Saturday January 25, 2003 ....
After I departed Bob’s place in Kawagoe it was time for me to start my real moving around the country. Taking his suggestion I took a different train which gave me a different view of the countryside and suburbs and it also took me into Tokyo station. I got off of the train platform and into the belly of the train station to reserve a seat for the Shinkassen to take me to Osaka. Tokyo station is amazing -- it is just a sea of people running and criss crossing each other to get to where they have to go. Japanese fashion is not a great big issue so most of the people are wearing Black or tan overcoats even though it was a Saturday. So fundamentally it is just a sea of black haired people for the most part, wearing dark colors just zig zagging around. I’ve decided that if You took a farm boy from Iowa -- never having been to a big city before and place him in Tokyo station -- his head would explode due to sensory / information overload from all of the people moving around him so quickly to get to their transfers and destinations. It truly is amazing to see. I suppose it is slightly beneficial that I am a head tallerthan most of the other people ha ha ha.
I had maybe 45 minutes downtime before my train was to depart, so I decided to get some lunch. I found a restaurant that sold boxes of hot noodles so I bought a couple and I practiced my Chopsticks dexterity again. The beauty of Japan is that you can find small Convenience stores (KIOSKS) everywhere even on the individual train platforms too. So I looked over their wares and I found that they sold Oreo and Ritz cheese Crackers. I have read in my books that half of the fun of rididng on the trains is bringing your own food on
them and chowing down. supposably each city sells specialy local items that you can buy at the station and eat as a souvenier. I saw some people eating some pretty bizarre food for my
tastes. So I bought some Scooby Snacks for the train ride also.
As the time approached I found my appropriate platform. Figured out which car would be mine and since I was near the Front Car I took a picture of the Train from the Front. It is a sleek looking train that was 16 cars long. I couldn’t even see the end of it from the
front of the train. It almost looks like a snake in its design. I bench pressed my duffel bag overhead and threw my backpack up there also. So I settled in after taking a picture of the interior for my friend in Boston who is a train buff. Then the train started to leave and excellerate. As soon as it reached speed it was as smooth as skating on ice. I am not sure if the Shinkassen are mag lev trains or not but you can easily write a letter without to much jarring while traveling at 140 miles an hour. It was total comfort -- man I wish they built the airplanes this nice -- plenty of leg room and if you have a group of 4 you can kick a lever on the floor and spin the seats in front of you so you face each other -- that was kind of neat.
I burst out of the Megalopolis of Tokyo- Kawasaki and Yokohama and what to my
wondering eyes was I able to see but FUJI SAN. It was a nice sunny day and I was
able to take 7 - 8 nice pictures of Mt. Fuji as I traveled closer and closer to it. It at
least stood relatively still even as the country side whizzed by. For the most part on my
trip It is difficult to take pictures while on the train especially the Shinkassens (because
you are traveling so fast). Japan is also very mountainous (nice for a mountain person
like me). Many part of Japan look like the Hills and Hollers of West Virginia and some
places look like the bigger mountains of Vermont. The problem is That The train go
through so many tunnels through the hills that you can never predict when all of a sudden
It will be black outside of your window. Man if Japan wants to hide things from an
invading enemy they easily have over 10,000 tunnels through hills to put stuff in.
I enjoyed the train rides through out the country but it certainly is easy to take naps in
those comfortable seats. This seems to be a popular pastime for all of the riders on the
trains throughout Japan as I discovered -- Myself included. Over all the atmosphere an the
trains is very quiet. you can almost hear a pin drop except when you whiz by another
Shinkassen train traveling 140 miles in the other direction every 10 minutes apart or so.
then it is like a quick 5 - 10 second jolt. I hope I didn’t agitate too many people when I
occasionally tried to take a picture as my little Olympus camera does a good Job but it
is noisy mechanically as it advaced the film. Watch out when you have shot your 26 th
picture and it time to rewind the roll. 45 seconds of noise for sure. You do not have to
worry about going hungry or thirsty on the train either every train has 2 or 3 girls who
walk the corridors with their carts selling eats and drinks about every 20 - 30 minutes. the
Cutest thing is that after they have gone through your car they will turn around and
silently bow to every one in your car before proceeding to the next car in the train. The
Conductors would also do this but they were a little more cavalier in doing this.
The conductors were pretty nice and efficient, once they had you logged in their hand
computers they left you alone for the rest of the trip. But you had better have a reservation
for your seat if you are in the reserved seating cars, even if there are a lot of empty seats
available. I was on a train and I asked if I could sit in this car and one of the girls who
worked on the train said yes, But when the conductor came and discovered That I did
not have that reserved seat he kicked myself and another woman with 4 children out and
found us seats 3 cars back ha ha ha My first bullet train ride was supposed to end in
Osaka where I would transfer. but since the train I was on was going to Okayama which is
where I wanted to go anyways. with the help of a gentleman in front of me who spoke
English and the Wonder Rail pass in My Jacket we hashed it out with the conductor and
I could stay on the train with out transferring. It was nice to glide into Nagoya, Kobe,
and Osaka and I got a preview of some of the cities I would later visit.
At Okayama I transferred to a local train (well worn out and slightly smelly) and then I
went about 5 -6 stops to Kurashiki my destination for the day. I had made reservations for
the Toyoko Inn -- like an upscale motel 6 , a business mans hotel. This was the only
Toyoko inn in this area of Japan so I randomly chose this smaller city to stay overnight in.
fortunately with the help of my Japanese Coworker Maki we were able to straighten out
my reservation problems that I had with this chain and they had me in their system ready
to go which was a relief. After checking in (4800 yen = around $ 41) they gave me the
Key and a stick attached which you inserted into an outlet in the room and this activated
the power for the room. I suppose that this was an efficient energy saving system. people
have told me that they do this in Europe too. I threw my stuff in the room went
downstairs turned in my key, checked the Internet in the lobby, and walked the street
looking for trouble but all I found was some dinner and I stopped in to a NOVA office to
inquire about teaching English with their organization and an American talked with me
for 10 minutes. Returned to the Hotel and I crashed.
