Day 12: Visiting Keio High School

Today we visited Keio High School. We took a long ride to get to Keio High School, further than we had to go to get to Toshiba. We were met by the Assistant Head of the school, Ichihara-san, who then guided us to the campus across the street. Keio High School is located on the Keio University. Having both a high school and university makes it easier for the students in high school to go directly into university without really having to apply anywhere else. Once inside the high school, we were escorted to the teacher's lounge to get name tags and a brief summary of what we would be doing at Keio before heading into the upper level English class.

Meeting Japanese students

Before we entered the classroom, we were split up into three units of three people and one unit of four people because we would be splitting up to talk to the students. There were 32, all male, senior students and we all split up. Most of us got split up even more so that it was one person to every three people. We got to ask them questions as well as answer their's. We got to learn about what kind of classes they take, where they're from, where they have traveled to, what they do after school, and what kind of hobbies they have. We learned that they aren't that different from most of us. They take more or less the same classes as WIS students; however, they have more classes; they have about ten compared to our eight in our senior year (6 IB courses, elective, and TOK). Most of them have been speaking English for a long time and some have lived abroad. However, there are still students that have only stayed in Japan. A lot of them like anime and manga, and video games as well. Then some of us gave our business cards and traded emails so that we could keep in touch. Then we said goodbye to the students and went back to the teacher's lounge. Then we went to an intermediate English class to have lunch with the students in the cafeteria. We got to talk some more with the students before finishing lunch and saying goodbye to the students and Ichihara-san and went to Yokohama Bay.

At Yokohama Bay we had some free time to do any shopping we wanted to do or just relax at the park. The bay was huge and we could see the Toshiba plant that we visited yesterday which was across the bay. Then we had a short meeting to say thank you to Hattori-san for all the work she has done this trip and all the guiding she has done by taking us everywhere. She was very happy and said that we were welcome to stay with her or visit her whenever we are in Japan.

We then had the choice to either explore Chinatown which is where the largest Chinese population is in Japan or go to a Yokohama Bay Stars baseball game. Very few people wanted to go to the baseball game and so only Mr. Martin went to accompany them while everyone else stayed in Chinatown to shop and eat. The baseball game was the Yokohama Bay Stars vs. the Chunichi Dragons. The Dragons won 2-1. Then everyone went back to the hotel at different times, depending on where they went, to go to bed.

Day 11: Visiting Toshiba

Today we had our final business visiting day. Most of us got up at 9:00 a.m. to eat breakfast before getting ready for a 10:00 a.m. meeting where we got quizzed about economics terms and our company visits. For some questions there was a prize; a WIS T-shirt. Everyone won a T-shirt and then we went back to our rooms or went to get food before we were meeting at 12:05 p.m. to go to Toshiba.

After a long subway ride we met Asaoka-san at the subway and got on a last train to get to the Toshiba Keihin Product Operations Plant. Normally people think of Toshiba as an electronics company; however, we got to see the other side of Toshiba, the construction of generators, steam turbines, motors, nuclear power plant parts, and other parts for ways of generating electricity.

Visiting Toshiba

There we had a short presentation about the plant. Then we were off on our tour of the steam turbine, hydroelectric turbines, and motor production areas. The building that housed the turbine parts and turbines that were still in the process of being completed. We learned that it takes a very long time to complete a turbine, about a year during which it is designed, the stainless steel is molded and then cut down to the correct size and shape. Next, the correct attachments are attached or cut into the stainless steel, and the turbine blades are attached. Then they are inspected before being sent to the buyers. We saw turbines at many different stages in the process from being only a 30 or so ton, single piece of stainless steel to a completed turbine. WE could all see the amount of work and time that were put into creating the precision, down to the millimeter, to create all of the pieces. We got to see a lay which is a turntable like which is a giant machine that takes the full block of stainless steel and turns around it while cutting it to the correct shape and size. It was truly amazing how the giant machines were able to lift pieces that weighed more than 30 tons. We saw a part of a hydroelectric turbine but it was in pieces and it was hard to imagine what it would look like when completed. We then got to see some of the generators and motors. We learned a bit about the history of motors and got to see the very first motor that Toshiba created. Then the tour was over and we went back to the first building that we entered and had a question and answer session. Then we said thank you and headed back to the hotel.

Before Asokasa-san left, we gave our presents of thanks to him since we are no longer going to see him for the rest of the trip. He was very happy with the gifts we gave him and then we parted ways. We got to the hotel and people got some time to relax before being able to go to dinner at 7:30 wherever we wanted to go. Most people however wanted to stay at the hotel and eat nearby. Then people were off to sleep.

Day 10: FedEx

Today was another simple day. We got to sleep in, which made everyone happy. We had breakfast and then were off to go to FedEx. When we arrived we were met my an intern and another employee. At FedEx we had a presentation from a man named Mr. Jeremy Goldstrich. Mr. Goldstrich gave a short introduction before giving the presentation. It turns out he is from Chicago and got a degree in Japanese and economics. He went through several different companies before reaching FedEx in the late 1990s and worked his way to Managing Director of Ground Operations in Japan. He taught us a few things about FedEx especially how FedEx has grown and how it expanded into Asia.

Visiting FedEx

FedEx started in Memphis Tennessee in 1973 with its first delivery flight containing a little more than 180 packages and has grown to take up 7 million a day. Today FedEx serves 90% of the global GDP in over 220 countries. We also learned how FedEx was the first to come up with some very important ideas including money back guarantee and package tracking.

The tracking system has become a very big part of FedEx because it tracks it at every step of the delivery, when it gets picked up, when it reaches FedEx, when it clears customs, when it reaches the airport, when it arrives in the other airport, when it gets in the truck, and when it arrives. We learned how Japan was unique in the sense that all packages have to have clearance when coming into Japan and when leaving Japan. To help with this, at FedEx headquarters there is an Automated Customs Clearance System which we got to see on the tour. The Automated Customs Clearance System takes up an entire floor with employees filling out documentation about each package on a program on the computer which is then sent to customs so that packages can enter the country or leave the country. On the tour we also saw the sorting system of where they sort all the packages that are leaving and entering the country before they are put on trucks or into cargo spaces to be sent by plane. We saw the scanner that scans all the packages before FedEx sorts them and how the packages are sent on a conveyor belt and then pushed to the correct location by little robots. Everything was very nice and interesting. Then we had lunch and the intern told us about how he came to get his internship and how he learned Japanese in college.

After lunch we thanked everyone and went to Akihabara, the electric town, to have some free time to shop and explore. Then we went back to the hotel to relax a little bit before dinner at 7:00 p.m. For dinner, we got to choose where we wanted to go or stay at the hotel so a few people went to Shibuya and then came back to go to sleep at around 10:00 p.m.

Day 9: PIMCO and Clap Twice for Attention from the Gods

Today was a somewhat simple day. Today we left the hotel at 9:15 a.m. to go to the Meiji Shrine. The Meiji Shrine is a Shinto Shrine that is also dedicated to remember Emperor Meiji who ruled the country throughout the Meiji Restoration and afterwards to for a long time. It was built around 1920, a few years after the death of the Emperor and Empress Meiji. When construction began, dedicated people from all across Japan donated about 360 different species of trees and plants. Today there are about 120,000 trees. We walked along under the shade of the trees which was very nice considering it was very hot outside. We were joined by Hattori-san who told us how to pay our respects to a shrine. Before you enter you must clean your hands and mouth. Then you enter the shrine and can offer some money if you like. Then, you must bow twice, followed by clapping your hands twice (so that you get the attention of the Gods), make a wish or prayer, and then bow once more. It was a very large shrine and had a vast expanding courtyard. Everybody paid their respects to the Gods and the temple and we were off to the Oriental Bazaar where we had a little bit of free time before heading to lunch at Fujimama's. We were joined by Era-san, Mr. Gilman's Japanese friend and our guide to previous business site visits.

After lunch we headed out to Pacific Investment and Managing Company (PIMCO) for our 2:00 p.m. meeting. PIMCO deals in managing bonds. Hundreds of companies around the world have accounts with PIMCO and trust it to make smart decisions with their investments. It has three sectors; marketing, finance, and individual. We were met by Mr. Lopez who, along with his assistant and co-worker, gave a very straightforward presentation. They both introduced themselves and their backgrounds before the presentation began. Mr. Lopez comes from Chicago and a culturally diverse background so he learned Englis h and Spanish. This helped him receive his job at PIMCO in Tokyo. As it turns out, they both are bilingual and so are most of the employees on the building. We learned that PIMCO was founded in the 1970s by three people including the current co-CIO, Bill Gross. We learned about how PIMCO started out as a small company until over the years they began outsourcing with a specific bank so that they could see how they compared to competitors and improve their business. Outsourcing greatly aided the company become what it is today. Today PIMCO holds over $812 billion US. We learned some of the difficulties that PIMCO had in starting in Japan including the reluctance of Japanese companies to be dealing money with an American company, which is considered to be reckless due to the American way of doing things fast as opposed to the slow and easy one of the Japanese. We learned how PIMCO was flexible and adapted pretty well. Yet the company only has 75 employees in Tokyo out of just over 1,000 worldwide. Throughout the presentation, they asked questions to us and gave prizes, which were pens and mouse pads, to the people who answered correctly including Zaki, Jonathan Blutinger, Carlos, and others too. After the presentation we got a tour of the office floor of PIMCO, got a few group photos taken and we were on our way back to the hotel to rest and relax.

At 7:00 p.m. we walked to Ginza where we had some time to explore and get our own food before meeting up and heading back to the hotel. The street was covered in signs and had many shops, mostly for clothes and jewelry along the main street. When people got back we were all tired and went to bed.

Day 8: Robots in Toyota City

Today we did very little other than traveling. We checked out at 9:45 for our bullet train to Nagoya to have a tour at the Toyota factory. We got to the train station at Nagoya, bought some lunch, and got on a chartered bus from Toyota to get to the factory. In Nagoya, Toyota is the main employer. Toyota has so much land and factories outside of Nagoya, the area is called Toyota City. After an hour's bus ride, we arrived at the Toyota factory. The Toyota factory was very big and seemed endless. Our tour guide led us through the assembly shop and the welding shop. In the assembly shop, we saw workers putting together the doors for the cars and how all the pieces were collected together before being sent to the workers to put parts of the car together. We learned that there were two assembly lines; one for regular cars such as Scion, Camry, and other models of Toyota, and the second one was for the hybrid cars including the Prius. We saw that there was even a board that showed how workers were doing. When a worker was slowing down and not keeping up, his station was indicated in yellow and extra workers were sent to help him keep his pace with the assembly line. This way the efficiency of the factory was kept up and prevents the assembly line from stopping, which would cost a lot of money. We also saw the final inspection line as each car was checked for at least 1000 different things. We learned about the policy of just in time stock which Toyota uses to waste as little money buying too many parts. They buy just the right amount directly from the company that makes the parts.

Next we headed on to the welding shop. The welding shop is operated by more that 1000 robot units. The robots do about 93% of the welding in the welding shop. Once again, there were two separate welding lines to separate the hybrid cars from the regular gasoline cars. We saw the robots in motion as sparks flew around as pieces of the body of the car were being welded together. It was very amazing to see the robots just weld all the car parts. They are told which model of car is going to reach them so that they run the right program and weld in the right places. Then we saw the workers inspecting everything for flaws on the body before sending it off to get painted and assembled.

Afterwards, we headed off to the exhibit museum where we learned about how hybrid cars work, how Toyota is improving safety standards, what Toyota has planned in the future, and more. We got to explore the building and got to see the showroom, showing many different types of cars that Toyota produces including race cars. At the end we got to see an actual Toyota robot play a trumpet. He played very well. We could even see his fingers move up and down as he played. It was an aw esome sight to behold as he played live. We then thanked our tour guide and got on the bus to get back to the Nagoya Station to take a bullet train back to Tokyo. Once we got to Tokyo, we got to our hotel, checked in, got our luggage back that we had left there while we were in Kyoto, and got ready for bed.

Day 7: Chasing Geishas in Gion

Today we got on our tour bus and went to the Kinkakuji Temple to see the Golden Pavilion. The Golden Pavilion is a Zen Temple that was built in 1937 and was designed to be part of the home of the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The Golden Pavilion was converted to a temple in 1408 after his death. The Golden Pavilion gets its name from the sheets of gold which makes up nearly the entire exterior of the building. The one we saw was only a replica because the original was burned down in 1950 by a crazy monk. It was very amazing to see a building with gold instead of paint. Everyone thought it looked very nice and had their picture taken with it in the background. Luckily for us, we had finished taking our pictures just before it began to rain. We explored the rest of the Temple and got back on our bus to go to Nijo (Nijojo) Castle.

When we got to Nijo castle, we first noticed the giant walls and moat surrounding the complex. The reason was because the castle was built as a second home for the Shogun. It was created by Tokugawa Ieyasu who founded the Edo Shogunate for himself and his successors. The building was completed in 1603. As we explored the Shogun's residence, we saw the large yet simple rooms, all designed for a separate purpose. One thing that was interesting was that where ever the Shogun sat, it was elevated about 2 feet higher than the normal floor to show how he had more power. We also learned that the Shogun had stones underneath him where ever he sat and an extra thick ceiling above his head. Both of these were precautionary measures to ensure his safety. Another interesting point about the building is that the floor boards are designed so that they creak and supposedly make the sounds of nightingales when stepped upon. This was so that everyone would be alerted to any intruder that was attempting to come and kill the Shogun in the dead of the night. The building was very big and every room was painted beautifully. We then left the building to explore all of the gardens within the complex and saw many magnificent plants and trees, spread around within the walls.

Next we left for lunch at a restaurant in a hotel called the Rubino Kyoto Horikawa Hotel. We had a buffet style lunch with mainly Japanese foods. A wedding service was being held at the hotel. So, after lunch, we got to see the bride and groom in full dress, ready to get married. We congratulated them and the family before heading back to the bus to go to Kiyomizu Temple. The Kiyomizu temple was founded in 780. Within the area there are several tall, temple buildings. It is built on the mountain and so there are many supports that are hel ping to hold it up. The monstrosity of this building was surprising for some of us. Another surprising aspect is how high the actual temple is compared to the rest of Kyoto. We could all look over Kyoto which was some distance away. After seeing the largest building at the center, we had some time to explore the rest of the area. We saw the forests surrounding us and walked down several hundred feet to get to an area from which spring water flows from which the temple gets its name. It is said that the water is pure and gives healing power. For those of us who tried, we all thought that it was good water. We then met up to take a picture on the steps near the entrance. A nice couple took pictures of all of us using the 7 or so cameras we all gave them. We then had some free time to shop before heading off to Gion.

We walked a while to get to Gion as we had no bus. Gion is Kyoto's most famous geisha district. All of us were on the lookout for the geisha while we walked along the street, trying not to get run over by any cars. We did see one geisha who was getting out of a building only to go down one building and disappear again. This made us a little angry as we could not get a good picture; however, it was still an amazing sight to see a geisha because they are said to rarely walk around. It was truly a wonder to see someone with their hair fixed, wearing white make up all over there face, and wearing a kimono. We then got a little bit more free time before we headed off to dinner at Tokasaikan, a Chinese restaurant. We were scheduled to eat outside; however, it was raining and so we had to eat inside on the 4th floor. We were once again given some different dishes of the restaurant to share amongst our table. The food was very good. At the end of dinner, we gave Watanabe-sensei a goodbye card that we all signed and a book about our school. She was very happy, she cried, and gave a speech. In her speech she talked about how she planned to improve her English by giving more tours so that she can teach high school students and how she hopes to see us again.

We took taxis back to the hotel. We had a little bit of free time to do anything we wanted to in the area before curfew. Some people went to there beds while others went to karaoke. Then everybody got packed to leave in the morning.

Note: we expect to post more photos soon, but the trip has been so busy that it has been hard to find the time to process them. Pics will be added to this post when they arrive. Also, everyone should know about the Japan '08 photo gallery, which contains more pictures than can be included in the blog posts.

Day 6: Ryoangi Temple

Today we first went to the Romantic Train to see the scenic areas through the mountains near Kyoto. To get to the train, we had to leave at 8:45 to get to the train at 9:50; however, everyone was late to eat breakfast and we left late. We got on our bus and as soon as we got to our stop near the station, 5 minutes before the train was supposed to leave, we all ran to get there just in time and everyone, especially our tour guide was very relieved. On the train we all saw beautiful scenery of the mountains, plants, trees, and the river. The train occasionally stopped so that passengers could take pictures of the scenery; however, some of us were a little angry with the way the brakes screeched loudly and made a terrible noise. Altogether, it was a very nice train ride. When we arrived at the stop, everybody was surprised as a blue masked man came out of nowhere into the train and interacted with them by talking, telling jokes, and just messing around with the crowd.

To get back to the station we had left from and get back to Kyoto, we took a railway line. There we were picked up by our tour bus and we went to town and got to see some shops and had a few minutes of free time to shop before going off to lunch at "Hana-no-ie" to eat a traditional Japanese food. After lunch several members of the group went to go to take a quick dip in the hot springs while others walked through the gardens.

Rock garden

Next, we went to the Ryoangi Temple to see the well known rock garden at the temple. In the rock garden there are 15 large rocks, surrounded by thousands of upon thousands of smaller white rocks which are raked into patterns. There are 15 because that is considered to be the perfect number in Buddhism. You are supposed to never see all 15 at once; however, from one point, the far right hand corner on the temple where visitors are allowed to walk, you are supposed to be able to see them all. After seeing the rest of the temple, we all headed out to go to our Zen Buddhist meditation called Zazen at the Myonshinji Temple. The Temple consists of 46 or 47 inner sub temples and we went to the Taizo-In Temple. We were met by a monk who could speak very good English. He took us to a room where we were taught the proper way to sit, posture, how to breathe properly, how to hold our hands, and how to think while performing the meditation. All these components lead to the emptying of the stress from the mind, heart, and soul, and to achieve enlightenment. To encourage us to follow the rules he showed us how monks are trained so that if they fall asleep, get sloppy with there post ure, or other parts of the meditation process; he showed us the "stick of mercy". The "stick of mercy" is a bamboo stick that the trained monks use to wake up the other monks in training during their meditation by hitting them four times, twice on each shoulder. Monks who are meditating are even supposed to ask the other monks to hit them. He demonstrated how people were hit just to show us what would happen. Our goal was 15 minutes of meditation. Thankfully no one had to be hit.

In the rock garden

Everybody was relieved to be able to move and talk; yet, they were also relaxed at the end of the Zen meditation. For most people, time seemed to move by quickly and it was better than they had expected. The monk then led us through the rest of the temple for us to see the nice gardens and a historic scroll ordered to be written and drawn by the shogun. It had a question that the other monks were to attempt to answer. The question goes as follows: How do you fit a big catfish in a small gourd. It is of course impossible but it is a question designed to make people think and find enlightenment through thinking. It is one the oldest paintings in Japan.

We had some free time to either go to the Kyoto Station building, which contains many stores, or go the hotel to relax before meeting at 6:00 p.m. to go to dinner. We ate at Wansa Kansa, a Western and Southern European which was located on the 7th floor in the Kyoto Station. We were supposed to be able to see around Kyoto from it; however, it started to rain so we could not see very far from the building. We were served food from many selections that were chosen beforehand. We got to try many of the restaurant's dishes. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

Day 5: Panasonic

Bullet Train

Today we got up, or most of us got up, at 6:30 a.m. to have breakfast and get ready to head off at 7:00 a.m. for a 8:10 bullet train. As I said most of us got up early but a few people could not wake up and so they rushed at 7:00 a.m. to get ready to go. After being delayed about 10 minutes, we all rushed to get to the subway to get to where we would be taking our bullet train out to Shin-Osaka. It turned out we had plenty of time and got there 20 minutes before the bullet train arrived.

After a 3 hour or so train ride we arrived at Shin-Osaka and met our contact who would be taking us to the Panasonic building. We took an hour or so bus ride to get there, had lunch in there cafeteria for free, and then went to the main building. There we had a meeting with some of the general managers of the company. We had a short presentation and then we were off on our way to see the factory. The factory is Panasonic's recycling plant in Japan.

At Panasonic

Because of Japanese law, all companies have to have products that contain 50% recycled materials. At the plant, they recycle the aluminum, copper, plastic, glass, and other materials from refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and dryers, and television sets. We learned that they don't only recycle their own products, but the products of up to 20 different companies who then reimburse for recycling their products. We saw the disassembly lines and what happens inside the machines including the machine which smashes and crushes all of the plastic and other pieces into thousands of little pieces. One of the coolest machines though was the centrifuge which separated lighter plastic materials from heavier ones. Probably the most surprising is just how the entire recycling plant works. Everybody liked to see the machine that ground down a refrigerator which most people thought was an awesome sight to see especially since refrigerators are huge, bulky, and most people think that they are hard to destroy. Seeing all the breakdown of machinery was just an amazing sight to behold and everybody had a good time watching the products being disassembled and the end result which is thousands of little pieces in different materials.

After the tour we had a question and answer session, thanked our hosts, and took a group picture. We then took a bus back to the railway to get to Kyoto where we checked into our hotel and had some free time to go get dinner before getting ready for bed.

Day 4: BBH and Diet

We went to Brown Brothers and Harriman, which surprisingly is built around a shrine. There, we met two very nice human resources managers. They answered many questions and helped us compare Japanese and multinational companies in Japan. We learned about how age and gender play key roles in determining jobs and positions in those jobs. We also learned about some of the difficulties for Japanese workers who are transferring from a Japanese company to a multinational company including the Japanese mindset because in Japanese companies is that workers do not speak their own ideas and opinions. So, when they transfer to a multinational company, even though the rules are different from those of a Japanese company, they continue to abide by the Japanese company rules and codes of conduct. After the long meeting, we had lunch and got to speak with the two speakers.

Next, we headed off to the Diet building where we got to see the room of the House of Representatives, or lower house, which is where all the representatives meet. We saw the emperor's chamber which is where he goes before he gives the opening ceremony of the Diet each day that the Diet meets. Then we saw the central hall through which the emperor walks to get to his chamber.

Behind the desk of the Prime Minister

After the tour at the Diet, we went to the Japanese Diet museum where we saw a statue of the last Aztec king donated by him. We saw a model of the Diet, old documents, a portrait gallery of the old prime ministers, and a small model of the Diet in which we got to sit in and experience what it is like in the Diet. After many pictures of pretending to be the prime minister, Mr. Gilman's friend from the Diet took us to the leading party's building and we got to see the office of the Prime Minister.

Once we said goodbye, we headed off to the Roppongi Hills where we had some free time. Some people went to the gardens, others went to the shops, and a few went to the very top of the 52 story building and got to see an amazing view across Tokyo. After that, we all walked to a restaurant to eat. We had a very warm welcome and all got to share some of the restaurant's choice of food. Once dinner was over, we had a long walk back to the metro and back to the hotel.

Day 3: Costco, Shibuya, and Cooking

Wow! Today we got to sleep in to 8 a.m. before eating breakfast and heading off to Costco for a 10:00 a.m. interview. A US woman named Robin Stuck gave us a talk with complimentary Costco muffins and snacks. The talk showed us how Costco is very similar in Japan compared to the US and makes relatively the same amount of money. It also showed us the challenges and preconceived notions that Costco would be unable to set up in Japan, and how Costco eventually overcame those barriers to set up business in Japan. We learned that one of the biggest challenges was to cut out the middle man and buy direct from the producers because it is the middle men from which many jobs had been created at the expense of much higher prices in the markets. We learned that Costco now has 8 warehouses in Japan. Then we went for a short tour of the actual store which was very similar to the Costco in the US.

Next we headed for Shibuya, a large, bustling part of Tokyo which is known for the intersection in front of the metro at which thousands of people cross at a time. Shibuya is also known for having all the LCD screens, monitors, lights, and poster boards that are attached to buildings along the streets. It is also known for bringing in lots of younger age groups especially those interested in karaoke. We had 2 hours of free time and then met at the statue of the dog which depicts a dog who waited every day for more than a decade at the subway station for his master even though his master was already dead.

Cooking lessons

We left at 4:30 p.m. from Shibuya to Mrs. Kyoko Hattori's (see Tuesday's blog) neighborhood for a lesson in Japanese cooking and eating. At the station we met Hattori-san and her neighbor, Shu, who is a student in his second year of high school. There we prepared we learned how to make and cook dumplings. We received the recipes for the food which Hattori-san prepared for us including onigiri (rice triangles), salmon, and two kinds of salad. We ate the dumplings that we helped prepare and the food that she, her friend, and Shu prepared and organized. We also met Mrs. Hattori's husband, Mr. Hatori.

After cleaning up, we walked back to the train and subway stations, got on a subway, and began the long way back to the hotel. We got back at 9:45 p.m. where people were once again exhausted and ready for bed.