Japan 2026: Day 1 – Travel & Tokyo

(This is a write up of our trip to Japan this summer).

Day 1 (5/24 – 5/25): Travel and Tokyo

Harper’s interest in Japan was maybe the deciding factor in getting us over the hump, making the decision to go on the trip. She has long loved anime, Japanese food, and generally seemed to list it first in terms of places she’d like to visit.

It was on all of our lists of places that seemed interesting to visit, but I was vaguely intimidated by the prospect. It’s awfully far away, and the language and culture is more remote to us than what you might find in Europe. For example, they don’t use the Latin alphabet. My interest in the place goes back to being a child in the 70s. The coolest toys and cartoons came from Japan. My father and stepmother had a Japanese exchange student (Chizuru) in Colorado when I was visiting. (Random memory: I was probably 8 years old and my stepbrother, Michael, would have been 9. I think we were going to the airport to get her when Michael says to me, “don’t mention Iwo Jima!”)

This year, everything lined up for a trip to Japan. Our several trips to Europe gave us a decent background in international travel. The kids both had time off in late May and early June – times when Amy and I could also take off work. (And, who knows if we get many or any more opportunities like that.)

Travel was relatively smooth. Chicago is a little easier to handle on a Sunday morning. We departed O’Hare around 12:25 p.m. on May 24 (CDT). There was something like an hour delay on the tarmac. The announcement was hard to hear, but referenced something about “customer service” and the proper count. So, it may be we had more people on board than they thought or fewer. Fortunately we didn’t have to return to the terminal. We landed in Japan at Haneda airport at 3:15 p.m. on May 25 (JST). If my math’s right, that was 12.5 hours including the delay. Total travel time, door-to-door was 19 hours.

Our Airbnb was on a narrow street just south of Haneda University. It was a three floor apartment with a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor, the kitchen and living area on the second floor, and two bedrooms and a half-bath on the third floor. The bathroom was different for us  – it had a full wet room instead of just a shower. The heated toilet seat with bidet was also different. The decorations were primarily Disney themed with a Christmas tree in the living area.

 

 

After a bit of rest time, we ventured out for supplies – there are 7-11s everywhere. The closest one was, at most, a five minute walk. We got a 6 pack of Kirin, snacks, sandwiches, and some onigiri. One of the snacks that I picked randomly because of the corn on the packaging tasted like corn chowder. The onigiri (rice balls with fish) are a local snack that became our breakfast staple. At one point, during that first trip, Cole and I had lost track of Amy and started venturing up to the second floor. It was not a two-story store! Before we left, someone had put some signs together to block the stairs. Back home, after a beer, it was time for dinner.

The area in Shinjuku where we walked was really vibrant. Lots of young people walking the streets. It was a broad mix of Asian and white people, very much an international crowd. We ate at a place called Yoimodo. They served up some meat skewers, of which the pork belly was my favorite. (Yakitori is apparently the term for grilled, skewered chicken – yakiton is pork.) They had Asahi which ended up being my favorite of the major Japanese beers. Ordering was done via QR code and payment at the register. That kind of QR code set up ended up being very common at the places we went. It helps overcome the language barrier.

After dinner, we just strolled a bit. Saw the Godzilla Head – which really made me happy. Again, I was a 70s kid. Godzilla really speaks to my inner child. (Fun fact – the sound of his iconic roar comes from a cello recording played backward.) Apparently their Don Quixote stores (“Donkis”) are a bit of an institution. The one we went to was packed, and the crowds quickly became an issue for us. Jet lag was kicking in, and we were tired. We got home and crashed at about 9 p.m. I managed to sleep until 6 a.m., but there was a period around 1:30 a.m. when I woke up and felt like it was time to get up.