First week on Mainland Japan

Doug wrote this as a letter on Sunday, 1/18/15, to his family, but it is a good synopsis of our week.

 We've been busy apt hunting and then adventuring on the ferry.  We had a rental car (reimbursable for 7 days, but we only used 5) for the time before we went back to Okinawa.

We were quite the sight pulling out of the Nissan rental facility at Haneda trying to get the built in navigation system to find Yokota air base and finally resorting to our Garmin which decided to avoid the expressways giving us a 2 hr drive to the Kanto Lodge in the dark evening hours.  The next day we tried finding NAF Atsugi but didn't know which way to go on the Chuo expressway and ended up in Kawasaki so we skipped Atsugi and headed for Yokosuka.  After following the navi system to the dead center of Yokusuka instead of the part of town by the base, and then being turned away at a Japanese naval base, we finally found the right gate and saw the location of my class.  We then picked up our ETC card from the company we signed up with and headed back to find Atsugi.  After several more failed attempts but great exposure to the expressway system, we decided to just return to Yokota.

The next morning we started off again towards Camp Zama and NAF Atsugi.  We liked the quiet, peaceful feel of Camp Zama but found the lodge there to be too expensive with too-little space even though we could have gotten a long-term room.  Next, to the elusive NAF Atsugi.  After many wrong turns and narrow streets we finally found the main gate temporarily closed with a detour to the other side of the base.  At that gate the guard didn't want to let our rental vehicle in without a pass, and sent us back to the gate that we had just tried.  They decided my ID needed to be registered with DBIDS with two more pictures and two additional finger prints before the car pass could be issued.  After finally getting into the base, we struck out at both the Navy Lodge and the Navy Gateway Inn and Suites.  Since it was Saturday evening we decided to head back before it got dark.  By then we at least knew the fastest way to get back to Yokota.

The next morning, while getting ready for church we decided to attend the Zama Military Ward with hopes that we could drive by an apartment I had seen listed among those that were short-term furnished.  It was interesting in that ward, the counselor who conducted and his wife were both in my singles ward at BYUH.  He is a contractor with Army Intelligence.  After church we drove by the apartment and decided to pursue it later in the week when we could get back with the listing agent.

Monday morning we decided to forego any adventures and headed straight for Narita.  Ellen was exhausted after navigating us on the expressways through Tokyo and then about 15 kilometers from Narita we discovered that the instructions for the rental return had a location code for the navigation system and we could have had clear, concise instructions about getting through Tokyo.  We have decided any future trips into Tokyo will be by train/subway!  But we successfully made it to Narita with several hours to spare and were picking our car up in Okinawa as the sun went down that day. We spent the night in Naha at a Comfort Inn hotel near the ferry terminal since we had to have the car there by 6am.  We had an interesting experience with the small parking garage that the hotel contracts with watching our car rotate around a Ferris wheel-type devise and hoping that we had successfully communicated that we needed the car at 5:30am even though they didn't open until 7am.  With lots of hand gestures, we left assured that the car would be parked in front and the keys at the hotel desk.  Of course, I didn't sleep much worrying about the car, the ferry, and everything in between.  But at 5:30 am I retrieved the keys from the hotel desk and walked to the garage and found the car sitting out front.  We then drove the five blocks to the ferry terminal and waited to purchase our tickets and then drive the car onto the ferry!

The ferry trip was very uneventful.  We were the only Americans on the ferry.  The weather was cool and partly cloudy but I enjoyed the sea air much better than the two "seats" we were assigned, which were actually two sleeping mats in a room with about 30 other mats.  We were the only two in the room until the second to last stop when about 10 more people were added to our room.  The night passage went well but neither of us slept much since the electrical plug we had our cpap machines plugged in to went out when the lights went off!.  I enjoyed watching every stop.  The precision and organization of the dock crews were really impressive.

Wednesday morning after just over 24 hrs on the ferry, we docked at Kagoshima and we drove the car off the boat and began our lengthy drive up the mainland.  Ellen did an amazing job getting us through the cities out to the expressways.  Once on the expressways we found it much more convenient to eat and fill up at the rest areas.  We did venture into Hiroshima late on Wednesday and walked around the Peace Memorial.  We then drove on as far as Okayama where we stayed at a Comfort Inn Hotel and had a delicious dinner at a small Indian restaurant.  Parking at that hotel was much simpler even though it likewise was several blocks down the street.

Our second day of driving was through rain and drizzle all day.  Google Maps said it was about the same distance going through Nagano or the coastal route. Having enjoyed the mountainous terrain in Kyushu the previous day we opted for the mountains again.  After about 80 km out of Kyoto towards Nagano, we were detoured off the expressway.  Several times we saw electric signs with red kanji but no indication that the road was closed.  So we tried entering back on to the freeway but this time a highway worker explained in Japanese that the expressway to "Nagano... closed... snow". So we back-tracked and came up the other expressway.  We arrived at the Kanto Lodge late in the evening after two full days of driving and over $300 in toll fees.

Friday was spent registering at the base pass office, at the post office, at the hospital, and at Bonzai Burritos!  Yesterday we rode the train into an area in north Tokyo to meet with the rental agent.  We found out that the apartment we saw earlier wasn't "furnished" and then found out that "furnished" really only means "appliances".  Since we really don't want to deal with buying or renting all of the "furniture" it looks like the closest truly furnished, short-term lease apartments (mansions) are in Yokohama, and are considerably higher than what we will pay here at the Kanto.  We actually find the 1bedroom suite room quite sufficient and are happy enough to stay here.

So that's a much more detailed account of our latest adventures than I intended to give.  Tomorrow classes start and I will begin the 8 week session with Monday and Wednesday evenings at NAF Atsugi, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at CFA Yokosuka, and Friday evening at Camp Zama.  After all the practice at expressway driving, I should be able to do it without Ellen's navigation!  We did decide to invest in a smartphone (Au) to help with getting around.  It was great yesterday having precise directions for the trains into Tokyo.  I will take that phone with me while I travel. 

We drove from southern Japan: Kagoshima, to Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka,
Kyoto, Nagoya then arrived at Fussa (Yokota AFB) about an hour out of Tokyo.  From Nagoya we tried to take the green expressway to Naporo, but it was closed due to snow.  We took the blue expressway and went by Mt Fuji - but it was so rainy we didn't see anything.