An Author and A Young Woman - Chapter 7: A Week in Tokyo
Chapter 7: A Week in Tokyo
Shortly before her birthday, she planned a trip to Tokyo. She wanted to explore many different parts of the world, and she thought about going to visit Europe, South America or East Asia. She wasn’t interested in going somewhere so close like Canada or Mexico, but she also didn’t want to spend too much time just to reach her destination; she crossed off Africa, Australia and Middle East from her list for this reason. She wanted to go visit Europe, but that seemed a little too ordinary. South America felt a little unsafe; though she had grown to become a very independent, capable, and strong woman, she still didn’t feel that it was a very good idea for a single young woman to travel to a country with high crime rates. She picked East Asia after these considerations and decided to spend a week in Tokyo. She felt that, while China’s economy was growing rapidly, Tokyo was still the center of Asian economy; the city was also influential city culturally and politically. It was supposed to be a relatively safe city as well. It felt right and she made the arrangement to visit the city between late November and early December, shortly after her birthday. And today, a week after her birthday was her departure date.
Diva flew from JFK to Narita, Tokyo International Airport; she arrived in Japan around noon, and she took the express train to get to the city. She took some time to find her way around, but she managed to get to Akabane district, the outer edge of Tokyo, where her hotel was located. She checked into her hotel; her room was the smallest room she ever stayed in her life. She spent the next six days sightseeing in Tokyo. She spent a day in Ikebukuro district, a day in Ueno district, two days in Shijuku district and two days in Shibuya district. Tokyo was as crowded as Delhi, though the city was much more modernized and cleaner. But she got the impression that people moved faster. Trains and buses ran with the average interval of four minutes or so, and they all came on time. People got on and off swiftly. At night, neon signs brightened up the city; Times Square in New York had a bunch of neon signs, but Tokyo was much more impressive in that regard. Also the city was full of Japanese people; it was obvious, but she’d never been to any place full of Japanese people. While she found that all major cities around the world had similar structures, she also realized that she reached yet another part of the world. She also realized that there were so many different parts of the world that she’d never been before; in fact, she’d been to only a couple of different places in this world. On one hand, she felt good about managing to come to yet another different part of the world, but, on the other hand, she felt a little sad and disappointed that there was so much more to see. When the thought came to her mind, it was already her last day in Tokyo. She went back to her hotel early so that she had enough time to pack her stuff. She left the hotel next morning, took the express train to reach the airport and took a flight back to JFK.
