Destination Japan - Tokyo Anime Freedom Day 1&2

Day 1 & 2

After anxiously waiting for the fateful tour departure date to arrive, March 24th had finally come, and it brought clear skies with it. Today was the day that the 2008 Tokyo Anime Freedom tour would set out, and Destination Japan’s fearless group descended upon the Tom Bradley Int’l Terminal at the Los Angeles Int’l Airport.

There’s something special about meeting the travel group at the terminal in Los Angeles that makes the group mesh together so well. Everyone shares a sense of excitement for the impending EPIC tour they’re about to go on, and they are instantly bonded together by the passion for Japan their excitement ignites inside of them. This is a bond that holds throughout the tour and gives you the option to make your trip to Japan as personal or as casual as you want.

As the group’s final members arrived, we checked in for our Singapore Airlines flight and relaxed before boarding. Though the next step was a long one, it was the last hurdle before finally arriving in the country patiently waiting on the other side of the Pacific. As one would expect a group of fans of Japan, various members of the group came well prepared with manga, Sony PSPs, Nintendo DSes, and various things to keep themselves occupied on the ride over.

Once there, we made sure to exchange our precious monies into yen, and boarded the bus into Tokyo. The ride into the city would give us the chance to chat it up and marvel at the new world we’d been transported to. Though no tour activities were officially scheduled for the arrival day (besides a good night’s sleep), we decided to take a 25-minute stop at a local rest stop in a little area called Shisui.

Arriving at Narita Airport