Lost and found...

My lifesaver!

And promptly lost once more...and found...but no doubt lost again soon.

My top tip for anyone coming to Tokyo is to buy a decent map before you leave home. I've no idea what planet I was on before we left (short-notice planet I think) but this is not one of the items I put in my three suitcases and two carry-on bags. I'm not a complete idiot...I do have with me the Japan Rough Guide. This is, however, about 1.5 inches thick and weighs a good half kilo so really isn't what you want to be lugging around in 30 degree heat and 90% humidity.

Readers of my previous post will perhaps remember I mentioned a long walk almost to Shibuya, on which my quest was not aided by the rubbishness of the map I was using. It's very prettily done, it's just not an accurate representation of where the streets actually are. To be fair, it's not entirely the map's fault - the fact that most of the streets in Tokyo, with the exception of the really big ones (I mean really big - think four or six lane A road running through the middle of a city, sometimes suspended several metres overhead), aren't named, doesn't really help matters.

In the light of Wednesday's adventures, yesterday I decided to do some online research into the location of a really big bookshop, hoping that there I might be able to purchase a good street map of the city. I found one in Shinjuku, wrote down directions, circled where I thought it might be on the map that isn't a map, and trotted off to Shinagawa station to buy my Suica card, which I can use on all trains, metros and buses in the city and in a large area around it too. Very convenient. Simon had warned me that there were many machines in the station and only one specific kind that actually sells new cards as opposed to topping up existing ones, or selling paper tickets. Accordingly, I found a spot from which I could observe all the machines, decided I knew which one to go for, marched up (my 'I am not a tourist' walk is getting quite good already. Shame I don't have the knowledge to back it up), and realised pretty quickly it was the wrong machine. I walked to the other side of the concourse, tried another machine, but this too was wrong. So I walked back to near the first machine (think human pinball in very busy station full of commuters) and eventually spotted the one I wanted. Equipped with my card, I caught the Yamanote line to Shinjuku and felt very proud of my achievement.

Then I emerged at Shinjuku and was immediately lost. No street names again, and a combination of small back streets and towering skyscrapers and pounding, boiling sunshine. Very exciting. But where was the bookshop? It was then that I realised the circular nature of my problem: I needed a bookshop to find a decent map but...I needed a decent map to find the bookshop. So I picked a street and started walking down it. I knew from the beginning it wasn't the right direction, but it's all a learning experience! At one point I did stop to consult the map that isn't a map (now in tatters in my handbag) and a very kind lady asked whether I needed any help. She eventually phoned a friend to find out where this elusive bookshop was, and set me back on the right path. It was, apparently, round the other side of the station. It may indeed be there, but after another 45 minutes of looking I couldn't find it, so cut my losses and went for lunch.

On the way home I had a brainwave: Tokyo must have a tourist information bureau. And it only took me three days to think of this! So I looked it up online and found out that the main office is...in Shinjuku, about five minutes from where I had been that morning. I laughed and then had a large gin and tonic.

I returned to Shinjuku today to find the Toyko Metropolitan Government Building, in which is situated the tourist information office. It's really well signposted from the station if you know that's what you're looking for, and even has an underpass leading all the way to it. The underpass, by the way, looks like it could be part of the set of Bladerunner, so it was fantastic to see a group of elderly ladies pottering along it in full traditional dress. I love the incongruities of this city. Anyway, the tourist information office was very easy to find and the helpful staff gave me a pile of maps and information leaflets. On the way back to the station I passed a big bookshop (not, incidentally, the one I was looking for yesterday!) and I thought I would just pop in to have a look. I was greeted by a section called 'About Japan' and, right in front of me was the golden fleece itself - a highly detailed Tokyo Street Atlas. Needless to say I bought one. In fact I bought two - one for each of us. I think they will prove to be the most valuable items we possess over the next year.

I don't for a second think that I will never get lost in Tokyo again, but hopefully with the aid of my trusty street atlas, when I do get lost I might be able to find myself a little more quickly in future.

Until the next time...