![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.animenation.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/day1a.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDespite my anxiety over my snoring disturbing surrounding passengers, I did sleep through much of the twelve-hour and twelve-minute flight. Phil, on the other hand, slept very little of the way over.<\/p>\n
After landing at Haneda Airport, we disembarked the plane and walked toward immigration. Phil had reset his \u201cVisit Japan\u201d website password, which allowed him to complete his immigration application online. I\u2019d forgotten my password, so I requested paper disembarkation card and customs declaration from a flight attendant before landing. Although we went to different immigration officers, we both passed through the checkpoint quickly. Then we waited at the \u201cA\u201d turnstile for our bags to emerge. After collecting our checked baggage, I entered one of the customs inspection lines for paper forms while Phil stood in one of the lines for visitors with digital submission forms. Somehow, I exited into the airport lobby several minutes before Phil did.<\/p>\n
For sake of convenience, we decided to each convert $200 cash into Japanese yen at the airport-operated currency exchange counter. We received a rate of 141 yen to the dollar. Then we headed downstairs to the train terminal. An attendant confirmed that I could top-off my 2018 Suika card, which had just under 600 yen on it. I put 10,000 yen on the card. Then I purchased, from the machine, a second card for Phil, this one the machine\u2019s default PASMO card. At Phil\u2019s request, I put 5,000 yen on his card. We then entered the terminal for the Keisei Line train that took us to Aoto Station.<\/p>\n
We reached the \u201cAoto Residence<\/a>\u201d two-story house rental at 5 Chome 4-1 Aoto, Katsushika, just past 4pm. The code to unlock the front door worked properly. The wireless tablet that we were expected to use to check-in hadn\u2019t been charged and barely turned on. Moreover, we discovered that we didn\u2019t have the registration code number that the check-in system wanted. So after some futile attempts, Phil called the rental outfit, getting in touch with a representative who spoke little English. The representative okayed our arrival. Then we discovered that the first-floor television set wouldn\u2019t turn on. We presumed that the remote control batteries were drained.<\/p>\n Phil & I decided to take a short walk back toward the Aoto station. I pointed out a restaurant sign offering katsudon curry. Phil said, \u201cOkay,\u201d so we entered the Geo-ge restaurant. The establishment interior somewhat resembled a tiki bar. Along one wall rested a framed painting of an elderly Donald Trump dressed in tuxedo brandishing two automatic pistols as if he was an action-film spy. A singular, thin older Japanese lady with a bob-cut welcomed us into the restaurant and served us damp, cold towels, cups of water, and three laminated pages with photographs of the menu items. I selected a plate of katsu curry. Phil opted for beef curry with rice and shredded beef strips. The proprietress cooked our food and served us plates with two serving pitchers filled with curry. The meals for both of us cost just over 2,000 yen.<\/p>\n After our meal, Phil announced that he was dead tired and ready to turn in. I planned to try to locate the Furuhon Ichiba Shinkoiwa anime shop. Unfortunately for me, I couldn\u2019t get convince the smartphone Phil had lent me for the trip to deliver real-time navigation directions to the store. Eventually, by switching various permissions on, I coaxed the phone to show me walking directions, but I still couldn\u2019t figure out a train itinerary. So I made the foolhardy decision to walk the 50-minute trip to the store.<\/p>\n The density of the Japanese suburb seemed to confuse the Google navigation, as it took me on an unnecessarily roundabout path. But about an hour later I reached the store at 7pm, and hour before it was scheduled to close. The Furuhon Ichiba store turned out to be two-stories. The ground floor was devoted mostly to video games. One and a half aisles were second-hand anime figures while the remaining half-aisle was \u201cclearance\u201d anime goods. The second floor was manga with a small selection of artbooks and video game strategy guides. I was hoping that since the store was somewhat well outside of the Yamanote circle, its prices would be cheaper, its selection would be deeper, or both. So I was a bit disappointed, especially after the hour\u2019s walk, to find neither circumstance the case. The prices seemed mostly on par with the prices I expected of central Tokyo anime shops. The store\u2019s selection of figures was likewise comparable to my expectations of a typical Akihabara store. The \u201cclearance\u201d section prices struck me as moderately high. In a bin of 100-yen drink coasters, I found rubber Ichiban Kuji coasters of Jewelry Bonny and Dr. Vegapunk from the One Piece \u201cEgghead\u201d arc, and a Sakura Haruno square rubber coaster. Apart from the large bills in my wallet, I had 312 yen in coins. I wasn\u2019t certain whether or not these coasters\u2019 prices included sales tax, so I took only the two One Piece coasters to the check-out counter. The cashier asked me for exactly 200 yen. So I purchased the two pieces for Phil and departed the store.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n