Getting lost in Tokyo after landing

In September 2014 I made my first trip to Japan and already after the arrival it became difficult and time-consuming to just find the hotel - despite maps!

Coming from Düsseldorf in Germany it took like seven hours to the stopover in Dubai and ten more hours from there to Tokyo. I travelled there with a former working colleague who also had the dream to visit the country of anime, manga and videogames.

After 20 hours since leaving Germany around 11 P.M. on a Friday evening we could finally see the lights of Japans biggest city while flying over the Tokyo Bay before the plane landed at the Tokyo International Airport Haneda.

We got our luggage, went through the customs and got an entry in the passport before we were heading to the train station. First it was a bit stressful, because we knew that around midnight the last train would leave. But we also had to get some Yen, so we were looking for an ATM machine. Of course we weren't the only ones who wanted to withdraw money and unfortunately there was also a machine out of service...

But luckily we could make it and we were heading to the ticket machine. We knew to which station we had to go - at least roughly which means leaving the airport station to the Shinagawa station and from there to Shimbashi which should be close to the hotel. But at first it was all quite confusing.

Fortunately there was staff helping people to get their tickets - which was a big advantage for foreigners like us. So we got the tickets and went to the station to catch the train. While we were checking the plan and tickets to guess which line we should take two Japanese girls came to us asking if we need help - apparently we still looking confused.

So I showed them my ticket and then they checked their mobile phone app to find out at what time the train will arrive and which line it is. They asked for a piece of paper to write down the times.  I gave them a bill from a purchase of the Düsseldorf airport for that. The note looked like this:

Shinagawa
STA 0:11
JR Yamanote Line
STD 0:15

So the obviously final train arrived and we were heading to the Shinagawa and then we switched their to the JR Yamanote Line.

It was shortly after midnight as we arrived at the Shimbashi station. After leaving the metro I got my first real impression of Tokyo: High store buildings, people moving from one side to another and this old impressive loc standing outside of the Shimbashi station. At that point it was clear: You're there. You actually arrived in Japan.

We knew it's only a few hundred meters to reach the hotel to get some sleep - but we didn't know that it would take us around two hours to get there! As I know now we went into the wrong direction from the start. I had a map with me, but in hindsight it might would have been better to check it more properly. Maybe the concentration wasn't that well after this long flights, maybe we were also overwhelmed by being in a city so far away.

So we walked with the luggage along several streets only to find out that we would see less and less people. I asked some individuals which were crossing our path to tell us where we were on the map. At this point my Japanese knowledge was not really usable for proper conversations so I tried with English - but unfortunately we only met people with bad or even no English skills.

Nevertheless they tried to help us as good they could. They were mostly speaking Japanese and tried to gesticulate the direction. Either they pointed us several times in wrong direction or we messed up - I would bet on the last one.

I remember one interesting situation where I asked someone and we were told to follow that person to a little shop where the cashier was questioned about the direction. I can't even surely say anymore if the cashier was male or female, but that person was wearing a mask like many Japanese people. We got a mark on the map and gesticulations where to go.

But it was despairing, me and my travel companion weren't sure of the direction - we sometimes also had different opinions. But at one point I was sure that we should be very close. I saw something which was on the map near the hotel.

And then after walking through a dark alley we finally reached a big building called the Shiodome Media Tower which was at the exact same place where our hotel should be. So we went in and it looked like that nobody was there.

Somehow we found an elevator where we realized that the hotel actually begins at the 25th floor! We haven't had this information before, but we were relieved to finally get there. So we went to the reception, checked in and a women working there moved our luggage on a small wagon to the 'next elevator' and then to our room. 29th floor. Finally. It was already past 2 A.M. on Saturday.

And I also needed something to drink urgently - in all the hurry and desperation while running through the unknown I hadn't bought anything. Usually I don't use the minibar in hotel rooms, but in this exception it was an emergency. The 300 Yen for a bottle of water was worth it.

That's how the 'first day' in Tokyo ended and we got the necessary sleep. That was just the beginning and eight more days to follow - and this wasn't the only time we got lost...