Travels in the Land of Hunger

SAYONARA 日本

Sunday, March 21, 2004

After three-and-a-half years I will be departing Japan on March 29 to travel for five months through the continents of Asia and Europe; a journey that I have been dreaming about since high school.

The road before me runs through South Korea, the nations of Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia, Scandinavia, and the states of Eastern and Western Europe. The goal is to make as much of the journey by land and sea–rather than by air–to gain a sense of the distances that separates the unique people, cultures, languages, cities, and countries that I will encounter. The road will be long, and at times arduous, as I travel alone through the lands of Eurasia, but one that promises much beauty, mystery, and adventure.

Domenico です

Posted by The Legacy Cycle at 2004-03-21T08:12:00-08:00

Monday, March 29, 2004

I said goodbye to Japan today after more than three years. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. in the small, narrow one-bedroom apartment of my Canadian friend of South Korean descent, Thomas Lee. I sat up from the futon, allowed my eyes to adjust to the dim morning light, looked to the window, and touched the tatami floor taking a deep breath. It is done, I thought. The life I had enjoyed in the Land of the Rising Sun was now at a melancholic end. My apartment–a few minutes' walk from Thom's place–was empty as I had either shipped all that was precious to me back to the U.S. or had given items and appliances (such as the rice cooker I found in the garbage a few days after I moved into my apartment a couple of years back) to friends. The electricity, water, and gas had been shut off on March 28.

I quietly stood up and took a few steps to reach the bathroom that (like most apartment bathrooms in Japan) looked almost identical to a commercial airliner lavatory: cramped. I showered, brushed my teeth, put on my clothes, cleaned my glasses, and checked my bag. It was time to go.

Thomas–now awake–approached me. I thanked him for his hospitality and friendship, and we said our goodbyes not knowing when we would see each other again.

I walked down the steps from his apartment to the street and walked through the town of Shiki with my black travel backpack hanging from my right shoulder. I took my routine route to the Tobu-Tojo Line's Shiki Station feeling, along the way, the weight of my bag beginning to pain my shoulder and lower back.

At the station, I saw the usual morning scene of uniformed school children as young as six smiling and talking as they waited for the next train, and salarymen (white-collar businessmen) dressed in dark business suits along with career women and office ladies lining up on the platform. Surprisingly, in all my years in Japan, I saw for the first time the white-gloved pushers; the railway station attendants who literally pushed passengers into beyond capacity trains. I began to line up knowing that the 20-minute train ride to Ikebukuro Station was going to be very unpleasant. Passengers began to glare at me in strong disapproval of my large backpack, which would occupy valuable maneuvering space.

The train arrived, the doors opened, a person or two exited, and the mad rush of people and children began the impossible squeeze into the already packed train. I was able to get on, but there I stood with people pressed against all sides of my body. I gripped the leather handle of my bag that I held vertically against my right leg and saw the pushers shoving the last few people onto the train. The doors closed and the trained moved causing the weight of several people who lost their balance to push against me. In typical Japanese fashion, we all kept our heads down and avoided eye contact as we tried to bare the uncomfortable journey.

Each stop brought welcomed fresh air as the train doors opened to trade a few exiting passengers for those who wanted to enter.

After arriving to Ikebukuro Station, I joined the rush through the ticket gates hearing the rapid clicking sounds of all the passengers who were swiping their electronic train cards to exit. I made my way to the green Yamanote Line and took the train to Shinjuku Station arriving at 7:00 a.m., which was an hour before the Narita Express was to depart for the airport.