4

KONNICHIWA, JAPAN

My bed shook. Was it an earthquake? I tried to get up, but something was holding me down. I rubbed my eyes. Oh. I wasn’t in bed at home. I was sitting in an airplane with my seat belt on.

The flight attendant’s voice came over the speakers. “Good afternoon and welcome to Narita Airport. It is four thirty p.m.” She said a bunch of other things and then switched to Japanese. We were finally here in Tokyo! I tried to wake up. If it was four thirty in the afternoon, why did it feel like the middle of the night? And when had I fallen asleep?

Dad leaned over and nudged me gently. “Jasmine? We’re here! We have to get off the plane now.”

“I’m awake,” I said, all sleepy. It was time for adventure. Normally I would want to hop and jump with energy. But my arms and legs felt super-heavy. “Why am I so tired?”

Dad laughed softly. “Remember, there is a sixteen-hour time difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo.”

Oh yes. When we video-chat with Obaachan, our grandma who lives in Hiroshima, we usually talk at night, when it is morning for her.

“What time is it at home right now?” I hefted my backpack over my shoulders. I followed Dad into the aisle where people were waiting to get off the plane.

“Subtract sixteen,” Sophie said, pushing her way in front of me.

“Hey! No cutting,” I said.

“We’re all going to get there together,” Sophie said. “And it’s past midnight at home.”

No wonder I was so sleepy. Mom held my hand as I stumbled off the plane. I felt like I was sleepwalking. Maybe I slept a little as we made our way through too many lines: passport control, baggage claim, and customs.

We got on a train to take us into Tokyo and to our hotel. The train was super-clean and quiet with comfortable seats. We were finally in Japan, but the train was not that special. I fell asleep against Dad’s shoulder.

When we made it into Tokyo and stepped off the train, I suddenly felt awake. There were so many people in the train station. I gripped Mom’s arm with one hand as I rolled my suitcase with my other. I whipped my head side to side, taking everything in. The announcements were in Japanese, but the signs above us were in both Japanese and English. There were many posters and bright screens with video clips on the columns. I saw restaurants, a bakery, and shops. It was not that different from a mall back home. Except the stores here looked very different and interesting. I wanted to explore!

“Mom,” I said. “Can we look in a store?”

“Not now, sweetie. We are going to check in to our hotel.”

I glanced at Mom. She looked sleepy, too. When would my adventure start?

We walked and walked and walked, and finally, we made it outside. The sun was starting to go down. I could hardly see the sky because it was filled with tall buildings. There were so many cars! Even though Los Angeles is a city with a lot of people and cars, we lived on a quiet street with not a lot of traffic.

“What are we going to do after the hotel?” I asked.

“Tonight we are going to eat dinner and get settled in,” Dad said, stopping at the crosswalk. “We will get a fresh start tomorrow.”

Walnuts! Iwanted to explore now!

It turned out that our hotel was across the street from the train station. Good thing. I was tired of dragging my suitcase.

The hotel was shiny and smelled good, but it looked a lot like other hotels we’ve stayed at. We took the elevator up to our room. The elevator looked just like the ones we had back home, too.

When we got to our room, the windows took up one whole wall. Wowee zowee! The view was amazing! There were many buildings all lit up like stars in the sky.

“Sophie!” I said. “Come look out the window. It is so pretty outside.”

If looks could kill, I’d be dead from Sophie’s glare. Instead of standing with me at the window, she curled up on the bed we were going to share.

“If you fall asleep now,” Dad said to her, “it will be even harder to get adjusted to the time in Japan. It’s better to stay awake. It’s dinnertime. Let’s go eat.”

“Eat? It feels like the middle of the night,” Sophie said.

I checked the clock on the nightstand. “It’s seven o’clock. Way past dinner. I’m hungry.”

Maybe now we would have an adventure!