Fuku-Ro-Shaka! pt.5: Back to Tokyo for The Last Time :(

Saturday, April 21 was just a travel day. After getting a comfortable night’s sleep at the Capsule Hotel ASTIL Dotombori, I packed my belongings, changed into my clothes, and checked out of the hotel. I boarded the Midosuji Line train for the last time for Shin-Osaka Station where I ordered Avocado Toast from Dean and Deluca and headed for my platform to wait for Shinkansen Nozomi 18 bound for Tokyo. This marked my last time riding a Shinkansen this trip. I boarded my train shortly before departing Shin-Osaka at 12:03 PM and listened to The Killers and The Strokes while zooming past the Japanese countryside, reflecting on “All These Things That I’ve Done,” both “Last Nite” and the days prior (Yes, those are song references). During my wonderfully smooth and quiet train ride, I saw two things I didn’t think I would get to see this trip: A Daihatsu Midget Two and Mount Fuji.

A Daihatsu Midget Two is a ridiculously-small flatbed truck manufactured from 1996-2002 which is notable for its unusual car commercials and, by Western standards, comical size. I had been hoping to see one of these trucks during my stay and after 103 days of waiting, I finally saw a dark-green Midget driving by between Kyoto and Nagoya.

A Daihatsu Midget 2, similar to the one I witnessed first hand | By Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England – Daihatsu Midget, CC BY 2.0, Link

About an hour before arriving in Tokyo, I finally saw Mount Fuji, Japan’s most significant mountain, from the window of my train. Mount Fuji’s summit was covered in snow while the base of the mountain was hidden behind a curtain of low-lying mist, adding to the epicness of this majestic mountain. Just like the Midget, it too took 103 days to finally see Mount Fuji with my own eyes.

At 2:33 PM, my train pulled into Tokyo Station, thus concluding my final ride on the Shinkansen for this trip. I proceeded to board the Chuo-Rapid line for Shinjuku, where I transferred to the Yamanote Line for Takadanobaba. My excursion across Southern Japan was now complete. I now only had one week left in Japan, a week filled with final exams, a trip to Fuji-Q Highland theme park, errands, and hopefully seeing my friends for one last time. This was the last major side-trip for me and it couldn’t have been planned more perfectly.

Since this was the last piece I wrote while in Japan, this concludes the Off to Tokyo! blog series. Be on the lookout for additional posts under the Japan Must-Knows series and the upcoming Post-Tokyo series.