After having our breakfast we rushed off to the subway station in Ueno
to make our way to the Immigration Office in Tokyo. This was to facilitate
our exit since tomorrow we would not have enough time to visit all of
the offices required to comply with the rules of Japan.
The agent was in touch via email and he gave us instructions to rendezvous
with him at 11:00 AM. We arrived early and greeted the Agent upon his
arrival. Before we approached the Immigration Officer the agent said
we should wait for the other passenger who will disembark in Oakland,
CA.
The new passenger is a 38 year old man from Munich, Germany. He decided
since he flies at least 200 times a year that one time he would go around
the world without flying. He wants to circle the earth to see and experience
travel in closer contact with people, to find out their customs and
have an opportunity to talk with them about their ideas and opinions.
He has a graduate degree, and is enrolled to get another Masters at
Harvard. He said that he wanted to see the countries he was flying over.
He traveled through Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, etc, and he is looking
forward to traveling across the USA.
The new passenger was expressing some hesitation about so many days
on the Pacific Ocean in a freighter. We could tell from his questions
and concern about the length of the ocean cruise that his final decision
to cruise or fly wasn’t firm in his plans. The decision will be
clear tomorrow if he shows up for the embarkation. The process of being
given permission to exit was completed rapidly and the agent was kind
enough to take us back to the train station.
Once back to Ueno we decided to take a walk in the larger section of
Ueno Park. There are a few museums in this park. We chose to go see
the Tokyo National Museum. There were many interesting displays to look
at; Samurai head gear, full armor, swords, lovely kimonos, pottery figures,
porcelain, paintings and much more.
After walking through the Museum we enjoyed some musicians in the park
during our stroll back to the hotel. There in the park we saw a man
performing music on a saw blade which reminded us of the street musicians
that we have in Santa Cruz. 
Another
group was singing to hundreds of homeless people. Ron and I made the
assumption that they probably were going to get a free lunch since they
were sitting in an orderly fashion immediately in front of the performers.
The weather was hot & muggy but in spite of that it was great to
see that there were so many people enjoying the park this afternoon.
Other animals seemed to enjoy the park as well. There were hundreds
of pigeons on the ground, croy fish and small turtles in the ponds,
and dozens of very vocal crows in the trees.
Once we were back to our hotel room we spent several hours packing
our bags so that we’d be ready to leave early tomorrow. Those
of you who complete your packing for a trip days in advance are to be
congratulated. Packing is not a fun task. We always seem destined to
leave this job until the end.
After packing and successfully closing our suitcases we had time to
go out for one last outing. We set out to find a book that was recommended
by Cheiko-san (our earlier tour guide) and some magazines for the trip
back. The book was found at a bookstore near the Tokyo train station.
We ate dinner at that train station too.
Our visit to Japan has been filled with memories and good times with
friends; many historical Japanese tales; beautiful views; some familiar
meals and some new cuisine. Generally, the weather was decent for almost
the whole length of our visit but we are ready to go home!!
Saying goodbye from the Sofitel Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
See you tomorrow on the web site.
Cindy and Ron Sekkel
