Arrival in Tokyo

We have arrived in Tokyo. The plane ride was uneventful, though for a moment I thought we were doomed: One of the channels of in-flight audio was, I kid you not, dedicated to the songwriting of Paul Williams -- complete with an interview. Knowing my luck, I figured that Paul Williams probably controls the universe and I was going to get cosmic pay-back for writing this post. Luckily, Paul's wrath was not raged and I enjoyed some pretty great tunes -- including the Willie Nelson rendition of the Rainbow Connection. Initial impression of Japan (considering that I've yet to see daylight and anything much more than transit systems): So very clean and efficient. I can't imagine how the Japanese can travel to America and not feel completely disgusted by the general filth. And this isn't just a San Francisco or America bash -- it's an observation that is reflected in reality. Our travel companion, Barak, told us that it's one person's job to clean the handrails twice daily on the seemingly mile-long moving sidewalk that brought us to our hotel from the subway station. I touch things and do not have to worry about washing my hands immediately. Of course, this is coming from someone who carriers anti-bacterial hand wipes. Also, I spotted a number of people wearing surgical-like face masks to protect others from catching their colds. I read about this in a travel book but didn't expect it to be in practice. The mobile phone culture is amazing. In Tokyo, everyone seems to have a Internet-enabled mobile phone. On the subways and trains, however, you can not use them for phone calls. So, everyone uses them to message via email (and IM? -- I'm not sure). You'll look down the subway car and see everyone looking down at their tiny phones. I was really impressed by this. I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed by external stimuli. However, instead of stressing out, I'm forcing myself to embrace the pace. At the subway station, I literally felt like I was going in slow motion. People weren't running, they were just walking fast and being, well, efficient.