130th Street. Japan Trip! December 12th - 22nd! [PART 1]

Folks,

In case you have been wondering, and I hope you DID wonder, where I have gone for the past two weeks, I was in Japan. Yes, Japan. Visiting Japan has always been one of my dreams. Not only do I have several friends there, I have always been fascinated by Japan. Personally, as a manga artist, visiting Japan is like a pilgrimmage. Almost like, you can't really call yourself a manga artist until you have been to Japan and see for yourself the very land that gave manga and anime to the world.

My friend and I arrived in Tokyo during the early morning of December 13th. Our Japanese friend, Megumi was there to receive us. She told us that Tokyo has a pretty complext railway system with over 16 railway companies providing different transportation services throughout Japan. My Japanese isn't really good, and it took me a while to be able to read the names of the stations. Most maps have English names along with the Japanese names. Most maps, however, don't.

There are generally 3 Types of transportation offered: The Normal, The Rapid and The Express. The Normal train does what every train in the world does, it moves and stops at every designated stop. The Rapid however, stops only at selected stations. It is meant for those who wish to reach far destinations faster. The Express, stops only at four stops before speeding to the designated station. The designated station is usually a HUGE station where people can make even more transfers to other destinations throughout Japan. Undoubtedly, I was utterly confused over what to take during the first day in Japan, but after endless questioning and frustrations, we managed to get around.

Our hotel was called "Hotel Dormy Inn". It is a Japanese style hotel located at the financial district of Tokyo known as Hatchobori. We had to wait till it was 0330pm before we could check in, and we used to time to explore a little of downtown Ginza. No surpirse Ginza is littered with classy French and American brands from Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, and GAP. And boy were they all expensive. Yet, practically every Japanese girl was armed with at least a Chanel bag. Most of them had their Louis Vuittons. It is no surprise therefore that Japan consumes over 1/3 of Louis Vuitton's total bag production!!!!!

We stayed only a day in Tokyo, before setting out to Kyoto. That, which I will tell you more about in the next update!