Oct 19 to 22 - Shinkansen (Bullet train) to Tokyo, Japan, Oct 19, 2017 Ray M and Roz W

Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, Day 16-19 of 19, October 19, 2017

Shinkansen leaving Tokyo - It's still going slow enough to take an un-blurred photo.  (Old brick & mortar train station in foreground)

Shinkansen & Personalized Journeys
Bullet train to Tokyo (Musashina-Mitaka Club and the Western Tokyo Club) & Personalized Journeys

By: Ray M and Roz W

240 to 320 km/h (150–200 mph)

We left Kyoto in style - on the 'Bullet Train' (Shinkansen) to Tokyo, where we were welcomed by FF  club members from Tokyo (two separate clubs working together to host us) - The Musachina Mitaka Club recently founded in 2016, and the long established Western Tokyo Club, founded in 1989.

Chris documents our happy but chaotic arrival

She bows

He bows

Our stay with these two clubs was only for three nights and 4 days.  There was one planned activity for the whole group.  The activity was an open air tour of Tokyo on the Skybus.  Well, that didn't quite work out as it was pouring rain and the bus company canceled.  Consequently, our hosts were left scrambling with what to do with the 18 of us arriving and zero whole group activity.

Right from the train station, we all split and went in different directions with our hosts.  Each of our experiences was unique and personalized.  The highlight of Roz and Russ's tour was coaching the teacher in three ESL (English as Second Language) classes at a Junior Hight School on a game of translation baseball.  Boy was that fun!  You can read more about the Worrall Travel R's experience by clicking on the links below.

Day 1, October 19, 2017 Arrival
Day 2, October 20, 2017 Junior High School Day
Day 3, October 21, 2017 Farewell Pre-Typhoon Dinner Party
Day 4, October 22, 2017 On the Nose of the Typhoon Lan

Since each of us Ambassadors had a unique homestay (Experiencing Different Views), the remaining posts of the Japan Journey will describe the personalized views of each of the Friendship Force Sacramento's Ambassadors as posts are published.   The one thing we all did have in common (Common Ground) was approaching Typhoon Lan, with Tokyo as a direct hit.  We had lots of rain, lots of concern for ourselves and our hosts, and each a unique experience as we re-arranged flights or stuck it out until the last minute.  Be sure to read all of the posts.

Everyone from the Friendship Force of Sacramento agrees, our Japan Journey has been amazing, and we are most appreciative of our Friendship Force hosts who modeled hospitality, kindness, and friendship and to our Ambassador Coordinator(s), George and Lyn M.  Thank you!

In Friendship and Peace