First impressions from Japan

Land of the Rising Sun, indeed. The sun rises at 5 and it's growing dark past 6 already.

Welcome to日本 ...a country of extremely efficient public transport and heated toilet seats. Things seem to be incredibly well organized here and all looks very sophisticated.

Take, for example, transport. I landed in Tokyo-Narita 25 hours after my flight took off. Not that the plane had so much fuel, I just crossed the International Date Line (and lost a day in doing so). The airport looks surprisingly small - everything is within easy reach.

Earlier, I had been recommended to use the "Limousine Bus" but that'd be very much unlike me. So I looked up a train connection, which included two changeovers.

Map of the Tokyo public railway system. Go figure.

I got the first one - Narita Sky Access Line. It was efficient, clean and very fast. It appeared to run @ 160 kph, but Wikipedia claims it only runs 120. There is a Skyliner Limited Express non-stop train that actually runs @ 160.

Skyliner Limited Express leaving the Tokyo-Narita Terminal 2 station

The train departed on time. The first transfer was at Nippori - the arrival on time again. 4 minutes for a changeover to JR Yamanote line to Shibuya and the next train departed, again, right on time.

Come Shibuya, the story repeats itself, arrival spot on and 4 minutes for transfer to the Tokyu Denentoshi line to Tama Plaza. It involved a fair bit of walking, so I arrived on the platform when the train had already been there - and, typically Japanese, choke full of passengers. So I passed up on the train and got the next one (in three minutes). This one was also full to overflowing, but I made my way in.

I think I will start setting my watch according to the trains every morning. Well, maybe not. On the first day of my new job, the evening train home was a few minutes late.

The whole experience was very smooth, train ran exactly as Google Maps had told me, and English signs and announcements were everywhere to guide me to where I needed to be.

There are two stored-value cards (Pasmo and Suica) and it's incredibly easy to buy and use them on any train, subway or bus - you feel like coasting. Not to mention that the train took me to my destination in the same time as the "Limo Bus", albeit for half the price.

Alright, so what about the toilet seats and sophistication I had mentioned previously, you may ask. Well... the cold fact is, that every toilet in Japan I have sat on has a heated toilet seat. And the feeling would be something like: "Aah, that's life..."

A typical bathroom experience includes a toilet with what appears to be a fairly elaborate user's guide on the underside of the seat cover, and a sink with an automatic soap dispenser and an integrated hand-drier - an all-in-one experience. Enough talking writing, pictures will tell you more:

I don't know what I've been missing my whole life... 

Whatever you do, just don't forget a dictionary when you have to go!
Note the LED indicators at bottom left.

Guess which one flushes the toilet :-/

I'll conclude with a slightly more tasteful picture:

Lovely cherry blossoms in the streets of Yokohama

Spring is allegedly time for a change in Japan, hence the highest suicide rate this time of the year. Or, as they say in Slovakia: Marec, poberaj sa starec.

The only time a train is late in Japan is if any accident happens.

In a seemingly unrelated news, three people committed suicide that evening, which explained my train delay.