From Kanda to Kamata

Checked out of the hotel and took the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Subway from Kanda to Kyoubashi. It's hard to travel around the city when you carry a suitcase and a notebook computer. I especially dread the flight of stairs and the crowd. After exiting the station, I found my way to the company office.

I met colleagues, Joseph and Murakoshi, at the office. They just arrived from Manila and went to the office straight from the airport. We had dinner with Mr. Kudo before we move to Kamata. A bit tipsy, I dragged my stuff again up the stairs and through the crowd. We took the JR Keihin Touhoku Line from Tokyo to Kamata. There was a bit of commotion when the train stopped at Oimachi for some reason. Impatient, Murakoshi suggested to change train lines. We already climbed a flight of stairs to transfer when it was announced that the train was ready to move again. Darn, we hauled ass back to the train just in time before the doors closed.

We checked-in at the Hotel Urbain Kamata Annex. Dropping the weight of our luggage was a relief. Murakoshi showed us around. He used to live around this area. According to him, Kamata was some sort of Little Philippines in this part of Tokyo. As an entertainment district, Filipino entertainers used to thrive in the area. Since the restriction on entertainment visas, business in the area visibly slowed down.

However, there is still a visible Filipino community as evidenced by the photo below. These are mostly Pinays with Japanese spouses.