Looks like we made it!

Boy, what a journey it was, schlepping 8 checked pieces of luggage, 2 car seats, a stroller, 4 carry-on items and 4 personal items on that Delta Airlines flight.  It didn’t help that the boys fell asleep just as we landed into Chubu Airport (of course!), so Michael and I had to carry most of the backpacks and small wheeled luggage off the plane.

We took our time getting off the plane and when we arrived baggage claim, our luggage was pulled off the carousel with 4 free luggage carts sitting next to the suitcases.  Only in Japan would you find that kind of customer service without needing to ask.

As soon as we passed through customs, we headed straight to the Kuroneko Yamato Transport desk.  There, we paid to ship 10 of our bags straight to the Airbnb.  I felt badly for the petite woman who had to individually weigh, measure and tag our 50 lb bags.  She even cellophane wrapped the plastic bins to ensure the contents stayed intact.

Dropping them off made it so much easier to take the train to the bullet train to the subway to the taxi to the Airbnb, with our 2 sleeping boys.

The Airbnb was a rude awakening to the size of apartments in Japan.  We’re living in a 400 square ft, 2 bedroom “mansion” until we settle in our “real” mansion (mansion = apartment in Japanese).  More on how we are making this place work for us in another post.  All that matters is that we’re here in Japan making what started off as a kernel of an idea 3 years ago into reality.