Narita (成田)

It's actually very hard to tell whether a skyscraper is being built, or whether it's being taken down in Tokyo. The two look very similar as demolution also needs to be done very carefully not to disturb the surrounding area, and explosives are generally not an option. The easiest way to tell is probably to take a marker, come back a week later and work out whether the tower got shorter or taller.

After spending so much time in my previous posts talking about just how busy the train system can be in Tokyo, it's worth mentioning that the pedestrian activity is holding up to the same standards. Walking through some streets requires collision avoidance to be woken up before starting to walk, and even then it's hard to always get a perfectly smooth walking pace going. But it's fascinating being able to watch so many people, at the same time, doing so many different things. And as opposed to a lot of other crowded cities around the world, Japan has a very safe feeling about it where you don't need to get worried about being cornered.

But, as I'm sure my friends back home would happily remind me, like all good things, our travels must end.

While we may not have been sharing in the same excitement, our luggage was certainly keen on getting back home. When we got to the check-in counter, the person serving us got a phone call. We continued to place our luggage on the conveyer belt, shortly after which the conveyer belts sprang into action and started to move the luggage away. With the non-phone hand, the attendant serving us made a grab for the luggage and two more attendants also came running to hold it back as the grip of our attendant was slipping. With three against one however it admitted defeat and let the conquering attendants put a collar on the grip before letting it loose again.

But otherwise it's time to leave. Goodbye Japan. I'll miss you. But I'm sure that that this also won't be the last time I'll see you.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

P.S.: It would appear that nobody found Washinoko in the Kyoto post, so here's the answer: He's in the picture with the long escalator, standing at the left hand of the horizontal hand rail, in front of the escalator. He's also about 42 pixels in that picture.