Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Thoughts on Tokyo – Part II – how technology made it more fun

I am going on 24 hours with little sleep trying to stay up to hopefully get back on track. So this might not be the most lucid post I have ever made. Forgive me if that’s the case. I just finished uploading all the photos and I will share a few along the way.

I got the Blackberry Storm the Friday before I left for Tokyo (don’t hate me iPhone zealots – I love the iPhone too it was all about the carrier) and it worked like a dream. I used it all the time (and the data plan was really reasonable for the week except for phone calls which I did not make). I almost felt like a Japanese person since they are CONSTANTLY using their phone. In fact the Japanese don’t use computers at home nearly to the degree that we do here in the States. The 3G network is outstanding and really fast. Surfing the web was easy and it appeared simple to switch from phone mode to web.

One morning I realized I misplaced my subway map and was on my own as my buddy had to go to work. I went to Google and downloaded a Tokyo subway map and could increase the size so I could see where I wanted to go and also could move around within the map. It was comforting to always be able to be in touch. I also could easily monitor what was going on at the office (without responding as being 13 hours ahead is not all that convenient for real time work e-mailing or conversations. I posted a few tweets, a few Facebook updates all from the handheld. And it also has a 3.2 mega-pixel camera which takes pretty good photos – and videos.

So even though I am totally fried right now I am in a pretty good way coming back to work tomorrow without the deluge of stuff to sift through since I already have seen much of it and responded to whatever was important.

The Storm is a little bulky and the younger Japanese set that is continually on the phone have to have great eyes as their phones are really small and reading Kanji looks like a chore even if you know what it means!

But the main thing here is that Smart phones like the Storm, iPhone and the yet to be released Palm-Pre (I actually really wanted one of those but could not wait) have changed the game and I am wondering when and how the tiny net books I saw in Japan will meld with the Smart Phones? I guess you could say it’s happening as we speak. Or text. Or email…

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Thoughts on Tokyo – Part I

I have been in Japan for nearly a week now and I am leaving tomorrow morning. This is my third trip to Japan (and Asia) in the last nine years. Several friends of mine travel to Tokyo on business and for the most part seem to enjoy it. But since I have never stayed in a hotel in Japan I believe as a tourist I have a very different sense of the overall culture than someone who flies in for a couple of days, has a few meetings and hangs out where the westerners are (Rappongi). I can say with all assurance that I love this place and could easily see myself living in Tokyo for a while. While that is highly unlikely (my family, friends and employees have nothing about which to be concerned), living within a completely different culture is energizing and perspective changing. And I don’t speak the language and barely understand enough to get around.

Since I often blog about customer experiences I’ll try not to rhapsodize too much about why I like it here in Tokyo – a city of more than 36 million people within the greater Tokyo area. 1 out of 3 Japanese people live in Tokyo. Japan is a country whose area would fit comfortably within the state of California. Yes it’s crowded. Really crowded, but it works.

I have had the great pleasure of spending a week with my great friend Tom who has lived in Tokyo for ten years. He began studying Japanese in college when were freshmen at USC. He is still taking Japanese lessons. The Japanese language is very difficult. But I do want to learn it. I had a DVD from our great client Rosetta Stone but somehow it has disappeared and I did not study up before I arrived. I will be sure to go out and get a replacement. But since my friend has been studying for more than 30 years and lives here I realize at best I will be able to hopefully get by. Some Japanese people speak English, but not many.

Tom mentions that Tokyo is easy and he is right. Convenient to live and work and I don’t believe I have ever felt (or will ever feel) safer in a city anywhere.
For those that are interested I will have a series of posts on different subjects regarding my observations about Tokyo and Japan. Travel, Food, Dress, Personal Grooming, Politeness (and Rudeness) will be some of the areas that I cover.

What I will leave you with now is that I have come to realize Japanese culture rules people’s behavior more than any other single thing. It’s not possible to try to platform some of things that occur here from a traditional customer behavior standpoint. There are those that say don’t try to understand certain things about the Japanese. And a western person there is only so much (and it probably is not much) I could ever really understand.

But you should come here and see it for yourself. In the words of the Governator – ‘I’ll be back’.