Anyway, those who know me well know that will probably be put off until the night before I leave as I will do pretty much anything to put off boring tasks such as packing, so I'll blog instead. However, I am racing against my computer's battery so this might be short.
I have spent the last two weeks outside of Kamogawa. On Friday the 15th I traveled to Osaka to spend a week at Nihon Keiei Consulting. Shuji Niwa is an alum of Iowa's MHA program and invited me to visit when he was in Iowa in April. He generously put me up there and showed me around Nihon Keiei and Osaka. Being in a larger city for work is a little different than being in Kamogawa. The employees there mostly work from about 7-10 or 11. I offered some of them a break as many were eager to hangout with me and practice their English skills (a common theme I'm noticing since I've been here).
I probably should have taken more pictures while I was working but that would have been quite an achievement. I had a very regimented schedule while I was at Nihon Keiei, they kept me constantly on the move, which is good. Shuji Niwa is considering starting an internship program at Nihon Keiei so I may have been some sort of guinea pig. I gave him my thoughts upon the completion of my week there.
During my time in Osaka, I traveled to Himeji Castle, one of the largest and most in-tact castles in Japan. I was also able to go to Kobe, but mostly for business to see the International Medical Device Alliance. There is an area in Kobe they are developing for all medical R&D and eventually will be developing for hospitals to utilize the newer techniques and devices. It's an intriguing area.
I met a lot of great people while I was in Osaka and was out basically every night I was there. I'm not quite sure how they are able to function waking up 5am to work, going to work at 730, leaving work for dinner, and often going back to work until 10 or 11, but they manage.
After Osaka, I ran back to Kamogawa to do some laundry and headed back to Tokyo on Saturday the 23rd to meet Jessica and her brother Jacob. Unfortunately, they were delayed because Jess still hasn't learned her lesson about flying through O'hare (she and I have been delayed there for 15 hours and physically removed from a flight to Germany before in addition to other problems she has had...). So, I went out with friends Saturday night and met Jess and Jacob when they got in on Sunday.
Sadly, this meant fitting the city of Tokyo into one day of sightseeing somehow, not an easy task but we managed. Before they arrived I visited the Meiji Shrine where I actually saw a traditional Japanese wedding. It was interesting, mostly because all of the tourists were just standing around taking pictures of the bride (myself included...). Japanese people tend to take a lot of pictures it seems so I don't feel so bad doing it myself.
Once my guests arrived, we headed west to Shinjuku for a typical Japanese style dinner. Naturally, they were slightly confused by the ordering process and the use of chopsticks. I guess I didn't explain to them that chopsticks are pretty much always used here. Also, at most Japanese restaurants, dishes are more or less continuously ordered and shared among the table. This was a challenge for me as I'm used to being ordered for. They said everything I ordered was delicious though!
Following dinner we went to the Rippongi Hills Tower for a view of Tokyo at night. I apologize that the pictures don't always come out great...
Monday we toured the Imperial Palace, went north to Akihabara (the 'electric city'), Asakusa (a large shrine and souvenir lover's paradise), and Ueno Park (area with a large Japanese market and park). In Ueno, the most amusing thing we discovered were entire stores full of claw machines! They had everything from the typical stuffed animals to huge jugs full of ramen or Pringles. Interesting... (*Note how touristy Jessica looks in the photo below--her baggage didn't arrive until we were in Kyoto, she rolled with it though, very impressive).
Late on Monday, we took the Shinkansen to Hiroshima and got a good nights sleep so we could spend all day Tuesday sightseeing (I had everyone on a tight schedule). First, we went to Miyajima, a historical Japanese town on Miyajima Island with a shrine and temple where tame deer roam (and sometimes root through your bags...). This is where the iconic floating torii is located.
After Miyajima, we headed a little further west to Iwakuni, a samurai town with a historical bridge that was built with no nails or screws. There is also a ropeway that leads to the top of the mountain where Iwakuni Castle is located. Unfortunately, we were experiencing some bad luck with ropeways that day and they all seemed to be closed... I also remembered that this is where Midori, Wocher-sans wife is from!
I'll add more later, but I'm running low on battery...
And, I'm plugged in again. So, after Iwakuni we headed back to Hiroshima for dinner and a little more sightseeing. After another Japanese dinner (still my guests were slightly confused), we headed over to the Peace Park. The Peace Park is home the the A-Bomb Dome as well as many other memorials in remembrance of the lives lost during World War II.
Last but not least, we headed to Kyoto, the old capital city of Japan. I had been here earlier in my trip but only for a day. We started our trip with the Philosophers Walk, which took us down a path lined with shrines and temples. Our first night in Kyoto, we decided to try Teppen-yaki, not unlike habachi in the US, but a little more traditional. After dinner, I forced them to join me for a drink (it was my birthday eve, after all). I think she was a little upset because, while she thought she was ordering champagne, she actually ordered marc de champagne. I guess that's what she gets for even trying to order champagne...
Happy birthday to me! On Thursday we pretty much went everywhere. Starting with Niko Castle, located right across the street from our hotel.
After that, we headed over to the Golden Pavilion. Today, we utilized the bus passes that were provided by our hotel. We were rather proud of ourselves because on this trip, we had used basically every mode of transportation: airplane, boat, bus, subway, train, walking, all in all we did quite well. After the Golden Pavilion, we headed over to Heian Shrine.
After a little souvenir shopping, we headed back to the hotel to 'pre-game' and get ready for my birthday dinner! A few friends I met in Osaka were coming up to Kyoto to celebrate. We started with drinks (is there any better appetizer?), then headed out to get sushi. After sushi we headed to yet another restaurant (in true fat-kid style) to have yakiniku, do it yourself barbecue. We ate and drank the night away and I even managed to get them to do some sake-bombs.
Once I learned they had to be up at 0530 the next morning, I agreed to let them head back to Osaka (I can't believe they even came after hearing that!).
The next morning we headed out for a short trip to Kamogawa, just long enough for them to see my diggs, meet Wocher-san, and see the hospital (which Jessica managed to survive through, though I saw her turn an interesting shade of green once we headed into the OR).
All in all, the last two weeks off were less than relaxing but I was able to see a lot of Japan and I met a lot of great people that I hope to keep in touch with once I head back to the US.
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