I TOKYO

By CINDY CRUZ

iwas recently presented with an opportunity to travel to Japan and I balked at the opportunity for a number of reasons. For one, a non-stop flight is approximately 16 hours – more if there are any layovers. And as it panned out, we had to add an extra hour and one night at a hotel to fly out of Los Angeles, both coming and going, so we could save almost $2,000 instead of flying out of any Bay Area airport. We were trying to take advantage of the off-season flight deals available during the winter months before cherry blossom season. Even with my last-minute decision, I was able to find round trip airfare from Los Angeles to Haneda for under $1,000 on Japanese Airlines. My son, who planned months ahead of time, was able to score round trip tickets for around $600 on American. What a bargain! If money is no object, I would recommend upgrading your seats to business class or first class as the flight is long and that extra space and the amenities are luxuries that make the beginning and end of your trip a seamless part of your vacation. As it was, we flew comfortably enough in economy and kudos to Japanese Airlines for having an incredibly professional and courteous flight crew. But even at that, it still ended up being around 13 hours in the air.

Secondly, I was apprehensive about getting around with the language barrier. I pictured myself immediately lost after deboarding the plane, wandering aimlessly around the airport, giant luggage in tow. Knowing absolutely no Japanese besides “domo arigato” (thanks to the song by Styx from my long-ago adolescence), I wondered how I would make my way around, order food, find a bathroom. I realized, of course, how ridiculous that was – many people survive traveling with a language barrier. In fact, we did encounter a few people who spoke English very well or who were adroit at communicating quite well knowing as much English as I did Japanese. The main point here is: Don’t let anything get in your way from exploring faraway places! Many people are intimidated by traveling to places where the distance, culture, and language are far and foreign to what we are familiar with. Get out of your comfort zone! That being said, it did help that I was traveling with my son and my dear friend who are both seasoned travelers, so while Japan was also new to them, their confidence and savvy helped me feel safe and secure.

Once we landed in Tokyo, we located an ATM where we made a withdrawal for cash-only purchases. No need to worry about tip money because there is no tipping in Japan! But my research informed me that cash is necessary to pay street food vendors and other expenses like purchasing hot and cold beverages, toys, even hot meals and more from the vending machines on every corner! Cash on hand is a must. And getting it from the ATM at the airport turned out to be a wise decision since it was really the only place where we encountered an ATM. I learned later on that there are ATM’s at the ever popular 7-11 convenience stores so cash problems are really not an issue. The cost to withdraw from an ATM was a mere $1.64 at the ATM at the airport.

Next, we needed to work out how we would get to our hotel. According to my research on the ever-reliable TikTok, the train is the only way to travel. It’s easy, it’s cheap, TikTok said. We approached a young man who was working at table loaded with brochures and pamphlets –surely he would have information – and he did. We inquired about the train and, as he eyed our jumbosized suitcases, he uttered only one word: “taxi.”

After the twenty-minute cab ride, we arrived at The Mitsui Garden Hotel Roppongi Tokyo Premier in Roppongi (not to be confused with the nearby swanky Roppongi Hills). The hotel was located near the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, a shopping mall that houses several high-end stores, restaurants, the Mori museum which features rotating exhibits, and an observation deck where you can purchase tickets to see the city from the 52nd floor; the view is stunning. Closer to our hotel, at the bottom of the hill, are the (seedy-ish) nightclubs, bars, karaoke lounges, and massage parlors, but also a splendid view of the Tokyo Tower. Our hotel, although located in the heart of a lively entertainment district, was quiet and clean and, more importantly, a mere five-minute walk to the train station. If you plan on getting around the city mostly by train, like we did, it’s smart to find accommodations near a train station. You can, of course, travel by taxi or even uber, but you’re not getting the real experience unless you travel by train.

Traveling via train in Tokyo is a phenomenal experience. First of all, the trains are always on time. Always. If you miss your train, don’t sweat it, the next one will arrive within minutes. And, remarkably, these underground train/subway stations are so clean. No sign of trash to be found anywhere. To be fair, Japan is incredibly clean – the streets are free of litter despite the fact that there are hardly any trash cans anywhere. We were shocked whenever we saw litter anywhere, but to see not a single piece of trash in the subway? Incredible! And even more incredible was the civilized way people boarded the train: first, by standing in single file lines and then courteously allowing people to deboard the train before calmly stepping aboard. Also, the people on the trains are silent. Nobody talks on the train. Any necessary communication was whispered. But mostly, everyone kept their lips sealed. This results in a very subdued and relaxing ride. Riding the train in Tokyo is such a positive experience – no wonder it is the mode of transportation; it is clean, safe, orderly, and free of stress. BART could learn A LOT from Japan Railways.

The most efficient way to get around by train is to purchase a prepaid railway card – either a Suica or Pasmo – which can be purchased from a machine at any train station. It doesn’t matter which card you get.

Both cards are the same, just sold by different companies, and you can use them to pay for bus and train transport as well as to make purchases at some convenience stores and vending machines. You can recharge them as needed when your balance is running low. At the end of your trip, you can return the cards and get some money back, but I never figured out how much (it was nominal) and kept my Pasmo card as a souvenir. Maybe I’ll use it again when I go back to Japan.

One day, we decided to take the bullet train to Kyoto. This meant heading to Tokyo Station, which is housed in a beautiful historical building located in the Chiyoda ward in Tokyo. Buzzing with energy of people coming and going, it is the Grand Central Station of Tokyo and it’s fantastic! Get your ticket then pick up something to nibble on during your train ride – there are tons of food shops all around. We stopped at a shop selling a variety of snacks and bento boxes, and I picked up a fruit-and-custard sandwich, a pastry, a beautiful sushi bento box, and a strawberry drink. It was a lot of food for the two-hour ride, but it was such fun and it’s part of the experience! The train, of course, was immaculate. It was so clean, I took a photo of the floor for proof. “Nobody is going to believe this!” I thought to myself. The bullet train, or Shinkansen , is a sleek, high-speed machine that does indeed resemble a bullet – beautiful to look at actually, if you can appreciate the design of modern technology. The bullet train travels at around 320 mph. Can you imagine? That would mean we could get from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours! It’s too bad that we won’t see the completion of the California HighSpeed Rail until it’s estimated completion in 2055 (sad face emoji). In any case, if you’re taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, you can purchase a ticket for around $120 for “ordinary” seats or you can purchase “better” seats in the “green car” for a little bit more; however, the difference between “ordinary” seats and the fancier “green car” seats aren’t really discernible. Riding the bullet train is a little bit like traveling on an airplane. Somewhere along the way, man who ignored us as much as possible, but even he couldn’t spoil our dining experience. My only real complaint was a very chewy piece of unidentifiable fish that I chewed and chewed and chewed but, in the end, I was defeated and had to give up the masticated mass to my precious napkin. (I say “precious” because napkins aren’t readily available so hang on to those warm little washcloths they give you upon being seated because you will need it.) The quality of the ingredients and the care that goes into the preparation is evident. Many restaurants specialize in only a few dishes that they have perfected. a drinks-and-snacks cart from which you can purchase coffee, soda, and some snacks. Bring a book to read, but don’t miss the view of Mt. Fuji as the bullet train shoots past it.

Our favorite spot was an Udon place near our hotel called TsuruTonTan Locabo Udon. They served up huge bowls of Udon noodles swimming in a flavorful broth served with delectably light and crispy tempura veggies and shrimp. Their crab Udon was savory and buttery with large tender pieces of crab swimming in the creamy broth. The food was so good and it was so conveniently located that we ate there multiple times.

The food in Japan is amazing. You can’t really ever have a bad meal – at least we never did. We had mediocre meals, but we were never greatly disappointed. Even the drinking water in Japan is superior! We did try a sushi restaurant located in the Nori Tower where the sushi was just meh . I’ve had better sushi in California (we’re so spoiled). But I couldn’t say it was bad. Our waiter was a surly old

A great spot for breakfast is Hoshino Coffee. This spot is so cute and they show those plastic models of food in the window so you can see just what they serve. You can try the superfluffy pancakes which are all the rage right now and “sets” which include free egg and toast or French toast, etc. with an order of coffee. I strayed from ordering a set and went with their souffle and it was spectacular –like eating a cloud. And their coffee is strong. A great way to start a day of exploring.

Most of the time, we just popped in to places where the pictures or the plastic replicas of food displayed in the window looked tasty. One day, after walking for hours in the Akihabara district, we popped into a restaurant that specialized in tempura. And it was one of the best meals we enjoyed. We learned to eat tempura using the illustrated instructions: mix some grated daikon into the dipping sauce, squeeze some lemon onto the tempera and sprinkle with a little flaky salt, dip into the sauce and enjoy.

Another time, in Ginza, we were hunting for a secret teppanyaki restaurant. This place was so discreet, it seemed we would never find it. Just by luck, a young man wearing a Sagawa Express uniform overheard us clumsily asking a security guard in a nearby office building if he knew where to find this hidden spot. And being a delivery man for Sagawa Express, of course the young man knew where it was; he momentarily abandoned his packages and personally escorted us to a building around the corner and across the street, down an elevator, and into… a closet. He then opened a door and entered the restaurant, leaving us in the pitch-black closet while he made inquiries on our behalf. Alas, the restaurant was not as secret as it seemed; it was booked solid for weeks and we were scheduled to depart the following day. But we did appreciate how the chef tried to schedule us in –the restaurant was small and there was nowhere to squeeze us in – except for maybe in the dark closet. We thanked the Sagawa Express employee for his kindness and for hand-delivering us to the secret restaurant. Sagawa Express –they deliver!

We were a bit dejected that we missed the opportunity to eat at the secret spot, and we were definitely hungry by now. We wandered around for a bit and stumbled across a restaurant in a quiet alley. The entrance was down a steep flight of stairs and we didn’t know what to expect since we couldn’t read the menu on the poster board outside and there were no faux food models to be seen. We decided to take a chance and made our descent, ending up in a small dining room where we were the only diners. After trying to decipher our lunch options using Google Translate, we made our selections. I ended up with a fatty pork belly dish served with oden which is a fish stew consisting of boiled egg, daikon, and fish cakes simmered in a dashi broth – all things that Google failed to translate. My friend ordered beef with rice topped with a fried egg. We were both satisfied, and glad that we tried something new. In our quest to collect experiences, we added today’s food adventure to our growing collection.

One of my favorite places to try food in Japan was from the konbini or convenience stores – 7-11, Lawson’s, Family Mart. The variety of food on offer is insane – egg salad sandwiches (light and eggy), fruit sandwiches (fruit with fluffy whipped cream and custard between pillowy slices of crustless white bread), onigiri or rice balls, bento boxes, curries, hot coffee, cold coffee, smoothies, and on and on. I would have to stay in Japan for a year to try everything – maybe even longer! For a quick snack or even an entire meal, this is a fun and budget-friendly way to nosh on some surprisingly tasty foods. If you’re hungry and don’t know where to eat, head to the basement of most any mall, or anywhere there is a busy train station. There are tons of restaurants and food stands in these places. You will definitely not go hungry in Japan.

−Continued in our next issue