Still not quite adjusted to the time difference, was up at 2am wide awake. Decided to take a long walk to an amazing brunch restaurant that opened bright and early and was rewarded with an incredible brunch! All the delicacies had their own cute little dishes and they gave you a tray with 9 spots. Each dish was more incredible than the last. Super nice people and a very cool experience. Next I grabbed an iced coffee and walked over to the Tokyo Police Museum. They had a helicopter in their lobby! Ha. It was a very cool museum with 5 floors of exhibits. The coolest two floors, with all their uniforms and historical papers, were no photos allowed unfortunately. It was nice because everything had English translations so I didn’t need to use my app the whole time. Also interesting is that the police department has a whole disaster response division for the country. A shocking statistic is that Japan has a 70% chance of a catastrophic earthquake within the next 30 years which is why they are so well prepared for it and educating the public so fiercely. Scary to think about an earthquake that big in this beautiful city. Next I walked around the city a bit, saw some of the flood control gates, saw a really cool theater, and had some refreshing tea. I couldn’t help but notice there were absolutely no trash cans anywhere to be found after walking with an empty cup for miles. Apparently, after the deadly Sarin gas terrorist attack on the subway system in 1995, they removed all the trash cans to reduce even the slightest bit of potential acts of terrorism that they could. Included their 75 year crime rate graph and you can see how low the crime rate has dropped in Japan and continues to drop. Very cool. Made reservations at the hottest restaurant in town for their next available date, Thursday, and am having dinner at a super cool fish house tonight! Also interesting to me is that putting shrimp on burgers seems to be popular here, it’s even at the fast places I walked by.

Had breakfast at a cool Macrobiotic restaurant and I don’t really know what it was but it was amazing. Some soy-based sandwich with yogurt and kiwi. Mmmmm. Next, walked about an hour through a beautiful, clean city to the first thing I wanted to see, their Disaster Prevention Park! It was amazing! You start the tour off on the “10th floor” and have to navigate your way through an 8.0 earthquake! You start in the elevator and the earthquake hits, the whole thing shakes and the lights go out. You make it to the first floor and then are trained how to survive the first 72 hours, how to find the evacuation points, hazards, how to help others, and even how all the park benches in Tokyo turn into grills for cooking if needed! Even got to see Tokyo’s Emergency Operations Center which they use during disasters. Had a 300” screen in the center and every table had a printer, computer hookups and fax machines. It was so big I couldn’t photograph it all, so many conference tables in the back and at least 100 dry erase boards. Apparently, it was used in the new Godzilla movie ha. Was such a cool place and they really prepare people! There was an eye-opening video where they showed videos from a simulated earthquake in various buildings and all the furniture falling on people and breaking their bones, then they showed the same earthquakes in rooms where the furniture is fixed to the walls and it was really eye-opening as to how much better it was. As I walked around the city, I saw all the preparation work they have done including building the bridges so that they can sway on the pillars! Just such a cool experience. Made some new friends and am now going to get lost in the city to find the fun stuff. Follow the crowds! I’m also amazed at how clean, organized, and safe the city is. I’m eating a burger in a crowded mall and everyone leaves their bags and phones on the tables when they go to get their food or to the bathroom. Very young kids no more than 3rd grade are navigating the city on their own with no adults and it just feels safe! Let’s see what else I can find, it’s only the first day and I’m loving it!

I knew Tokyo was the most populated city in the world but I was shocked to see just how big that is. With about 5 million more people than NYC and about 3 times the size in square miles, I felt like I was flying over NYC for 30 minutes! So many skyscrapers! My flight was amazing, first time on ANA and first time with a lay-flat bed, wow. Heaven. Everyone is very nice and polite and I even accidentally got in the way of a famous band and their entourage arriving at the airport. Girls were screaming and everyone was taking pictures as they were whisked away behind a divider wall away from the public… where I was standing waiting to exchange my money. They looked like kids to me but I’m guessing by the size of their group they are fairly famous. Who knows. Uber works, Mr. C is tired, and everywhere gives you wet hand towels which I like. Goodnight!

Konnichiwa! I am SUPER excited to be able to travel to Japan and learn about their approach to emergency management and disaster response. Home to the Mount Fuji volcano, Japan is a rich place to learn about emergency management as they experience earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis, and even nuclear incidents. Japan is also home to a unique flood control system that is described as one of the engineering marvels of our time. I am beyond excited to travel around the country, meet and talk to people, and eat alllllll the foods! As many of you know, the presentation of our shop challenge coin is a unique and distinguished honor that only a few are able to receive. For this trip, I have had a few of our shop coins custom engraved to give as gifts to those I meet. I am so excited, nervous, and have no idea what to pack!