A Whirlwind Trip To Tokyo, Japan

Thursday - Hachioji

As expected, today did turn out to be a short work day, due to yesterday's efficiency. The team wrapped up at about 12:30 or so. I, however, had a conference call to run beginning at noon, so instead of going to the cafeteria, we went to a small snack shop also on company grounds. The others in our party were able to buy egg sandwiches, and I opted for two nori/rice rolls - sort of like a short California roll before its cut up. The stuffing was vegetable-based, but beyond that, I couldn't be too sure. 

My conference call began on schedule, and I broke briefly to say goodbye to my compatriots. They didn't seem that sure that I'd actually ever make it back home - hopefully, I'll prove them wrong. Once the call was over, I took a few photos in the garden in front of the building. Here you can see the photos are the two interpreters we were working with - on the right is Mariko, who helped me make my reservation at the ryokan. Once done, I took a cab back to the hotel, stretched for a bit, and took off to see the sights of Hachioji. First was a long walk, just looking around - I must have seemed like the ultimate tourist - stretching my neck to look at everything. Alone now, the alienness seems even more prevalent than it had before, but in a fun, not threatening, way. I wandered all over the place - probably walking at least a few miles. And actually, the GPS did help get me back to hotel. It doesn't have roadmaps of Japan, but before I left the hotel, I marked its location, so I was able to choose the right direction back after I'd wandered too far to see what I'll call 'city center'.

Once back, I found the "high-tech toy store" that we'd visited briefly earlier in the week. This time, though, I was able to take my time - I probably spent about three hours there. There was a pretty amazing variety of stuff; most of which we *do* have at home in terms of genre, though the stuff here is subtly different. For example, just about every hi-fi system has a minidisk player in it - the typical lineup is CD, MD, and AM/FM. None of them had cassette. Also, there was a wide variety of flat-screen televisions; still a bit pricey, starting at about $700 for a 14", and working up to about $2000 for a 20
inch. If I watched television, I'd be tempted to take one home (I *think* Japan is NTSC?) And there was an opportunity to pick up a huge high-definition gas plasma display television for a mere $10,000 or so.

More manageable was a variety of ricemakers and tea makers, and numerous other goodies of all types and sizes. I had an opportunity to try out several different brands of compact folding binoculars; a purchase that's been tempting me since I knew such things existed. And if they're all equal in quality to the ones I saw, well... now I'm no longer interested in getting a set. Oh, well. And I finally did make a purchase - a rubber computer keyboard you can roll up like... well, like a California roll.

Next was a tour of the shopping mall complex attached to the rail station next to the hotel. Lots of interesting odds and ends - and many of candy/food items, as well as the usual clothing and accessories. By chance, I wandered to the basement, and that's where I hit the motherlode - the supermarket! This was a pretty amazing place, with just about anything you can imagine for sale, from desserts, to meat, to fish, to candy, to prepared foods - the Japanese equivalent of Balducci's. I took a few candid shots from waist-level; I wasn't about to be an extreme tourist and be obvious about it.
 

Dinner was achieved somewhat later by pointing at photos in a menu in a street-level restaurant. (There were McDonalds and 7-11s available, but I wouldn't be caught dead in one of them. Tomorrow will be my first full day on my own.