Graduating Japan

Fine so far

We tried this once before, a family trip to Japan. Our flights were booked for June 2020. A pandemic intervened. Since then, Laura came back to Boise to work and prepare for graduate school then returned to Japan and is now about to graduate. So we try again.

In flight entertainment

The flight is overnight but I’m not having much luck sleeping.

Family

“It’s like Backrooms,” I say to Brenna, referring to the weird movie we watched together. The immigration and customs corridors through Narita Airport are bleak, especially without sleep.

We are relieved when finally we make it through all the checks and emerge to see Laura holding a hand-made sign welcoming our Idaho entourage. Next stop: some treats to keep our low sleep brains going!

Small emergency

Laura guides us through the train system to the station near our hotel in Tokyo. Then we walk for a proper meal.

Jetsons

Food by conveyer is a fun way to dine. It brings a continuous assortment that we can take at will or use the tablet to order something in particular. A slot in the table receives our plates with cheerful casino noises as we sample one dish after another.

I need this at my work desk.

Surreal

The streets around our hotel are quiet after dark.

Awaiting one

Now the adventures begin. Laura made no small effort to coordinate all the requested activities; trains, tickets and times. Today we’ll visit some of Hunter’s selections.

Convergence

We walk a block from our Tokyo hotel to the nearest train station where Laura helps us put Yen on our Suica transit cards. The trains run every five minutes so we needn’t worry much about timing.

After the short train ride, we walk a couple blocks to Inokashira Park then follow its meandering paths by pond and woods to the Ghibli Museum.

She doesn’t remember it but Brenna loved Ponyo when she was little. We watched it together many times, which is most of my Studio Ghibli experience.

As we slowly make our way through the whimsical building, up, down, around, I’m impressed at the many animation innovations exhibited in remarkable, entertaining ways.

Shrine 1

After Ghibli, we return through the park, detouring slightly to visit a pond-side shrine.

Procedure

Laura instructs us in the proper use of the ritual washbasin, chozubachi. It’s muggy and the cool water is a blessing no matter your philosophy.

Package deal

We continue our meanders less than a mile to what, to my eyes, seems like one of an infinite number of alley ways, each its own elaborate world of small shops and restaurants demanding attention.

Laura, the reptile aficionado, has reserved time for us at a reptile cafe, a variation on the more common kitty and bunny cafes.

This one looks delicious

We order drinks then select a few of the many animals to join us during our limited time slot.

Spice of life

Always picked last

There is a much bigger snake but it is convalescing.

Gojira

A few animals roam freely, including a large turtle around the floor named Turbo (too fast for me to get a picture).

Comparing tats

All your base

In the evening, we leave my mom behind and walk a couple blocks from our hotel to streets of multi-story manga and anime stores.

Girls dressed to entice manga fans are spaced along the sidewalk, inviting us to what Laura says is a bar.

Connoisseurs

The shops are packed with paraphernalia both new and vintage, some still in the package from the 1980s and priced accordingly. Hunter and Laura share delights and insights. I feel like I’m in a foreign land.