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Rays back from Japan

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Konnichiwa,

By the time you read this, I'll already be home. I'm probably sleeping.

Anyway, my last day in Tokyo wasn't much. That's what happens when you get up at 5:30 a.m. (after falling asleep sitting up at 2 a.m.) and work for five hours, then need a couple hours to get packed and organized.

With the little time we did have before going back to the stadium, Times photographer Toni Sandys and I took a cab for a quick trip (though not a fast one due to the traffic) to Akihabara, which is home to Denki-gai, the retail area known as Electric Town. Every store sells electronic devices and screams for your attention. It's kind of like Times Square, but bigger.

Though the selection was impressive (if not overwhelming), the prices were disappointing, not much different than Best Buy or Circuit City. And it would be a little easier to return something there.

The variety of concession items at the Tokyo Dome is impressive. There are some very familiar items, such as hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, that taste almost like you'd expect them to. And there are some native specialities, such as tsukune, which is like sweet sausage on a stick; edamame, which are like sweet peas that are eaten while drinking; and saki ika, which is that always popular bag of dried squid.

Taste: Not a chance.

We asked some players who went to Japan in 2000 with the Mets and Cubs for their best stories. Mark Guthrie, a reliever with the Mets, said he had a great time, but coming home was tough. "Before we took the flight our doctors were telling us things like to be careful with sharp objects, and we're like, "What the heck?' But you lose a little coordination when you do that flight twice in five or six days. You definitely lose something. Now that I look back, I did a lot of clumsy things, like a lot of tripping. It was really strange."

There definitely are some issues in translating from Japanese to English. Among the more interesting translations we've seen this week are: a NO SMORKING sign in the interview room; references to the pregame samurai sward dance; and a sign in a pachinko parlor that instructed players to not "life their hand" from the machine.

"I wish I could name it. It's something that swam that doesn't swim any more."

- GM CHUCK LaMAR, asked about the weirdest thing he ate.

That's the question members of the Devil Rays traveling party will be asking all day. The Rays left Tokyo after Wednesday's game about 1 a.m. Tokyo time and flew home 121/2 hours nonstop. Because Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Tampa Bay, that means the Rays got home before they left, about 11:40 p.m. Tampa Bay time.. Unfortunately, those who adjusted to Tokyo time felt like it was 1:40 p.m. Thursday.

Because it was sometime after midnight before the Rays got to their own beds, they'll have today off, have a light workout Friday and play an exhibition Saturday in Dunedin, then a scrimmage against Triple-A Durham on Sunday in a closed session at Tropicana Field. They will work out Monday, then resume their regular-season schedule with a game against the Yankees on Tuesday at the Trop.