Disney the First: Getting There

There are many ways to get to Tokyo from Kanazawa. You can take a bus, an airplane, or a train. We decided to take the train. You have more choices there too. You can take the Shinkansen, or bullet train, and get there in about four hours. You can take cheaper trains that take longer. You can also take an overnight train, leaving at just after 10 pm and getting in around 6:30 am. We chose to take the sleeper car.


We left Friday night, so as to maximize our time in Tokyo. We were pretty much packed and ready to go beforehand, we just had to double check our stuff and get to the station on time after work. We ate at a lovely little Italian place for dinner at the station, and it was really good. The train itself was interesting. It was fairly small, but that's okay for one night. I don't think I'd ever want to do that again. It wasn't bad, but there isn't much space for your luggage, the hall lights stay on and the curtains aren't thick enough to keep the light out, and you have to make your own bed. They do give you a Yukata, a cotton kimono, to sleep in for those business people traveling light, wearing the suit that needs to stay clean for tomorrow. The last pickup is just after midnight, and the first stop is before six, so there's only about five and a half hours of minimal distraction. Like I said, not bad, but not all that great either.

We stayed in the apartment KIT owns in Tokyo for employees and their immediate family. It's really nice, and in a really nice district. The Mercedez-Benzes we saw were some of the cheaper cars (edit by Lee - I saw a Bently and an *orange* Maybach, gross) in the neighborhood, and walking around we passed an Aston Martin dealership. I didn't know they had dealerships! The apartment is a great perk for us, and makes seeing Tokyo a lot more reasonable. The apartment is a 3-room place, large enough for about 12 people in 3 rooms, with a tiny kitchen if you're staying long enough and want to use it. We stayed in the medium sized room, a 3-person bedroom. It has a table, fridge, TV, and futons. We definitely plan to go back at least a couple of times in the future to really see Tokyo.

More views of Tokyo: