I’m back in California. On my way back from Shanghai, I had to stop by Narita International Airport (in Tokyo). I love airports in general but man, Narita Airport is cool! Check out this tunnel I had to go through.
The other side of the tunnel was creepy. I should have taken some pics, but just imagine yourself in this futuristic-looking place with a bunch of glass and escalators. And you’re the only person there. Occasionally there’d be two or three people who walk by, but they remain completely silent.
I went to the main lobby area that connects to all the flight gates, and again very few people. The only sound there was this toy bear beating on a drum. It was weird. Gradually a lot more people showed up and everything was normal. But while the place was empty it was totally strange.
I wonder if Narita International was really all in my head. The plane I took from Shanghai to Tokyo was a B777. From Tokyo to SFO I was again on a B777. Maybe it was the same B777, and I never got off the plane. You know how Japan is years ahead in technology. Maybe all the passengers were put to sleep and sent to a virtual airport while some secret government agency collected data from our brains. And a glitch in their virtual world software caused the airport to be eerily empty. When a system admin realized this, he started putting in virtual people.
They were afraid that the passengers would be on to them, so they cut their mission short and quickly placed the passengers back in their seats. But they did a sloppy job. That’s why my three hours at Narita felt like no more than an hour when all I did was walk around. That’s why I was in a different seat when I flew from Narita to SFO. That’s why the airport restrooms were spotless and odorless. That’s why everybody was unbearably polite. That’s why the above photos are digital. Nothing was real!
Kimochi warui.
