Our trip to Yamagata required two train rides. The first was from Kyoto to Tokyo. At Tokyo, we took another train north to our final destination. We arrived in Tokyo at 11 am, hungry. Japan’s train stations are good places to eat. They often have food courts as well as stores selling ekiben — the bento boxes for consuming on the train. We found an organic food shop in Tokyo and bought some sandwiches, drinks and fruit. Having fed ourselves, we passed through the next set of fare gates and headed up the escalator to the platform for the train to take us to Yamagata. It was 10 minutes before the 12 noon scheduled departure. Our train was at the platform, also being cleaned. Yellow caution tape prevented us from boarding. The cleaning crew worked in a frenzy. They polished the windows, vacuumed the floors and wiped down the seats and arms. Then, they took down the yellow tape. To give you an idea of what a precision operation they have in Japan, the crew...