Konnichiwa, it’s Rusty, I first went to Japan with my college-age daughter SJ in January (2025) and then this year. So, I will continue to share my observations on Japan’s quirky, cool, and kawaii culture as a gaijin (essentially a "gringo") in (Big in Japan), a sub-Substack of my main inbox zine, Rusty’s Electric Dreams. (Don’t worry, that’s not going anywhere.)
Here we go.
You’ve been waiting for dispatches from trip two electric boogaloo. Here’s the thing: I’m going to start at the very end.
The flight back.
We’d been in Asia for two weeks. Taiwan first, then Japan. By the time we hit Narita for our red eye back to San Francisco, we were tired in the best way. We’d spent the whole day at DisneySea. My feet knew it.
I was wearing a Tootles hat. One of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys. Ears and a skunk tail. I didn’t know his name when I bought it. I just fell in love with the hat. When in Rome, I suppose.
The flight home was on ZIPAIR Tokyo. NRT to SFO, about nine hours.
ZIPAIR is basically the Spirit Airlines of Tokyo. Coach seats are cheap, around $284 one-way, and there are zero frills. No seatback screens. No included meals. You want a blanket, you buy it.
But they have lie-flat seats.
ZIP Full-Flat, they call it. Real beds. Private enough. And because this is ZIPAIR, they’re actually affordable. Not cheap, but less than you’d expect for a bed on a transpacific flight. I’ll link to them so you can look for yourself.
The trip had been lighter on costs than usual in other ways. So I did something I don’t normally do.
I splurged.
I’d been telling SJ we had special seats on the way home. She didn’t really understand what that meant until we boarded and I stopped at my row and pointed at hers. She had to walk around to the other aisle to even reach it.
“THESE are our seats?!”
She thought I was joking.
She was so tickled she immediately slid the little divider between us shut, as if to say, smell ya later, mom.
Before all that, we had a little time to kill at the airport.
Narita is a giant mall. Which sounds like a complaint but really isn’t.
SJ clocked the Traveler’s Company store immediately. If you’re not familiar: beautiful refillable leather notebooks, brass accessories, a whole philosophy about carrying your notebook everywhere (yes, I was reminded of this). Their thing is that the notebook is designed to “unlock your Free Spirit that exists inside you.” Honestly, maybe that’s why I felt so at home in there.
Our friends Kandra and Cindy had given us Traveler’s notebooks at the very start of the trip, back in Taipei on day one. Plain notebooks, no covers, just the bound paper thing itself. They encouraged us to get them stamped at every train station we passed through.
SJ was way better at this than I was.
By the time we hit Narita, her notebook was this dense, beautiful record of everywhere we’d been. Each stamp a different station, a different day. We got our notebooks stamped at the store too. I finally got a blue-green leather cover for mine. We bought little pouches that tuck inside. Stickers that look like old fashioned luggage travel souvenir labels. I dropped $150 easily and felt fine about it.
Right near the Traveler’s Company, for the record, was the worst 7-Eleven I’ve encountered in Asia. I know. I know. I wrote a love letter to Japanese convenience stores. The Narita one just didn’t have the magic. It was understocked and you were forced to shop in a narrow “hallway” created with stanchions. Not all locations are created equal and now I know that.
We were sitting on a bench near the check-in counter with our new goodies when a camera crew approached us.
Japanese man with a lady translator, older guy on camera. They were filming for “Why Did You Come to Japan?” (YOUは何しに日本へ). A TV show where they stop foreigners at airports and ask them exactly that.
We started by telling them about Hotel Urashima and its Turtle Taxi, which had definitely caught their attention. That’s a story for a whole other issue. But then they saw SJ’s notebook and that was basically it.
She explained the stamps. She showed pages. She has very tiny, measured print handwriting and they asked her to read some of it aloud. She was a little put on the spot. Thankfully, the page she landed on was the one about the Turtle Taxi. Which is exactly what had gotten their attention in the first place.
After the crew left she said she was relieved there was nothing personal in the pages they saw.
I was wearing the skunk tail hat for all of this. Just so you have a fuller picture.
We don’t know if we made the cut. Working on figuring out how to even check. If you find it before we do, tell me. And if you do find it: don’t judge my face. I had an eyelid infection for the whole trip and I’m honestly still dealing with it months later. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m hoping the footage doesn’t see the light of day now that I’m thinking about it.
The amenity kit is 4,000 yen (~$25 USD). Blanket, earplugs, eye mask, slippers, and an inflatable neck pillow that was better than expected. I told you in a previous Japan post not to bother with inflatables. I’m walking that back specifically for this pillow. I didn’t have to haul around a big pillow for the whole trip and this one got the job done.
I pre-ordered the butter chicken curry for 1,500 yen (~$10 USD). It arrived microwaved right before landing. Fine. Not the point.
I also bought a fruit sando in the crappy 7-Eleven to eat as we landed. A little treat for arrival. You may remember I had been looking forward to fruit sandos on this trip. This one went sad and soft somewhere over the Pacific. Thankfully, I had many, many delicious ones all across Japan.
One thing worth knowing: ZIPAIR’s cancellation policy is strict. Read it before you book. Know what you’re getting into.
One fun thing I noticed: a tall American guy upgraded to a lie-flat seat right on the flight. You can actually do that. ZIPAIR lets you upgrade through their in-flight ordering system on your phone if seats are available. It’s a gamble, they often sell out in advance. But it worked for him.
I took half an Ambien, reclined flat, hid under the blanket I bought, and was out-out.
Eight hours later I woke up. SJ had been sleeping too. Opened the sando. Found out what I found out. Ate my curry in the dimmed cabin while we got closer to San Francisco.
We landed early afternoon. I felt pretty good, like an actual human being. Barely any jet lag.
SJ had spent some of the flight with everything spread out on her tray table. Rubber stamps, washi tape, pens, the new stickers from Traveler’s Company. Working on her notebook. The whole trip right in front of her at 30,000 feet.
That notebook started as a fun gesture, a gift from friends on day one in Taipei. Got stamped across two countries. Maybe got talked about on Japanese TV. Made it home full of stories.
So did we.
More from trip two coming. I figured I’d start at the end because that’s how I roll.
More as I can.
—Rusty Blazenhoff
P.S. Actual photo of me getting settled on the lie-flat seats:
Love your stuff. Keep on keeping on, woman. 🙌🏻
I saw a Zip Air sale a month or two ago and considered booking a solo trip even though I was in Japan 6 months ago. That's how tempting it is. Looking forward to your report.