Arrived in japan, no worse for wear.

First off the plane, as most people in our cabin were aimed to leave by the middle doors. Low & behold, the front door opened & out I went. 

Breezed through immigration...where we were finger printed, retinas scanned, pictures taken. Smart.

Skipped baggage claim (obviously!) and straight through customs (took me awhile to figure out where it was...I’m not that bright). 

Through the doors, and there was a gentleman holding a card with my name (all of it!). 

In the itinerary, I was warned not to expect the driver to have any english. Joe broke the mold. Very chatty. 

Arrived in stunning sunshine & with the recent cold weather, cherry blossoms were nearing their end. At least for the white ones, which are much revered. 

The hotel is near the Kaminarimon Gate. The entrance to the hotel is subtle. Hiding behind a bus stop. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d not see it. Actually, even knowing it’s there, you miss it. Really.

The lobby is on the 13th floor.

All checked in & escorted DOWN to my room, with all my additional kit (portable wifi, train tickets and additional trip info). Um. Where is all this stuff supposed to go? I see some creative packing or re-packing in my future. 

My room is small (24sq m), but how much room do I really need? The bathroom? You walk through a sliding door (took me a moment to find it). The toilet area is first, then there is a clear glass door to a shower/bath area. Bathtub on the left, shower on the wall. Tiled floor & walls. No curtain. The entire room is for the shower. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Before leaving, I starting becoming concerning about the “facilities” knowing that there might be times when a “squater” versus a “western” toilet would be the only game in town. Don’t think it’s something I’m going to have to worry about. When researching the “facilities”, I guess I didn’t pay much attention to the “way out” features...thinking I wasn’t likely to come across any.

They are self flushing. Have heated seats - imagine a cold winter in Canada - why haven’t we thought of this?! Now, bearing in mind there was nothing written in english...it appears you can have...um...a shower of your nether regions whilst sitting down. Sort of one stop shopping. I was afraid to touch any buttons, just in case I set something off. Very pleased when it started flushing all on its own. Would not want to have tried to find the flush button & ended up with a facial shower.

I wandered around outside for exercise and maybe find something to eat, but ended up back at the hotel and had...curry. I know, I know. But it was the only thing I recognized that was at least exotic. Japanese curry IS different. I had been hoping to stay awake until 10pm. Almost made it to 9!