Bob Abrams and I spent a week in Japan last month. The purpose of the trip was two-fold. First, we had scheduled visits with current customer to review project status. We also visited multiple prospective customers as part of our overall Japanese development strategy. From a business point of view, the trip was quite successful.
We can summarize a business trip as being a plane trip, a hotel, a customer visit, back to the hotel, and then back to the plane. And after a while, all business trips can seem the same. I had decided a while ago to try to incorporate a little tourism into each trip, and this trip was no exception. After all, Japan is an interesting country, and it would be a shame to see nothing more than the inside of a hotel.
On this trip, Bob and I were able to do two tourist things.
Being old, I like to see things that are older than I am. So on a side trip to Nagoya, we visited the castle. Originally built in 1612, it has been restored, and is an interesting look into Japan’s past. While having a military aspect, is was more of a palace for the Tokugawa family. The castle is topped off by two golden dolphins (Kinshachi), which is a tradition dating back to 1334. Bob and I also had a tea ceremony before we returned to Tokyo.
Bob isn’t as old as I, and wanted to see more modern things. So on the last day of our visit, we spent the afternoon looking at ham radio electronics, and then at other consumer electronics in Electronic Town (Akihabara) in Tokyo. I think we were both impressed with the modern toilets on display.
This was the first trip to Japan that I felt totally comfortable in using the subways. I always had a fear that I would become trapped below ground, going in an infinite loop because I could not read the signs for my exit. This time I had an app that told me when and where to change trains. And I learned where to read the station numbers. Once I had that down, we were free to go anywhere.
After that, it was time to come back home.