Autumn in Tokyo

Luckily I make it to Tokyo in time to see the trees changing colors.  Everyone said it was a warmer, wetter fall than usual, so it wasn't the best year for the leaves. It still looked great to me!

The ginkgo leaves are gorgeous.  We don't have any where we live in the US, so watching them change from emerald green to bright gold is a treat. 

Turning gold...

The change is starting!

  

We live near Icho Namiki (Ginkgo Avenue), one of our favorite leaf watching sites.  The leaves started falling before they completely changed colors, but it's still a gorgeous view.  The picture below was taken the first week of December.

Icho Namiki - a good place to walk the dogs, too.

We go to Rikugien for their special autumn event - they light up the garden at night.  What a fantastic idea!  It is beautiful. 

 

Most Japanese gardens incorporate water as an element.  It makes for some cool effects with the lights.

The lights cause a pretty reflection on the water - mirror symmetry!

Enjoying the night lights!

Just when you think you've seen enough, they do some special effects
with colored lights and fans.  Should have taken a video! 

Of course, the Japanese Maples turn vibrant colors, too.

This is my favorite shot though - I took it from our balcony.  The "fingers of God" light is coming through the clouds.  It helps to emphasize the quiet spot in the center of city.

This would make a nice postcard!

Thanksgiving is a little different this year!  First, the Japanese have a Thanksgiving holiday, which is Monday, the same week as the US holiday.  Business offices are closed, but that is about it - restaurants, stores, the post office - all are open.  I ask some Japanese what they do for Thanksgiving, and they say nothing.  They almost act like it is a "made-up" holiday, though they appreciate the three day weekend.  

Having Monday off means Steve has to work on the US holiday.  That's a little strange, because it's usually one of the few days he has to take off at home (because no one else is working that day)!  We're not big fans of turkey - we like it, but if we're going to spend hours in the kitchen we'd rather it be for something we really enjoy.  Usually we make a multi-course seafood feast. We're in the right place to do that, but we don't have any of our kitchen items yet, plus Steve has to go to the office.  When looking at the website of a recommended restaurant, we discover they are (coincidentally) having a multi-course winemakers dinner Thanksgiving night (the US one).  We decide that makes a good substitute!

The winemaker and her Japanese translator.

We're excited because the wines are from one of our favorite regions - the Italian Piedmont.  Steve somehow manages to be seated beside the winemaker during dinner, so he has fun reminiscing with her about our trip there.  We didn't stop by her winery on our previous vacation, so I guess that means we'll have to take another jaunt to Italy!  Can you fly direct from Tokyo....?

The kitchen and (some) of the wine behind us!

Just like in the US, they are very generous with the wine pours.  I find out that Japanese people want to talk politics with me after they've had a lot to drink - specifically regarding the US having only two political parties (how many does Japan have, anyway??).  I've had a bit of wine to drink myself, so I'm not sure my replies made much sense.  It's still a wonderful evening to celebrate how thankful we are for our many blessings!

Hibiya Park

I read about a Chrysanthemum Festival being held in Hibiya Park, so we decided to check it out.  Overall, it's pretty much a bust, but it has a few interesting bits.  First, who knew chrysanthemums grew to be over 6 feet tall? (I didn't.)  Unfortunately, we can't read the Japanese, so we don't know if these are prize winning flowers or not.  The flowers themselves are huge - over a foot across.

 

Apparently, there are even chrysanthemum bonsai trees.  Did you know that?  Me, neither. 

  

Here's a close up of some "typical" size flowers.  Very pretty colors!

We stroll around the park itself, too.   There are restaurants, tennis courts, open air concert halls, playing fields, and of course, gardens.  The gardens here are always so gorgeous - I think it's difficult to to take a bad photo.

 

 

One cool feature is a giant tree that is over 400 years old.  In 1899 it was in the way of some roadwork so they spent a month successfully moving it to the park.  That's part of what makes Tokyo so gorgeous - all the mature trees and plants.

Then there's always something special that makes you say "only in Japan."  Yes, the dogs are wearing full kimonos.  Yes, they are being professionally photographed.  Yes, their owner is making cute faces and kissing noises to make the dogs focus.  And yes, there's another set of dogs in full kimonos waiting to have their pictures taken, too.

Our dogs would disown us if we tried to put them in kimonos!

Walking Around

tallest torii in Japan - 40 ft - I guess that's why it's called The Great Torii

It's a beautiful day, so who can resist a little tour around our corner of Tokyo?  (apparently, not a lot of people, based on the crowds!)  We start out at the entrance of the Meiji Shrine, but we went through it on a bike tour earlier in the year, so we just admire the beautiful trees (365 different species).  Right next door is Yoyogi Park.  They allow pets, but it's a little too far to take our dogs.  We see the Olympic Stadium from 1964, and wonder where they are putting the stadium for 2020.  I need to check on that - just curious!

Very cool bridge at Yoyogi - it's engraved with scenes of Olympic sports.  I'm obviously a trend setter; 15 people started taking pictures of the bridge after I took a couple.

We then leave the (relatively) quiet area to check out Harajuku.  We're obviously too old to appreciate this street.  Other than Steve's search for ice cream, we go through it as fast as possible - which is a very slow walk due to the shop door to shop door teenagers.  I know some nieces who will love it, though!

From there we continue on to another quiet area, the Togo Shrine.  Built around 1940, this is to honor the leading admiral from the Russo-Japanese War.  We have to dodge a couple of weddings that are taking place here.  I wonder if they are affiliated with the navy?  Weddings are frequently held at public locations and the places remain open.  There are lots of staff around to direct people away from the ceremonies, but you can usually peek through the trees and crowds and see a little bit. 

I didn't get a picture of the weddings, but I did get 
a shot of the really cool lion at the shrine.

As we are finishing up our walk we come across a farmers market.  Turns out it's the biggest in Tokyo, and not too far from our apartment.  Lots of fresh vegetables, some fruit, fresh bread, flowers, etc, along with about twenty-five food trucks.  We are excited to find mulled wine, with a twist - ginger gluhwein.  Fun to try, but it needed a little sugar!  It's still a nice way to end our walk.   

Next time we'll get the regular gluhwein

Settling In

The guest room...with most of our suitcase collection.

Now that we've all arrived safely in Japan we can get settled in the apartment.  When we flew over for our look-see trip we were able to leave six suitcases at a friend's apartment in Tokyo (Steve and I could each check three bags).  On our flights to move to Japan we brought another three suitcases each - so we had twelve suitcases worth of stuff at the apartment.  I went to a lot of Goodwills to find large suitcases (and we borrowed some from our friend in Japan, too).  Steve figured (correctly) that I'd like to do my "nesting" and so he left most of it for me to put away - which didn't take too long.  Our 1000 sq ft feels quite spacious right now!  There will be another few hundred cubic feet of household items arriving, maybe in January....hmmm, I'm getting a little nervous about fitting everything....

My welcome home flowers - love the Orangina bottle vase.  Orangina is 
currently Steve's favorite drink.  I like the Lemongina better.

 

 

Steve had already made a trip to Ikea to order some of our furniture, such as a couch and dining table & chairs.  He had it all ready for me when I arrived! We needed to make another trip to pick up some more necessities.  I didn't know you had to bring your own bags or purchase them, but we got away with only two bags worth of stuff, plus a few items for delivery. 

Customer service was wonderful!  We wanted a TV stand but they said it was out of stock.  I asked if I could pay for it and have it delivered when it was back at the store, but they wouldn't do that.  You also cannot order it on the website like you can in the US.  They told me they'd take my name and address, and when it arrived they would deliver it to me and I would pay then.  Steve and I walked away certain we'd have to make the hour trip back to Ikea to purchase it, but four days later it showed up at our door.  Luckily I had the cash to pay - they wouldn't accept credit cards.  Still, wow!

Steve had also made a trip to Costco to purchase our TV (US Costco membership is good in Japan), so with the help of some friends in the US, we were all set to watch the Tennessee Volunteers beat up on South Carolina!  The picture's not bad considering we're watching from 6500 miles away.  Technology is awesome!

The TV - before the TV stand

...that ends well.

I get to try out my new line at Immigration (Re-entry for Permit Holders) because I have a resident card for Japan.  All goes well.  Then the moment of truth - down to baggage claim to get the dogs.  (This is baggage claim before customs, so I'm still on my own.)

I could never get a clear answer as to where I would actually pick up the dogs.  The paperwork said baggage claim, but it's kind of a big area.  I decide first I'll grab the three suitcases I checked so then I'll be able to focus on the dogs.  My bags are already lined up and off the carousel, waiting for me.  Love the customer service (the priority tags help)!  As I'm loading them on a luggage cart, a Japanese woman with a clipboard comes up and asks if I have two dogs on the flight.  Wow, I wish they had just told me they'd find me and bring me to them.  We go to the back of the baggage claim area, and they call out on a walkie talkie.  One kennel comes sliding down a forty-five degree, ten foot conveyor belt (like a log flume ride, though I don't think the dogs liked it very much), then the other.  They're both still alive!

They don't seem very excited to see me, though - no barking, no happy noises.  They're really quiet.  I think they're a little traumatized by everything that's happened.  But they're moving and looking around, so I decide they just need time.  I now have two people helping me - I have five bags (checked & carry-ons) and two extra large kennels.  Japan's luggage carts will only hold one kennel.  I tried ahead of time to see if I could arrange assistance because I knew it would be too much for me alone, but neither Delta nor the airport said they could provide porters.  Knowing the Japanese people, I figured someone would help....and they did.

At the Animal Quarantine Services counter, all is going well with the paperwork (sigh of relief).  We go to the private room so I can remove the dogs (one at a time) to have their microchip numbers checked.  Still no excitement about seeing me, but they're sniffing around the room and otherwise acting pretty much normal.  We're done in about half an hour.

Then off to the customs agent with my entourage.  I hand him my

Not our dogs, but our taxi.

forms, he doesn't even ask me any questions, and then we are free to enter Japan!  Finally I get to walk through the sliding doors and see my husband again.  As we go through the barrier Steve comes running over to us.  We have time for a quick kiss and a hug, to say thank you to the people helping to push the carts, then we're anxious to be outside because the dogs haven't had a chance to go to the bathroom in over 15 hours. We have a pet taxi (yes, a real thing) to take us all on the 60 minute drive to the apartment, for a mere $400.  But the planning has paid off, and we're finally all together again, in our new home!

Reunion selfie

All's well...

Japan AQS says the dogs are good to enter the country!  Instead of driving around two different states I can take the dogs on a last "leash-less" hike.

All that running around means you have to
cool off (and drink) from the creek!

After that, the dogs need a bath, I finish with the final pictures of the house, we return the air mattresses to their (wrong) owners (they realized the mistake and thankfully were able to get it straightened out afterwards) and we're off to Atlanta.

Tip from my friend Tari - a little "story" about the dog
taped to her kennel.

I'm very grateful the hotel was able to keep the dogs' buckets of water in their freezer for us.  That was a tip I read online, so the water wouldn't slosh around inside the kennel during boarding.  The next morning all went well with check-in at the airport and the dogs behaved wonderfully.

Delta was great!  While waiting to board, I started talking with a pilot who was deadheading to Tokyo.  He told me to check with the head attendant to make sure the dogs were put on our flight.  So I ask her to verify the dogs are on our plane, and I wait for her to get back with me.  Meanwhile our departure time has passed and we're still sitting at the gate.  I'm starting to get more nervous (I'm already nervous).  The pilot comes on and says there's an issue with some suitcases that need to be removed from cargo.  I'm wondering if that's code for "we have two loose dogs running around the tarmac."

The head attendant comes to me and says the pilots want to talk to me.  I can't tell if this means good news or bad news.  I think I'm shaking by the time I reach the cockpit.  But all is well!  The pilots just wanted to personally let me know the dogs are on board and they will make sure the environmental systems are good for them.  I resist the urge to pull out pictures to show the pilots how cute and adorable they are.  And yes, the delay is due to suitcases, not the dogs.

The good dogs on their way to board the plane.

Now I only have fifteen hours to worry about how the dogs will do during the flight. 

Finishing Up

It's pouring rain, and I'm driving in a friend's borrowed car to the USDA office 75 minutes away.  I'm feeling pretty good because I've got a hot cup of coffee with me and according to Japan, my paperwork is all in order.  All I need the office to do is stamp and sign it.  Should be easy...

We arrive 20 minutes early for the 10:00am appointment.  At the counter, I tell the secretary about my appointment and she takes my paperwork right away.  "Wonderful!" I think. "We'll be finished here shortly and I'll be able to do all my other errands.  Maybe even have time for a pedicure!"

Mom and Dad are exhausted with 
all the running around, too!

Two hours later, I finally get called back up to the window.  What was the point of having an appointment if they weren't even going to pretend to acknowledge it?

Not to drag out the story, but there were major mistakes in the forms - pages didn't have the USDA embossed stamp (which would give my dogs a "go to jail" card - well, not jail, but still a cage for six months) and Wite Out (correction fluid) was used to fix errors.

In the US, this wouldn't be a big deal - but Japan clearly states (about twenty times) that Wite Out isn't allowed.  I explain to the secretary that the correction is wrong.  She wants to know if I have the information from Japan that explains how to do it (because she obviously doesn't believe my two minute explanation on how it's supposed to be fixed), and miracle of miracles, I actually do.  So she pulls the USDA vet up front and they finally get everything fixed.  But I'm worried Japan won't accept it.

Off to the local FedEx to scan everything in and email to Japan for their approval.  Google directs us to the closest office, and when we pull up, we see that it's closed due to flooding from the previous month.  Back to Google for the next closest FedEx.  Thirty minutes later, and after two tries, we have everything saved electronically and emailed to Japan AQS.

Some advice for anyone going through the same thing - Japan really emphasizes in the early paperwork that they prefer the "healthy dog" checkup and paperwork stamped by the USDA to all occur within 48 hours of your flight.  In later communication they say within 10 days is acceptable.  Make sure you start early enough to give yourself some leeway.  At this point, if Japan said it wouldn't work, I knew I had one day to go to my vet, get new forms printed and signed, and run back to the USDA if I needed, since our flight wasn't until Wednesday.  So I had a little bit of breathing space which was the only reason I was able to sleep that night!

After we returned home that afternoon we were able to go out for a belated birthday dinner.  I had my last US filet mignon (for a few years, anyway)!  Then the waiting game again - will Japan accept the paperwork?

Moving On

We were very excited to finally get our life dream, which was an overseas work assignment.  And we were going to Tokyo!  One of our top picks, if we were given a choice (we weren't).  Unfortunately, the process dragged out a looooooooong time, to the point we thought it wouldn't happen.  After months of stress, and at the last minute, it did all work out.  That left its own scar, but we were still excited to be going.

Our biggest concern was moving the dogs - they've never flown before, if we do something wrong with the paperwork they end up in quarantine for six months, and we heard Japan wasn't as dog friendly to mid-size dogs (well, for Japan they're considered big - 40-50 lbs).

So I'm going to start with the ending, which is that we all made it to Tokyo safe and sound, the dogs spent less than 30 minutes clearing customs, and they're doing fine in the big city.  If that's all you cared about knowing, you can stop reading now!  But I wanted to explain the process to move our dogs from the US to Japan, in case it helps someone else.

The photo that made the Japan apartment owner accept the dogs.

We had enough advance notice that we might be moving to Tokyo so we went ahead and started the seven month process which would allow the dogs to basically skip quarantine in Japan.  In fact, we started so early we ended up needing to give the dogs a rabies booster (just a regular shot) so their vaccines wouldn't expire while we were still in the US.  The Japan guidelines were fairly simple to follow, though they rewrote them while we were going through their steps.  They were trying to make them clearer, but you're still dealing with a 24-page document written by someone who does not speak English as a first language.  At least no changes occurred that made us have to start the entire process over.

The hiccups really came during the last few days before we left the States.  I had spent four hours meticulously filling out the paperwork for both dogs, making sure it was perfect.  Japan did have a procedure to follow if an error was made in the forms (cross out with two horizontal lines, so you can still read what was behind it, then write the correction, sign it (NOT just your initials) and date it).  Absolutely no white out, erasable pens, etc.  I decided I'd rather just have it correct in the first place, therefore four hours doing paperwork in block letters.

When I arrived at my vet later that week for their final "healthy dog" checkup, I found out the local USDA office told them (that afternoon) they had to type all the paperwork - even though it was clearly stated on the forms they could be written in block letters or typed.  So we sat there for 90 minutes while the office typed up everything I had written out.  The USDA also told my vet only two rabies vaccinations needed to be recorded on the forms, not three.  I told them they were completely wrong - because we needed the booster all three shots had to be recorded.  That was when I had my first inkling that the USDA might not be as knowledgeable as I thought they would be.

After the vet office, I stopped by FedEx so I could scan the paperwork in and email it to Japan to double check (I had to go to an office because my printer had been packed by the movers the day before).  I love that the Japan AQS (Animal Quarantine System) was willing to look over the forms before I arrived - less chance something would be wrong and my dogs would spend six months in a cage.

The house, emptying out...with Tahoe surveying her (diminished) domain.

So I thought all was well until later that night when I finally got a chance to look over the paperwork myself.  I saw a date had a typo - instead of 2015 it said 12015.  Very obvious it was just a typo, but I worried about what would happen.  I decided I would wait and see what they said - I had already sent copies of everything to Japan.

Sure enough, when I woke up Friday morning there was an email from AQS saying it needed to be fixed.  I called my vet office as soon as they opened, and they still had the forms saved, so it was easy for them to edit and have the vet resign.  My mother generously offered to pick up the form, since I had movers at the house and I sold our last car that morning (did I mention my husband had gone ahead three weeks earlier and was in Japan to start work and to get the apartment ready so we could move the dogs in without having to bring them to a hotel?).  So while my father and I were overseeing the movers, my mother picked up the form, went back to FedEx to scan and save the forms electronically, and then she went to pick up lunch for everyone (movers and all) at the house. 

While she's getting lunch, the vet office calls.  They caught another typo, one we'd all missed.  We're right on the border of two states, and they put the wrong state abbreviation for one address.  They felt so bad they offered to drive the corrected form out to me ("I couldn't sleep tonight if you didn't have the form filled out correctly," she says).  The offer was very much appreciated since I no longer had a car and I lived over 30 minutes from their office.  That was one of the highlights of a very stressful day!  Sometimes people are just so incredibly nice.  

Unfortunately that wasn't really the case at the USDA appointment on Monday....