Iwate and Sendai Trip Journal: Wednesday, Sept. 24th

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 In the morning, we got some more gifts from the Nippori drugstore that we had stopped at yesterday. 

Fire station next door to the drugstore.

Then we watched trains at the “train museum” again for a while until Tomato opened up.  

Keisei AE series Skyliner - the fastest non-Shinkansen train in Japan.

E231-0 Series running on the Jōban Line.

E531 series running on the Jōban Line.

Elbows resting on the bridge railing while watching trains has worn away the paint.

We checked out of the hotel and I accidentally asked them to crush our luggage for us. They knew what I meant and gave us luggage-holding tokens. It had been a long trip and I had been making more and more errors in Japanese. We had fun shopping in the fabric district and got some nice things for ourselves and our friends. Had veggi burgers for lunch at MOS Burger where they spoke good English. We picked up our 預りました (not 崩した) luggage at the hotel and got on the Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho station. It wasn’t too crowded. Found two large lockers in front of the monorail entrance that fit all our stuff - two small suitcases, two duffel bags, and two small backpacks. Went to Shinagawa looking for more Omiyage. Got some pretty good maple flavor cookies after tasting several different types. It was kind of nostalgic being in Shinagawa station. It used to be our base back when the Keihin hotel was there. 

Then on to the new station at Takanawa Gateway and NeWoMan mall to check on the J!NS there, just out of curiosity. It was about the same size as the one in Yurakucho - nothing really special. This mall was really fancy, though. There was a lounge where you could pay 1000 yen just to sit for 60 minutes! 

Lounge at NeWoMan mall.

Back in Hamamatsucho we repacked our luggage, and boarded the monorail, where I accidentally double tapped on the way in through the wicket. The staff was able to fix it quickly. At the airport we had some pretty good onigiri before our flight home. 

This had been a wonderful trip. We had hesitated to go to Iwate Prefecture for many years because of the disaster. I thought perhaps tourists would get in the way of recovery efforts. But a Japanese friend told us that they are welcoming visitors and tourism is now helping the recovery. We were then inspired by episodes featuring the region on NHK World in the "Cinematic Journey" and "Journeys in Japan" series. The peaceful environment,  the dramatic scenery, and kindness of the people made this a truly memorable trip.

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