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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.

... in response to Japan Journal # 5, posted by Windmill Boy on Feb 20, 2003

Thanks for your reports.  I lived in Kurashiki for 9 years until 1999.  I hope you had a good time there.  Really, it's a good sightseeing place but not so good for meeting women if you're a short time visitor.  

Looking forward to the next report.

Mark

... in response to Japan Journal # 5, posted by Windmill Boy on Feb 20, 2003

Hey Wind,
       A great journal of posts. I myself spent sometime
       in Japan. But did not see alot of the country.
       It seems you plan well for this trip. But like
       Jimbo and Stephen, I was wondering about the lady
       with the nice rear.

                                      joemc

... in response to Re: Japan Journal # 5, posted by joemc on Feb 20, 2003

[This message has been edited by Dave H]

...If you want to hear about bigassed booty...ya'll gotta go to the Latin board! :o) But it doesn't hurt to ask! He he he! I'm in...make that 4 of us! ;o)))

Dave H.

... in response to YOU GUYS..., posted by Dave H on Feb 20, 2003

Hey Dave
      talk about booty. I wonder if the ripper, help
      Jimbo and Sally during the snow storm.
      the ripper with that fanny action. A snow blower
      with a hand warmer.
                                     joemc

... in response to Re: YOU GUYS...   Dave, posted by joemc on Feb 20, 2003

Hey Joe,

Light his pilot valve and when he blows he could melt the snow too! LOL Just have to keep him pointed in the right direction.

Dave H.

... in response to Japan Journal # 5, posted by Windmill Boy on Feb 20, 2003

The girls WB, where are the girls? -LOL!

Great stuff, keep going!

Jim