Japan - Reaching Tokyo

Our family picture at the most publicized landmark of Japan - The Torii gate at Miyajima.

Preparing for Japan

As I boarded the magnificent A 380 from Bangkok to Narita, Tokyo the realization hit that I had not ventured on any holiday in the recent past without so little a preparation. Some essential planning had been done and rest was expected to take care of itself. Things did work out pretty well so no regrets on this issue but I need to point out the ‘essential’ part of planning which did turn out to be really helpful.

- The most important thing is to get a Japanese Railway pass (JR Pass) from country of origin and we did it from India. There are nominated agents who sell the Exchange Voucher for the Pass and this you can exchange in Tokyo or any other city at JR office for the pass after showing your passport. We bought a 7 day pass which cost around Rs 17000/- per person and is valid for 7 continuous days. It is valid on Shinkansens (Bullet trains) as well all JR trains, buses and ferries. If you don’t get this pass the travel becomes very expensive as on Shinkansen just to go from Tokyo to Osaka and back would be around Rs 15000/-. Our utilization of the JR Pass was pretty good as we used it extensively over a 7 day period.

How to use JR pass !

We booked all hotels in advance on booking.com. We made sure that the free cancellation clause was there and that was the reason for choosing hotels over Airbnb. In any case there are some regulatory issues with Airbnb in Japan which are just getting sorted out. I also noticed that most apartments in Japan have just one bathroom and for a family of 4 we required at least 2 of them. So 2 rooms with attached bathrooms made good sense.

- During the duration of our holiday we were in Tokyo on 3 different occasions. Advantage of staying in the same hotel on all three visits was that they willingly kept our luggage while we traveled to other parts of Japan with only essential items. It is convenient and fun traveling light.

Arriving in Tokyo

Narita airport is well outside the town. It could take more than 2 hours by Limousine bus which is preferred mode for many as it stops at certain hotels and luggage is taken care of by storage in the vehicle cargo hold. As we travel fairly light we decided to take N’ex (Narita Express) till Shinjuku station. It costs Yen 3200 one way or Yen 4000 both ways ( you have to use it within 15 days) and ticket counter at Airport is very easy to find. I would have liked to take return tickets but realised that we could use JR pass on return as that would be our 7^th day of pass. There is another way of travelling also and that is cheaper. Keisei Skyliner is really fast, getting you to Shinjuku in an hour with one change in middle. So if you have a JR pass and you plan to use it from day 1, the best thing would to get JR pass issued from airport itself against exchange vouchers and use it on N'ex. We didn't do it on onwards journey as we intended to start using the pass from our 5th day in Japan.

Narita Express comes under Japan Railways so JR pass is valid on this.

N’ex journey was very comfortable and one could either store the luggage overhead or in slots near the doors. They provide numbered locks so luggage stays safe. It took N’ex 90 minutes to reach Shinjuku station and it was a very comfortable journey. We were staying at Sunroute Higashi hotel next to Shinjuku Higashi subway and cab took just 10 minutes to get there from the Shinjuku station. The hotel was a no frill hotel and part of Sunroute chain. The rooms as expected were small (most Japanese hotels have tiny rooms) but the place was clean and bathrooms were well equipped with an electronic pot seat. The hotel of the same chain with similar room size and facilities at Shinjuku was charging more than double of what we were paying. We were just one station away by subway and many a times we walked to Shinjuku from our hotel. It made sense to stay here. There were many restaurants and shops near our hotel so it wasn't at an isolated place.

Lack of my research caused its first casualty here as the electrical plugs required were different from ours and our Indian gadgets could not be charged unless we got some adapter. We visited many shops but without any luck till someone suggested a shop called ‘Don Quijote.’ You cannot miss its yellow sign boards from far and we were quite taken aback by sheer variety and quantity of products in the shop. The place was huge. It sold everything and anything ( shoes, toiletries, TV’s, gadgets, liquor, food items , car accessories, clothing’s etc etc) and thankfully we found the solution to our problem at the end of the store. Kids would have got depressed otherwise as without wi fi they are totally lost and if gadgets are not charged – how to use them? We took many more trips to Don Quijote during our stay in Japan as it was present in almost every city that we visited. I even picked up a bottle of Japanese single malt from there.

Another important thing we noticed the first evening itself was the variety in food. There were restaurants everywhere and many of them had queues outside them. Being a foodie I knew that I was going to have a good time in Japan though I was concerned that my wife Devicka, who is more orthodox with her food habits may find the going tough. She is most comfortable with roasts and grills but Korean or Japanese food was not her cup of tea. To her credit she adapted well but was not half as enthusiastic about food as rest of us were. We inaugurated our cuisine journey in a small Korean restaurant not far from the hotel. It was a great start to an almost 2 week of cuisine journey.

A day in Tokyo

My cousin Tushita had gone to study at Soka University a few years ago and she loved Japan and its people so much that she kept extending her stay by enrolling for one course after the other before settling to do her graduation there. On Sunday morning we decided to meet at Shinjuku station and it took us a while to find each other. The station and its sub stations are so large and it has so many train lines that we were baffled by the sheer enormity of the station. The large stations like Shinjuku and Osaka are like mini cities with shops, restaurants and what not.

It was fun meeting Tushita in Japan. She taught us intricacies of subway and JR travel.

We did some sightseeing and got hang of the subway/metro system and the people of Japan. It became evident how courteous, soft spoken and polite these people were. It was taking time to acclimatize to a totally different scenario as we had grown accustomed to aggressive nature of people back home. Written instructions on trains asked people not to use their phones (to talk) on the train as it disturbs the others. Everyone seemed to be following the instructions. There was no pushing and shoving even in most crowded trains. Each time we would we looking at maps to find directions during the next few days, someone or the other would come and volunteer help. Twice we were offered help by octogenarians and we accepted the help gratefully though language was bit of a problem. Whenever we asked for directions or train routes from any rail employee or a citizen, we were provided with a solution as they don’t seem to know how to say no or say they were busy. In our 12 days in Japan we found not even one person who was rude or arrogant. It was almost unreal.

Sightseeing gave us some perspective of Japan and its people. We went and spent time at Odaiba which is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. It had big malls and a replica of statue of Liberty. It gives you a spectacular view of the rainbow bridge and I was told that it is truly spectacular in the evenings when it is lit up. For me the fun part was travelling right in the front of a driver-less train as we went to Odaiba.I wouldn't advise Odaiba to a tourist as it has nothing exceptional to offer but as I mentioned - this journey and roaming around was a great acclimatization to a new country and it's people.

The Rainbow bridge. It looks really stunning when lit up in the evenings.

In the morning we had picked up full day ticket for subways and that makes sense if you are doing more than 4 rides a day. For Odaiba we did not use subway but used JR but even then we did around 7 subway rides during the day as we really roamed around. As we had not initialized our JR card we paid up for our JR rides. To make things simpler Tushita got us Suica card for which you have to deposit Yen 500 as security deposit and then we topped it up with Yen 5000 each. After this we didn't have to buy any bus, JR or subway ticket as flashing the card was enough. In a bus you had to touch the panel with card when you entered and once again when you exited. Suica card was also accepted on JR and in convenience stores. We bought Suica card from a vending machine at a station and topped it there itself on the machine. It was a fairly simple process as instructions could be had in English as well. Suica was really helpful as the card was valid throughout Japan. On departure day we took the card to JR office and they gave us the security deposit and balance amount.

The charming Tokyo station with those modern skyscrapers flanking it. An odd combination but this is today's Tokyo.

Imperial Palace gardens were nice and we relaxed there and I actually took a nap in the gardens which form a part of Imperial Palace. We needed that rest as we had walked quite a bit to get here. The Tokyo station is a heritage building and with modern skyscrapers behind it – you cannot but think about changes that this country has seen as it has a very interesting history. I remember how interesting I had found Clavell’s ‘Shogun’ based on feudal history of Japan. I think I will be reading a few more books on Japan after this trip.

Relaxing outside the Imperial Gardens after the guards told us that the entrance was from other side.

Relaxing inside the Imperial Gardens after taking a long walk.

Look who we met in the Gardens.

As it invariably happened on each evening we were in Tokyo, we landed up at Shinjuku area. Actually we had planned to have dinner at Roppongi area but it was a bit dull there maybe as it was a Sunday evening so we walked away. Shinjuku on the other hand was buzzing with waves of people all over. The shops and restaurants were busy and it was the gloss and glitter of the signboards that actually livened up everything. There were lanes and by lanes but they all seem crowded and they were all sparkling. The tall skyscrapers were all lit up. We walked on streets and in lanes soaking in everything we saw. It was well past midnight when we finally reached our hotel – next morning we were leaving for Hakone region to spend a night and hoped that Mt Fuji would be kind to us by being visible.

It would not be right if I don't post pictures of the restaurant and the dinner we had after our first full day at Tokyo.