Narita Airport was a pretty tame affair. Still feeling pretty green, all of us Aussie JETs stuck together, navigating our way through the airport like a pack of stunned mullets. The JET Programme had put together a vast contingent of helpers, all decked out in bright pink shirts, to show us the way to the waiting buses. Boring though it is, the only things I can really remember about this leg of the journey is needing to pee really badly (and therefore getting to experience the ubiquitous electronic toilet seats in this country for the first time) and the overwhelming humidity as we stepped outside.
The bus trip to the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku passed in a blur of form-signings. Our sempai (elder) JET at the front of the bus did his best to explain to us the intricacies of our health insurance policies and the expectations placed upon us at Orientation. I can recall staring out the window and being surprised to see a semi-rural landscape, instead of skyscrapers and flashing neon lights. This was not the Tokyo I had imagined, though all in good time...
Check-in ran smoothly with my new roomie, Nellie, and I unpacking and sussing out the room. We'd been placed in a twin room on the 17th floor - the view was amazing! Delightfully due to the relative lack of time difference, the Aussie JETs were the first to arrive in Japan and so a number of us met up in the lobby to go for a wander and grab some lunch.
My first okonomiyaki (savoury Japanese pancake) meal in Shinjuku was delicious, though in retrospect sharing with a fellow JET was a poor choice. Michael knew how to cook it properly at least, though I think we both left wanting a second round. The nama biru (draft beer) hit the spot though - despite the fact that it was still only 11am!
After lunch our group decided to check out Harajuku, which apparently is always busy and good for people-watching on a Sunday. A few of the JETs who'd been to Japan before, led us through the labyrinth that was Shinjuku Station (which is actually one of the busiest in Tokyo, processing roughly 2 million passengers per day) and I hopped on my first Japanese train. Harajuku was a short ride away and we got off to an empty platform overlooking a long and crazy alley-street.
The crowds in Harajuku were swarming and often rather bizarrely dressed! Gothic Lolita girls in towering platform boots walked alongside school students still in uniform. Trendy hipster guys wearing black-rimmed glasses held hands with their petite micro-mini wearing, Barbie look-a-like girlfriends. And it seemed that everyone, including ourselves, clutched at a Harajuku crepe as they sauntered along the alley.
In the midst of such excitement, I managed to become separated from my friends and so having been in Japan for only a matter of hours, I found myself alone, disoriented and without any means of communication - right in the middle of downtown Tokyo! Not to be phased, I spent some time trying to get my bearings (streets often have convenient "you are here" locator maps scattered along them) and began walking in the general direction of Shibuya. I was determined to stand at the famous multi-directional crossings and soak up the Tokyo vibe.
Eventually I made it to Shibuya (see picture below) and as expected, I stood on the roadside watching the thousands of people gather, wait and then simultaneously cross the road, all under the glare of the giant TV screens and flashing neon. I don't know how many light changes I stood there for, filming the scene with my digital camera and smiling stupidly at anyone brave enough to catch my eye. Oddly, I found that most people were too polite to do so and would instead go to great pains to avoid 'ruining my video' by ducking out of the way or apologising as they passed by.
By this stage wearing heels seemed like a bad choice and as the evening approached I was pretty keen just to get back to the hotel and chillax for a while before dinner. I hailed a cab (the door automatically opening for me) and handed the driver a Keio Plaza business card. At the time 5000yen didn't seem like much, though since my time in Tokyo I've learnt that spending roughly the equivalent of 65AUD on a 30 minute cab ride probably couldn't be called anything but expensive. Getting back to my room, kicking off my shoes and settling down for a short nap was worth it though...
Nellie and I had dinner together on this first night, at a tiny little izakaya (Japanese tapas-style pub) just around the corner from the hotel, on the border between Shinjuku's business and red-light districts (see the picture below). Nothing fancy, just some karaage chicken (deep-fried boneless chicken pieces), a sashimi platter, edamame (cooked, cold, buttery Japanese beans) and a few nama birus. We made it an earlyish night on account of having to start Orientation the next morning and stumbled back to our room, thoroughly exhausted by the day. Little did we know that we'd both experience our first earthquake that very night and wake up to a 6.4 tremor shaking the crap out of everything in our room!
Day One in Tokyo - done!
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