Here is a nice summary of the trip.

[The Evil Genius]

Fun 'N' Gun meets Rising Sun

Mon Aug 5, 9:13 AM ET

USA TODAY

The NFL preseason debut of Washington Redskins coach Steve Spurrier came about 7,000 miles from training camp when the team went to Japan to play the San Francisco 49ers in the American Bowl.

USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell captured some of the sights and sounds of the team's unusual journey.

Wednesday, July 31

There's a price to pay for the break from two-a-day practices at the Redskins' Dickinson College training camp site in Carlisle, Pa.: a 13 1/2-hour jaunt on United Airlines' chartered flight 9014. Call it a chance to bond.

''We used to go to Tampa or Miami for a few days of practices,'' says cornerback Darrell Green, settling into a business-class seat on the jumbo 747-400 aircraft. ''That's 'breaking the monotony of camp.' This is a life experience. A cultural exchange.''

If you say so.

Green, an NFL Methuselah at 42, has experienced so much as he enters his 20th season. Super Bowls. Pro Bowls. Six head coaches. But because a contract dispute kept him off a 1992 trip to London, Green never had played overseas.

He brings about 10 DVD movies. One problem: When Green inserts a disc, his new computer shuts down. Next DVD, same shutdown.

A half-hour into the flight, frustration.

Finally, seatmate Stephen Davis, watching his own DVD, offers a theory. ''They must be bootlegged. That's what happens when you play them. They turn the machine off.''

So much for that.

The Redskins' traveling party of nearly 300 is an eclectic cast.

On the upper deck with team owner Dan Snyder are corporate bigwigs, such as AOL's founder emeritus, James Kimsey. In the back, the Redskinettes.

In first class, new defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis digs into a care package. Mixed in with jelly beans, M&Ms and a pillow: a coloring book. For you?

Lewis simply smiles while grabbing some of the real artwork of his craft: defensive plays from his playbook. As the conversation turns to football, Lewis alludes to a positive: an extra preseason game to evaluate and fine-tune the new offensive and defensive schemes being installed.

Meanwhile, linebacker LaVar Arrington sets up a chessboard. He's taking on all comers, starting with a kid who writes for the team's Web site.

''You want some of this, too?'' Arrington growls with an in-your-face tone challenge.

Uh, not now.

The plane, captained by Mack Moore, takes an arctic route to the Far East. The crew includes 14 flight attendants. They serve a half-dozen snacks and meals and offer something you don't get on commercial flights: Gatorade.

By the time the plane gets into Canada, the aisles are crowded and it resembles a happy hour -- especially in the back.

The cheerleaders, well, draw a crowd.

The entire flight occurs in daylight, one reason Arrington sleeps just 1 1/2 hours and bounces all over the plane. He even hangs with the media, learning a beads-and-board game called Mancala from Associated Press writer Joseph White.

There's also a lively scene in the players' section: A full-fledged craps game, with hundreds of dollars in the pot.

Throughout the flight, there are pranks. Rookie offensive lineman Akil Smith wakes up from a nap with mustard smeared over his face.

''I've got that on camera,'' Arrington says.

Thursday, Aug. 1

The plane descends on Osaka, early evening in Japan, early morning in Washington. A flight attendant gives instructions for completing customs documents and makes an urgent announcement:

''Will the person who has Coach Hunley's shoes please return them!''

Ricky Hunley, the defensive line coach, suspects the perpetrator was one of his coaching brethren. He gets the shoes back, no questions asked.

There have been more American Bowls in Japan (11) than any country, but this is the first one in Osaka, the Japanese city where NFL football has its strongest following. The other 10 exhibitions were played in Tokyo beginning in 1989, but most of the better college and club teams are in or near Osaka.

Throughout the trip, the 13-hour time difference will pose a challenge. The first order of business after arriving at the Rihga Royal Hotel was a briefing from the team's security staff and the U.S. Department of State. Warnings:

* Watch for pickpockets and men who grope women on subways.

* If men with their fingers cut off are encountered, avoid them. They are likely members of the Japanese mafia, which is 40,000 strong.

* Don't go out alone.

''They have to make those kinds of speeches,'' Arrington says. ''The vast majority of players, we are mature enough. We don't need a little fear factor; we'll conduct ourselves as U.S. citizens. But there's always that one guy who needs to hear it.''

Players are assigned single rooms but quickly notice how so many items are smaller in Japan. To make do with a queen-sized mattress, 6-6 tackle Jon Jansen places a chair at the end of the bed . . . for his feet to rest on.

''I just tried not to roll over,'' he says.

Friday, Aug. 2

Japan offers immaculate temples, lush gardens and museums filled with ancient art. But the Redskins don't arrange any sightseeing tours, and wives are left at home.

Business trip.

The players hit the field for a 10 a.m. practice at the Osaka Dome. Their body clocks, though, suggest 9 p.m. Thursday, which explains the yawns.

The dome, built in 1997 and resembling a giant mushroom from the outside, is home to a pro baseball team, the Osaka Buffaloes. It's evident that last-minute fixings are in order. Five workers furiously tape sections in the artificial turf, trying to smooth seams and level bumps. Wariness persists.

''I haven't been on good (artificial) turf since I've been in the league,'' cornerback Champ Bailey says. ''We played in Philly three years in a row. Same thing.''

At practice: Hiroshi Ikezawa, a prominent football writer for The Japan Times who has paid his way to cover nine Super Bowls. He doesn't expect a sellout at the 32,000-seat stadium. ''People don't want to pay to see second- and third-stringers,'' he says.

After practice, team meetings. Because rooms are tight at the hotel, running backs coach Hue Jackson gathers his group in a third-floor lobby. The meeting ends with a pop quiz on the playbook, then the players beg Jackson to join them on a shopping spree.

''This old man is tired,'' Jackson moans.

He changes his mind and joins the group.

''I've got to protect Stephen (Davis),'' cracks Jackson. ''I don't want him to come back broke.''

In the lobby, a Redskinette urges the players to go to the aquarium.

Rookie tight end Leonard Stephens grimaces at the suggestion.

So they head to Den Den Town, where there are dozens of electronics stores with the latest gadgets. Davis gets a kick out of a cellphone that has a camera on it, but after a couple of hours comparing prices, he doesn't buy a thing.

''I can get a lot of this stuff cheaper at Best Buy,'' says Davis, having lunch at . . . Wendy's.

The long day ends with a welcome party, attended by both teams and local civic and business leaders. The entertainment: NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue joins Snyder and 49ers owner John York on stage to bang taiko drums.

Tagliabue admits he lacks rhythm.

''No one will confuse me for Count Basie.''

Saturday, Aug. 3

Sitting on the bench during practice, Snyder beams when rookie Rashad Bauman intercepts a pass. ''That's our third-round pick. He's going to help us.''

Snyder is reminded of last year's dismal preseason start -- the Redskins didn't score a touchdown in their first two preseason games -- and all the anticipation generated by Spurrier.

''I don't care if it's preseason,'' Snyder says. ''We always want to win. But the most important thing now is to at least show that we are headed in the right direction.''

Preseason or not, Spurrier wants to see a wide-open offense for the team's first test. ''We're not going to just line up in the I and toss it,'' he says. ''We'll pitch it around.''

Still, Spurrier admits his biggest concern is protection for the passers.

Suddenly, Spurrier is distracted by the Redskinettes, gyrating on the sidelines for the couple thousand fans attending Fan Day.

''People always ask me what the difference is between college and the NFL,'' he says. ''Well, in college the cheerleaders don't dress -- or dance -- like that.''

Fan Day allows players to provide hands-on tips to the locals. No station is as lively as the tackling session led by Arrington, cornerback Fred Smoot and linebacker Jessie Armstead. They lead a couple dozen Japanese players into a frenzy, urging them to dive into blocking dummies. At the end of the clinic, they gather in a jumping, hollering huddle, then Arrington leads the men on a sprint the length of the field. Spirited.

There's news that excites the Japanese media. The Redskins had signed wideout Akihito Amaya and the 49ers linebacker Masafumi Kawaguchi to 10-day contracts that allowed them to play this week. But Tagliabue announces the NFL will allow roster exemptions for the teams to take their Japanese players back to camp.

This should prevent the type of PR hits the NFL took in Mexico City in 1997, when a local hero, wideout Marco Martos, didn't return to camp after playing with the Denver Broncos in an American Bowl.

Following afternoon meetings, Green is in a rush to find souvenirs. He hops into a taxi with John Jefferson, the team's director of player development, and team security officer John Bean, and they head to the Osaka Station shopping district.

The mission does not go smoothly. Green meets a British singer, Stuart Mansfield, who promises to take him to shops with authentic Japanese items. Instead Mansfield leads Green through a two-hour maze of shops at the underground mall. Along the way he mingles with several people, young and old, male and female. Sometimes the language provides an obstacle, but Green gets a buzz interacting with the people.

Green winds up in a department store, then bargains with a manager for a 5% discount for $600 worth of goods. It's the same Green known to the team's beat writers for bumming quarters for the soda machine at Redskins headquarters.

''That was the most fun I've had since I've been here,'' he says. ''I actually got a chance to feel the people.''

Sunday, Aug. 4

Game day. As he checks out of the hotel, Stephens is keyed.

''It's time to knock some heads,'' he says. ''And after that I can go home and eat some real food.''

The Redskins make a splash in Spurrier's debut with a 38-7 victory. The first impression of his offense and Lewis' defense was that the systems work.

Players present Spurrier with a game ball.

''He deserved it,'' Bailey says. ''It was his first win.''

Says Spurrier: ''Six weeks from now, nobody will care about this. But the airplane ride to D.C. will be much nicer than if we had lost.''

Sayonara.