I’m currently sitting on the Shinkansen bound for Aomori after spending the last 5 days in Tokyo, Japan. The ride is surprisingly smooth– there are practically no bumps at all!

GPS-less

I had hoped to track all of our wanderings around Japan with GPS. Unfortunately, my GPS logger (which I had been testing for the past few weeks in preparation) decided to not turn on upon our arrival in Japan. I thought the battery might just be dead, but no amount of charging was able to revive it.

Good thing I had a backup (or so I thought). My phone has GPS and the My Tracks GPS logging app, which I use when running, hiking, and even skateboarding. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get a GPS fix with my phone since arriving in Japan. I think it has something to do with having no cell reception here (different networks).

Seeing that GPS was not working out, I grabbed a pedometer app with an unfortunate name so that I’d at least have something track our explorations. After calibrating the pedometer, it seems quite accurate, so at least something works around here.

15 Miles a Day

According to the pedometer, we’ve been walking 12-15 miles per day. At first I thought this had to be wrong– my feet definitely didn’t feel like we walked a half-marathon every single day. But like I said, the pedometer was calibrated and it appeared to be logging each step quite accurately.

The Lems Primal 2 are definitely owed much of the credit for the lack of fatigue my feet have experienced thus far. No socks, no insole, and yet these shoes remain light and comfortable.

Thoughtless

The truth is, I don’t really even think about my feet all day long. That’s how comfortable I feel in the Primal 2’s. There are no hot spots and I’ve had zero issues with blistering despite the non-stop walking we’ve been doing.

Break-In

I can tell that the Primal 2’s need to be broken in a bit more because they still feel a bit stiff compared to the sock-like comfort of my well-worn Primal 1’s, but that hasn’t caused any ill effects thus far.

I am curious whether these shoes will ever get as soft and flexible as the Primal 1’s because they continue to hold their shape very well. By contrast, the Primal 1’s practically collapse in on themselves without a foot inside.

Touchy-Feely

One of the best things about wearing a minimal shoe is feeling the ground beneath your feet. While the ground feel of the Primal 2’s are not quite like being barefoot, I still get a kick out of feeling the streets of Tokyo as we explore.

As I’ve said before the Primal 2’s soles “round off” the edge of the terrain underfoot, so rough terrain feels like walking across a bed of smooth river rocks. I actually seek out gravel and stones to walk on to give my feet a bit of a massage throughout the day. It’s great.

A Cleansing Shower

Being the largest city in the world, our walking has been predominantly over concrete and asphalt since arriving in Tokyo. We did however spend a day in Yoyogi Park, which is crisscrossed with wide dirt paths.

Meiji Jingu Gate

Understandably, after leaving the park, my shoes were covered in a light layer of dirt. Nothing major, but it did make me wonder how difficult the Primal 2 outsole’s suede-like material would be to clean.

I did not have to wait long because later that night we also experienced our first downpour of Japanese rain as we walked from the train station back to our apartment. It was brief and not too heavy, but when we stepped into our room, I noticed that my shoes, though wet, were also completely clean!

Walking in the rain– my favorite way to clean my shoes.

Thankfully, the Primal 2’s were mostly dry by the next morning. Walking around in soggy shoes is not fun.

To the North

We’ll be arriving in Aomori in a couple hours. It’s about 360 miles north of Tokyo and we’re not sure what to expect. After 5 days in Tokyo with the Primal 2’s though, I can at least say that I don’t think I’ll be worrying about my feet.