東京大冒険

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:

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!

(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!