11/19/2022
Home
SAN > LAX
0400
♪ - アンジェラ・アキ「HOME」Music VideoIt’s still dark out. I can’t sleep. My dog Chew half-heartedly grabs at my toes because she knows something’s happening. I check my luggage again, making sure I pack the heavier winter clothes in my suitcase, inside a Trader Joe’s cloth bag so I can easily remove it and stow it in front of me if I get cold mid-flight. I water proofed my deer Chuck Taylor boots earlier on in the week, so I packed that as well.
Dad doesn’t understand why I’m going to Japan for a month. I lack the words to express my soul weeping and needing home.
I leash Chew up one last time for now and we head to the ATM. I grab her and use her paws to put my PIN in, then withdraw two and a half grand for now. Whatever’s left over after conversion and my trip can be put into my bank in Japan.
It sucks not buying a direct flight, but at least I get a little break when I land at LAX.
An hour later, Dad drops me off at Terminal 1, and I get Einstein bagels as my final US meal.
２０２２年１１月２０日
Terminal 2 Immigration
LAX > NRT
1358
♪ - Animal Crossing LoFi Hip Hop ✨ Past My Bedtime 🌛 20 Minute Mix
I have a backpack, a smaller suitcase filled with winter clothes, and the last of my American snacks, aside from the other three packs of Cheez-Its I bought at LAX on a whim. We got to see the sunrise as we descended into Japan, overlooking the rice fields and farmlands of Chiba, the prefecture next to my homeland. Chiba is most known for having Disneyland.
I connect to the Wi-Fi. I laugh at the absurdity of the Super Mario characters posing with “Welcome to Japan” written in various languages.
The guard stops me. I wave my red Japanese passport that designates me as an adult Japanese citizen, and her eyes widen as she waves me past the hours-long line at immigration.
After I make it past all the checkpoints and I’m properly in Japan, I’m a little sad that I don’t have family to meet me at the airport anymore. I say an Amida and wander around the updated Narita airport after grabbing all my suitcases, since I anticipate making too many purchases again because I have Adult Severance Money and No Control alongside Cuteness Aggression.
I see a Warp Tunnel from Super Mario, and I remember Japan’s presentation of accepting to be the host of the Olympics in Rio -- Shinzo Abe jumped out with a Mario hat and accepted the torch.
I step away and freeze in thought. It’s actually the second time that I’ve gone home without any of my immediate family, and the usual cousins that would get me at the airport passed a few years ago. My eyes well up when I think about how lonely I am.
Nobody can help me. Only I can.
And I think that’s part of the reason why I decided to take this sojourn.
２０２２年１１月２０日
Asakusa - Kaminarimon Station
NRT > Asakusa Station
1730
♪ - ケツメイシ「トモダチ」
We pass by the Skytree, and I make note of how close it is to my business hotel.
I finally get off the train in Asakusa and stare at Kaminarimon for the first time in almost a decade. I didn’t buy a Wi-Fi package, so I rely on the trusty McDos and get some fries and a soda.
The sun is setting. I wait to hear the chimes at 6 pm. Yuuyake Koyake, and two other songs I don’t recall. Each zip code has its own three songs that they play at sunset to remind kids to go home.
I put on my nostalgia playlist. Ketsumeishi raps about their childhood homes becoming a concrete jungle, how the monkey bars seem so small as adults. I put the hood of my jacket up and weep a bit into my French fries as I download the local maps onto my phone. I get a rough set of directions to the business hotel I booked for the month I’m there.
I had forgotten how beautiful the sunset was, and how the back alley restaurants are starting to open up.
I grab my wallet and put most of my cash in there, then put it in the bottom of my backpack so I’m not tempted to buy stupid shit. Souvenir shopping needs to happen in the latter half of my stay. From what I saw in the images when I booked the room, the room I’m in is barely enough for a mattress and two suitcases.
I marvel at how cheap everything is at the grocery store. I grab a big plate of tuna and some ingredients to make my own ahi poke. I grab the snacks from my childhood and start salivating because it only costs seventy-eight yen (sixty cents) for this candy bar that I pay three dollars for back home.
As I check out, I see a yakitori stand. I haven’t had meat in a bit, but I suck it up and place an order. The employee encourages me to hunch over so the sauce doesn’t spill on my jacket. At my request, he skewers leeks and roasts them with a salt sauce.
With my groceries done, I head over to officially check in. I’m going to go to bed after I shower in the communal stall.