Japanese people are continually showing their respect for others. Japan Telecom employees did this on a grand scale on Tuesday evening. There have been some changes in ownership of the company and a new president was to be introduced this evening to 1,600 of the company’s customers and business partners. I was fortunate to be invited along with Tamai-san. As we were discussing how hard it is to find someone you may be looking for in such a large crowd, I turned and there was Kitashiro-san, chairman of IBM Japan, Ltd. and now chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives. It was very good to see him. There was a long line to meet the new Japan Telecom president but it was worth seeing Kurashige-san once again. He had been a senior executive in IBM for some years. I had hoped to see Otoshi-san during the trip but he was in New York.
After the gala, Tamai-san and I met up with Dan Powers. Dan is IBM VP for Websphere sales in the Asia Pacific region and formerly was part of the Internet technology team of which I was a member. I have known him for more than ten years. The three of us and Tim Walsh headed to The Hanezawa Garden in the Shibuya-ku section of Tokyo. This is a most difficult place to find — even with the sophisticated GPS system in Japan. The Hanezawa Garden is a former residence nestled in among the crowded streets containing a salon, a bar, the Sushi Bar, The Cigar Room, and five dining rooms. The sushi and every part of the dinner were outstanding. We took some pictures in the garden afterwards. Unfortunately, Tamai’san’s camera battery was low and my camera was not able to handle the lighting conditions. It probably can, but I do not know how. Sorry to say my photographic skills are so weak. (See photogallery for my attempts).
The long day came to an end, and I had learned a lot. The next day I would learn even more.