I arrived in Tokyo five days ago, on Sunday. Landing in Narita International, on an Aeroflot flight out of Moscow, and hearing the soft polite sounds of Japanese ground control take over, I felt a great sense of relief. As a New Yorker, there is something of home for me in Tokyo. Anna, my Moscow friend, commented how much Narita recalled her experiences of US airports like Washington D.C’s Dulles: clear and efficient, lots of signs in English, brisk politeness and smiles–customer service. Entering the city in a dream state after a long flight into a future 9 hours ahead of Moscow, and 14 hours ahead of New York, I experienced an immediate calm: the quietness of the voices, the deliberate design of every…