2017
April
2018
May
2019

Tokyo

Flight by Japanese airline—JAL. Tickets were bought while in Bali. Preparation for the trip began from that moment. I can surely say by now that the preparations were the most comprehensive. The Japanese want to be aware of every day of stay in the country—even accommodations' contacts and things you want to do in cities.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Flight on a Boeing 787 (Dreamliner). Windows use smart glass allowing to adjust five levels of sunlight and visibility. Level one is on the left, and level five is on the right. Pictures are with different exposure level, so it's easier to notice the difference.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Flight is about 10-hour long, you get two meals during it. But meals are so big, that it feels like the only thing you do the entire flight is eat. I couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours. A kosher meal was ordered given the previous positive experience. And it was good once again. However, it was surprising that the flight attendant asked if she could warm up my kosher meal by herself or I would go with her and control the process. I was also asked to open the meal box and make sure everything is OK inside. Yeah, I wish I knew what's inside!

The second meal was given a few hours before landing. It's roughly five courses once again.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Display reports the flight is to Tokyo, but in fact, it is to Narita—city to the east of the capital. There are lots of options on how to get to Tokyo by public transport: bus or train, JR train or Keisei train, express train or regular train.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Russians need to get a visa in advance. Prior to 2017, it was not possible without a Japanese travel agency. Fortunately, since the beginning of 2017, we can apply for a visa by ourselves. If you apply at the Japanese consulate in Moscow, visa costs you nothing. The only caveat is that you can't get your passport delivered to your home then.

The application is now almost the same as for Schengen visa, but with a couple of differences: the schedule of stay is mandatory, and medical insurance is optional. You can find an example of two days of schedule of stay in a table below.

Date Activity Plan Con­tact Accom­moda­tion
08 / 04 / 2017
Flight JL 422 from Moscow.
Arrival to Narita airport at 08:35
+81 3 1539 7788
Hotel Name
Okamoto-machi 1-284
Chuo Ward, Tokyo
920-0906
09 / 04 / 2017 Tours in Tokyo, train to Nikko
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Welcome to Japan—the land of the rising sun. And early setting sun. Seriously, it's dark at 7 PM all year round.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Narita airport.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Express train to Tokyo costs ¥3000.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The regular train to Tokyo costs ¥1000.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Grab handles are locked to their places, so they look symmetrical. The upper shelves see an often use by Japanese even if they are in for a few stops.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Since the regular train was picked, there are two changes en route to the hotel. If you have internet, there will be no problems with navigation at all. If you don't have it, it's best to know the time of the departure or at least the direction.

In the end, it doesn't even matter what train and what route you would take. There are two things that make up the cost of your ride: entrance and exit points. So you gonna be charged by the most optimal and the shortest route. If you have not enough money on your ticket or transport card, you can pay the difference to a man at the exit point. If you have no money at all (left a wallet at home, for example), you can ride back to the entry point and exit like you didn't go anywhere. By the way, transport card can be funded up to ¥20 000 right there at the station. Geniuses, what else can be said? Passenger has got a right to be wrong.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

All the boarding points to the cars are signed. This one is for a train of eight cars.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Blue sign is for a different train.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The next change. There are two schemes on the column. The stations on the upper one have hieroglyphic, latin and symbolic names. The lower one is the metro map. Yeah, there are lots of lines. There are different railway companies as well. It is cheaper to pick just one for a single ride because it's one entrance and one exit this way. You are charged when you change railway companies. When you use apps like Apple or Google maps for directions, they suggest the cheapest and fastest options mixed, so double-check.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Railway station.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Boarding points to the cars are really opposite the signs on the floor.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Name of the station on the column. It is time to practice Japanese.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

You can get Pasmo rechargeable contactless smart card from this ticket vending machine. There are also vending machines with Suica cards. Other parts of Japan have their own card analogs. What unites them is that they all can be used all over the country. What can you do with a smart card? Pay the fare by touching the ticket gates, for example. It's also gonna be your bank card replacement in Japan. It's better to get Pasmo or Suica right in the airport before your first use of public transport, so you don't need to look up your destination point in the table on the right side of the picture.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

There are magazines and newspapers in every convenience store. Copy machine, printer, coffeemaker, tables to eat, free WC and maybe something else are also can be found.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

It's time to finally take a look at the streets.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

And the roads.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

If you pull in your belly, you can squeeze between the houses.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Signs at the intersection.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The road can be crossed in any direction.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Overcrowded touristic place.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Cherry blossoms. April is an ideal time to see it in central Japan.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Temple.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Near the temple.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Fire hydrant sign.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Ordinary residential buildings in the background.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Gates like this one are called torii.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Suits are quite popular. It's like half of the people are in costumes during peak hours.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Cars and license plates.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Nato (in Russian) bus.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The fish are swimming.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Don't feed the pigeons, or they will shit everything.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Net on the house.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Shop or just yard?

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Parking. Spaces are clearly numbered and delineated. By the way it's not so easy to buy a car in Japan—you need to buy a parking space for it as well.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

No thoroughfare. Stones keep the barrier fixed.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Transparent entrance.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Vertical street sign.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Buildings are very close to each other. Traffic light for cars in always horizontal.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

One more exercise "pull in your belly".

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Orange and green taxies. Passenger's door opens and closes automatically.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Low-floor bus.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Side streets.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Corner house.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

There were no earthquakes during the trip, but they are frequent enough during the year. There are sings on the streets which lead to safety areas—parks. There are "what to do in an earthquake" booklets in the hotels' rooms.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

No pedestrian crossing sign.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Streets.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

You won't accelerate much on a bicycle in the park.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Picnics boom. Rain is not a trouble.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Embankment.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Five items number one.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Seagulls.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Payphone.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Postbox.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Take the bottle and the rest of the line will move forward.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Mitsubishi TV remote control. Large companies manufacture and construct everything they could.

Multilevel city. You can catch yourself riding metro at the height of the seventh floor.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The view of the opposite side.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Enough ticket vending machines for everybody.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Beverage vending machines maintenance. A staggering variety of soda. There is always a bin for bottles and cans next to a vending machine.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

In the metro.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

There are displays with the route in many metro trains right above the exit. Caught right screen while in Korean.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

The weather outside. Yeah, it was really important to have an umbrella for the first few days of the trip.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Driverless train.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Metro station U08.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Outside the station.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Space toilet on the ISS.

Earth.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Odaiba district.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Condoms for wet umbrellas. Dripping is not appropriate in buildings, so it's either a condom or leaving an umbrella in a stand outside an establishment.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Food replicas to simplify the choice of dishes to order.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Statue of Liberty replica.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Bridge.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

American cars.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Bench.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Building.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Bicycle parking.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Ferris wheel.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Metro.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Mailboxes in a residential building. Postman comes to them through a separate entrance and puts the mail from the back.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

There are lockers for big things. So you get the notification to your mailbox with the information on how to open the locker with your parcel.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Courtyard. It increases the seismic resistance.

Top view.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Bottom view.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Cars with this label are women only in the morning.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Railway station.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Shibuya district.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

You can cross the road in any direction.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

This type of technogenic landscapes I had associated with Japan before the trip.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Streets in the night evening. It gets dark early.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

More railway stations.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

It's difficult to find a backpack without toys and stuff attached. Ride the escalator on the left side, just like on the road.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Chewing gum.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Just like an adhesive tape.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

How to eat in a place with a rotating belt of sushi.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

Microscopic holes for water in the shower.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.

It's stopped raining.

🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan, April 2017.
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