Last Day: Nagoya and Tokyo

It was hard to believe that we had finally arrived at our last day in Japan. Our flight back to the States wasn’t until late that night, so we had the entire day to make our way from Kyoto to the airport in Tokyo. Our plan was to stop in Nagoya to see Marchelo’s cousin, Tyler, for lunch on the way.

We enjoyed one more meal at Mr.Doughnut with Kate and Jon before heading to the station. Once again aboard the bullet train, Nagoya came up pretty quick. Marchelo and I said our final good-byes to Kate and Jon. We really owed them so much for hosting us in this strange and wonderful country. I know we will be back soon.

We didn’t have to wait at the Nagoya station long before we met up with Tyler. While this wasn’t a city we had planned on seeing, it was so nice to have a personal tour guide. We enjoyed walking around and hearing about his experiences living abroad.

After a fabulous meal we got back on the train and keep making our way northeast to Tokyo.

So, little tip for anyone looking to travel in Japan: if you want to save money and you just need a seat, the ‘open seating’ car on the bullet train is fine, especially if it’s dark outside and there is nothing to see. However, if you are hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt.Fuji I recommend you pay extra for an assigned window seat. I wasn't able to secure a window seat in our ‘no reservations’ car, but Marchelo was able to spy the iconic mountain before it disappeared behind a veil of clouds.


We still had a little time to see more of Tokyo before we needed to head to the airport. While the hustle and bustle of a major metro area at the start of the trip might have been overwhelming, now that we had been in Japan for over a week I felt much better about exploring the city for a few hours. Just enough time for one more adventure: The Mega Tokyo Pokemon Center in Sunshine City.

Soon we were back on a commuter train, making the loop around Tokyo to take us to Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City. Think: Times Square / Third Street Promenade / Universal City Walk. It was the Saturday evening before Halloween and the place was packed.

After navigating our way around a truly dizzying landscape, we finally arrived at our destination.

The mascot of this particular pokemon store is my favorite: the dragon Charizard (aka ‘Lizardon’ in Japanese) so I definitely didn’t want to miss out this one.

Marchelo has been replicated by a ditto  O____O

I was hoping to find a newly released pokemon version of the classic 'sukajan', or Japanese 'souvenir jacket', with charizard on it instead of a more traditional Japanese dragon. It was clearly very popular and all the stores were sold out. I did still get a special pin to complete my set of one from every city we went to.

From left to right: Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto

Back in Tokyo Station, we wandered past scores of shops and kiosks on our way toward the train platform. When I spied a tiny Pokemon store I just couldn’t resist one last look around. I had just about given up when low and behold there is was: what I can only assume was the very last Charizard jacket in all of Japan, and it was even in my size! What a fantastic cherry on top of an already wonderful trip.

Wearing my new prize, we boarded the last train home.

Good-bye, Japan. Thank you for the hospitality. We truly had a Grand Adventure.

Until we meet again.

~ M+M