Day 11: Kyoto to Chicago
The final day of our Japan trip has arrived — which is a bummer. But until we are wheels up on a plane back to the states, let’s see what last-minute adventures we can find for ourselves.
Our flight back to Chicago departs Haneda Airport a little after 5pm, so the primary task of the day is traveling from Kyoto back to Tokyo via bullet train — which will take a little over two hours. We must check out of the Rinn by 10am. After that, we might still have some time to kill. And before that, we can relax, make some coffee, finish packing, etc.
Or… how about waking up at 6:30am and joining Cordwood on his morning run!?!
Good morning Kamogawa River
New Kyoto morning run club member
Thankfully, Cordwood didn’t accidentally run a 10k today, but instead followed a short 2-3k route north and south along the Kamogawa River. In the 1990s, a public works project installed turtle-themed stepping stones across the river in various locations to both protect the riverbed from erosion, and offer people a fun way to cross the river.
Turtle-shaped stepping stones for riverbed stability and fun!
Turtle crossing
FYI: There are NO photos of Matt falling in the river while crossing the turtle stepping-stones, because he did NOT FALL IN! Congratulations. This feat definitely calls for popping the bottle of complementary orange juice in the Cordina Suite fridge and the remaining 7-11 mango ice cream treat in the freezer.
Rinn Gion Shirikawa from across the Kamo River
Izumo no Okuni statue, the founder of Kabuki theatre
After the run, a quick shower, and some last-minute packing, the Cordinas were ready to check out of their suite at 9am — and embark on their journey to Tokyo for their 4:05pm flight. We liberated the suite’s remaining green teas, retreated back to our normal-sized room, and bid farewell (for now) to the best Japan trip cohorts.
Bon Voyage Cordinas! (Save the soy sauce too!!!)
Best part of Rinn 405 was being down the hall from Rinn 401
With an extra hour before we needed to check out, we pondered asking the hotel to hold our luggage for another quick visit to the Gion shopping district across the river. But there was a more exciting side quest brewing in Matt’s head (since last night) involving the newest DJI Osmo Pocket 4P camera — which, for regulatory reasons, will not be sold anytime soon in the United States.
In Japan, the regulatory reasons are not a problem. But what is a problem is all of the 4P units that were released to stores prior to the official launch on 7/30 are long gone (as noted when shopping for Mel’s Dyson a few days ago). Matt asked Google AI if any stores in Kyoto had them. Nope. Then Matt asked Google if any stores in Tokyo has them. Nope. But Google AI also offered once glimpse of hope. It said readers reported the DJI flagship store in Tokyo may have received some new units a day ago. It advised we give that store a call when it opens at 10am and check.
So at 10am — the same time we were checking out of the Rinn — we asked the desk agent for a huge assist to call the DJI flagship store in Tokyo and find out if there were actually any Pocket 4Ps left for sale. Before a good wild-goose chase, it is good to confirm if there is actually a goose. When she didn’t hang up immediately after asking, we were a bit shocked. She set down the phone, and confirmed the store had (at least) one more unit in stock. They agreed to hold it until 2pm for “Matt M” (because “Mittelstadt” is already hard enough even if you speak English, lol).
Now the clock was running! We already looked up where this DJI store was located in Tokyo (ironically, extremely close to the Shiba Park Hotel) and identified the closest train station. If we left Kyoto bound for Tokyo on a bullet train ASAP, we calculated that we’d be able to navigate to the DJI store and still return to Haneda airport on time for our flight. We dialed up a Kyoto Uber, loaded our bags in the car, and headed off to Kyoto Station.
We bought our tickets for the Shinkansen to Shinagawa Station in Tokyo, making sure to purchase the seats with room for luggage. The soonest train was sold out, but we nabbed a couple seats on the next one. It worked out well because we had a few minutes to grab one last round of bento boxes and snacks for our two-hour ride.
Bullet train travel day uniform check
One last bullet train buffet
From Shinagawa, we originally would have transferred to the Handeda airport express. But our new side quest involved taking a different line north one stop to Shimbashi Station, the closest stop to the DJI store. When we arrived, it was pouring rain. We found a fairly unglamorous location to park Jo with our luggage (we were hoping for a Starbucks, but alas, there were none to be found) while Matt donned a poncho and walked/ran (15 min each way) to the store. To our continued surprise, the store did in fact have a camera set aside for “Matt M”. He made the purchase and hurried back to the station.
Side note: Just for fun, later in the afternoon we asked Google AI again if there were any stores in Tokyo with the Osmo Pocket 4P in stock. Nope. And this time, when pressed about the flagship store, Google AI specifically said readers reported there were NO MORE units available. Obviously, Google AI knew that “Matt M” got the last one.
Pocket 4P procured!
Thunderstorms were braved outside Shimbashi Station
While Matt was running thru the rain, Jo added a few hundred extra yen we needed to our Suica cards for our remaining trains to the airport. Rather than backtracking to Shinagawa, we found a different route that meets up with the same airport line.
One train left (to Haneda Airport) for pointing
We arrived at Haneda exactly three hours before our flight. Before the trip started, we decided to upgrade our return tickets to Premium Plus Economy (much better than our usual very basic back-of-the-plan economy), which included priority check-in and priority baggage handling.
United made us an offer we couldn’t refuse
We finished checking in and took an escalator based on signage we thought was guiding us to security and customs, but, we just ended up getting lost in a shopping area. So, naturally, we shopped some more, as one does in Japan.
Oh, the Osmo Pocket 4P is sold out you say???
Finally, we located and followed the correct route to security and customs. A quick facial scan and boom, you’re cleared to leave the country. We then located the Priority Pass Lounge near our gate. Of course, there was a line, so Jo held our spot and Matt plotted a way to spend our remaining yen (240 in coins and 262 left on Jo’s Suica Card) at either the Don Quijote store or the nearby vending machines. Spoiler alert: Matcha Chocolate treats were the winner (both Regular-looking squares and “Chocolatey Tree Trunk-shaped” options)
Eventually, the lounge let us in (it was pretty small, hence the line) and we grabbed some beers (from a cool beer dispensing machine), a couple salmon onigiri, a bowl of edamame, and some traditional Japanese Gin to top it off. For as useless as Priority Pass is in the states, it continues to be really good at international airports.
Our incoming flight was slightly delayed, but nothing too drastic. Meanwhile, the Cordinas has worse luck, discovering that their flight to Minnesota was seriously delayed (and eventually cancelled). Thankfully, Belinda worked her magic and re-routed them thru Detroit so they would still arrive in MN late Sunday night.
Havineda a Nice Day, indeed
At least some of us have a plane
We boarded our plane, found our fancy Premium Plus seats and settled in for the trip home. We needed to dodge some thunderstorms during our ascent out of Tokyo, but we also got some glimpses of the city and Mt. Fuji in the distance.
Departing over Tokyo, Skytree in foreground
And Mount Fugi in the distance
At cruising altitude, we watched Hopper together (go Beavers!), ate our custom-ordered Sea Bass for dinner (with real silverware!), and settled in for many hours of napping/reading/blogging (photos!). Time does seem to go faster in comfortable seats. And, while it’s not clear if our section technically should have been using them, those bathrooms at the front of Premium Plus (aka. the back of Polaris) are incredible. They are freakin’ huge! We had no idea the high life being lived up here.
United Premium Plus is tolerable
And that is about it. Arrival in Chicago was smooth. We grabbed our bags, trammed it from Terminal 5 to the CTA, rode to Addison, and then Lyft’d ourselves the rest of the way home (but not with the dummy who couldn’t find the Olive Garden parking lot).
Without a doubt, one of our favorite trips. Planning and executing it to perfection with the Cordinas was an honor. Check back later for results of our real-life “Let’s Go! To Japan” competition. ‘Til next time!
