An anachronstic vision of the future

Tokyo Narita

Arriving at Narita felt much the same as previous times, except I knew what to expect. I think what I didn’t expect was how much has not changed in 15 years. From filling out the entry cards (its all manual here) to paying for a train ticket (cash is king, card options are limited, good luck doing anything online ) It feels strange to be in a place which is so futuristic but in many ways has not adopted the future its had a major role in creating. Many things feel oddly anachronistic.

When you step of the plane, it doesn’t take long before Japan gets weird. People wearing animal masks taking selfies on the gangway. Admittedly they were probably foreign visitors leaning into the culture a bit too hard but all the same you wouldn’t see that anywhere else in the world.

Last week I was briefly in London, England and I remember thinking, when I was waiting in line at  Heathrow ,how polite everyone was (even compared to Canada where I’d travelled from). But here in Japan its next level. Polite, Clean, Orderly. And that's everywhere, not just the airport. Its very hard not to notice it immediately.

The other overwhelming thing was the heat and humidity. Beyond anything I experienced this summer in North America. And actually unusual for this time of year. it was 32c with 80% humidity in the late afternoon.