Lost in Tokyo

Aakash was on a fun holiday in Japan with his parents during his school’s summer vacation. After four exciting days in Tokyo, they were heading to Tokyo Station to catch the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka. After a sumptuous breakfast at their hotel which was in the busy Shinjuku area, they took the metro.

In the crowded metro car, Aakash sat with his phone, chatting non-stop on WhatsApp with his friends in Mumbai. “Hey guys, Japan is awsm!” he typed quickly into his class WhatsApp group, which has the moniker “Deku Squad”. “Tokyo Tower n Skytree r da best! Views r crazy high”

Rohan replied right away: “Agree! I jst got bak frm Japan last wk. Did u go 2 da Robot Café?”

His father, sitting to his right, whispered to him, “Aakash, next station is ours. Get ready. Put your phone away.”

‘One minute.’

‘Aakash, if you don’t put away your phone, I will confiscate it,’ his mother whispered to him from his left.

Aakash ignored his mother and continued to WhatsApp, even as he heard his father tell his mother, ‘This is Ushigome-kagurazaka Station. Here we change to the Marunouchi line.’

Aakash kept typing. “Tokyo metro has gr8 internet!”  

“You have zero discipline!” he heard his mother say in a low, but angry voice, just as his phone was snatched away from him.

“Sssshhheeet” Aakash said loudly, causing the people around him to stare at his and his parents.

Soon the train stopped and he followed his parents out of the train. Aakash carried a small backpack which had some snacks he was planning to eat during the bullet train ride to Osaka. Both his parents pulled a heavy suitcase each.

‘Is it a long walk?’ His mother asked his father.

‘We have to exit this station and walk a bit.’

Since they had their luggage with them, his parents did not take the stairs, but walked ahead to the escalator and waited in queue. A couple with a baby in a pram were already in line and so Aakash and his parents had to wait for three minutes to get into the elevator. 

This is so beautiful, his mother exclaimed as soon as they got out of the station. Instead of following her husband, she took out her phone and started clicking pictures of the neighbourhood which had a historic vibe, with temples and eateries.

‘Do you want to miss our bullet train to Osaka?’ Aakash’s father asked.

‘One more minute,’ his mother replied.

‘Daddy, please snatch mummy’s phone,’ Aakash told his father.

His father looked perplexed.

‘When I said “one minute”, mummy snatched my phone. Now, please do the same to her.’

‘Very funny,’ his mother replied, but she stopped taking photos and started moving forward.

At that moment, Aakash spotted a store which had windows covered with pictures of his favourite Manga heroes, mainly from the shonen series. There was Naruto Uzumaki, the loud, energetic ninja with incredible determination who never gave up, Monkey D. Luffy, the fun-loving, stretchy rubber pirate captain,  Son Goku, Izuku Midoriya, Ichigo Kurosaki, and many more. Aakash decided to go in for a quick look. He didn’t tell his parents since he didn’t plan to spend more than five seconds in the store.

 Aakash ended up spending at least two minutes inside the shop. He considered asking his father to buy him some of the stickers, but then decided against it. They had already bought a number of stickers the previous evening and his father wasn’t going to agree to buy him more. The shop had a number of Manga books, but they were all in Japanese.

Aakash got out of the shop and saw that his parents were much ahead of him and walked fast to catch up with them. His mother seemed to be walking faster than usual and was easily keeping up with his father. Aakash walked faster and then ran a bit, until he caught up with his parents who were crossing a road.  

He caught up with his parents just as they finished crossing the road. Was his mother going to scold him once more for having lagged behind?  Aakash steeled himself for his mother’s outburst, which he was so used to.

Oops! Wait… these weren’t his parents! The couple was much younger, probably in their early thirties, though they seemed Indian too. Aakash froze.

The couple smiled at him politely and walked on. Aakash’s heart skipped a few beats. Oh no! What have I done?” he whispered. His heart pounded and he almost burst into tears.

His hand went into his pocket to take out his phone and call his parents. Oh no! His phone was with his mother, wasn’t it? He decided to walk back the way he came. He had to cross the road, which he had just crossed, didn’t he? He turned around and saw that the crossing behind him had two roads and he wasn’t sure which way he had come. If only he could find that Manga store, he would be fine. Actually, he wasn’t sure his parents would be anywhere near that Manga shop.

If you are lost, find a policeman and ask for help, he remembered his class teacher telling them one day, during a school trip. There were no policemen in sight. Aakash was not even sure what uniforms policemen in Tokyo wore. He burst into tears and stood on the pavement, not knowing what to do. Soon he realised that a number of people passing by him were slowing down and then moving on. One woman was calling someone even as she looked at him and then she too walked on. In no time, two policemen arrived in a car. They wore light blue shirts with short sleeves, dark blue trousers, and a dark blue peaked cap with a gold emblem. One of them patted him on the back and indicated that he should get into their car.

The car ride took only five minutes and Aakash was taken inside a building which had KOBAN written on it in English. Aakash was given a stool to sit on and a bottle of water was placed in front of him. The police gave an impression of such efficiency that Aakash was sure that they would find his parents very soon. He was absolutely right. In around twenty minutes, his parents reached the Koban.

‘Thank God, we found him,’ Aakash father said and then bowed repeatedly to the policemen by way of saying thanks.

Aakash’s mother was crying and also smiling at the same time, relieved at having found Aakash.

Aakash sheepishly got up and went towards his parents. Soon, he was hugging his mother tightly, even as his father frowned, his face still dark with anger.

They quietly left the police station after saying ‘Arigato Gozaimazu’ to the policemen.

‘I’m booking an Uber’ his father said and opened the Uber app on his phone.

In the cab, Aakash and his parents cheered up.

“Tokyo has been fun, even with the mix-up,” Aakash said.

His father laughed. “Yes, but next time, eyes up, please don’t disappear like this.”

‘Next time, don’t take away my phone,’ Aakash responded. ‘If I had my phone with me, we wouldn’t have struggled to find each other.’ Aakash’s parents laughed at his joke.

As the cab sped toward Tokyo Station, Aakash looked out at the busy streets. He couldn’t wait to tell his friends the whole story once they reached Osaka. The adventure in Japan was far from over.

By Neil Cyriac Joseph

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