like Anchorage without a large population. We probably went in a big, unnecessary, underground circle, but we finally found a sign indicating the way to Yaesu South. However, we couldn’t take the escalator up, due to our luggage. 

By the time we found an elevator up, we had lost our bearings. We were ejected out onto a side street, a block from the station. We couldn’t orient ourselves to the map I had. The map had the names of streets on it. The real streets did not have street signs or names on them that we could see. It was dark. We finally saw a policeman and asked him. He gave us precise and helpful instructions. We were only two blocks from our hotel after all. We were pretty much where we had expected to exit the station, but we didn’t know it until we got to our hotel.

So, we made it to our hotel — four hours after we landed. The hotel is great. We are too tired to care about anything beyond being here. 

Robes waiting on the beds

The ubiquitous white machine. What is it?

Cables for a variety of devices

A window in the top of the cabinet, to let you know where the tea things are

Another mysterious contraption, with complicated directions  

A “wet room” with a lovely shower alongside the tub

Well-stocked bathroom with Toto toilet seat, hairbrushes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and more

 Hospitality is such an important element of Japanese culture. Irasshaimase means welcome. You will hear it whenever you enter a shop or restaurant or hotel.

Today’s color is yellow, symbolizing hospitality, welcoming, and optimism for the start of a long-anticipated trip.