Arrival in Japan

I embarked on a Peace Pilgramage to Japan with 36 other Unitarian Universalists from All Souls Church in Washington DC.  Reverend Robert Hardies was our spiritual leader.  Here is a link that gives an overview of the trip and some information about Rissho Kosei-Kai, who were our hosts for most of the trip:  http://www.all-souls.org/heiwa-2014

I am posting this after returning to Washington DC as there was too much to do on the trip and I didn't always have internet access.

We left Dulles Airport at 12:25 pm on August 1 and arrived at Narita airport (near Tokyo) at 3:10 pm, but it was August 2.  When we arrived, we had to assemble in one spot and then move to the Japan Rail Pass desk.  It took quite a while there because passports for the group had to be recorded and rail passes issued.  I was finding that travelling with a group required very sophisticated logistics.  As a result, I developed a deep appreciation of our leaders who had to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be.  This was a constant throughout the trip and the leaders always succeeded, despite some crazy challenges.  There were 37 in our group, which was inter-generational--the youngest being 12 and the oldest 82.   Some of the group had traveled separately but, by the end of the Japan Rail Pass process (which took a couple of hours), we were all together and boarded a bus for Tokyo.   The ride to Tokyo seemed long.....I had gotten very little sleep on the plane and so was feeling tired.  I still couldn't sleep, though.  I was filled with anticipation

We arrived at Rissho Kosei-kai world headquarters and got our room assignments.  They made us feel very welcome.

I had a nice room with a deep bathtub. Although it was late, we hadn't had dinner and so gathered in a room for bento boxes and reflection on the journey so far and expectations.  It was after 10 when we went to our rooms for the evening.  I took a bath in a deep tub and had no trouble going to sleep.