21st Oct 2016
Tokyo, Japan
This has been an interesting trip to Japan as I have been able to get in touch with so many persons who I otherwise would not be able to meet. The trip was interesting in essence because of the fact that I was able to operate independently on my own without any help of Japanese partners or customers. Japan is a very organized society and as long as one knows the rules of engagement he/she will be able to operate seamlessly. I believe I will be coming down to Japan many times and will build good lasting relationships. In my personal capacity I get along very well with Japanese people, they are similar to the older generation Indians who seek order and respect.
This trip was about visiting a conference at the Westin, Tokyo. I stayed at a hotel called MyStay, which was in a part called Gotanda. Took the ANA flight into Narita and then took the return trip (advanced paid) train ticket to the city. The Narita Express train drops one off at different points in the city and then one has to change trains to reach their destination. There are many train companies in Tokyo / Japan and each of them operate independently, i.e. the ticket system is different for each of them. Broadly, the JR Rail (Yamamoto line or something like that) and the Tokoi Metro are the main train lines. In addition to this, there are commuter train lines known as Hitachi Express, etc. The bullet train is known as the Shinkasen and is broadly operates between major cities (it also has a classification of levels slow, faster, fastest known as Nozomi).
The first day I went walking over to the Westin Hotel and had a chance to see the nice high end areas like Meguro (I am assuming it is high end because of the presence of consultates / embassies - normally the foreign offices in a city are in the nicer areas). On the way learned that the Google maps are not always right (it showed Westin almost 500 meteres off, which is a nightmare in a country where you dont know the language). The Westin was like how the TAJ Bombay used to be many years ago, rich and elegant. Over the next 2 days I had the chance to meet the many companies operating in the Automotive and next generation technologies (autonomous driving, connected system, 5G network roll outs, self healing systems etc). Japanese folks like anything American and I realized it is better to sell to the American companies when I want to reach out to the Japanese. I guess history never changes (used to the same almost 150 years ago).
Spent 2 full days at the conference, was also a speaker and explained to the audience what I have been doing in the Autonomous (driverless car area), it seems in this eco-system most of the players are still trying to find their sweet spot. Met bunch of nice folks (many from Seattle). Anyways I have planned a trip to Seattle to meet up with some of these companies. Next day I had the chance to meet my investors Zenrin, Ltd and it was nice to meet old friends. Also landed up meeting some of the leading software companies of Japan and realized nothing is different between USA - India - Japan and all is the same only the price points differ.
Right now in the Narita express on the way to the airport listening to Coldplay and Adele. Been a good trip and now next week to Singapore to meet potential customers and my sisters (both of whom live in Singapore).
Sayonara,
Adious,
Shiva
Tokyo, Japan
This has been an interesting trip to Japan as I have been able to get in touch with so many persons who I otherwise would not be able to meet. The trip was interesting in essence because of the fact that I was able to operate independently on my own without any help of Japanese partners or customers. Japan is a very organized society and as long as one knows the rules of engagement he/she will be able to operate seamlessly. I believe I will be coming down to Japan many times and will build good lasting relationships. In my personal capacity I get along very well with Japanese people, they are similar to the older generation Indians who seek order and respect.
This trip was about visiting a conference at the Westin, Tokyo. I stayed at a hotel called MyStay, which was in a part called Gotanda. Took the ANA flight into Narita and then took the return trip (advanced paid) train ticket to the city. The Narita Express train drops one off at different points in the city and then one has to change trains to reach their destination. There are many train companies in Tokyo / Japan and each of them operate independently, i.e. the ticket system is different for each of them. Broadly, the JR Rail (Yamamoto line or something like that) and the Tokoi Metro are the main train lines. In addition to this, there are commuter train lines known as Hitachi Express, etc. The bullet train is known as the Shinkasen and is broadly operates between major cities (it also has a classification of levels slow, faster, fastest known as Nozomi).
The first day I went walking over to the Westin Hotel and had a chance to see the nice high end areas like Meguro (I am assuming it is high end because of the presence of consultates / embassies - normally the foreign offices in a city are in the nicer areas). On the way learned that the Google maps are not always right (it showed Westin almost 500 meteres off, which is a nightmare in a country where you dont know the language). The Westin was like how the TAJ Bombay used to be many years ago, rich and elegant. Over the next 2 days I had the chance to meet the many companies operating in the Automotive and next generation technologies (autonomous driving, connected system, 5G network roll outs, self healing systems etc). Japanese folks like anything American and I realized it is better to sell to the American companies when I want to reach out to the Japanese. I guess history never changes (used to the same almost 150 years ago).
Spent 2 full days at the conference, was also a speaker and explained to the audience what I have been doing in the Autonomous (driverless car area), it seems in this eco-system most of the players are still trying to find their sweet spot. Met bunch of nice folks (many from Seattle). Anyways I have planned a trip to Seattle to meet up with some of these companies. Next day I had the chance to meet my investors Zenrin, Ltd and it was nice to meet old friends. Also landed up meeting some of the leading software companies of Japan and realized nothing is different between USA - India - Japan and all is the same only the price points differ.
Right now in the Narita express on the way to the airport listening to Coldplay and Adele. Been a good trip and now next week to Singapore to meet potential customers and my sisters (both of whom live in Singapore).
Sayonara,
Adious,
Shiva
