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Today we picked up our Alien Registration Cards at the local Shinjuku-ku ward office where we live. This may not seem like much, but in Japan in means a lot. Primarily for us it means we can open bank accounts (joint accounts don’t seem to be possible) and we no longer have to carry our passports. We did go to the post office today to open a bank account. We got the form to open an account and will work on it later. Yes, you can bank at the post offices here as a resident.

We also found a couple of Japanese paste/sauces that are vegan and tasty. One is called “ゆずこしょう–yuzokoshyo” and is made from this citrus fruit called yuzo (柚子), hot peppers and salt. The other is a miso dip called 金暫時みそ–きんざんじみそ–kinsanzo miso. We only tasted them but they should go very well with vegetables and rice.

That’s it for now.

David

On Friday, August 19, 2005, our second full day in Tokyo, we went to Ikebukuro to a couple of department stores. They were ridiculously expensive! For example, we found a small, plastic measuring cup for more than 2,000 yen. (That is about $20.00). We found a good bread store, but it was a very crowded area and seemed quite expensive. We were exhausted when we got home!

On Friday afternoon, we went to the Tourist Center in Yurakucho to get maps in English even though we were very tired of walking and being out from the day before. We were worried about the office not being open on Saturday and did not want to go all weekend without English language maps, so we forced ourselves to go out again. We were up early again, so I got the unpacking finished before we went out. We got the maps quite easily, and decided to go to Roppongi and Azabujuban, the area where we lived when we were in Tokyo two years ago. It was like going home, but everything seemed more expensive! We bought very little, but got to experience a summer festival on the street. Women and men were in kimonos and many artists were selling wares on the street. The prices were high, but I did make a great deal for a couple of table cloths. There were lots of food stalls, but we didn’t dare eat at any of them. Actually, we weren’t interested in eating at them—the food looked greasy and not enticing at all! It was so crowded and hot! We finally found a 100 yen store and prices we could afford. It turned out to be a great store, and we got some things for the apartment (e.g. glasses, coasters, place mats, flower pots). It was quite late when we went home. Clearly, David can get us anywhere we want to go by using the maps!

On Saturday, we went to the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. It was very, very hot and the shopping area was aimed at teenagers. We thought there was going to be a flea market, but there wasn’t. David found out after we were home that the flea market is only on some Sundays.

On Sunday, we went to Ikebukuro searching for a Chinese grocery store. I searched the Internet for one in Tokyo. Unfortunately, we didn’t take the name and address with us, so once we got there we had to walk quite some time before we found one. It was much smaller than we had expected, but they spoke Chinese! What a relief to be able to ask what was in things and be able to chat! As we were leaving the area, David noticed a sign in Kanji and asked me what it said. As usual, I read the Kanji in Chinese, not Japanese, but this time it made sense! It said Chinese Qigong. We decided to check it out. It was a place where they treat people, not teach them, but they put us in contact with a teacher. Again, it was great to be able to communicate because they spoke Chinese! The nice people called the teacher and made an appointment for us for Monday at 2:00. It was a good trip, and we came home with vegetable bau dz and sesame candy!

We arrived in Japan in the late afternoon of August 17, 2005 (Wednesday). It took at least two hours to get through immigration, 2 minutes at customs, an hour or so by airport bus to the Tokyo station, where we were met by a Waseda University student and got a taxi, then another 20 to 30 minutes to our apartment. Everything went well (except for the exceptionally long wait in line for immigration). Also an earthquake apparently happened in Japan while we were in route to Japan. We have heard little about it. It didn’t seem to have much effect on life in Tokyo, but was a bit disconcerting to hear about an earthquake just as we were moving here.

Leaving from Seattle was a good decision because it was a 9.5 hour flight—the shortest either David or I have ever had to Asia. David slept for an hour or so, but I didn’t actually sleep on the flight.

The Waseda student, Suzie, was very helpful at showing us how to use things in our apartment as all directions are in Japanese. We went out to do a bit of shopping because the apartment was nearly empty except for furniture and some dishes. We had some toilet paper, soap, and light bulbs, but no food or drinks. We went to bed around 9:30 Tokyo time, which was morning is Seattle. We were tired, but woke up at 4:30 am on Friday. Since then we have woken up between 5:30 and 7:00 every morning and gone to bed at a reasonable time. It never really felt like we had any jet lag.

This is our first posting to this blog. Today is September 4th. We arrived in Tokyo on August 17th. We have spent the last two and a half weeks learning about Tokyo–the subway and train system, where to buy food and household items, where/how to get the alien registration card and national health insurance, how to get money, how to register to get mail, and other day to day necessities.

There are many things we still need to learn–the Japanese language, the bus system, bicycling in Japan, gift giving the Japanese way, where to find a close-by sushi restaurant, and where to find more inexpensive food and other items.

Speaking of expensive, Tokyo is an expensive city. Most items are more expensive than in the USA–some incredibly so, others only a little so. There are a few items that are about the same or even cheaper here, but not many. The 100-yen stores have been good for a lot of items. Everything in these stores cost 100 yen which is just under $1.00. We’ve gotten glasses, dishes, placemats, batteries, peanuts, orange marmalade, printer paper, stapler, tape, dish towels, utensils, and many other items here. Good bread is somewhat hard to find and is expensive. White bread is easy to find and varies in price. Rice is expensive. Oatmeal is expensive. Millet is expensive.

Almost anything can be found, including things from the USA. Yesterday we found Bob’s Red Mill Oat Bran Cereal and Seven Grain Cereal at reasonable prices.

We adjusted to jet-lag very quickly. This was the easiest adjustment I (David) have ever had. We have yet to figure out all the appliances in the apartment. The instructions are all in Japanese and there are many buttons and features for each one. The microwave and air conditioner seem especially complicated and difficult to figure out. We’ve managed to turn them on and get basic functioning, but will have to spend time with someone or dictionaries to get more in-depth use.

Yesterday we took a train ride to the nearest Costco to see if it was a reasonable distance. It wasn’t so we didn’t join. We also checked out wireless routers. They exist here but I believe they are about 1/3 more expensive than the USA and all the directions and set-up CD are in Japanese so we didn’t buy one. I’ll be working on that for awhile.

That will be enough for the first entry. I’ll try to add more regularly.

David