Saturday, February 2, 2013, 11:00a -- Sight seeing in Kyoto and the Bullet Train!

Friday was our final full day in Japan. The group decided to spend it in the city of Kyoto where there are so many things to see and do. We took the Shinkansen (also known at the bullet train). What a cool experience that was! The train travels so fast that we arrived in Kyoto withing 15 minutes (on the regular train, the trip would have been about an hour with all the stops).

First up in Kyoto was the Kyoto Museum for World Peace. No pics allowed inside the museum but I have some of the cool artwork before entering. The museum depicted the various wars that Japan was involved in during the 20th century. I was able to listen to a narrative of each of the displays in english, so I was able to get a lot out of the experience. It was very eye opening seeing all of this from the Japanese perspective. They took a very honest approach to exposing the atrocities and basic human rights violations carried out by the Japanese military. The museum is dedicated to enlightenment for the sake of encouraging peace.

Next we visited the Golden Pavilion Temple, also called Kinkaku-ji in Japanese. It was built in 1397 and was initially intended to serve as a villa for retirement for Shogun Ashikaga. Later, his son converted the building into a Zen temple. The Golden Pavilion was burned twice and was reconstructed after five years. At the temple, I purchased a fortune out of a vending machine (yeah, kinda tourist like). The fortune was not so good, so I tied it on a fence with the other bad fortunes and bought another one. Pretty cool that you can get rid of your bad fortune so easily. I also lit a candle and made a wish -- each candle has something inscribed that is reflective of the type of wish you want to make.

At the end of the day, we shared a Japanese style dinner complete with floor seating. The food was all served on a stick (a bit like state fair food, some said). A very nice close to a very nice trip with a very nice group of people!

I have a bit more to share, but it will have to wait until I arrive back in the states. It it soon time to make our way to the airport for the journey home.

Love to all,
Kathy

Pics:
1 & 2) Shinkansen
3, 4, 5) Kyoto Museum for World Peace
6) My not-so-good fortune
7) My fortune tied up with the other bad ones
8, 9, 10) Pics around the temple area
11, 12, 13) Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion Temple)
14) Group shot at the temple
15) My wish candle (and others)
16-20) Shots at our dinner

Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 10:00p -- U.S. Consulate Visit

Today, we had the pleasure of visiting the U.S. Consulate in Osaka. We had a fantastic discussion with Patrick Linehan, Consul General, Gregory Kay, Public Affairs Officer, and Nicholas Fietzer, Vice Consul. We were originally scheduled for a 1:30-3:00 meeting, but the discussion was going so well that the Consulate folks extended it for another 45 minutes. What a fantastic opportunity for us!

The Osaka-Kobe Consulate covers 17 prefectures in western Japan including major cities like Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara. (I've been to all of these places except for Hiroshima)

We learned a bit about what activities happen at the Consulate, all essentially focused on promoting peace, profitable trade and protection for U.S. citizens in Japan.

The Consul general talked a little bit about Costco in Japan. Previously, big box stores were banned by law in Japan as they were seen as threats to the smaller business that flourished and enabled the ongoing economic success in the country. But more recently, stores like Costco are being used to supply those same smaller business, thus reducing supply chain costs for the mom & pop entities. Likewise, neighborhoods will coordinate shopping and save money by using Costco as their supplier. As we first started hearing about Costco, I wondered how in the world an organization like that could be successful in a community that shops for the day because there is no space to put things like 50 rolls of toilet paper. But then when I heard that they are used by the small businesses and neighborhood groups, it made sense to me.

Someone in the group asked what the main social issues were that Japan was facing today. To answer this question, the Consul General shared about 4 main topics.

1) The first thing is something we've explored at length before we came and since we've arrived -- Gender equality. He generalized by stating that Japan is about where the U.S was in the 60s and 70s regarding gender equality. They know it, they're trying to address it, but it remains a problem.

2) Japan sees themselves as an ethnically homogeneous society. Because of this, there are social issues surrounding ethnic and racial equality. Groups like the Ainu (indigenous race of northern Japan), Korean, Chinese, Burakumin (outcasts or "untouchables" from ancient Japanese culture but still remaining today) are discriminated against socially.

3) GLBT -- although Japan is opening its eyes to the possibility that some of its citizens are part of the GLBT community, there is still a long way to go. The Consul General shared that he is a married gay man and the Japanese government recognizes his husband as someone to which a diplomatic visa could be granted -- although not marriage status, this is a step in the right direction in his opinion.

4) Immigration. Moving BACK to Japan is something that the Japanese government continues to encourage. Perhaps opening up possibilities for new immigration to Japan should be considered more thoroughly as there a declining population and thus concern for long term sustainability in certain markets and roles (farming was mentioned as a concern for sustainability).

Overall, the discussion was informative, intellectual, interesting and to some, exciting enough to lean more about seeking employment as a foreign service officer! I think some of my classmates would be excellent foreign service officers!

I have only 2 pictures to share from the day. There are no cameras allowed at the Consulate, although I didn't realize the outdoor pics were also banned before I took these so consider the good fortune to have even these two:

Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 8:15a

Just a quick post to share my pictures of my sushi experience at lunch yesterday. We sat at a sort of lunch counter and the various sushi rode by on a carousel. When you saw something you liked, you grabbed it, ate it, stacked up you plates and at the end, they counted what you ate and totaled the bill. I ate a pile of things and the total was less than the equivalent of $10 US.

1) Sushi carousel
2) Eel and shrimp (my classmates)
3) Sushi rice stuffed in bean curd
4) Shellfish miso soup
5) Young yellow tail
6) Pickled ginger (pickles are served at every meal, it seems)
7) Tuna
8) Shrimp salad
9) Grilled mackerel
10) Corn Salad
11) Crab -- the brown stuff is the crab brains -- nope! I didn't eat this one -- too full ;-)

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 -- Monday night's kimono fun!

I didn't get a chance to write about my cultural adventure from Monday night. Wow, the days are packed with enlightening engagements with Japanese businesses and organizations, while the evenings are packed with Japanese culture, so there is little time to collect my thoughts and share.

On Monday night, we had the pleasure of being hosted at Ariyama-san's family home. She pulled out several kimonos and she and her friend dressed each one of us up in 3 different styles of kimono -- one casual, one formal, and one meant for ceremonies such as graduations. It was fun to try this particular cultural aspect of Japanese life, but I am grateful for the comfort of western clothing!

Ariyama-san's eldest son taught us a little about the typical food of the Osaka area. We tried our hand at making takoyaki (Japanese pancake balls with an assortment of the fillings of your choice -- octopus, pickled ginger, cheese, mochi, etc). When they were done, we doused them in yummy sauces. He also make us an okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake with squid, octopus, shrimp and bacon). Finally, he made us some yakisoba (Japanese noodles with octopus, bacon, cabbage, etc). I'm guessing that the yaki means octopus.

Pics:
1-3) Kimonos
4) Takoyaki
5) Okonomiyaki in progress
6) Okonomiyaki ready
7) Yakisoba

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 11:30p -- Two very busy and rewarding days!

Well, I sure didn't have time to post anything last night, so I thought I'd capture a little bit of Monday and Today in my comments now.

MONDAY:
Monday, we visited SunBridge Global Ventures, Inc. who partners with the Urban Innovation Institute. We were pleased to participate in discussions about how SunBridge seeks young entrepreneurs who are up and coming. They help these young people realize their dreams by assisting with venture capital programs, etc. We also heard from 3 women leaders -- 1 entrepreneur and 2 senior managers. These women shared their stories and general information about the difficulties that women encounter in the Japanese business world. Women are a rare client of SunBridge, as the culture does not yet support women in the business world and most women who start their own businesses do not seek outside support the way men do. Ikuo Hiraishi, President and CEO of SunBridge offered his own perspectives. He happens to be a husband and father that is more like western husbands and fathers. He recognizes that his wife's career is also important and shares in the child rearing.

The women we talked with:
Hiroko Nishiyma, CEO, MyPower, Inc. -- www.mypower.co.jp
Yamano Hiroko, Senior Manager, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings -- www.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp
Mina Marushima, Marketing Manager, Silk Road Technology -- www.silkroad.co.jp

SunBridge has a little golden Buddha in the office. If you sit in the "happy couch", hold the Buddha and scratch his feet, you'll have good fortune!


TUESDAY
Today, we visited the Dawn Center, the Osaka Gender Equality Foundation run by the Osaka Prefecture government. Teiichiro Tokioka, Chairperson of the Board, spoke to us via an interpreter about their program. The Dawn Center is one of the largest organizations for gender equality in Japan. The government realizes that they need to take some action to address the inequalities, but the problem is just not that easy to solve. Centuries of custom and culture keep men AND women of the mindset that each have their own place in the world and that place should not be disrupted. The Dawn Center has 3 pillars in which they operate. 1) To distribute information about gender equality, 2) To organize lectures and promote gender equal rights, 3) To offer consultation and counseling to women. They have a library filled with books, magazines and media to educate and assist women in bettering themselves. The librarian was so excited to show us everything they have!

Pics from Monday - 1-6
Pics from Tuesday - 7-11