Well here I am in Japan. We arrived in Narita last night after an unremarkable flight. It was over an hour and a half from the airport to the hotel. The room is tiny, barely large enough to hold the two twin beds, and there is only about six inches of space between them. The beds are hard as rocks and the pillows even harder. But we are in Japan and it is allpart of the adventure.

The subway from the train station to the hotel was crowded though Wakana says that isn't really the case. All I know is that I could have let go of the suitcase and it would not have fallen to the floor. And if, by some miracle it had been able to get to the floor I never would have been able to bend over to pick it up.

We walked out after we checked in to get some dinner. We found a Chinese restaurant next door to the hotel where we had a mediocre dinner. In our short exploration we found a MacDonalds and I had to look to see what that would cost.

In all the years before meeting Wakana I have heard stories about how expensive Japan is, especially Tokyo. Well, it's all bull. A meal at Mickey D's is only about $5 to $6. Not much different than back home. Our hotel is about $100 per night.

Today we are headed for the American Embassy to get some paperwork for the marriage. Then we will do some sightseeing and visit with some of Wakana's friends and her brother.

By the way, Wakana's brother owns a shop that sells jazz CDs and reccords. Unfortunately it has not been easy to keep it going in Japan's sagging economy so he will be closing it soon. He has agreed to take me to his favorite music shop to look at instruments. That should be a fun trip.

More to come.