Toni’s Spring 2023 Japan Trip

[Tony Galiani]

I guess I am glad that I learned that not every vacation and travel day is going to go well.  Some days just are going to be not so great.  This was one of them.

 

After much confusion and semi-chaos at Kyoto Station we managed to get on board a Super Nozomi.  Standing room only which I didn't mind for the first hour or so but it got old especially as we would just stop and sit for a while - this happened four times outside of Nagoya.  At Nagoya we passed another Shinkansen in the station and ran through to Yokohama with only a couple of those stop and just wait times.

Some announcements were made but only in Japanese so we really had no clue as to what was happening.  Without a lot of info it is hard to make good decisions so at some point we just decided to go for it and I guess in some ways we lucked out.  Our Super Nozomi took over four hours for the trip but my sense is that we ran better than some of the other Shinkansens today.

 

Anyway, we made it to Tokyo and have settled in so that is to the good.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice day and we can get back into vacation enjoyment mode.

Ciao,

Tony

[Kamome]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:07 AM, SL-san said:

Fuji can be decidedly shy!!

Perhaps urban myth but I was once told by a local it works out to roughly 100 days out of 365 when you can actually get a view of Fuji. 

 

 

[Tony Galiani]

When we departed Kyoto I had some hope of seeing Fuji-san as the weather was sunny and clear.  However, as the afternoon went on it got grayer and much more cloudy.  Had we run on time we might have been lucky but no chance on this trip.  Based on 100 days of the year the odds were against us.

Tony

[railsquid]

12 hours ago, Kamome said:

Perhaps urban myth but I was once told by a local it works out to roughly 100 days out of 365 when you can actually get a view of Fuji.

 

100 days a year sounds about right for visibility from the Tokyo area, basically you need a clear, mainly cloudless winter day; the rest of the year it's either too cloudy or too hazy (unless a typhoon has just blown through), though when the sun goes down on a clear day you can often see the outline for a couple of hours.

[Tony Galiani]

Spent a low key Sunday in Tokyo.  My wife is now saying she will need a vacation to recover from this one!

 

First thing Sunday morning, we went to Tokyo Station so I could get a refund on my canceled Nozomi from Kyoto and that was relatively quick and easy.  Then stumbled around for 30 minutes trying to locate an optical shop so we could get my wife's glasses fixed - a screw fell out on Saturday.  Once we found the shop they were very helpful and fixed her glasses in about two minutes.

 

On to Shinjuku to visit the gardens, then to an art supply store and on to the station and to watch the Shinjuku cat - talk about cheap thrills!  Such a contrast from the gardens!  Loud music, a stream of trains, cars and planes overhead from Haneda plus zillions of people - complete sensory overload.

 

Currently getting ready to head to Sakatsu Gallery while my wife heads to Nippori Fabric Town.  Hoping to meet Alastair at Tokyo Station - I convinced my wife she didn't really need my help shopping!  Did she really want me walking around with her and sighing every two minutes?

I am hoping I can just purchase items for shipment as I do not want to carry a lot back.  It will also be an opportunity to make a list for future orders as well!

 

Depending on how the day goes, I may try to run up to Akihabara for a last minute bit of train shopping but maybe not.  I have been pretty restrained on this trip as I have so much to work on so not sure adding more would be good.

 

I have also been working on scheduling some gigs - it is a hassle under normal circumstances but trying to sort out dates with a 13 hour time lag and then herd cats to get a bunch of musicians to agree to the schedules is not fun.  However, I am happy that I still get the calls to play so can't really complain.

 

On to Sakatsu Gallery!

 

Tony

[ED75-775]

Shipping things back is eminently very sensible, but also very dangerous. It just makes space for you to buy more stuff... just look at what I’ve achieved so far.

 

I will probably post most of my more expensive buys back and just hang onto the fragile or low-value stuff. Though I may hang onto one train in case I find a nice rental layout to run it on.

Alastair

[Tony Galiani]

Had a chance to meet up with Alastair today so that was great.  Except for the part where I am in the minor leagues when it comes to model train acquisition!  I clearly need to up my game.

 

As I mentioned to Alastair, I am worried Jeff will ban me from the Forum after I let the side down and did not make a huge purchase at Sakatsu Gallery.  My main mission was to see, and buy, some of the bits and bobs I wanted to have for detailing my layout project.  I did get a bunch of small items but at JPY3 or so per item, I did not spend a lot.

 

The store has some very nice large scale narrow gauge layouts and I got to enjoy them but not as much as I would have liked - the small store was crowded - on a Monday morning.  I also liked taking a look at the book selection - lots of good items but Japanese model books are printed on high quality - read that as heavy - paper so I held off on getting any this time.

 

Definitely recommended for anyone visiting Tokyo as it is a short ride up the Yammanote line from central Tokyo.

 

Ciao,

Tony

Edited June 5, 2023 by Tony Galiani
grammar error

[cteno4]

Tony,

 

LOL! My reason to push you there was you could have massive fun at ¥300 increments instead of ¥10,000 ones! Way more fun for the ¥! Seemed like they would have a lot of cool stuff in the shop to stimulate your Japanese model train juices!

 

It’s great you and Alistair were able to connect in Tokyo. Always love it when JNS hooks up folks, but usually it’s only when they live in the same place or visit the other’s local, but uber cool when you both meet up traveling to tokyo!

 

Japanese printing is superb.

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Here we are at Haneda - - with a flight delay of at least an hour and potential missed connection in Washington, DC.  It will be interesting to see how United handles this and, on an eastbound routing, we may get lucky with a tailwind.  At least there is a later flight out of IAD to RDU with plenty of seats so likely to get home today if rather late.

 

Not sure if I can get the check-in person to reroute us on ANA via Chicago - we shall see.  Ironically, we got to the airport early but cannot do anything as the United check-in desk does not open for another hour or so.

 

Mira is not too upset - more shopping time at Haneda - so I suppose this is okay ....

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[Tony Galiani]

Things just got worse - there is a Bic Camera tax free store placed right at the top of the stairs in the entrance hall.  Not sure I can keep Mira away from it.  Should have spent my entire budget on trains to preclude this!

Tony

[cteno4]

Told you to drop it all at Sakatsu! 😀

 

jeff

[JR East]

Organization is the main strength of Japan but is case of issue ... improvisation is their main weakness (whereas somewhere it's the way round in France 😇)

 

JM

[Tony Galiani]

 We made it back home despite our travel delays - our arrival in the US was quite an adventure and quite the roller coaster ride as to whether or not we were going to make our connection in Washington.  And had we missed it, we would have had a five hour plus connection to make the last flight of the day home.  I will spare the details but we made it to the gate with less than five minutes to spare - to find our flight to RDU was delayed!  I got the alert on my United app about 30 seconds before we arrived at the gate in a run.

 

Anyway, sort of happy to be home though - looking at my inbox, thinking I would rather be in Japan.

 

It was great to meet up with Alastair and I certainly appreciate all the input and info I received from everyone's posts.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[cteno4]

Tony,

 

glad you made it home, that’s the unfun part of travel these days… if you had missed your flight I could have come down to national and had dinner with you guys! Good to be home after the scramble though and time for playing some music! Hope to get down and hear you sometime here. I may meet up with my friend over in Winston-Salem in Durham sometime to hang out for a couple of days so hopefully we can do it when you have a gig!

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

@cteno4 - Tell you what - if you get down here for a gig, I will happily autograph something for you!

 

And, if I get stranded again, I will call about dinner!  We have another shot at it when I travel back from Greece on the 23rd!

 

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Well, back in action at work and all I can say is that I would rather be in Japan.  Every place has its issues but if I hear "I am going to call my attorney" one more time, I may say something inappropriate!  Why is everybody so angry about everything?  And why is everything so personal - I am sorry the automatic door opener button didn't work - I don't think we broke it just to inconvenience you personally.  Not sure it is worth a lawsuit but be my guest.  Oh well ....

 

I am sure Japan has plenty of issues too but I do have to say that people seem very considerate and aware of others  We constantly ran into situations where people wanted to be helpful to us even though we were okay and weren't really asking for help.

 

On the bus to the Philosopher's Path, we were standing when two young girls tried to get our attention - they wanted to give us their seats.  We were okay but it was such a nice gesture we did take the seats.  And, fortunately, thank you is one bit of Japanese I made sure to learn.  When we got off the bus, they were waving to us - another nice gesture.

 

At Akihabara, I hesitated at the entry gates and a gentleman saw that and asked me where I was going so I told him.  So he gave me directions (which I didn't really need) and then waited on the other side until we were through and he had made sure we were going the right direction.

 

That's a small sample but it certainly was nice - it just feels so different than what I often experience at home.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[chadbag]

Actually I wish I was headed to Tony's place.  I'd like to go to one of his gigs.  He can show me how it is done!

 

 

[Tony Galiani]

@chadbag  Thanks.  Nice of you to say but not so sure if how much I have to show.  But who can resist a bit of ego surfing so you can see a recent concert performance of the Neuse River Big Band here:

https://www.neuseriverbigband.com/events/2023-spring-show-highlights

I was filling in for their Spring concert and somehow I seem to be filling in for their Fall show in September as well.

Tony

[cteno4]

Tony,

 

that’s one of the main reasons I love traveling in japan. So many little stories like that in my travels as well. I once gave up my seat to a little old lady once at the front of the bus (I usually try to hang out in front to see best where I want to get off) and when I went to get off the driver half stood up and bowed and said a very long formal sounding sentence to me and from his gestures and smiles and the thank you at the end I assume he was just formally thanking me for giving my seat up to the lady! People would go out of their way to be helpful and nice and I don’t think I ever had a bad experience in Japan.

 

jeff

[chadbag]

13 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Tony,

 

that’s one of the main reasons I love traveling in japan. So many little stories like that in my travels as well. I once gave up my seat to a little old lady once at the front of the bus (I usually try to hang out in front to see best where I want to get off) and when I went to get off the driver half stood up and bowed and said a very long formal sounding sentence to me and from his gestures and smiles and the thank you at the end I assume he was just formally thanking me for giving my seat up to the lady! People would go out of their way to be helpful and nice and I don’t think I ever had a bad experience in Japan.

 

 

First time I went to Japan (Feb 2000 for Macworld) I was on the Keiyou line (the one to Chiba that passes by Disney).  I was sitting and a lady got on with a few kids with Downs Syndrome on their way to Disney (it turned out).  I got up and offered my seat and the lady had the kids sit down.  She was very grateful.  I don't think she expected the big gaijin to give up his seat for her.

[Tony Galiani]

Now that I have been back an entire week, I have the itch to return!  Though I didn't really want to leave - @ED75-775 has it right - spending a month in Japan is definitely the way to go.

 

Unfortunately my two favorite things - music and travel - are not completely compatible and require some compromises to work.  I play tonight, travel tomorrow to Greece, return a week from Friday and play on Saturday.  Though not complaining - lucky to be able to do this - though it messes with scheduling and limits flight and travel options.

 

So where next in Japan?  We had a really nice time and enjoyed Tokyo and Kyoto.  I started thinking about my plan to go to the Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival for 2024 but the train issues we had have given me pause.

We don't mind the cold weather but having to manage potential train cancellations and deal with ice and snow may be more than I want to mess with.  When our Shinkansen was disrupted, we sorted out plans for a later train, put our stuff in a storage locker, then found a Starbuck's with shaded open air seating and had coffee and cake (my go to response for almost any crisis) then strolled up to a nearby shrine where Mira took tons of pictures and I relaxed in the shaded rest area.  Not likely options in snowy Sapporo in February so rethinking this.

 

I am eagerly following Alastair's posts and hope more Forum members post their travels - this is such a great resource for ideas.

 

And while I am at it - podcasts.  If anyone has any suggestions for good podcasts for travel or for Japan, please post them.  I have a rehearsal situation which calls for a long drive to and from and after listening to music on the way, playing music for several hours at the rehearsal, I like some quiet time for the return drive.  Just like youtube, where some of the vlogs are useful and well presented but most are dross, I find a lot of podcasts are a waste of time and, quite frankly, inane.  So I continue to search for those I can listen to on my drive - topics preferred tend to be travel, Japan and history.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

[ED75-775]

33 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

Now that I have been back an entire week, I have the itch to return!  Though I didn't really want to leave - @ED75-775 has it right - spending a month in Japan is definitely the way to go.

Aw, thanks Tony, but I'm not sure if a month is really enough... so much you could do and I'm only barely scratching the surface. Though personally I understand exactly how you feel, I actually feel like I don't want to go back but that could be a mixture of both my not-always-enjoyable job, and my heart overruling what little rationality I possess. Nothing to do with the trains! Though yeah, an extensive rail network and cheap model trains is a great side benefit...

 

Alastair

[railsquid]

On 6/8/2023 at 11:25 PM, chadbag said:

 

First time I went to Japan (Feb 2000 for Macworld) I was on the Keiyou line (the one to Chiba that passes by Disney).  I was sitting and a lady got on with a few kids with Downs Syndrome on their way to Disney (it turned out).  I got up and offered my seat and the lady had the kids sit down.  She was very grateful.  I don't think she expected the big gaijin to give up his seat for her.

 

Anecdote the other way round: way back when the Squidlet was big enough to go on extended train journeys but small enough to need carrying on the way home, I was a bit annoyed because it was on the way home and I was tired and the train was crowded and no-one was willing to give up a seat. Anyway at some point I witnessed, while standing in the door area, a scowling obatarian barge onto the train and make a beeline for the sole seat which had become vacant, stand in protectively front of it like she was reserving it for a friend, only to see her gesture at my child-encumbered self to go and sit there, which was a lovely unexpected gesture, except we were getting off at the next station...

Edited June 15, 2023 by railsquid

[chadbag]

There is also flying as an option to get to Sapporo, @Tony Galiani.  JAL has special tourist fairs (likely as a response to the popularity of JR Pass)

 

https://www.jal.co.jp/aul/en/world/japan_explorer_pass/lp/

 

Our next trip is hopefully the summer of 2024 and depending on our other plans and due to the hfty JR Pass price increases, I've thought about exploring a trip to Hokkaido and flying instead.  Depends on how much other travel we want to do.  But Hokkaido is cooler in the summer so we might try out these JAL fares if our other plans aren't train heavy. (I know that is heresy and I'd rather travel by train but the train pass price increase may not be worth it depending on our other plans/wishes).

[Tony Galiani]

@chadbag - Thanks.  Good to know.  My winter plan had been to fly from the US directly to Sapporo (works out to three flights from RDU) then train back.  Summer in Hokkaido seems nice - and I am now thinking we should stop in Aomori after a conversation with another guest at the hotel in Kyoto.  So lots of thinking to be done on this but I am counting on going to Japan again next year. Hopefully for a longer trip if I can better manage my music schedule.

 

WRT Aomori, we were at the breakfast room in our hotel when an older Japanese lady started chatting with us - her English was very good and I guess she wanted to use it.  She told us she was from Aomori and I told her I hope to visit there sometime during apple season.  Without missing a beat, she very definitely corrected my pronunciation - wondering if she was a schoolteacher before she retired.

 

Ciao,

Tony