Mt Fuji from the Shonan Village Center

I was in Japan for 9 days, accompanying my wife who had a workshop to attend. I should say that we both enjoyed every minute of this trip. Japan is a great place to visit on a lot of counts. It is clean, orderly and people are courteous. Food for vegetarians can be challenging, but we managed really well, with the hotels and conference center going out of their way to accommodate our needs (I am not a strict vegetarian, but I do have shellfish allergy). We also found several vegetarian restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto.

One of the most disappointing aspect of our trip was the poor WiFi. We took the bullet train a few times and there is no WiFi. Apparently there is a paid version available, which is expensive, but we could not find a lot of details. On the other hand, it turned out to be great in some sense because we enjoyed the ride and viewing the beautiful Mt Fuji a few times from the train. But, even in hotels, the WiFi was slow. They protect the WiFi big time. Each room had its own password regardless of where we stayed. In one case, it was cleverly done. You turned on your TV and a menu item provided the details for getting on a WiFi. I had to use my phone’s cell data a lot in the end.

The public transportation is fantastic. So many different train lines in Tokyo. We never had a case where the train did not arrive within seconds of the time it said it would. The same is true for arrivals. At every station, in all the trains, a screen will update with both Japanese and English version the next stops and the time it would take. We had purchased the JR Rail Pass which is a steal if you plan to travel a fair amount in the bullet trains. The signs are so clear everywhere, especially in Tokyo Station, which is humongous and is like a mini-city. However, a couple of times, we wanted to make sure that we are on the right track. So, we stopped at the ticket counter to ask for assistance. The answers were like  “The station you need to get down is 14 minutes from Tokyo Station”! Never “it is 4 stations from here”. That precise.

The bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto was fabulous. I measured 180 mph peak speed on an app on my phone, but apparently it reaches 200 mph. These trains are cleaned after every arrival at the terminus, the seats are so comfortable and the whole experience was unique and enjoyable. Since we had a rail pass for most of our trips, we went through a special entrance/exit to show the pass. Others have their monthly passes that they flash on the way in and out. Visitors also buy a card that can be used not just in train station, but in vending machines as well as in several stores. When they use it while exiting, a display at the gate shows the balance and the charge for the current trip. If you don’t have enough, you go back and add to it if machines are available inside or go to the fare adjustment counter to pay extra. All of these work perfectly.

Paying for bus when you don’t have a card requires that you read up on it ahead of time because not many drivers speak English and the system is a bit complicated. You can read in depth about it here. Basically, you enter the bus from the center. When you enter you are supposed to pick up a ticket that has a number of the stop you entered. We didn’t find it, but since we always entered at terminus, it was easy to keep track. You always get off through the front. When you pass the driver, you either scan your card or pay cash. BTW, if you don’t have change, no problem, the bus has a machine that gives you change. Basically, there is a grid that is shown above the driver which has the station number you boarded and the cost for the current stop. It is a very clever system and you need to ride one of these buses to see how it works.

And there is an order to everything. People form lines everywhere – buses, waiting for trains to arrive, escalator, you name it! People everywhere bowed a lot, whether it is when you checked into a hotel, or make a reservation at the ticket counter, or ask a question at a grocery store. I also noticed that when friends or families part ways in a train station, they do the same. Cleanliness, orderliness, politeness all seem to be in their DNA.

We also visited a few temples and shrines. They were beautiful and had a lot of connections back to India because of Buddha. Whether the mention of Sutras, or the way the prayers are conducted, there is a lot of overlap between how it is done in India and Sri Lanka and here. We also heard of a lot of destruction over the years from fire and from World War II. Lot of the statues were made of wood, so the fires were inevitable. However, there were plenty of statues and art work from the 7th century on that we got to see. We also participated in an elaborate tea ceremony.

We also went to the Akihabara area, known for electronics and anime characters. We went into the Yodobashi electronic store. It is a madhouse. Pretty big and lined with all sorts of electronics. A few I checked out were costlier than here, so we just walked around and got out to look for some of the store selling anime characters. We have no idea about this, but one of our children is, so we wanted to check it out and report back. When we went to a couple of these stores, it was very clear that you need to be really tuned into this stuff to be able to understand and appreciate it.

We got to see Mt Fuji from various angles, from the train ride to a visit to Hakone area. But then, the conference center where my wife had her workshop had the best view. One of the days, the mountain was not visible at all! I pity those tourists who paid good money to go see the mountain on that day. There are no guarantees when it comes to nature.

This was one of the highly enjoyable trips we have had in a while and my wife always chides me that I say “We really need to come back here for a longer period” after a lot of these trips. And predictably, I said the same at the end of this trip.