Moving to Japan

Wednesday, 12 March, 2025

After 30 years away, I am finally returning to Japan to teach again. 

I arrived on Tuesday after 26 hours of travel. People think traveling internationally is just the main flight, but I had to leave the house at 2:45 AM for a 5:30 AM flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles, then a four hour wait in the airport, then 12 hours on a plane, then customs, immigration, and luggage in Tokyo airport, then catch a bus across Tokyo to the inn I'm staying in. Therefore, I always calculate travel time door-to-door. This time for a wonder I did sleep a little on the plane. 

On Day 1 after a full night's sleep, I took the train from the inn I am staying in to downtown Tokyo Station to get a transportation card. Tokyo Station has a kind of underground mall with different themed sections such as Tokyo Character Street (anime themed), Ramen Street, Gourmet Street, and so on. Character Street sounded good on the internet but in reality it was just shops, no decoration out in the walkway or anything. Ramen Street, on the other hand... yes, please. I had Curry Udon and some cucumber which came with a special dark miso sauce that was delicious. 

Back in Koiwa where I'm staying, they have these posts along the sidewalk, presumably to keep cars off it as many places do, but these are fancy ones. 

In the train station we have this sumo wrestler, but I can't read the name. 

I went back to my inn around 3:30 intending to watch sumo on TV at 4:30, but I fell asleep until 7pm and missed it altogether. Tomorrow...