OBSERVE, ABSORD, EXPLORE, ENJOY

JAPAN 2024

Blog Post No. 3

(2/26/24 - 3/1/24)

While not new (the first line opened in 1927), the Tokyo subway system feels state-of-the-art (especially to people who hail from San Diego). It's raining and windy the day we leave Tokyo, but you'd never know it. We go directly from our hotel (which has four entrances; north, south, east, west) down a long tunnel entrance to the shared rail and subway station. We board a JR Line train that we believe is bound for the Tokyo Station, but is actually going to Mt. Fuji (thank god someone was sitting in "our seats" and shooed us off the train).

Feeling a bit frantic about how to find the right JR Line we say "forget it" and jump on a subway going to the main Tokyo Station (a bit of a feat with our two suitcases, two carry-on suitcase, two backpacks, and two winter coats). Luckily, we're able to be flexible in our transportation choices because John has purchased unrestricted rail passes for the JR Line, and for the metro (the so-called Suica card which has a cute little penguin on it reminiscent of Pingu).

From Tokyo Station we board the Hokkaido Shinkansen (Japan's high speed bullet train). We're on our way to Sapporo but won't be able to quite make it all the way on the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Instead we'll be changing trains in Hakodate. Track lines from Hakodate to Sapporo are underway and the rail line is expected to open in 2031. Nevertheless, with the speed of the Shinkansen, we make it from Tokyo to Hakodate in four hours. That's 540 miles, roughly the distance from San Diego to Napa Valley, an eight hour drive.

Japan is an archipelago comprised of 14,125 islands, 430 of which are inhabited. The island of Honshu is where Tokyo is located and is the largest of the islands both in area (87,000 square miles) and population (104,000,000 people). Hokkaido is the second largest island by area (32,000 square miles), and third by population (5,348,000 people).

While there may be dining cars on some rail systems in Japan, I have yet to see one. The majority of people buy Bento boxes, or rice triangles with different kinds of fillings (seaweed, sour plum, tuna, mayo ...). I go to buy Bento boxes and get distracted by all the treats, coming back instead with cream filled cakes, almond encrusted Poky sticks, and ice cream.