When we started to plan our World trip Japan was top of my countries to visit list, after almost 6 months on the road we were finally starting the ASIA leg of our trip. First we had to fly from Brisbane to Cairns to catch our flight to Tokyo. Surprisingly the flight was almost empty with just 60 passengers, this could explain the stewards and stewardesses being in such a good mood.
After working with a Japanese company on the rental of our house back in the UK I had first hand experience of Japanese punctuality and efficiency and this was already in full motion during our 7.5 hour flight to Tokyo. Shortly after boarding we were presented with a flight plan showing a schedule for eating, relaxing and filling out immigration cards.
Having filled out more of these than I can remember it was interesting to see something different on the list of banned items - You are not allowed to bring swords into Japan. For the first time ever I watched the arrival information video very carefully realising that as soon as we stepped off the plane we would have no idea what was going on.
We got through the airport easily enough including the rather scary escalator which you could take you luggage trolley on. Arriving at the train station is where the confusion started (see Tokyo map above
Now the flight was pretty quiet and so was the train so what was going on, where are Tokyo`s 12.5 million residents. It`s Golden Week here in Japan, a set of four public holidays from April 29th to May 5th with many Japanese taking the work days in between as holiday. Aligning public holidays into one week so everyone can take a holiday how efficient.
After some friendly assistance from a local which included looking up the train arrival time on his mobile phone so we would know when to get off, we found the right train. (Above: Shelley looking very confused with the metro map) On arriving at our hotel I quickly changed into the bedroom / bath robes provided, ok so the head band was Shelley's belt.
First impressions on Tokyo:
The Japanese appear to be very friendly, we had an endless stream of people offering assistance when we looked lost. For a city this size Tokyo is amazingly neat and tidy
A couple of facts about Japan:
Japan has a population 128 Million (Tokyo 12.5) - For comparison Japan is slightly bigger than Germany which has a population of 82 million. Amazing given that 70% to 80% of Japan is mountainous forest and not suitable for agricultural, industrial or residential use.
Japan is the Worlds second largest economy with a GDP of US$4.5 Trillion - The UK comes in 6th with US$1.96 Trillion
Highlights: A warm welcome to somewhere very different.
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