Wow
it’s been so long since my last post! Warning: this is going to be somewhat of
a long one. The workload at HIF has somewhat exceeded my expectations (and
that’s a pretty big understatement), so I haven’t had a chance to go over the
many, many exciting things that have been happening since I got to Japan. I’m
going to divide this post into sections so as to make a bit easier to read (and
to write!).
東京大冒険 (Adventure in
Tokyo)
I registered for one of
the travel plans offered by HIF, which arranged for participants who first
arrived in Tokyo to stay at a hotel for a night before flying to Hakodate
together the next day. I arrived in Narita Airport in the early afternoon, and
had initially planned to meet an old friend of mine before going to the hotel.
The friend, who I will
just call リーさん here, was a classmate of
mine from elementary school (!) in Tianjin, with whom I have somehow been able
to keep in touch throughout the years. She is currently studying sculpting at
the famous Musashino Art University (武蔵野美術大学) in Tokyo. I had
been looking forward to meeting her for a long time – the thought of having a sempai already versed in Japanese lore
taking me around Tokyo was just too cool. More than that, however, was the
(increasingly) rare opportunity to catch up with a great friend. We both
mentioned whiling chatting on Skype prior to my visit that we didn't even
remember exactly when we last met – childhood friends end up scattered across
the world, and it’s hard for their paths to cross again.
Anyway, I was all about ready to leave the airport when the HIF lady who
was waiting for us at Narita informed me that I had to go to the hotel first
and check in before I could do anything on my own. Now this was very
problematic since Tokyo is not New Haven – you don’t just get from one end to
the city to another. By “city” I’m referring exclusively to Tokyo special
district (東京都区部), which consists of 23 special wards and actually only occupies about 1/3
of Tokyoto (東京都), or the broader “Tokyo Metropolis.” Still this “city” occupies more
than 600 square kilometers, which is roughly ¾ of the whole of NYC.
My hotel was located in Daiba (台場), a port district in the very southern end of the city, and it wasn’t
exactly the most convenient place transportation wise. Setting out from my hotel in Daiba, my
destination was Shinjuku (新宿) station, the equivalent of Tokyo’s Grand Central, where me and my
friend had agreed to meet. This turned out to be a major mistake, as I will
later find out, but my first task was to get there.
I was quite happy that there was a train stop (電車)
stop right in front of my hotel. I walked into the station fully expecting that
it’ll take me straight to Shinjuku. There were no ticket selling window, so I
went over to the automatic ticketing machines, and tried to pick Shinjuku as my
destination. However… There was no Shinjuku! I was shocked to find that the
machine only displayed stops for my line. Now I’m used to the Shanghai and NYC
public transportation systems, and ticketing machines from both places show you
the entire thing – even if you need multiple transfers, you can easily tell
where you’re supposed to go, and which line you need to transfer to. Not the
case in Tokyo. Have the Japanese neglected such an important detail, despite
their technological advancement and reputation for good service?
The answer
is of course no. What I later found out is that the Tokyo transportation system
is unlike any other in the world – it simply has too many lines and too many
stops to be displayed on one screen! Moreover, the lines are run by various
different public and private companies, and the ticketing scheme is extremely
complex as well. Just take a look at this monster:
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| As you can probably realize, this in English doesn't help a foreigner much. I'd much prefer the Japanese version, which at least kanji that I understand >.< |
The Tokyo
public transportation system is mainly comprised of the subway (地下鉄)
and trains (電車), the most famous of which is called the
JR, short for “Japanese Railways.” There are dozens and dozens of subway and
train lines, which are separate, but also interconnected. The sum total of all
of these lines, which are too numerous for me to count, forms a giant intricate
web that sets the entire city in motion.
So I’ve
hardly stepped out my door, and already I’m genuinely lost. I knew I had to
transfer somewhere, but where? With my very, very limited Japanese, I went over
to a little old lady running a newspaper stand and ask for directions. After
patiently listening to my awful Japanese, she handed me a map of the Tokyo subway
and train systems (which turned out to be only a partial map and didn’t even
have the stops for the line I was on). Apparently I had to transfer at a stop
called New Bridge (新橋), and then take the JR Yamanote (山手線) line. Armed with this information, I set out again.
Relying on
the kanji on the signs on the way, as well as help from some very nice Japanese
people, I finally made it to Sinjuku station. There I encountered another
problem – my friend and I had decided to meet at the eastern exit of Shinjuku
station, but even that turned out to too vague. The “eastern exit” was a whole
floor underground, and led up to a square on the ground level. Remember that
Shinjuku station is the busiest subway/train station in the world. Before I found my friend, I actually ran into
Natalie, a junior (?) in Davenport, who was also waiting from someone there.
What a cosmic coincidence! Two Yale students happening to run into each other
at the eastern exit of Shinjuku station, Tokyo, Japan, without any previous
information that the other was going to be there. We wished each other good
luck finding the persons we were looking for.
Fortunately,
I found my friend waiting for me right at the end of the stairs leading
outside. She pointed to about a hundred people waiting on the rail right
outside the station, and I understood why 新宿駅東口 was
featured in my Japanese textbook as the place that people choose to meet.
As I
stepped into the cool evening breeze, the glittering signs and towering
buildings overwhelmed me. As overdeveloped as I sometimes think downtown
Shanghai is, Shinjuku is a beast on a wholly different level. It looked
something like this:
From the
hyper efficient train system to the hyper hygienic city image, I saw shadows of
Third Tokyo in the Evangelion universe. All of Japanese Sci-Fi starts right
here – in fact, Tokyo can seem to be some kind of Sci-Fi creation itself to an
unknowing foreigner.
Back to the
story – my friend gave me a tour around Shinjuku, and we had a fantastic meal
in an izakaya (居酒屋, or wine house restaurant), where she
ordered for us delicious plum wine (梅酒). We were able to
catch up and have the best conversation. Everything was so good that night,
except my somewhat drunk train ride back!
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| (Drunken) fun at an izakaya! |
The plan
doesn’t seem to be working. This has been way too long than I had planned, so I’m
going to upload this part for now as its own piece. I’ll write more about my
arrival in Hakodate, my plans, and my host family soon. And kyudo! Wow so many
topics to cover! >.< So much for now!
