The Underground Mystery

I discover a mystery game that is organized around the Tokyo Metro.  We have to play!  My dream is to be on the Amazing Race (I figure in a few more years we can be one of the "older" couples on the show), so this is a great opportunity to see how we'd do.  We happily go off and buy our kit and have lunch while we decipher the first clue.  

It starts off pretty easy...except for a little translation issue.  We do have an English version, but they use the word "alphabet" instead of "letters."  In hindsight it makes sense, but it takes a few minutes to figure it out.

Steve solves the first mystery before we leave the station!

I'm sure wine will help us solve mysteries faster!

The first set of puzzles are pretty straightforward and simple.  We enjoy riding around to the different stations and getting to explore outside a bit.  The booklet includes some information about the stations and the area around them, so we learn a little about Tokyo, too.  I'm able to show Steve the Tokyo Dome, where the International Quilt Festival will take place in January.  Something else is happening there today, and there's some kind of silent protest going on, but it's all in Japanese so we never figure it out (oooh, an unsolved mystery...). 

We're not the only ones playing!

Steve's back is a good surface for drawing a straight line.

Then things get a little tricky...we stop for some tea and snacks (maybe wine wasn't a good idea earlier...something to remember if we're on the Amazing Race).

We are puzzled.

Then inspiration strikes!  Should have been more careful when tearing pages open....

We run around some more....the mysteries are getting more clever....seriously, look at the posters below.  If there hadn't been thirty people standing right in front of it, we would have missed it (well, I would have).  And yes, it does state it's a clue in English. 

Look carefully...

We're excited to stop by our home station as part of the game.  That's the highlight of the day for Steve - he discovers we have a doughnut shop hidden on the far side of our station.  (side note - He's gone for doughnuts almost every day since.)

Hello, dogs!  We'll be home soon...maybe.

The best part of the day for Steve!

There's still puzzles to solve, and some more stations to visit, and we complete all our tasks except for the final answer.  We decide to sleep on it...but it's bothering me during the night.  The next day I sit down with everything again.  Steve and I discuss it, and just like with the other mysteries, we end up solving it with teamwork.  We can't wait to play again next year!

We are awesome!

Amazing Race, here we come!