April 1 - Day 1
And I’m back. I spent some time in Japan in the 1990s and recently got the opportunity to return to my former teaching position (at a university that shall remain nameless for at least the time being). After some consideration, I decided to pack up my stuff, again, put my California life on hold, again, and head back to my old life in the Land of the Rising Sun.
I slept most of the flight over because I had worked myself half to death getting ready to leave. I won’t get into the details here, but I was working on about 3 hours of sleep a night the last two nights before the flight and I still didn’t get done. Right now I’m paying rent on an apartment in California just because I couldn’t move out in time. Long story, but I guess the plus side is that the 10+ hour flight flew by, no pun intended. When I got to Narita Airport, I was a little concerned because I had to come incountry on a tourist visa until I could arrange my work visa, but since I was actually moving to Japan, I had two big boxes of clothes and books and personal items with me, as well as a suitcase and a guitar. I was trying to think of ways to explain the situation to immigration, but needn’t have worried. The guy behind the counter barely glanced at me and I was through the gates and into Japan.
Narita is more than an hour outside of Tokyo, so I made my way to the train and promptly fell asleep again on the way into the city. I had to be woken up at the last stop - Ikebukoro - by four guys in blue suits and hygiene masks. Those masks, by the way - kind of like a doctor’s mask in an operating room - take a little getting used to. They’re worn by people with colds and are very common, very courteous and actually a good idea, but strange-looking to a foreigner. I can’t recall seeing them outside of Japan. I think wearing one in L.A. or New York might get you arrested. [NOTE: This was originally written in pre-swine flu days. I understand the masks are a little more common back home these days.] They were also wearing white gloves which for some reason makes it okay for them to put their hands on you, not that they did that to me. They just politely woke me up and told me to get the hell off their train. I have seen them, though, physically pushing people into train cars. What happens is that the trains get sooo full in Tokyo during rush hour that some people aren’t able to squeeze in through the doors. Then, of course the doors won’t shut and the train can’t go. So what the guys with the white gloves do is give the last few people the extra shove they need to get inside. People manage to get on trains in Tokyo a long time after you’re absolutely positive no one else could possibly fit. A long time...
So... I met up with a friend about another hour after waking up on the train and he gave me a ride to my new apartment, yet another hour plus outside of the city. It was by then about 11 p.m. and I had some serious jet lag kicking in on top of the general weariness as described above. When we got to the apartment building, I found out my place is on the fifth floor and there’s no elevator. Now, I ask you - who designs a five story building without an elevator? That may give you an idea of how old the building is. I’m going to be walking up and down these stairs at least once a day, hopefully only once a day, for the next two or more years, so I imagine I’ll have more to say on that later on.
A quick tour of the apartment, which is pretty comfortable, and my friend said good night, leaving me to pull out the futon and crash on the floor. I’ve been sleeping on a futon since my early years in Japan, so I’m more than used to it. A real futon is not the convertible sofa thing that you find in Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Ikea, but a couple of pads on the floor for a mattress, covered with a sheet. On top you have another sheet, a light blanket and a heavier comforter. Japan is still cold enough in April to make all that feel nice and cozy. The floor is made of tatami, mats made of rice straw, traditional and still common. Almost every house and apartment in Japan that I've ever been in has had a tatami room. Mine has windows that make the bedroom the first place to get the morning sun. This works both to wake you up and warm you up. I may get warmed up by the sun tomorrow morning, but it’s going to take more than that to wake me up.
