First Time on the Eki

The interweaving transportation system in Nagoya is wonderful. You can go practically anywhere on clean, modern and timely trains and buses. This is a rather rare view of a train station in Japan. The station where we get on and off is almost at the end of one of the lines, so it isn't as busy as most stations, and this was an off peak hour. The people are quiet and mannerly while on the train, and you almost never see anyone eating while riding.

Below is the Nagoya eki, the largest train station in the world. There are several underground layers and numerous stores and hotels here. On one central level they have this golden clock, and on the level below is a similar silver clock. They are great meeting places.

Incoming missionaries ride the train from the airport to the Nagoya Train Station when they first arrive in Japan. Here they get off and spend a few minutes talking with people, sharing pamphlets and the Book of Mormon. It becomes their first experience as a missionary and gets them involved in missionary work almost from the moment they land in country.

Here is a missionary asking a funny looking white-haired lady if she would be interested in knowing more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said she would.

(Actually, he's one of our office missionaries and he's explaining to me how the train system works.)

We have been on the train again since this first trip and it was much busier. We hear that in Tokyo there are "pushers" employed by the city. Their job is during rush hour. They stand along where the trains stop, and when people pile on and it gets full, they step on to the train and push people away from the door so more people can get on. They keep pushing until the people are all crammed together and then they step off, and away the train goes. I haven't asked how someone in the middle gets off at the next stop. While people who have experienced it say that one can just take a nap while standing, it's an experience I'm thinking I can do without.

Here's where you can go if you are starting to lose your hair: "Only One Hair." Or maybe you can try "Hair Hark."