More uninteresting crap… Now from England!

6:18pm local time

Oh, dear lord… another 3 hours on a train. At least I was smart enough to eat before getting a reservation. I didn't think it could get hotter or more humid, but Tokyo terminal and especially trackside were as hot as… my ass, I suppose. I bought some more iced tea (by Kirin, it's the best iced tea I've ever had) from a kiosk just to briefly bathe in it's air conditioning.

I'm on the Hikari SuperExpress train toward Shin-Osaka… I'm getting off at the next to last stop, Kyoto. This line is along part of the original shinkansen line, and at least so far it is not nearly as smooth as the newer Tohoku line that runs north.

If it wasn't for the constant haze I'd be seeing some impressive scenery. Mountains looming in the distance, a neighborhoods crammed into every nook and cranny in the hills near the tracks. I've given up trying to photograph them from the train. Each time I'm ready we're in a tunnel… When I'm not it's only a brief glimpse of a picture postcard view.

It is now close to 7pm and its getting quite dark. No DST, so no long summer nights like I'm used to.

There is a couple seated across from me enjoying a bento box together… Watching them is making me a little heartsick as I know if my wife was along we'd be having a good time too.

6 more days to go…

2:15pm local

We arrived in Hachinohoe at 1:55pm. I took care of business and headed for the reservation desk. At 1:59 I was issued a seat reservation to Tokyo… train leaving at 2:04pm! For some reason they keep giving me tickets in Japanese instead of English. I know they can do both because one clerk said “oops” or the Japanese equivalent and reissued me another ticket in English. So the speed at which I had to get to the train took a few seconds to sink in. Since I'm going first class I had to jog the entire way to the end of the train to the Green (1st class) car. I didn't want to go almost 3hrs without a drink, so I gambled by stopping at one of the ubiquitous vending machines found here in Japan. The first coin I grabbed was a 500

1pm local

Shinkansens are great, so great the set unrealistic expectations for the other trains. Even the Super L'EX are just a few notches up from Greyhound. I decided to abort my multiday trip in Hokkaido, after reaching Hakodate. It was nearly as hot and humid as the south, and I was spending more time traveling than doing. Maybe if the AC was a cranked up a bit mote I'd be ok… But after a day on these trains I feel like I've spent the day in a swamp. That goes double for downstairs, right now the family jewels are slightly poached… Another few days and they'd be hard boiled.

Also I really liked having a base of operations in Sendai. My pack is remarkably light for a two week trip, but lugging it around everywhere gets old quick. The first week in August is vacation week in Japan so lodging can be a bit more scarce too. I had a stomachache sinking moment in Hakodate when I found my desired hotel completely booked… It was already after 9pm and I started getting nervous. After an hour of head scratching and wandering around I lucked into a decent hotel far enough from the center to have a room available. The shower alone was worth the 9500

P. Diddy is giving a testimonial for Proactiv pimple cream on CNNj. “I was busy doing a record… And I don't want no bumps on my face…”

I was hoping to get a few more minutes between trains to grab some chow and use the facilities… But when I'm traveling alone it's like I'm compeing in the Cannonball Run. I promise I'll stop iin Hakodate for the night. Really.

I caught the 5:22pm train… I should be in Hakodate by 7:30. I was I who goofed when I thought JR printed the wrong ticket… It was coincidence that the train number matched the track number earlier. (I used the key not the value.) You need to look on the board for the track number.

It has been hazy, humid, and hot all day. It is hard to take pictures from the train… Everything blurs because it is so dim, if you can even see through the haze.

The scenery is beautiful, although some of these smaller northern towns are surprisingly redneck looking. Rural is rural everywhere I suppose.

Japan Rail goofed in Morioka. At first I was very surprised at the thought of a late shinkansen… What I learned about 5 minutes too late was that the ticket had the wrong track number printed on it. Luckily I'm figuring things out to the point that I avoided mistakenly taking the wrong train towards Tokyo. I went back to the ticket desk and got a reservation for the next train, this time with the right track number. I lost an hour but that was made up for by catching a local festival… Lots of drumming and the same lyrics over and over. The traditional clothing covered with Coca-Cola logos was pretty funny. The trip to Hachinohe was almost over before I realized it. Not much to see with all the tunnels, but that new shinkansen line saved me an hour to Aomori.

I'm now stuck with slower trains for the next day or two. Not sure if I'll stop in Aomori or if I'll catch a train in time to get through the Seikan tunnel under the Tsugaru Straits, and into Hokkaido (hopefully as far as Hakodate) for the night.

Well that's at least good news…. but check out this: [Typhoon Banyan](http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/wp200507.html)

We need to ship some ass to Japan… I'm certainly fond of Asian women, but there is not enough ass fat collectively here to fry an eyelid (an expression courtesy of my father.) Japan has a severe booty shortage. We'd be rich if we could figure out the logistics… We are sitting on a goldmine.

First things first… contrary to the guidebooks English isn't as common as you might think in Japan. At least after midnight…

I was supposed to land in Narita around 5pm local. Getting to the hotel would be the simple matter of forking over 3000

At just shy of 6ft tall, and 185lbs, I don't usually consider myself a big man (of course, it depends what you are measuring.) But I appear to be at the practical limit to fit into an airline seat. Is there no business case for larger seats without the business class giant increase in price? I'd pay at least 25% more for some real room.