Our International Travels Begin- in JAPAN!

We arrived at Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo at 7am. We spoke with customs and then were driven to the Immigration office where we received a stamp in our passports allowing us 90 days in Japan. From there we took a shuttle bus to the New Sanno Hotel, in downtown Tokyo, about an hour ride. I was just glad we weren't doing the driving, look at this sign!

We brought lots of warm clothes and heavy coats to prepare for Japan's cold weather, so we were pretty shocked to arrive on a sunny, 70 degree day. It also happened to be the warmest day of our stay. The next day brought the weather we expected.

There is a 19 hour time difference from Hawaii, where we had just come from. Fortunately we slept most of the flight so our early arrival into Japan, pretty much adjusted us right from the start. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed off to see the city. It was a pleasant surprise to find many of the signs are in English. The city map showed lots of parks nearby, so we set off to find a few.
Sadly, the "children's parks" downtown look like this. This is the entire "park"- 2 wobbly horses. As my friend pointed out, "good thing I only have two kids!"

Then we found Arisugawanomiya Park. This was a typical Japanese park with a lake and bridges and trails, and it was lovely!

This park was just a few blocks from our hotel, so we came here a few different times.

We found two quite large green snakes on this tree. 

A few things that we noticed right away, of course they drive on the opposite side of the street in Japan, but many people use bikes to get around. You'll actually see thousands of bikes parked, unlocked, along the streets.

Children barely older than my own kids were walking to school alone or in small groups. Some use the subway completely by themselves. I love seeing them in their uniforms, though they must be cold. I thought it was cute that a couple of them were checking out Asher as they passed each other.

You'll also notice those yellow lines on every single sidewalk and subway station. Under the yellow paint are long bars that aid the blind in getting around town. I'm impressed by their consideration for that segment of their population.

Cemeteries in the downtown area are tucked between a residential area and a wall along a main street.

We ended our first night with dinner at a sushi restaurant near the hotel. We quickly realized that American sushi and real Japanese sushi are really quite different. Japanese sushi is simple, fresh and it's frowned upon to use soy sauce. American sushi has crazy combinations of items, lots of different sauces and my favorite, deep fried rolls. Sadly Asher fell asleep before we were even served, so he missed out on our first sushi dinner. He was also a heavy load to carry back to the hotel.