24 hr Tokyo

With the delay in Hall Beach, Tokyo time was cut to a day. Plenty to see one of the busiest, most dense cities in the world right? Sooo, maybe we can't see all the sights, but the take home message is the same. Tokyo is the cleanest, most efficient, easist to navigate and polite city I've ever seen.

Please allow me to provide examples....
1. No honking. Ever.

2. There are maps upon maps upon maps. In the train and subway stations, there are maps near the ticket kiosks, beside the ticket kiosks, on the support pillars in the station, at information booths...all in English of course. And if you just can't read a color-coded, numbered, English map, there are attendants everywhere to help you. Just looking like a tourist will provoke an attendant to attempt to provide travel aid. It is easier to navigate Tokyo than my own city of Vancouver...and I lived there! If you leave the station, not to worry, there are maps outside the station on literally every corner block. They are even in the ground!

3. No litter. We have seen exactly 1 plastic bag that appeared to be litter. There are 13 MILLION people in this city and we saw a single plastic bag amiss. Mind boggling. What makes it even more unfathomable is that everything is packaged in plastic.....a single sugar cube..in plastic. A hard boiled egg...packaged. A coffee stir stick---plastic again. And there are NO trash cans. Everyone is expected to carry their trash with them and dispose of it at the place they purchased it or at a rare trash can at a train station (cans are only located inside the paid fare area).

4. No eating/drinking while walking or on subways. This explains the absolute pristine sidewalks and public spaces, including subway trains. They are immaculate because no one carries sticky stuff on and spills it. Lol.

5. The toilets and bathrooms are immaculate and over the top technological. Warmed seats, privacy music, various water jet selections to cleanse, and automatic lids. Everything I've ever heard about Japanese toilets is true and then some. Lol.

6. Signs are everywhere about being aware and considerate of other people around you. On the subway and trains, they ask that you make sure your earphone noise doesn't 'leak' out and bother other patrons. Earphone leakage!!! Are you kidding me?! We can't get folks to just USE earphones. Lol. Keyboard noise from computer work can be annoying so please keep that in mind and work to lower it. !!! Stuff like that.

It has been an eye-opening experience. No wonder people like traveling here. It's like a freakin spa retreat.Read more