My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun started with me arriving at my local airport around two hours before I would sit in a big, flying metal tube for many hours. I had (or technically, my wife) packed two full suitcases and two pieces of carry-on. Everything I would need to support my self for the initial part of my adventure was in those bags. Clothes, shoes, pillows, coat hangers, and other useful stuff all packed inside those bags with only a few grams of margin before reaching the airline limits.

While standing in the queue at the check-in counter we came in contact with some Americans that was on a trip visiting different countries in Europe. One of them actually knew some Japanese and had been living in Japan for four months. Small world, right?

The first flight would get me to Helsinki, in the land of the thousand lakes. I didn’t have much time at the airport. So little time that I almost had to run through the airport. For the first time, I got the opportunity to try the automatic passport machines. It seemed like the machine had some problems matching my slightly stressed and sweaty face with my passport picture. But I eventually made it through the airport and I arrived at my gate on time. The airplane was delayed for a few minutes, so the boarding procedures had not yet started. That gave me just enough time to stand next to a ventilation output. Oh, the sweet feeling of a breeze.

The second flight would get me to Fukuoka, Japan. And as soon I sat down in my seat, I felt sorry for the woman sitting next to me. She wore a surgical mask in front of her mouth and nose. That is normal in Asian countries if you have been sick or want to avoid being infected by something in public places. If she didn’t like sweat or contact with other people, then she would have some long 9 hours ahead of her.

Since the flight started in the afternoon and we would arrive early in the morning, I knew that sleeping would be a problem. Gotta love flying 7 time zones into the future. At least the entertainment system had new and popular films; Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2, Interstellar and some other films got me through most of the flight. I felt lucky that I had access to those things and didn’t have to resort to old analog wood-based entertainment, like books or magazines.

With my biological clock seven hours behind, I landed in Fukuoka around eight in the morning. The sun and 30 degrees with a large hint of high humidity did not help my internal sense of night time. I had two hours before my next time would leave for Tokyo. Since boarding starts about half an hour before take off, I had about an hour and a half to clear quarantine, immigration, collect my bags, pass through customs, take the shuttle bus to the domestic terminal, check in my luggage and find the correct gate. What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing went wrong. Everything worked like a well-oiled machine. A big bravo to the Japanese and their ability to make everything efficient! I actually had plenty of time left. The whole process took about 50 minutes. Wow, just wow!

After finding my seat in the airplane to Tokyo, I was finally able to relax and enjoy the view from the back of the plane. Yes, I was all the way back. Row 50 if I remember correctly. The security instructions were presented as a video placed on monitors spread across the aisles. The videos actually had those visual “noise” artifacts that I remember from old VHS tapes. And the airplane graphics had the same quality as a video game from the 90’s. Oh, well. At least there was enough room for my legs.

Finally, I arrived at my destination, Tokyo!