Back to Tokyo - July 15

We awoke our final morning in Sapporo to a brilliant, sunny day.  Dang!  It had been overcast and chilly most of our time in the city.  But that morning the sun was shining and the surrounding mountains were beckoning.  This was the one point on the trip so far when I wished I’d planned differently and allowed one more day.  I didn’t feel quite done, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

We had a smooth flight back to Tokyo.  I’m not sure if it was for our benefit, or whether it’s routine, but all the announcements on the flight were made in Japanese and English.  They really did quite a good job with the English, overall.  Nevertheless, we did have one moment of ill-contained mirth when the guests were implored, over the loud speaker, to “Prease turn off all erect-ronic debices.”  It brings to mind another story - probably just urban legend - embedded in MacArthur’s popularity in post-war Japan.  He oversaw the occupation of Japan and supposedly at one point was facing an election of some sort.  Rumor has it a group of supportive Japanese produced a series of posters announcing “We Pray for your Erection.”  Those pesky little r's and l's!

We stepped off the plane and were blasted by Tokyo humidity and heat.  I literally gasped.  After Hokkaido, which was so much like the Pacific Northwest, it was a shock!  But we found our way “home” to Joy and it was good to be with her in familiar surroundings.  After a chance to rest a bit, she whisked us off for a little shopping tour.  First we wandered through some of the back streets near her home, full of wonderful little shops.  

Then it was on to Ikebukuro.  Or Ike-bag, as we called it in High School.  (You have to speak Japanese.  An explanation isn’t worth it.)  Joy was incredibly patient with our absorption in all the wonderful little things we wanted to look at.  It was fun to be in the evening fray and we found some good “omiyage” (gifts) to take back home.  Can I just say...  for a country of people who are so sensitive about not imposing noise on each other, on at a personal level... the shopping areas are - to American sensibilities - shockingly loud.  There’s amplified music, people bellowing advertisements into megaphones, people screaming invitations from their shop fronts, talking at you as they shove things into your hands as you pass by, etc.  It’s one of those surprising contradictions that exist in every culture.

We retreated back to Joy’s for a long and delightful evening of cold showers and fans; then stories and pictures swapped over the dining room table.