BiFrost's Trumpet: 2019 Japan Trip - Day 1

I’m back in Japan. My fourth year in a row and fifth overall. You could say I like coming to this country.

I decided to write a blog entry for each day of my trip this year. One, because I wanted to start writing my blog again and this looked like a good way to kick that off. Second, because things have been happening in my life. Good things and bad things. There was a few times when I had the feeling that something was going to keep me from making the trip. There have been times that I thought this might the last time I come here.

Part of it might be the result of my pessimistic nature allying itself with an over-active imagination. The blog is part of a decision to counter-act those feelings and work to have what I want to achieve come to pass. Part of a previous decision to make positive changes in my life in response to negative things I was experiencing. The trip has become a reward in that sense. The day before I went to the airport to fly out I finished a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification class at UCLA, part of my new role as the Sr. Operations Project Manager at work. Since the first week of the year I’ve been taking classes online and turning in project assignments while doing my job and trying to get sleep and other stuff done at home in between. I did much better than I expected. My final score in the class was 2,475 points out of a possible 2,500, or a score of 99%.

I don’t believe perfection exists very often in life, but I do believe it’s worth striving for. I am proud of this accomplishment. I want to put it behind me and use it as a stepping stone, or an accelerant, in my progress going forward. I’m seeing my trip to Japan in this light now as well.

Day One

My first day in Japan was actually two, and it was completely focused on getting here.

My plane took off from LAX on a direct flight to Haneda. If anyone reading this has never gone to Japan but is thinking of doing so, my advice is to fly into Haneda rather than Narita. It’s a nicer airport. It is better organized and run more efficiently, in my experience. And it’s a lot closer, taking only about 30 to 40 minutes to Tokyo station by monorail, which costs about $8 if you pay for the ticket (free if you have a JR Rail Pass), verses the 2 to 3 hour taxi ride that will cost you almost $300 at the upper end of your transportation choices.

Like my score in the Lean Six Sigma class, the flight was about 90% trouble free. But for the last 30 to 45 minutes we had to fly through a pocket of turbulence that made it feel like an amusement park roller coaster, with several of those vertiginous drops that make you sick. Even the landing seemed harder than normal, as if the pilot was PUTTING the plane on the group to make sure the jiving would stop.

By the time we got to the gate, I was hot, sweaty, and feeling a bit turned inside out. I typically enjoy international flights, but the end of this one put it into the “I hope I don’t go through that again” category. I will admit that, before touchdown, the thought crossed my mind that it might be a sign that my trip wasn’t going to take place.

Sendai

Things went smoother after that. We rushed through customs (the lines at Haneda never seem to stop, another preference over Narita), got a portal Wifi hotspot to use on the trip, and our rail passes and got to Tokyo Station about an hour before our train’s departure.

A sign of Japanese train efficiency: Our scheduled departure time was 4:56 PM. At 4:54, the conductor made an announcement that we would be leaving a bit late, then apologized for the delay. I think he said something about making up the time after that. The train eventually left at 4:57 PM.

The train ride was smooth and quiet, a typical Shinkansen or Bullet Train experience. William, my friend and travel partner, slept for most of the ride, after having gone over 24 hours without sleep by then.

I stayed away, watching the view outside the window pass by at about 200 miles per hour. It went from tall, crowded city scape of Tokyo, to the crowded but shorter city view of the suburbs, to more open and sporadic signs of human habitation very quickly. Several times, after passing through very long tunnels that took minutes to pass through, I would see scenes very much part of the countryside, barren stepped fields waiting to be planted, with barns probably housing farm equipment for that work. And a lot of these views were still covered with snow. More like thin sheets than blankets, but still snow.

A pair of vending machines shaped like a Rakuten Eagles batting helmet. That's snow on the brim.

And still cold. When we got to Sendai station and left the train, I felt the chill bite of winter hit me. I had worn shorts for comfort during the plane ride and hadn’t thought to change before boarding the train. It took 15 minutes to walk from the station to the hotel. It felt more like 45. Like I’ve done in the recent past, I focused on where I was going and did my best to overcome this final obstacle.

I don’t have much more to say about Sendai, yet. After getting to my room and showering off the effects of travel, I took a trip to the closest convenience store to get some drinks and snacks. I fell asleep watching Star Trek: Discovery, which airs on Netflix out here.

More about Sendai when I see more of it today.

Business Hotels

When I go to Japan, I normally make reservations in what are called, “Business Hotels” here. The basic concept is to create a place to stay that would suit a Japanese businessman traveling in the country.

The rooms feature those qualities that the hotel companies consider important for such a client. They’re usually close to train stations or airports, as well as to important business areas. They are relatively inexpensive, to help the company’s budget. They are clean and net. They always have free, secured wifi, which wasn’t very common in other Japanese hotels until very recently. And they’ll have a desk with plugs for one’s laptop to work. Most also have free breakfast in the morning, a buffet offering both Japanese and Western style food. There will usually be a refrigerator in the room, though a microwave is rare. I guess businessmen need a place to keep a cold one ready when they get back from their meetings.

The one thing they don’t usually have is space. I’ve been in hotel room where I had just enough room to walk down one side of the bed, then across the bottom edge. Then stop. Right there.

The hotel I’m staying in, the Hotel Mielparque Sendai, fits the model. It checks all the boxes above, along with a room that is noticeably more spacious than average and looking nicer overall. For two rooms for two nights, the cost was about $225. Not bad.