Page 252 - Basic Japanese

The differences of tense in English are mostly

conditioned by the tense of the verb in the final clause, and
this is all indicated by the mood of the final verb in the
Japanese sentence.

Now you have had two ways to say ‘after doing

something’: GERUND (-te) + kara and PERFECT (-ta) + ato ni/de.

The principal difference of use is that the -te kara
construction refers to actions IN SEQUENCE (either time
sequence or logical sequence), whereas -ta ato ni is used for

actions not necessarily in immediate sequence, just
separated in time. Go-han o tabete kara, eiga o mi ni ikimashita ‘I

went to see a movie after eating’ implies that there is a
direct sequence, with nothing else of importance happening

between the time I ate and the time I saw the movie: I saw

the show right after dinner. Go-han o tabeta ato ni, eiga o mi ni
ikimashita ‘I went to see a movie after I had eaten’ does not

imply this sequence. Perhaps I did the dishes, studied for a
while, and then went for a walk before taking in a late show.
Additional examples:

新幹線が出る前にホームで駅弁とお茶を買いました。
Shinkansen ga deru mae ni hōmu de ekiben to o-cha o

kaimashita.
I bought a (station) lunchbox and tea at the
platform before the train left.

会議が終わった後に部長と食事をしました。
Kaigi ga owatta ato ni buchō to shokuji o shimashita.

After the meeting had ended, I dined with the
division manager.

仕事が終わってから居酒屋に行きます。

Shigoto ga owatte kara izakaya ni ikimasu.