I just boarded the Shinkansen in Nagano, bound for Tokyo, after leaving Matsumoto at 1205. The ride up to Nagano was pretty spectacular, but what really impressed me was how they ever built this rail system. At one point we went through three tunnels in a row, each under a mountain, and the last was at least five miles long. We were climbing through the first two and half miles of the long one, then you could feel that we hit a summit point and began accelerating down the other side. To tunnel under all these mountains was quite an engineering and construction feat and I would bet many lives were lost in the undertaking.
I would like to return to Matsumoto with Terri some day. There was so much to like about that city and so many outlying places to visit -- onsens, hiking trails, skiing. People are so nice in Japan. Yesterday I needed air in my rear bike tire and asked a shop owner if she knew where I could find an air pump. She showed me on a map, then actually left her shop and walked me two blocks to ensure I made the correct turn. Here you just don't worry about anyone taking what is yours. If it isn't theirs, it will not be touched. There is an amazing focus on the greater good of all in this country, which is especially evident in the smaller cities. I don't tend to spend much time in the major metropolitan areas when I come here, so maybe it is different in Tokyo. There is a strong pressure to conform in Japan, which can be the downside of their system, but that is the trade off for a system that seems to work pretty well for the greater good.
The down side is the close proximity everyone is to one another. As the train rolls toward Tokyo, the endless suburbs pack in tighter and tighter like ant farms or schooling fish. They stretch as far as the eye can see through incessant haze, the houses and buildings growing tighter and more vertical as we plunge deeper into the city. Cranes perch atop new projects in every direction and power lines hang like nets cast over the landscape. The houses become so tightly packed, there is often only a foot of space between them, leaving only a front and back side for ventilation. There are the ever-present lines of drying clothes hung on the back balcony, and for many, the train roars by so close you could almost reach out and high five the owner as we pass.
As a designer, I'm always checking out architecture. The older buildings have timeless bones and there are still plenty of them gracing the countryside or tucked into the city so as to be hardly noticeable, but the "modern" homes are sometimes comical in the owner's attempt to individuate. I've seen everything from Greek Revival, to Spanish casitas, to early Graceland. All of them capturing some of the flavor, but none of them really quite pulling it off. I do love the Japanese contemporary architecture that is typically very stark -- architectural concrete and glass -- very minimalist. And of course, the traditional Japanese architecture and landscape integration has very much influenced my own design style.
I'm now at Narita, proud of myself for navigating through the several train terminals with the very tight connection times that are provided. It's really a matter of paying attention, because the signs are usually there, and if I calm myself down, it is like a game of Trivial Pursuit. I just had some tempura and a salad and cold sake. I know they'll feed us on the plane, but it won't be as tasty, and I plan on going to sleep as soon as possible in order to start angling back to US time. It is 5:32 pm here now and 3:32 am in Austin. If I can get some early sleep and get closer to US time by the time I reach LA at 2:35 pm today, maybe I will be bright eyed and chipper when I get home. Ha! Who am I trying to kid?
Well, it's about time to go check in downstairs. And I still need to find a pencil pouch for Terri. I've found one, but it was cheesy, so...still searching.
Signing off from Tokyo...
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