No Regrets!

So the baseball gods frowned upon us, knocking out all Tokyo teams and sending the Hanshin Tigers and Softbank Hawks to the Japan Series. Games will be in Osaka and Fukuoka, too far for us to reach easily from Tokyo. Alas, there will be no live Japanese baseball for us on this trip. We will have to settle for the local sports bar experience in Tokyo.

With 48 hours to go, notifications and reminders for activities booked in Japan started to roll in, and excitement started to build. This is also when Dave sent me a flurry of frantic texts about the TSA-certified locks on his fancy new luggage breaking. Dave travels with a baseline level of anxiety, heightened by broken zippers and tall buildings. “It will be all right, Dave. Deep breaths.” I reminded Dave that his fancy new luggage is sentient and will likely fix itself before he heads to the airport.

In true Jeff fashion, I scramble-packed the night before my flight. It was a rush job, But after six months of planning and a packing list generated by ChatGPT, I feel confident I’ve got it covered.

Weather Prep (Tokyo → Hiroshima → Fukuoka)

• • Temps: 50s–60s °F (10–18 °C) most days.
  • Layers are key: cool mornings/evenings, mild afternoons.

Core Wardrobe

• • 4–5 casual tops (long-sleeve + short-sleeve mix for layering).
  • 2–3 smart-casual shirts (button-downs or polos) for nicer dinners (e.g., Nogizaka Shin, teppanyaki).
  • 1 lightweight sweater or pullover (great for layering under a jacket).
  • 1 warm cardigan or hoodie (for casual nights, hotel lounges).
  • 1–2 nicer outfits (dress shirt + slacks or dark jeans) for bougie dinners.
  • 3–4 pairs pants: mix of jeans, chinos, or travel pants.
  • 1 packable down jacket or medium-weight coat (essential for evenings, esp. in Kyoto/Osaka).
  • 1 light rain shell or umbrella (November has occasional rain).

Footwear

• • 1 pair comfortable walking shoes (you’ll be walking a lot — temples, gardens, markets).
  • 1 pair nicer shoes (for upscale restaurants, bars).
  • 1 pair slip-ons or sandals (convenient for ryokan, temples, or hotel use).

Specialty / Situational

• • Socks galore (7–10 pairs; you’ll be removing shoes often in temples, ryokan, etc.).
  • Undergarments for ~10 days (laundry mid-trip possible at hotels).
  • Scarf + gloves (lightweight) — not mandatory but nice for chilly evenings.
  • 1 set of lounge/onsen wear (though many ryokan provide yukata).
  • Athletic gear (if you plan any morning jogs or hotel gym use).
  • Swimwear (if you’ll use a hotel pool/onsen that requires bathing suits — rare, but some spas do).

Accessories

• • Compact umbrella (essential in Japan, sold everywhere too).
  • Daypack / sling bag for daily outings.
  • Collapsible tote for shopping/overflow.
  • Hat & sunglasses (sun can still be strong mid-day).
  • Face masks (still commonly used on trains/crowded areas).

Evening / Nightlife Touches

• • 1 sharp casual jacket or blazer — optional, but fits well for high-end dining or bar nights in Tokyo/Osaka.
  • Dark jeans / chinos — flexible for both nightlife and day wear.

Woke up early this morning, called an Uber, and I was off. Got to the airport, checked in, and headed to the gate. Everything went off without a hitch except for the yogurt and apple juice I left on my kitchen table. Coin flip that it explodes before I get home in 18 days.

The first leg of my journey was from DC to Chicago. After sending Dave a picture of my cramped seating in coach, he lambasted me for my choice in travel pants. While he is surely draped in casual, loose-fitting athletic wear, uniform of his cushy south Florida lifestyle, I am wearing jeans and a hoodie for the long haul to Japan. I reassured Dave that my jeans are stretchy and comfy, and that seems to have satisfied him for now.

Due to a late landing, it was a quick jog through the airport to catch my connecting flight to Tokyo. People waiting at the gate were about 20% Japanese, far lower than I would have expected. Are the rest tourists?

Then it was time to board our Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. Big plane, as expected, with a 3-3-3 seating arrangement in coach. I’m sitting in 53A with a window seat on the left side, on Chat GPT’s guidance that the left side has the best views of Mt. Fuji when flying into Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. I’m excited for this, bouncing in my seat and looking around wide-eyed. I think I’m more excited about this trip than just about anyone else on this plane.

Next to me is an older Taiwanese gentleman flying with his wife. I just helped him plug his USB cable into the seat back charging port, and I think I have a friend for the next 13 hours. He seems to have monopolized the armrest between us, though. That may test our friendship.

Now over the Canadian border and approaching Winnipeg. Our flight path will take us through Alaska before bending south again toward Tokyo.At 13h15m, this will be the second longest flight I’ve ever taken. Only my LA-Sydney flight back in December 1999 was longer.

The windows dim with a button‑controlled polarized tint that have set the sky above and blanket of clouds below awash in impossible blues. It’s a really neat effect and certainly helps bodies reset on these flights that span a dozen time zones.

Dave departed from Detroit at almost exactly the same time as me, so we’re likely next to each other in the air the whole way. We’re both scheduled to land in Tokyo at about 4 PM local time. Our body clocks will surely be messed up, but I’m confident adrenalin will power us through our first day in Tokyo.

How lucky are we to be doing this? To be flying halfway around the world for fun, to be using a powered laptop with wifi en route, to have AirTags in my bags reassuring me that they are near? To have researched this trip with AI, to have booked almost everything in advance online, and to have live translation tools on our devices ready to go as soon as we touch down? What a time to travel, what a time to be alive.

One more Japanese lesson before we land:

USBケーブルを斜めに挿入する必要があると思います。
USB kēburu o nanameni sōnyū suruhitsuyōgāru to omoimasu.
I believe you need to insert the USB cable at an angle.