Day one started off the break started with my flight to Japan. After rebooking it 3x with JAL to change both my flight there and my return flight, I was finally making my way to the airport, luggage, excitement and all. When I arrived at Heathrow airport to check in, I could already foresee the nuisance of travelling with my bike around Tokyo to get to Kyushu, my cycle destination. A bike is not the easiest piece of luggage to carry, weighing around 20kg, then the suitcase with another 25kg and a backpack. No problem lugging this within the airport on a trolly but a totally different ballgame carrying this on my shoulders.
Checkin went as smoothly as it could and JAL booked me into premium economy after changing my flights 3x in the span of one month. It meant I could use the JAL/BA Lounge at Heathrow and the lady at check-in didn’t mind my luggage being a bit over 25kg. This was a great start to the adventure as hanging out in the lounge for 3h was much better than roaming around the airport. Not that I wasn’t prepared for this but free food, comfy chairs and a few Prosecco’s went down a treat.
The flight was largely uneventful and I am really feeling the effect of going caffein-free some weeks ago. No more coffee buzz and falling asleep is ever easier. I watched one movie and then slept for like 7-8h. When I woke up it was just another 2h to go. I had a good chat here and there with my bench neighbour, a Japanese National visiting his home country after leaving it 40 years ago to take up a position as chief hairdresser in a Japanese hotel in Amsterdam. 40 years!!! …in the same job, in the same hotel. I am sure that he must have got a lot of stories to tell about people who come there regularly, maybe even only to get their hair cut by him.
We eventually landed in Haneda, not the airport I wanted to go to but the only one available. I guess there aren’t as many flights yet to Narita or whatever the reason was for JAL to change me to Haneda. My planned stay was meant to be north of Tokyo, with someone I’ve been staying with for some years. It’s an hour outside Tokyo but it’s at house and it’s …very affordable. But with the change to Haneda, which is all the way in the south of Tokyo, I couldn’t bring myself to travel all the way up north and beyond only to then have to go south a few days later to get a Shinkansen/bullet train down to Kyushu.
I asked my friend and future colleague Mitsu if I could crash with him for a few days and he welcomed me in Roppongi, Tokyo’s party and going out district. He lived in the residential part and for him also conveniently located not to far from the Etic office, where I’ll be working too for some time in May.
The queue for immigration seemed endless and it took about 1h to get through, despite all booths at immigration being busy. I guess travel and tourism to Japan is picking up again. I was meant to have downloaded some app and checked myself in but for some reason the app didn’t work or didn’t let me progress to the next stage, so it was back to the usual paper forms. Just one more queue to get my pre-ordered mobile Wi-Fi router, a necessity that is hard to live without when travelling abroad these days.
I finally managed to drag myself and my luggage to Roppongi from Haneda airport.This was just as much fun as I had imagined…thankfully it wasn’t rush our anymore so the trains were manageable empty. My old Pasimo card still worked and I just had to charge it to be able to travel on the Tokyo Metro and Japan Railway trains -very convenient. Nevertheless, the lift infrastructure and dizzying array of escalators and stairs in the stations nearly killed me. I knew I had a small trolley to carry the bike but it’s no use within stations. Once I got to Roppongi I used the mini trolley to drag the bike about and Mitsu kindly took my suitcase.
First stop, ramen shop! That was the best welcome to Japan. A hot bowl of soup that just felt so nourishing. It was a small gesture but it meant the world for me being welcomed like that to the country that I have come to cherish so much. We then walked another 10min to his place in the residential part of Roppongi. I felt unusually awake, even though it was already midnight.
I couldn’t quite sleep yet and by the time I woke up and was fully awake it was 4am. I started reading the only book I brought with me called the Buddha and the Badass, I guess some kind of business, come inspirational book from a serial founder named Vishen Lakhiani. After a few pages I felt this was a great choice of book to bring to Japan. Outside the apartment was a motorway and halfway through the night it sounded like some high-powered motorbikes were chased by a much slower police car, a la Tokyo drift. I also managed to figure out when I’ll be going down to Kyushu and planned my first 2 days after arrival, mainly exploring Fukuoka, the gateway city to Kyushu, staying in a hotel nearby the station, just to settle in. The hotel was remarkable affordable with £28/night, thanks in part to government sponsoring some of the costs, but I guess tourism isn’t quite back in full swing and competitions for guests is intense. The hotel is only a 7min walk from the train station, just about as much as I want to drag my bike on day one.
Getting to Kyushu will be by bullet train from Tokyo vs flying again, even though it’s twice as expensive than flying, whilst being much more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Shinkansen trains are every 20-30 min and cost about ¥24,000 (£150) for one trip (1,000km). Even though it’s more expensive, I really like the train journey to ease into and out of my cycle adventure. This is what travelling used to be like, it just took time.
Eventually we got up and got ready for the day. Mitsu had to go to work and I would join him later to meet his colleagues and see where the office is located. Got up and looked for somewhere to have breakfast/ brunch in as it was already 11 by the time I left the flat. I found a shop that served salads only, which felt like an ok way to start the day. After brunch I walked from Roppongi to Etic’s office in Shibuya, probably most famous for the huge traffic crossing and traffic light.
It had started raining so I bought a cheap umbrella as I didn’t fancy getting there all soaked. I still had about 2h to kill and went to a German coffee shop, inside a Bosch showroom. Very strange concept but the place was very comfy. I did some more reading and writing before heading off to Etic in the afternoon.
Once I got there, my friend Naho came out to greet me before showing me around in their new office into which they had just moved in a few weeks ago. It looked like a startup space, somehow really homely and much less businessy-like. Seemed to fit to what they do, supporting social entrepreneurs and the Japanese enterprise startup ecosystem. You wouldn’tWant to be in some cold, boring office. I then met some of Eric’s team members and Naho briefed me a bit on what it is Etic is doing and has been doing for some 30 years. This is their anniversary year and it feels really nice to be here as it’s also our organisations’ anniversary year #10. After meeting colleagues we went to get some dinner and then meet some of Mitsu’s friends and acquaintances. This ended in a many hours talking about impact investing, developments in conscious capitalism and how social entrepreneurship is changing the world. The people Mitsu invited were either mid-way in their careers or at the beginning. It was a great exchange and I was very happy that everyone spoke English, phew. One of Mitsu’s friends gave me such a sweet present, a book of 100 poets, one poem each. She knew them all and has been competing in competitions reciting them. Very impressive! Here’s one:
Pining for you
who does not come,
I am like the salt-making fires
at dusk on the Bay of Waiting—
burning bitterly in flames of love.
After dinner, we went home; it was just after midnight; quick shower and bed. Wow, what a first few days, it felt pretty intense but also very warm and welcoming.
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