A couple of quick notes here on how I'm counting the days:
Day 0 - Travel Day
Day 1 - First Day of Arrival
Day 2 - Travel to Kyoto
I also did a quick summary of that day.
This was a pretty early morning for me. In order to maximize my half-day in Kyoto, I would need to leave fairly early from Tokyo. And to leave fairly early meant getting my mass on! I did try to contact some friends from the last church I was at from the previous trips, but I never heard back. That gave me a great opportunity to meet a new community. There aren't a lot of English language masses, but I found one with a music ministry in Roppongi. Their website and Facebook page gave me a good idea of what to expect. Unfortunately, Roppongi isn't the most accessible area if you're trying to maximize your JR pass, but it all worked out. My idea of using a coin locker to hold my travel gear worked out, as my carry-on sized bag fit into a medium sized coin locker with minimal issues.
It was fun to meet and sing with a different choir. It was a decent sized group and we were backed by an electric guitar for this mass. (Later masses were bigger, and used the piano/organ). Many foreigners live in the area, and the congregation reflected this fact. They were also aware of the transient nature of their parish, so every mass always asked newcomers to identify themselves, and for people whose stay were ending to let the community know, so that we could wish them well on their next journey.
Then, I was off! I headed to Shinagawa to get my JR Pass, and they also set up my ticket to Kyoto. The presumption was that I would have trouble with a ticket written in Japanese, so the agent wrote out what my ticket meant. Even without the translation, knowing Hiragana, and the large number of signs around the station, makes it a little less necessary.
I wish train stations here in Chicago could eventually adopt this system, numbering the train cars, and making the trains stop in the same stops. Here's a picture of what it looks like for Shinkansens, but it's also done for regular commuter trains as well.
It was a pretty quiet and uneventful trip, and before I knew it, I was in Kyoto!
A little bit more on Kyoto to come...
-- wake.eat.sleep