I can’t even put into words our first impressions Japan; we are so in awe, so confused, and so excited all in one!
We got off the plane and immediately headed to the information desk to find out how to travel through this intense system of subways to get to our hotel:
This was our first interaction with the locals, and already the lady stops to ask if we’re actors – haha.
After this, we were off to the metro station. We stared at the ticket machine full of Japanese characters and fifty buttons, and immediately decided to get help from the info lady. After she clicked on random numbers I never would have figured out on my own, the machine does a quick shake and pops out everything at once out of every slot imaginable: our bills, coins, tickets, and receipts.
At the station itself, we noticed our first vending machine. Japan has the world’s most vending machines – over 6 million, 1 for every 23 people, and they sell everything from drinks, cigarettes, toys, to entire meals. And because everything is so efficient here, you can even swipe your metro card to pay for these! Easy.
So anyways, at this point it was 12 AM…. yet somehow the metro was packed. People form neat lines to board the train and then everyone squishes on till you’re so packed in you can’t even move. If this happened to Andy and I in the middle of the night, can you even imagine rush hour?!
After reaching our destination, we met with Shane in our hotel room. Guess what? The entire room is the size of a king-sized bed! It’s quite nice though, very clean, and full of amenities… just all miniature sized.
It will be crazy to wake up tomorrow and see this city in the daylight!
