Japanese people manage to be highly punctual, which both amazes and humbles me, given that getting anywhere in Japan is like going on a treasure hunt. Very few streets have names and the buildings are numbered randomly and seemingly in no particular order. I learned that there is a reason for their numbering. In Japan, buildings are numbered according to when they were built. So, if you know the history of the neighborhood or city you're going to, you will find your restaurant before you starve to death. We didn't.
One day we rented a car to drive from Tokyo to Mount Fugi. It took us two hours to get out of the city and we only achieved that by asking strangers for directions about a dozen times. Our rental car did have a navigation system but it wasn't much help since the directions were spoken and written in Japanese. Our friends were fluent enough to decipher about 20%. Tom's wife, Ellen, remarked, "I have learned to give myself credit for the small achievements - like finding my way home again. I've also learned to bring a cooler with food and beverages along on road trips so we don't get desperate."
My advice is take the train whenever you can. Japanese trains are amazing. I'll cover that in my next blog.
