Arrival

Having landed safely at Tokyo-Narita airport and swept through customs and baggage claim like a katana through silk, I find myself on the JR Narita Express train to Tokyo. The immediate danger is the soporific combination of a comfy seat, an incredibly smooth ride, and the after-effects of a twelve hour flight. This, coupled with a distinct lack of knowledge regarding the journey ahead makes it easy for me to visualise myself awake with a start, confused, speeding past my desired station and into the alien suburbs of Tokyo. But the fear proves unfounded on both counts.

Too excited to sleep, I gaze out the window as paddy fields, apartment blocks and the occasional temple speed past, and as my eye wanders the interior of the carriage, I see for the first time the amazing technology that will prove my saviour: a digital display showing the current position of the train on a network map, complete with station names in Roman characters. Nice. That wonderful train, the scenery that passes by and the helpful use of technology all feature prominently in my embryonic opinions on what constitutes this place called Japan.

I arrive at Tokyo station and, imbued with high spirits, I decide to walk to the hotel, having absolute faith that I will find my way through Ginza. It is as I study my map, rucksack on back, that I notice I'm standing near the golden statue of a fellow traveller, similarly laden and studying a book. In my imagination, passersby appreciate the parallel, chuckle to themselves and walk on smiling, but I think the joke is mine alone and probably a product of tiredness. After a few missed turns but helped enormously by the distant Sony building, I arrive at my hotel. My reservation is found and promptly dealt with (doubtless a product of my printed confirmation rather than the mumbled 'Boroton des... er....yoyaku sh’ta' that comprised my first attempt at spoken Japanese).

It's now lunch time and I am famished, tired and in need of a shower, but I have an ambitious itinerary for my first day in Tokyo, so deferring all but the shower, I issue forth into Ginza; sleep must wait.