Delta Airlines took good care of us on the 12 hour direct flight from MSP to Tokyo's Haneda airport. The plane was only about half full, so we each got to spread out on a couple of seats. Still, sleep didn't come easily and we arrived tired.
The OAT representative was right there to greet us, and put us in a private van for the hour+ ride to the hotel in heavy traffic. The impression of being in a foreign place is strong -- perhaps even more than landing in China, where many buildings and businesses have signage in English. There's very little of that here.
Another couple in our group sent a WhatsApp message to the rest of us, inviting us to a happy hour in the hotel breakfast room. We had an opportunity to meet most of our group, though a few were yet to arrive. It appears that we'll have a dozen fellow travelers for a group of 14. Most are experienced travelers and seem to be nice folks. And our tour leader, Mariko, presented herself well on first meeting.
After the gathering, the two of us walked around the neighborhood a bit. We are in the Shinjuku neighborhood, west of the city center, so what we saw was only a tiny slice of Tokyo. But the area around us is as bustling and busy downtown Minneapolis on a holiday evening. The weather was very pleasant.
Though we were searching for a noodle shop for a light bowl of soup, we wound up getting some sandwich wrap things in one of the many bodegas (though I'm sure they call these convenience stores by some other name here). Seven-Eleven is huge here.
Our hotel room is small, but comfortable and we slept well and are eager to begin our first day of the tour.
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