"Have you been to a Godzilla movie," my guide, Sumiyo, asked as we stood on the main deck of the Tokyo Tower, the beautiful curve of the Rainbow Bridge beneath our feet.
I admitted I had seen the antics of the cranky lizard, who regularly terrorizes the citizens of Japan in cinemas.
"This is where he goes first," she said, nodding her head at the tower and noting the monster had destroyed the Tokyo icon at least 10 times that she could recall.
Think King Kong and the Empire State building. I can see why Godzilla would head to the city's best view and highest point; at 1,093 feet, it is higher than the Eiffel Tower. Completed in 1958, it was a symbol of hope for a city coming back from the destruction of World War II, Sumiyo told me.
Our trip to the tower followed a visit to the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a white-gloved Kazuhisa Naito uncovered a treasure chest of original Portsmouth Peace Treaty documents. The Japanese consider the 1905 treaty one of the high points of their history, the first moment when they were on a level playing field with the Western powers. The near-destruction of the Russian fleet in a battle over strategically placed Sakhalin Island made them a player in world affairs.
Unwrapping layers of acid-free paper, Mr. Naito showed me a letter signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for overseeing the treaty negotiations. Then the archivist reverently laid open the treaty's final page, where Baron Jutaro Komura and Sergius Witte had signed, and the seals of the Japanese emperor and Russian czar -- the doomed Nicholas II -- lay waiting for examination. The room was completely silent.
Tears came into my eyes as I realized I had traveled from sitting alone in front of a computer, dreaming up the story of Annie Daniels and the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, to standing in front of a piece of paper touched by the diplomats I have come to admire so greatly during my research. There is something personal about ink and parchment and sealing wax and string, some sense of the power and vulnerability of human beings.
Earlier in the day -- a warm day, somewhere in the 80s -- I sat in a warm room with Koji Tsuruoka, director-general for global issues. In 2005, the government began a Cool Biz campaign, urging offices to keep their thermostats at 82 degrees during the summer. He and I were both sweating. I was the sweatier of the two because Mr. Tsuruoka was not wearing his jacket or tie and had unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. He had not rolled up his sleeves, but that is apparently allowed too.
"Climate change takes priority over the ceremonial requirement of wearing a suit and tie," he told me.
Because resources are very precious in this island country, the Japanese have been extremely motivated to conserve energy. This is combined with a tradition of reverence for nature. It didn't happen overnight, Mr. Tsuruoka said, but Japan now accounts for less than 5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions; its share of the world's economy is 12 to 14 percent.
On the way to the next appointment, our taxi passed a gas station. A quick conversion of liters to gallons and yen to dollars revealed the price: almost $9 a gallon.
At 5 p.m., we called on Professor Toshiyuki Shikata, a retired military man who now teaches international relations at Teikyo University. He is also counselor to the governor of Tokyo, with a specialty of disaster planning.
He directs simulated exercises involving dirty bombs and bioterrorism. This is all done in a huge room at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. The amphitheater-style space is filled with tiers of desks, each equipped with a phone. An enormous lit-up map of Japan covers the wall. It looks like something straight out of James Bond.
Finally, dinner with Mr. Kazuyuki Yamazaki, the assistant press secretary and director of the Ministry of Foregn Affairs' International Press Division. We had Kobe beef, prepared before us by a chef who used none of the Benihana antics we in America are accustomed to. It was fabulous, though I did have trouble managing the bean sprouts with my chopsticks.
Today it's on to Nagoya!