I got back from Japan yesterday afternoon at 3 PM, so I'm working hard to stay awake this afternoon so that I get my body back on the right sleep schedule for my time zone.
The flight back wasn't as painful as the flight over. For one thing, I had an aisle seat instead of a window seat, and for another, I slept most of the flight. I even slept through the 2nd meal, which means I was pretty hungry by the time I got to Chicago. The flight over went farther north, over Canada and Alaska, and was a couple of hours longer as well.
My hotel was the Prince Shinagawa. This is a moderately priced hotel just off of the Shinagawa station on the JR (Japan Rail).
The rooms were small and warm, but my window looked out on the dolphin pond at the Aqua Stadium. I saw and heard the dolphins in the morning, which was pretty cool. The blue in the picture on the right is the dolphin tank (taken from my hotel window).
We took the Airport Limo from the airport to the hotel. I was the first one on the bus, and took the front seat on the left, because I wanted to see everything. A lady came up to me at the 2nd stop and asked if her daughter could sit by me as she "wasn't well-behaved". I offered them both my seat, and took the 2nd row. Later when the little girl became carsick, I was very glad that I had been so unselfish.
Narita Airport is about an hour away from downtown Tokyo, and the bus ride was very enjoyable, passing through lots of green fields, which I believe were rice paddies, past Disney Tokyo, and then into the city itself. I didn't know that Japan cars travel on the left side of the road, with the corresponding changes in auto and bus interiors, the driver being positioned on the right.
Wednesday we had meetings with 2 customers, and then the AMJ people took us out to dinner. We had lots of different Japanese dishes, including tempura, fried chicken, sea bass and Japanese radish, and other delicacies such as sushi, which I didn't sample. Thursday was the AP UGM, which I wasn't involved in at all, so I worked on the OPC defect and did some unit tests for some of the models for my thesis. Around 3 PM was when I started to feel the time difference - it was very hard to concentrate and to stay alert.
We took a shuttle bus to the Tamachi station and then took the railway back to Shinagawa station. The trains are nice and clean, and very quiet, as no one is supposed to use their cell phones because it annoys their neighbors. The people are well-dressed - white shirts, ties and suits on the guys, and dresses or business suits on the women. We took the train several times, and only one time was it very crowded - right around 6 PM on Friday night. Some people at AMJ commute 1.5 hours one way - they can't afford to live in Tokyo, or don't want to, so they spend lots of time on the train each day.
Thursday night we decided to go visit the Tokyo Tower. We took the subway to the Hama-matsu-cho station, and then made the mistake of taking the south gate out. We wandered around a bit, watching for the Tower, and finally saw it and figured out how to get there. On the way we passed the Zojoji Temple, which was closed for the night, but we walked through a bit of the grounds anyway.
We were able to see the Jizobosatsu statues, the "Buddhist equivalent of angel[s], dressed in red baby bonnets." These statues commemorate stillborn babies.
The Tokyo Tower is "Tokyo's answer to the Eiffel Tower." It's 30' taller than the Eiffel Tower, but because of advances in steel-making, is much less massive. I couldn't help but think that my dad would have been fascinated looking at the girders and the construction. There are a number of pricey attractions at the base of the tower, including an elevator ride up, but we decided not to spend the money. On the way back to the station we stopped at Wendy's and ate teriyaki burgers and fries.
Friday we had the AMUG, which was handled mostly by Takashima-san, with presentations by others, including myself. I didn't mention earlier, but customer interactions are very respectful, with lots of bowing at the beginning and end of the meetings. I followed TL's lead and bowed when he did and to the same depth. Nitobe-san had the most elegant bows for customers, even bowing deeply during her presentation, at the end of each PowerPoint slide.
Friday night we explored the area around Shinagawa station, as TL had a teleconference at 10 PM. We ate at the New York restaurant, and had a very enjoyable meal, Italian style chicken, pasta and salads. We went into "Pachinko and Slots", a nearby pachinko parlor. None of us knew what pachinko was, so we just observed and covered our ears from the noise. We found out later - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko My ears were ringing after 5 minutes - I can't imagine spending hours in there - the noise was extremely painful.
I also spent some time in the souvenir shop at the hotel. I found a deck of cards that have pictures of sushi, and a Chokin plate, with a geisha and other pictures in the background. I also bought some Pocky sticks to munch on. These are slender cracker sticks dipped in chocolate, and quite a treat.
Next trip to Japan (if there is one) I plan to take a couple of extra days (non-working) so that I can visit some of the sites, such as the palace at Chiyoda, and the Senjakuji Temple to see the graves of the 47 ronin. A lot of places we wanted to visit were open from 9 to 3 or 4, so we weren't able to see them due to work hours. I also found a map of the subway system which includes the JR, which I plan to use as well. (My Fodor's guide only had the subway system.)
This is a view of the Tokyo skyline from my hotel room. The morning was overcast and foggy. 
A view of the Tokyo Tower from a few blocks away. 
Yours truly standing in front of the Jizo statues 
This is a view of the Tokyo Tower from the base, looking up. 
