I decided to put everything in the locker except my camera, music player, and ebook reader with guide books and maps. (The computer might have been nice, especially if I could find a wireless hotspot, but the ebook reader had wireless, so I hoped that would suffice if I needed it. I broke the large bill by buying a couple of sandwiches in the train station. I figured that this would be dinner. If I needed any more food, there are plenty of places everywhere that it would be easy to find something to fill my belly.
It so happens that Tokyo train station is not far from the Imperial Palace, and that is not far from Yasakuni Shrine. I had been to both places before, but they were interesting enough to revisit. At the least, the park around the Imperial Palace would be a nice place to sit and eat the sandwiches I had. So I started walking towards there. And I walked. And I walked. And it dawned on me that I must have been going in the exact opposite direction. Figures.
But since this was the opposite direction, I thought that it would be easier to find the other things I needed, like cash and a hotel. Maybe I wasn't looking all that hard, because I didn't find either. Actually, when I did come across an ATM, again it said that my card was unreadable. The only thing that I could fathom was that, unlike in America and Europe, banks will not give out money to costumers of other banks. If that was the case in Japan, that meant that I had to find a Citibank. As my stupid luck would have it, Citibank is one of the few American banks that has branches in Japan. (I knew this from my previous stay.) Although Tokyo was like New York City in some ways, one way that it is unlike New York is that there are not many branches of Citibank. I supposed that I would just have to wander around, until magically, one might pop up. The only branch that I knew and used last time was in Ikebukuro, which was clear on the other side of town, and quite too far for me to get to (although, because I had to Rail Pass, it wasn't impossible at all; in fact I was considering also going back to the airport to use the same ATM again; but I would rather wander around and try to find one that way). With the sky, my spirit got darker as the minutes passed, and many of my basic needs seemed to be moving further and further away. However, the simple act of walking around and the very act of being alive in this foreign city was enough to lift my mood.
After failing to find anything I needed on the seemingly busier (and also less attractive) side of the Tokyo train station, I decided to walk to the other side, and finally make my way to the Imperial Palace, and then Yasakuni Shrine. Walking through the train station again, and almost getting lost forever in the labrynth, I finally came out of the other side. This was the Tokyo train station that I remembered, modeled on the Amsterdam train station, with its turn of the 19th century style of red bricks and concrete. I crossed the street to take some pictures, and in the reflection of the glass bus stop canopy, I saw the Citibank logo. My neck jumped back and forth, trying to figure out where the source of the reflection was. Finally, Something might go right today. But of course, first I would have to get my photo before it got much darker outside.
Being so late (about 7pm, but I couldn't be sure), I wasn't even sure if the Citibank would be open. It was. After walking in and being greeted by both the security gaurd and a branch officer, I quietly asked if there was an ATM. They both pointed the way. I felt like this whole trip was to pivot on this one moment. Is my card, and my only source of money, good? The machine read the card ok and asked for my pin. This was as far as I had gotten at any other place today. Then it asked me how much money I wanted. I didn't want to be too greedy. Success! More cash. But wait. Maybe I could get more still. I went through the process two more times, and got more cash than I hope to need. (I was still considering that many places might not accept my debit card.) Now at least, I could be sure that I was able to get a hotel for the night... If I found one.
Not wanting to bog myself down with too many practical matters, and riding a little higher now that I had enough money in pocket to survive, I discarded the desire to find a hotel, and enjoyed walking around the Imperial Palace. It was a nice a quiet stroll through a park with classic Japanese scenery. One thing that struck me was that so many people were out running. I imagine that they were trying to get a bit of excercise in after a long day at work. I suppose that this isn't very different from people running through Central Park in New York. The perimeter of the whole park must make a very nice distance for people to get a nice run in every night.
Looking at a map, Yasakuni Shrine is just north of the Imperial Grounds, and looks close. These are my famous last words when reading a Tokyo map.
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