As we disembarked our 11-hour, Japan Airlines flight from Heathrow to Tokyo, we wondered what kind of reception would be in store.
With the Olympics still 10 days away, the horror stories had already started to do the rounds.
The hotel, for agen judi slot terpercaya example which designated one elevator for ‘Japanese’ and the other for ‘foreigners’.
The unsubtle warning sent out to journalists that ‘every action’ would be watched by the general public who would not think twice about whipping out their phones, filming what they deemed Covid breaches and immediately shaming on social media.
Italy’s athletes arrive at Haneda airport on Tuesday ahead of the Olympic Games
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The four-day quarantine about to greet us.
Some had relayed tales of reporters being unable to leave their poky rooms, with burly security men patrolling the corridors to ensure they did not attempt to do so. How would we even eat, let alone exercise?
But the early signs were good.
Clipboard-carrying staff wearing Tokyo 2020 T-shirts greeted us at Haneda airport to take our names and numbers. From there we were led to a checkpoint where the two Covid ‘lamp’ tests we had paid £170 for at 72 and 96 hours before departure were examined for the first time, along with our accreditation and the app we had to download which lets the authorities know where we will be at all times for the next 14 days.
It was at this point I realised it helped if you did not leave your boarding pass on the plane, but the latest smiling Games worker assured me not to worry.
Then another checkpoint, then another. If nothing else, it was good for the step count. About an hour into our Olympic Covid extravaganza we were led to the test centre by a lady holding a sign above her head which read ‘media’. It felt like the most boring guided tour in the world.
In what resembled a voting booth we were given a plastic funnel to put over a test tube.
Sparing the graphic details, the aim was to spit into the tube and then hand it over to another smiling member of staff.
Police officers patrol around the arrival gate at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
A controversial hotel sign in Tokyo
From there it was up to Gate 146, which served as the latest waiting room.
Thirty minutes passed and my number popped up on screen. I went to the desk and the first sombre face I had seen since landing handed me a red slip. I braced myself for the 14-day quarantine camp reserved for those who test positive. ‘You’re negative,’ the man said, and waved me on to immigration.
Passport stamped, we were led out to buses, which took us to taxis which took us to hotels.
The airport process took three hours and, while exhausting, we felt nothing but warmth from our hosts.
When I arrived at the Best Western Nishikasai, nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than a man sitting at a fold-up desk in reception. He pointed to a sign which told me I was allowed out for 15-minute spells, with no limit on how many times.
The room is not tiny by Tokyo standards.
There are no security guards patrolling the corridors and the welcome is as warm as it always is in this part of the world. Indeed, there has been general outrage and embarrassment locally at the hotel responsible for the elevator faux pas for which it has apologised.
The city is quiet with an 8pm curfew for bars and restaurants.
We passed a number of venues with towering temporary stands that, sadly, with fans likely to be banned, nobody will sit in, but the mood seems upbeat.
