Getting From Here to There

One of the things Japan does very well is move millions of people a day via train and bus. Mass transit almost always runs efficiently and on time. Even the slightest delay in a train's arrival or departure will be cause for an apology issued via the train station's PA. ’Moushiwakearimasen', meaning we deeply apologize, is the word, albeit rarely, one hears on such occasions. The whole system, at least in the metropolitan areas, is a marvel of system engineering, integration, and efficiency. Quite amazing really. Trains and buses will be our primary means of getting from A to B as we have no plans to buy a car so a top-drawer mass transit system is a blessing.

In order to make use of the transit system, we needed to add an e-card app to our phones to purchase fares. Such apps are used not only for purchasing train and bus fares but also for food and drinks at train stations and konvini (convenience) stores. Suica and PassMo are the most ubiquitous apps so we loaded the Suica app on our smartphones, linked a credit card, and charged up the app with ¥5000 (~ $36.00) and we were off. One simply passes a smartphone loaded with the app over a scanner at a konvini, when entering and exiting a train station or a bus, and 'ey presto!' the fares and charges are quickly calculated and deducted from the balance. Lovely, and extremely convenient.

Our other means of conveyance, and our primary one, is by foot. Since arriving nearly three weeks ago we have walked nearly 200 km or 123 miles. In the process I have mangaged to drop about 2.5 kilos , or about 5.5 pounds. It is very humid here so at times I feel as though I've sweated my entire body weight in the 20 days we have been here. I have of course consumed an almost equal amount of water. 

More to come as time allows, there is much to write about as we, meaning Ikuko, have accomplished much in three weeks. じゃね！

Comments

mudbox said…
I imagine there's 5G coverage to support that. 🚄 My (brand name hotel chain) app is now my check in and door key. No personal interaction required. Happy travels, and good luck on moving in day.
July 30, 2022 at 5:56 AM
Anonymous said…
i'm sure you'll continue to have fun exploring your area. have a great time in your immersion course!
August 5, 2022 at 1:45 AM
Marisol Maddox said…
Very interesting that the standard practice is to use a smartphone app for metro use and food purchases. Very convenient though I wonder about people who don't have smartphones-- likely elderly people or folks from rural areas. Are smartphones that ubiquitous that it's not an issue? That idea has come up in the USA but a major reason for pushback, as you can imagine, has to do with privacy concerns.
August 11, 2022 at 7:24 AM
Kurisu aka Chris said…
In response to your statement concerning those who don't own a smartphone, there are other options such as purchasing a Suica card, which works the same way as the mobile app, or purchasing your ticket at the station. One of the reasons we chose Suica mobile was it has a good security reputation.
August 20, 2022 at 6:39 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Service Supreme

Readers of my previous posts may notice I have changed the title of this journal to 'I'm a Stranger Here Myself', a tip of the hat to Bill Bryson's wonderful book of the same name.  After some reflction I  thought 'Stranger in a Strange Land' a bit of a cliche so using Bryson's title seemed to be a better fit. i'm sure he won't mind.  I think a few words praise on the level of customer service I have experienced here are in order. On more than one occasion most of you reading this have likely encountered rude and indifferent customer service from shop clerks, wait staff, and so on in the United States and elsewhere. In Japan, t hough the level of customer service is a different story. It is innate in the Japanese culture to be polite and the service industry here exemplifies that attribute. In every restaurant and shop I have visited we've been treated akin to VIPs. There are multiple businesses at every level competing for patrons and providing ...
Read more

Changing Horses in Mid-Stream: Moving from California to Japan

After 45 years of living in the San Francisco Bay Area, 22 of them married to a Japanese woman,  Ikuko and I decided to sell our home and move to Japan. We hatched this notion some 7 years ago and after much work prepping our house for sale. jettisoning a lifetime's accumulation of 'stuff' we no longer needed and overcoming a 2-year delay, primarily covid, we finally made our goal a reality. The purpose of this online journal (I never liked the word 'blog'. To my ears it's onomatopoeic for the sound one makes when projectile vomiting after a bought of Olympic-level drinking, but I digress) is to share with loved ones not so much day to day activities but my impressions of life in Japan from the point of view of a 'gaijin', which literally translates to 'outsider'. So, I will start at the airport... We arrived at Narita, Japan's main international airport, on 7 July at 1440 (Japan typically uses the 24-hour clock) Thursday afternoon Japan time...
Read more

Language and the Lack There-of

Image
 Since I was around 10 years old I've had a fascination with languages, especially those that did not use Latin script as part of their written expression. I learned the entire Cyrillic alphabet, dozens of Chinese characters, and even Phoenician script. None of this of course got me anywhere near actual written or spoken fluency but it was a start. Fast forward 10 years to when I entered college and began learning German; 1 hour a day, 5 days per week, and hours of study for 2 years. It was only when I began to learn another language that all the English grammar, verb tenses and conjugations that I could not comprehend when I was in middle school became crystal clear. I also discovered I had a natural aptitude for learning and speaking another language. I was on my way! Now, some 50 years since my interest in language began, I find myself living in a country where my native English tongue is not widely spoken and my Japanese language skills are put to the test like they never ...
Read more