Djurdjevic - Personal Photos - Around the World Trip

23 Jan 2011

June 2006; adds Greening of Japan

'Round the World, Again

Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Germany...

TOKYO, June 20, 2006 - The first leg of my second (or third?) 'round the world trip of 2006 was from Phoenix to Tokyo via Los Angeles. The long (11-hour) flight to Tokyo was mercifully uneventful. I managed 4-5 hrs sleep after I got my work done. The Singapore Air crew pulled the blinds down so it felt like night time even though it was a daylight flight.

We landed in Japan just before sunset, like the last time when Karen and I arrived in Tokyo from Singapore. Here's a photo of the jet that brought me over...

...and here's a similar scene from Jan 2005 (above, plus for more pics from that trip, click here).

A bummer was that my cell phone wasn't working, even though it is a global phone. Japan apparently has its own unique cell phone technology which isn't compatible with anyone else's. Why does that not surprise me? My phone worked fine on the beaches of Montenegro and in the middle of nowhere in Western Australia, but I cannot use it in the capital of one of the world's technologically most advanced countries. Go figure... "cobbler's kids go barefoot," I suppose. So I'll have to wait to get to Thailand before I can retrieve any of my voice messages.

My Conrad hotel, located in the Shiodome area of Tokyo (near the harbor), is aesthetically pleasing, especially if you like ultra-modern designs. Even the bathrooms look like some sort of space age creations (above). And the blinds and curtains are all electronically controlled.

In fact, I could swear this is the place where they must have filmed "Lost in Translation." So much of it looks familiar even though I know I have never been at this hotel before, such as this bar, for example. Funny, huh?

This is the view of the Tokyo harbor and a lovely park below to which I woke up on June 20. The park was once a summertime beach house of the Japanese shoguns. It is surrounded by the moats not quite as impressive as those around the Imperial Palace, but pretty formidable nevertheless.

By the way, this is also what a 90% humidity looks like. At least that's what CNN said the weather in Tokyo was today.

And this is the same view in the afternoon, when the visibility improved somewhat.

By the way, I was awakened this morning by an unusual alarm. My bed shook. Having been through things like that before (such as in Greece in 1980s, for example), I remember making a mental note, "oh, it must be an earthquake," and going back to sleep. Later on, over a business luncheon, someone mentioned that there was a small earthquake in Tokyo today around 7AM.

"And here I thought it was a dream," I joked. The truth was, it wasn't a major shake, and I had forgotten all about it.

Since the Tokyo portion of my trip is strictly business, you won't be seeing any pictures of tourist attractions. "Been there, done that." If you would like to see some, click here to check out our last trip here. For an older travel vignette from Japan, click on "A Girl and Her Buddha" (1985).

Meanwhile, here is the Royal Park hotel where Karen and I stayed in January 2005, and the Fujitsu office tower next to it. The Conrad hotel, at which I am staying now, is directly opposite the Royal Park hotel across this elevated rail line.

Even in this maze of concrete, steel and glass, there are a few green oasis. Here's one that surrounds a railroad museum that Karen and I visited the last time here.

And when I got back to my hotel, I could not believe my eyes. Starbucks have now made it even to Tokyo. This one is located at a subterranean level of my hotel.

Finally, a photo taken by a hotel staff member at that "Bill Murray bar" from "Lost in Translation," with the Tokyo panorama in the background. By the way, speaking of Hollywood celebrities, Tom Cruise is in town today. And the Japanese are going gaga over him just as they were over Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation."

By the way, the beautiful cherry blossom picture at the top of this travelogue is actually a poster at the Narita airport. I took a photo of it while walking from the gate.

TOKYO, June 21 - The summer solstice of 2006 was the day I had to rise and shine for my client workshop.

Alas, there was not much sunshine to rise to. The morning was rainy and almost foggy with all the humidity in the air. It was one of the gloomiest summer solstices I cam remember.

But inside the executive boardroom, in which I made my presentation over five different screens, all was well and dry. These shots were taken just before the attendees arrived.

TOKYO, June 22 - Japanese executives have for decades fostered an image of buttoned up perfection and formality in their dress code. For that reason, I had even bought a new sheen charcoal shirt and a matching black and charcoal tie for my Tokyo show. I called it my "Japanese outfit."

You can imaging my surprise, therefore, when I was advised prior to the workshop by the session organizer that the participants, all senior executives of the largest Japanese computer company, would be dressed in casual clothes.

"Our company is participating in the national campaign to prevent global warming," my hostess said in a note. "As part of the campaign, we are doing the 'Cool Biz' look (no ties, no jackets). All attendees are expected to meet you without a tie or jacket."

I thought she was kidding. Which is why I replied tongue-in-cheek, "I will be very interested in hearing an explanation from someone tomorrow about how wearing jackets and ties contributes to global warming. It's an intriguing notion..."

But when the most senior of the Japanese executives entered the executive boardroom wearing an open collar shirt and no jacket, my original inclination to mock the idea began to fray. "Perhaps I am also just an ignorant American," I began to wonder.

The feeling was reinforced when the executive put up a slide outlining his company's core values. Being environmentally conscious was at the top of the chart. "We are a green company," he proudly declared.

"I'd better be careful what I say next," I thought to myself. But the "curious George" in me prevailed. "Would you mind explaining to me how wearing a tie and a jacket contributes to global warming?" I blurted out. Joking aside, I was really curious about that.

"If you unbutton your collar, that alone will lower the temperature by two degrees," he replied. "We strongly believe in the Kyoto Treaty that your government refused to enforce."

Ouch. That hurt. Because the mental midget who heads up the current American administration that repudiated the Kyoto Treaty is hardly someone I would consider "my government." I never voted for him, yet here I was being tarred with the same brush. But I let that one pass.

I also did not want to showcase my ecological ignorance any further by asking if the Japanese executive was referring to the body or the room temperature dropping. So I changed the subject.

The following day, a newspaper article in the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal provided additional fuel for contemplation about a huge gap in environmental awareness between the American and the Japanese public.

In the land of perennial workaholics, the latest fashion is taking power naps. And everybody is doing it... high school kids as well as office workers. The reason? Improved productivity. Studies have shown that people feel better and are more mentally alert after taking a short nap. In other words, they do better work.

"Suddenly, they (the naps) have become the latest rage, part of mental alertness craze sweeping a nation known for its fondness for such fads," the Journal wrote.

As a result, nap salons, as they are called here, have sprung up all over the country. Napia, one such salon in central Tokyo, boasts 1,500 members. They pay the equivalent of $4.50 for a brief lunchtime nap on a daybed.

Studies have also shown that it is important not to nap for more than half an hour, lest you fall into a deeper sleep and feel more groggy than refreshed. So Napia serves its clients a cup of espresso BEFORE the nap. Caffeine takes about 20 minutes to kick in, and it serves as natural wake-up call.

The Meizen High, a high school that serves a prosperous Tokyo neighborhood, last year became Japan's first school to offer 15-minute naps after lunch. The Wall Street Journal article featured a photo of the students and the sandman at their desks. And rather than provoke a scolding from the teacher, which would have been a typical reaction elsewhere in the world, their teachers dim the lights, put on some soft classical music, and join the students in a power nap.

The only time I had ever heard of anything like that back home was when my three-year old daughter was in a pre-kindergarten class and had to bring a "blankie" for her power nap. Well, what's good for the three-year olds is also good for teenagers and adults, the Japanese are discovering.

"People are realizing that our lack of sleep is actually slowing us down (mentally)," Naohisa Uchimura, a sleep specialist at Kurume University in southern Japan, told the Journal.

So while other nations are lumbering to get head, the Japanese are slumbering to get a mental edge. What a turn about face since my first visit to Japan 21 years ago!

Finally, to finish my Japanese segment on a lighter note, two Japanese executives engaged in what sounded like friendly banter during the luncheon break yesterday. When they were finished, one of them turned to me and asked if I knew what MBA stood for.

I suspected a trap and a joke but played along anyway. "Master of Business Administration," I replied, being literal.

"No," the executive said, smiling devilishly. "For some women over here, it stands for Married But Available." J

People are the same the world over no matter what their social or economic status, aren't they?