One of the key events I was in Japan for, was the Sportec exhibition.  The Sportainment Leisure team, comprising of Mark, Jack and Mikiko, were coming to Japan for their twice-a-year meeting with Konami, to co-incide with it.  Brett wasn’t wasting his money coming – Konami continue to take, take, take, but never pay, but the knowledge they want comes from Brett.  So he took a stand and said they can pay to have him come.  He was very busy back in Melbourne anyway, with events that were unfolding at Tullamarine, so it worked out best all round.

Datascore had previously produced a glossy brochure for our product.  In the weeks leading up yo Sportec, Kaoru translated it to Japanese for us.  She wrote the replacement text on her computer, and we sent it to the publishers to put into the document.  It didn’t come out too well – formatting was shocking.  So I downloaded a trial version of Corel, and was able to tidy it up. Kaoru was also able to revise the wording in places.  We took the document to Kinkos and had it printed on glossy paper, so we had something to give people.  I can’t read the text at all, but it’s a very professional looking document, and was a good experience for Kaoru.

Kaoru and I went to Shinagawa Prince on Sunday 18th November, where we met Mikiko, so we could do some work on Japanese translations in Datascore.  Mikiko reviewed the brochure, and we ended up spending more time chatting than working.  But we got through a bit, before Mikiko had to go to another meeting at 7.00.  Kaoru and I went to Tokyo tower, which we hadn’t been to before.  We had a fantastic view of the Shinagawa area from the top.

Monday, Mikiko and I continued work on translations, and Kaoru left for work.  Jack and Mark arrived, but were tired so had a nap, before the 3 of them went to a meeting at Konami.  I didn’t bother wasting my time at it – I had a lot of Fitgenes work to do.  So I spent the afternoon on that, and caught up with the team for dinner, which was at Gonpacchi.  After dinner, Jack, Mark and I went for a massage.  It was great to lay down and relax, and it was a fairly hard massage.  I felt nice and loose afterwards, but next time, it’s not the sort of thing I want to do after a big meal and a few drinks.

Tuesday, the guys had more meetings at Konami, and I spent the day working in the hotel.  Late afternoon, Jack and I had a chat to discuss the Fixi license agreement.  Then it was back to Gonpacchi for dinner.  Dai-san joined us for dinner tonight, to give the guys a chance to catch up om what he has been up to.

After dinner, Mikiko, Mark, Jack and I went to Billboard – a stage in Roppongi area, and saw The Manhattans – a US band, which had nice, chill out music.  It was a very enjoyable night out.  Walking around Roppongi afterwards, Jack decided he needed a new suitcase.  So we went in to a “cheap” but good quality store.  I ended up buying a new one at the same time. It was about $250 but the same thing in Australia would cost a lot more.

Wednesday morning, Kaoru came to the hotel and we had breakfast together.  I packed up (by pure luck, my old suitcase fit in my new one, so I only had the one bag to carry out) and checked out of the room, leaving my bag at reception.  We then met up with the others, and caught the train to Sportec.

Sportec was held at “Big Site” – which was in a different area of Tokyo to where I had been before.  The exhibition centre was gigantic, and had several different exhibitions in it.  We met Dai-san there and he arranged our passes.  We had to give business cards to get in, so Kaoru got one from Mikiko and just gave them that.

Because Kaoru didn’t have long, before she had to leave for work, she and I looked around on our own.  Saved us getting stopped while Mark talked to some exhibitors.  Inside I had a few hats on.  I was a stadium owner to one exhibitor, developer to another, business owner at a 3rd… And Kaoru was my translator at all of them.  So I managed to get a bit of information while I was there.

I caught up with the guys after saying goodbye to Kaoru, and we walked around a bit more.  Mark and I had a go of an amazing game they had there.  Made up of 4 cameras and 4 projectors, it was basically air hockey, but you played it with your whole body.  Moving your arms and feet moved your “blocker”.  Then we had a game of “breakout”, or “arkenoid” (depending on your era).  It was quite enjoyable, and while not a serious sport, it certainly had us moving.

I was going to leave the guys after we had lunch, as I had a 2 hour train trip home, and had to pick my suitcase up on the way.  But by the time Mark and I had finished discussing some aspects of the Fixi agreement, I decided to stay for their meeting with Wellbe (Dai-san, Ishihara-san and Otto-san).  After that we went in to the Sportec Private (invitation only) party with a few guys from a council stadium that Wellbe wanted us to talk to, so had a few beers in there and watched some Japanese cheerleaders try to work the crowd up, not having any idea what they were saying.

The council guys had to leave – not sure what was going on there as we never really ended up talking to them.  So we went for dinner and met up with some other people.  This is where things turned interesting – some of them were involved in genetic research.  I was asked to give a demo of Fitgenes, which I had been talking to Mark and Jack about.  The guys there were very excited, especially when they saw reference to at least one Gene that looked familiar. They were interested in knowing more, but as I hadn’t spoken to the Fitgenes guys about this, I didn’t want to go too far.  However with some preparation before my next trip, there could be an interesting marry here.

Eventually we left, and caught a taxi back to the hotel.  I said goodbye to the guys, picked up my suitcase(s) and caught the train home.  I arrived at Fujisawa station about 11.30, and Kaoru was waiting for me there.  So we went home via Mister Donut for ¥100 donuts.  It had been a long and enjoyable few days.  We didn’t know if there was anything positive from Datascore’s perspective, but possibly a new door has opened.

I took one thursday off (which Kaoru has off work anyway) and we went to Hakone.  We left home about 8.00, so it was a pretty early start to the day.  It was about an hour by train, towards Mount Fuji.  We got a 2 day ticket which let us catch the cable car (tram), ropeway (cable car), boat and buses.  So we got a map and planned the day.

The weather was nice, albeit a bit on the chilly side.  I was starting to regret not packing a beanie or scarf!  Especially when we were on the water.  We had a nice stroll through Cedar Avenue, which was the old road between Edo (what we now call Tokyo) and Kyoto – from the days long before cars.  The Cedar trees provided shelter from the sun in summer, and the snow in winter.

As we caught the ropeway up the mountain, there was a strong smell of sulphur, and we could see steam coming out of the side of the mountain.  From the stop halfway, we walked to a closer viewing area, where the smell was quite strong, and we were given an opportunity to buy an egg that was cooked in the hot spring water.  Each egg is supposed to increase your life by 7 years (I think).  We passed on that – something about eating a black egg didn’t work for me.

It was quite late by the time we got home, and we were both very tired.  We slept on the train a bit (as you do, in Japan), and I also did a bit of Hiragana studying.  We opted for home delivery pizza for dinner.

Japan October, November and December, 2012
This was a busy trip from a work perspective – unfortunatelly not from a Datascore growth in Japan, but froma Fitgenes Project Management.  So there is not a lot to write.  The majority of my days folowed the same theme:
– Wake up
– Have breakfast
– Have a shower
– Work
– Have lunch break with Kaoru
– Work (Kaoru would go to work @1.30)
– Kaoru gets home (sometimes I would meet her at the station)
– We eat dinner (Kaoru would prepare during the day so this would be not long after she got home – usually about 8.30 though.  Sometimes I would take her out for dinner)
– Work (Kaoru would relaxin the bath)
– Go to bed

There were a few variations.  I had a couple of Japanese lessons, but it became apparent to me that they were a waste of time without the books to prepare for the lessons with (I had progressed from Introductory to Beginner, but nobody ever told me to get extra materials).  We bought the book one day, and I have made a start on it, but not enough to warrant another lesson.  When I get back home…

We went to Ryu and Naoku’s for dinner one Saturday.  As always, they introduced me to another amazing meal – Takoyaki.  I don’t know how to best describe them, but Kaoru and I have looked on line for a Takoyaki kit in Australia!  They have had their baby – this was the first time I had seen Naoku not pregnant.  It was also 12 months since Kaoru and I first met.  So we brought a bottle of champagne with us – the first drink Naoku had tasted in about 15 months.  So she was glowing after a mouthful, and Kaoru isn’t a big drinker, so Ryu and I had to drink most of it, as well as a few beers.

Their daughter was staring at me quite a lot.  I was the first Westerner she had seen and she seemed fascinated.  Maybe it was the nose…

They made a big effort to speak a lot of English.  Often if Kaoru asks them a question she will revert to Japanese, but most of the conversation was in English, which was good to know what they are talking about.

We had a customary dinner with Occhi-san.  He is in training for the world cup in November next year, so is on a diet, meaning no beer!  He has been studying English a lot lately, so enjoyed the practice.  A couple of his mates that came along were actually English teachers in Japan, so we thought Kaoru can have a night off translating.  They may know some theory, but have no idea how to talk or listen!  They may have been better if I wrote instead of talked, but they teach English by speaking Japanese?!?!?!  Go figure.  As always, it was an enjoyable night and we had a great dinner.  I even ordered one of the rounds of food!  I had to find one that was written in Hiragana, and had a picture so I knew what it was.

We went to “our” restaurant a few times while I was there.  They look after us every time we go there, and it is strange not to leave a tip for the extra service.  The first time we went, there was a different head waiter, who we hadn’t seen before.  He started to take us to one table, and then the chef recognized us (me).  He told the waiter to take us to a different (better) table instead.  Given it had been over 5 months since we had been there, it was great to get that extra personal attention.

The next few times we went, the usual waitress and head chef were there, and as friendly as ever.  On our last night, when we told them I was going back to Australia next week, the “master” (head chef / owner) came to the door and saw us out.  They knocked 10%off the bill once, and the next time gave us a ¥1000 ($12) voucher.  When we used that, they gave us another one!  So we haven’t been to many restaurants in Fujisawa – why would you when you get service like that?

I tried to be more interactive on weekends.  There was still a lot on, so I worked on some of them.  We would take time out for a walk though, and had a couple of visits to Mosburger.  We met up with Kaoru’s parents on Saturday 3rd November, for lunch.  We had tempura, and it was the first tempura restaurant I had been to.  Kaoru’s Dad knew the owner and hadn’t seen him for about 20 years.  He spoke quite a bit of English and was quite funny – certainly helped ease the situation.  Not that there was tension, but as we couldn’t communicate directly (it was all through Kaoru), it was difficult at times.

On Saturday 17th, we went to Kamakoura Shrine.  If you read back 12 months, that is the first place Kaoru took me to, but this time we were there because her neice was celebrating “7-5-3” day (best way to translate it).  Basically it’s a day that children aged 7, 5 and 3 come dressed up in their Kimono’s and pray.  A lot of the women dress up too, so it is a very colourful event.  Photos to come later.

I woke up on the plane and had some breakfast.  I then fell asleep again.  I was pretty out of it, after the long night Sunday night, long day Monday, and the sleeping tablet!  I was awake again before arriving at Narita though.

Once off the plane I went through immigration.  I had a bit of fun there, as I had written down my Australian phone number (with the leading +61).  They weren’t happy that they could contact me on it so wanted a Japanese phone number.  I managed to find my Japanese mobile, turn it on, and look up Kaoru’s number.  I had to tell them it was my girlfriend’s number.  They asked me….wait for it…”Have you ever seen her?”  Sheesh, a look through my file would show this is my 4th trip in 12 months – you’d think that would account for *something*.

Kaoru was waiting for me at the airport.  We caught the train (green car, so reserved seating) to Fujisawa.  I fell asleep on the train a couple of times – the last couple of days were catching up.  But eventually we arrived at the station.  Fujisawa feels like home – everything looks so familiar, even though it had been 5 months.  I started by going to the bank to get some money out.  Then we went to the house.

Kaoru has a bed now!  So no more rolling the futon out and making it each night, and then rolling it up each morning.  Or walking around it while it’s out.  There’s less space in the room, but it’s a good use.  The desk was sitting there, waiting for me to set up my “office” on.

And then I didn’t do much other than work, so expect a big gap in my blogging…

We woke up about 630 and looked out the window at the lake.  I was surprised to not see a mist on the water.  After a shower we packed our bags, putting most of our stuff in my backpack, and packing a day pack in Kaoru’s.  We went down for an 800 breakfast, which was a typical Japanese breakfast.  After cleaning our teeth we checked out in time to catch an 845 bus.

At the depot we put my backpack ina locker (we had a plan…read on to see it unfold) and walked for about 5 minutes to the Kegon Falls, which were very impressive.  We had a quick look around and then had to rush back to the bus stop to go the opposite direction for todays hike.  We got off at the Ryuzu Falls, which weren’t as impressive, but we hiked up to the top of them, getting a few photos along the way.

Across the highway at the top, we continued our walk, through a gate.  This warned us of a recent (last month) bear attack on a human in this area.  If you survive the earthquakes, you still have wild bears to contend with over here!  And they call Australia dangerous!

As we progressed along the waters edge, we were amused by dragging our feet through the “shimo” – all I could call these are ice worms, although the dictionary translates it to ice needles or frost columns.  From the water in the ground expanding as it chills, it comes out in thin needles of ice which stick up vertically, or across horizontally, or anything in between.

More walking had us on a boardwalk that weaved its way through the valley.  There were several people doing the walk with a tripod and camera – I was glad to just be carrying Kaoru’s light backpack with minimum food and drink in it.  The day was very cold – I had my hoodie on to keep my head warm, as well as a couple of long sleeved T’s and a jacket, however the day was sunny and my sunglasses were on all day.

We eventually got to the Yunotaki Falls, which were the most impressive.  Until we found our next waypoint involved us following the steep path up them!  My knee was starting to get quite bad again but we had come this far, so there was no turning back now!  We took it easy and by the time we were at the top, my jacket and hoodie were unzipped at the front.  The next sign we saw gave us 2 options – a 30 minute or 40 minute walk to the Onsen.  We took the shorter one through the flowers and trees, instead of the long one throughh the forest.  It was a lovely walk around the lake, which is the primary water source for all of the waterfalls we had seen.  However at areas there was a very strong sulphur smell which was quite potent.

Finally we reached the end of our 8km hike, at the Yumoto Onsen.  There we were relieved to find the free area to soak our feet in the natural hot spring water.  Apart from the smell, it how cold your legs were where your pants were pulled up, the soaking was delightful!  We dried our feet and put our shoes back on, in time to catch the bus.

En-route back to Nikko, the bus had a 5 minute stop at the depot.  Kaoru ran out and grabbed my backpack from the locker.  I was thankful for the earlier suggestion from our hotel to do this.  The extra weight to carry would have been a struggle, especially up some of the hills.

We got off the bus and went back to the Futurasan Shrine, which was open at this time.  We walked around for 20 minutes or so and prayed in there, before making our way back to the train station.

We had about 90 minutes to kill so had a very late lunch, and a hot drink, across the road from the station.  We bought a couple of Bento boxes for the 3 hour train trip home, and boarded the train.  This train was very comfortable (we had paid a little extra for it).  We could see the “budget” train on the platform next to us – people were standing on it, it was so full.  Our car was almost full as we pulled out, and within 3 stops, it had picked up all of its passengers and was chockers (I expect the whole train was).  There was plenty of leg room (not quite as much as the Shinkansen, but not far off it) and we could walk around easily.

We ate the Bento boxes on the train.  The one I had bought had an egg.  Kaoru decided she would have it, however when she attempted to crack it open, we found it wasn’t hard boiled!  So we both had egg over us (and the seat), which has been the source of humour for us for quite some time to come (everybody can feel free to make egg jokes at Kaoru when you see her).  Of course, neither of us can understand why you would buy a Bento box, at a train station, obviously to take on a train, and it would come with a raw egg, and nothing to crack it on / with.  But that’s beside the point…

The train took us right to Ofuna, so we just had to change platforms and go one stop to Fujisawa to get home.  We had to go to Mister Donut for 100 yen donuts as Kaoru was still upset about the egg incident.  A visit to the shops for some breakfast and we were back, quite exhausted but happily relaxed from a great weekend.

Kaoru was up early as usual and went for a bath.  I dozed for a while and made my way to the main house about 730 for breakfast.  After an “ohaio gozaiemasu” and green tea we went in for a typical Japanese breakfast.  Sausages, sweet omlette sytle eggs, tomato, rice, some leftovers from last night, pickled vegetables…and an Orange Juice for me.

After eating we went back to our room to tidy up and pack.  Kaoru’s Dad then took me outside to show me his wood splitter.  We took some photos and got in the car for the train station.  It was a beautiful drive through the hills and the air was warming up as we got lower in altitude.  We got to the train station with aout 3 minutes to spare so no time for a proper farewell.  We were getting on at the start of the line so the train was waiting for us, and there were plenty of seats.

45 minutes later we arrived in Utsunomiya, where we changed trains for Nikko.  We had about a 10 minute wait before it departed, so our timing was perfect.  We arrived at Nikko about 1230.  Going through the ticket machine, I found my Suica card was 90 yen (less than $1) short (for a $20 trip).  So I had to wait in the fare adjustment line before getting out of the station.

Kaoru had planned on us buying a 2 day bus pass so we went to that line.  We noticed the train home tonight was full.  We weren’t leaving until tomorrow, but in case that train was full as well, we decided to get our tickets while we were here.  We came across a slight problem – they don’t accept credit card.  And I had planned to use plastic as I was out of money and the banks were closed.  Luckily Kaoru had enough cash on her, but it was a good lesson to learn.  Buying the tickets now was a good call in the end, as we were to find out the train will be full tomorrow!  So with everything sorted, we were ready to go sight seeing!

Nikko was very busy, and the cars (and buses) weren’t moving.  We decided to walk instead, which took us about 30 minutes.  We looked at cars along the way, and at the point we would have gotten off the bus, we were already a good 15 minutes ahead of it.

We crossed the road and started up the steps to the temples and shrines.  There was a lot of maintenance being performed so some of the structures were covered.  But we were able to pay our entrance fee and see the 3 wise monkeys and other carvings in structures.  We paid our entrance fee and climbed the steps to enter the main temple.  We then saw a line, and being Japanese, we had to join it.  It was to go up 200 steps to another area, which we thought “why not”?  We weren’t expecting to be taking the steps 1 by 1 for the next hour!  This was ridiculous.  It was made even worse by the fact that the top didn’t really have anything worth seeing.  We started the long walk back down the steps.

At the bottom there was another line to join.  We had to take our shoes off so this must be a temple.  The line was stationary for a long time, but eventually moved quite well.  Then it slowed and stopped again.  We concluded that it must be a group praying room, and luckily we were in the next group because I don’t know how much more standing around I could put up with!

A bit more walking and we found a short line.  This was for the Nakiryu – the crying of the dragon.  We were taken in to a room where it was explained the acoustics were such that a sound in the right place will echo, making the sound of the dragon crying.  This was demonstrated a few times to us.  We then moved on.

It was starting to get late, but there was one more place Kaoru wanted us to go to.  Futarasan Shrine is a place for couples to go to, to help fate tie their relationship together.  Unfortunatelly it was starting to get late, and it was closing, so we put it on the “tomorrow” list, and made our way to the bus stop.

About 30 minutes on the bus took us to the end of the line.  Our hotel was another 3 stops away, but the next bus going that way was about 50 minutes away, so we opted for walking it.  What we hadn’t planned on was for the (what felt like) sub zero temperature!  We had to walk next to the lake, which didn’t help things.  It took us about 25 minutes and we were relieved to arrive in a warm room to defrost.  We were told it was 3 degrees outside, but I’d argue it was colder.

Up in our room, I decided to enjoy the Japanese lifestyle and have a bath before dinner.  It had notjing on my one the previous day – I couldn’t even stretch out!  But it was nice to be warm again, and the beer went down very well.  I was starting to think of getting out when the room began to shake.  “Great”, I thought.  The place is going to collapse in an earthquake and I’m going to be stark naked in the freezing cold!  Once it stopped (about 30 seconds) I got out and asked Kaoru about it.  She was watching the TV and finding out about it.  It was a level 2 where we were, but a level 4 back at Fujisawa, so if we were at home, we may have been sheltering under the desk and table.  The footage from a camera on a bridge in Yokohama was shown, which exhibited a violent shake for a few seconds.

I got dressed and we went down to dinner.  It was included in our room price, but served at 630 so we couldn’t be late.  It was a nice meal, and good atmosphere.  Once we finished we returned to our room and watched some TV while I worked on my blog.  Kaoru had a bath while I enjoyed another beer, and looked out the window at the lake.  We eventually called it a night, knowing we had a long day ahead of us.

What a long day.  My alarm went off at 530 and Kaoru was already up getting things ready.  I had a shower and breakfast, and we were out the door just before 630.  On the way to the train station there was a sprinkle of rain but not enough to warrant getting the umbrella out.  Nobody told the locals that though!

We waited about 5 minutes for our train to arrive.  Once seated it wasn’t too long before we fell back asleep, so the trip to Shinjuku didn’t seem that long.  We walked to the bus station which took about 10 minutes, and had a hot drink while waiting for our bus to arrive.  We pulled out of the station about 1020.

Another sleep passed the time, as well as some eating and Hirigana and Katakana practice.  We arrived in Shinasu about 1220, and were feeling peckish, so had soba noodles.  We then caught a taxi to Kaorus parents second house.  We sat down for some green tea and a “chat” (which basically means Kaoru practiced interpreting).  We were then taken to our “room”, which was the guest cottage.  This was just amazing.  We walked outside, along the garden path, to the building that was only about 5 years old.  It had a strong pine smell to it, but I don’t think there are words to describe it!  So I’ll just use the word “Japanese”.

Kaoru and I went for a walk while her parents went for a drive.  We ended up at a farm, which was fun.  There was everything you could imagine, from horse rides to “rent a rabbit” that you put on a leash and could walk around with.  You could catch a fish, put a skewer through it, and cook it on the fire.  It was awesome.

Another 30 minute walk got us home and we had a tea and more talking.  Kaoru’s Dad wanted me to have a “Japanese style” bath.  So Kaoru showed me where it was and instructed me on its use.  The best way to describe it would be like a spa but rock tiles construction.  The water level was flush with the top and I was told part of the luxury is getting in and letting the water overflow as your body disperses it.  It was very relaxing and after the sitting and long walk, just what I needed.

I was out around 530, which is about dinner time at the Kodama house.  WHAT A FEAST!!!  Tuna Sashima, Wagu beef, rice, salad, a japanese sweet potato, some beer, scallops, salad…the meat was cooked on a hot plate at the table and as soon as I took something off my plate, it was replaced with something else.  Kaoru’s parents were very impressed with my use of chopsticks.  Apparently Japanese people these days don’t use them properly.  My years of practice were recognized and earnt some good brownie points 🙂

After dinner it was Kaoru’s turn to have a bath.  Instead of going to our room though, I stayed and dried dishes and attempted to chat to her parents without her.  We managed to laugh a few times – hopefully at the same thing!  Given her father speaks no English, they made a great effort to make me feel welcome.  Once Kaoru was out of the bath she joined us, and I was invited to come back whenever I want – especially in the Spring time which is his favourite time of year out there.  And I was told to bring friends and family, and there’s a golf course nearby, and it’s in the mountains, so you’ll love it, Dad!!!

We then went to our room and made up our bed.  We watched Iron Chef in Japanese and it occurred to me that the commentators job realy isn’t necessary, as the show was enjoyable not understanding a word of it!  We eventually went to bed after a very long day.