Japan Travel (2002) Memoirs — Part 1

It had been two decades since I visited Japan, and stayed for three months.

I was sent by my company, to understand the market and possibly to take over a role in the Japan business. That did not work out, for various reasons. And neither I could pick up the Japanese language, though enough efforts and investments were made.

But I could spend a lot of time understanding the country. I stayed at Otemachi, the heart of Tokyo. I traveled every weekend. Most times alone, but never felt alone.

During my MBA course, I took an elective on Japanese Management and read up enough about the country. But my visit made me understand that one has to be in Japan to understand Japan — no amount of secondary knowledge can suffice.

I was at the same amazed, surprised, flummoxed, and happy in Japan. The use of technology to ease life was unbelievable. The discipline, honesty, and humility of common people were unbelievable. The sense of personal security was something I never experienced before or after. And tireless efforts all the time by all the people to make things perfect for all — starting with the weakest, the one in the margin was a national religion.

I did write down my experiences with the photos that I took with the Digital Still Camera I bought in Japan. It was in various files, the first time I consolidated this.