Yokoso! Japan

That's very kind of them to arrange some snow especially for my penguiny self:

(Takeshita-dori in Harajuku, about 30 minutes ago)

I've now had the pleasure of having my fingerprints taken for the second time in my life (the first time was about 10 years ago, for my alien registration card). The actual process was very quick, to the point I wouldn't be surprised if the machine was in "pretend" mode and the data was being thrown away. Ironically it must have been my fastest trip through Narita ever: from leaving the plane to stumbling jet-lagged and bleary-eyed (or jet-eyed and bleary-lagged) out into the arrivals hall took about 25 minutes.

Added: In case you're wondering, "yokoso" means "welcome" in Japanese, and "Yokoso! Japan" is the offical slogan of Japan's tourism marketing agency.