I love Tokyo. If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it. Anthony Bourdain

Toyko is the perfect mix between tradition and modern culture. Kazuo Ishiguro

Here in Tokyo, they’re not just hard-working but almost violently cheerful. Down at the Peacock, the change flows like tap water. The women behind the registers bow to you, and I don’t mean that they lower their heads a little, the way you might if passing someone on the street. These cashiers press their hands together and bend from the waist. Then they say what sounds to me like, “We, the people of this store, worship you as we might a god.” David Sedaris

We left San Francisco at about noon Sunday. We flew for almost twelve hours above the clouds in daylight to land at Narita International Airport slightly before four o’clock Monday afternoon. An hour and ten minutes later, by express train, we were in Tokyo. By the time we got to our hotel, it was dark, and we were beat. We stumbled about six blocks to a small restaurant whose name I don’t remember and had a couple of very nice snacks, like oysters on Mapo vermicelli and fried chicken with lots of green onions. Then we stumbled back to our hotel and crashed. 

The 29^th started cloudy and ended rainy, with a forecast of one to two inches of rain. We are in the spin-off of Tropical Cyclone Kristine, which is plowing through the Philippines. We spent most of the day inside, much of it looking for a replacement lens shade that I somehow lost. The first place that we went was a six-story super Fry’s that had everything camera related but lens shades. We finally found one in another camera store several subway stops away.

If all this sounds dismal, it would be except that the food is so good and the people are so delightful. Michele thought it would be more convenient if she reserved a wheelchair for me when we landed at Narita, and the only reason I could think of was to say, “No.” was to save my pride. I was wheeled through the airport and around gates by two women and one man. All three were adorable, and they acted like I was doing them a big favor.

Tokyo is huge. California, the most populous state in the US, has a population of 39,128,162; Tokyo has a population of 37,115,035. Here is a subway map to give you an idea of its size.  

But the kicker is that the city works so well. It is clean, really clean, safe, and friendly. It may be my favorite city after only two days. Here are some pictures; more later.