With a little over a week left until I leave for Japan, everything is falling in place. I got an email a few days ago from my travel companion with the following picture attached:

Thanks to his friend in Tokyo, we have our tickets for Tokyo Game Show 2009, which opens to the public on Saturday! I’m a bit sad that I won’t be able to make it there for the industry keynotes, but the public exhibition should still be awesome with all sorts of interesting characters showing up. I wonder if I can sneak myself into the Microsoft booth using my badge… ^.^;;

Our itinerary for the week has pretty much been nailed down as well, with only a few loose ends to work on. Here’s a rough outline:

• Thursday – Depart United States, land Friday late afternoon JST. Go to hotel and crash.
• Saturday – Tokyo Game Show
• Sunday – Harajuku
• Monday – Lunch with some Microsoft Japan folks, exploring Tokyo
• Tuesday – Akihabara
• Wednesday – Saitama for Washinomiya Shrine, Do As Infinity concert (hopefully)
• Thursday – Ghibli Museum
• Friday – Train to Kyoto in AM, do sightseeing
• Saturday – More sightseeing in Kyoto
• Sunday – Train to Narita and return to US
• Monday – Taking day off from work to recover

It’s going to be a very packed trip, I think, and I’m getting pretty psyched about it. With our hotels booked and itinerary made, all that’s really left for me to do is pack and get on the plane next week!