By Collin on May 5th, 2004
Its been very busy in these few days leading up to the flight out. There doesn’t seem to be enough time to do everything. I have to do the following before Monday:
- Pack
- Graduate
- Finish research for the paper
- Find a job
- Come up with 3 questions for the various companies we’re going to visit
- Figure out what I’m going to do in my free time
I have been giving some thought about what I’m going to do in Japan and have a few good ideas. In general, I’m going to try as many new foods and take as many pictures as possible. I’ll also just hop on a bus and travel around the city and see what I can see. That was a lot of fun when I lived in Vienna.
There are a few specific places in the cities we’re going to visit that I want to visit. In Kyoto I want to visit the Budo Center. I don’t think they’ll let me train there but it would be nice just to watch. In Tokyo, I definitely want to visit Akihabara, the electronics district. There is also a sword museum with several thousand swords that I’d like to visit as well.
I do have several guide books but I haven’t had time to read all of them. If any one has any suggestions about what I should go see, leave a comment.
By Collin on May 2nd, 2004
Here are a few of the cities in Japan we’ll be visiting:
- Kameoka (west of Kyoto)
- Nara
- Toyota City (near Nagoya)
- Hiroshima
- Tamano City
- Tokyo
They are circled in the map above (click it for a larger map). I am looking for a better map of Japan, so please leave a comment if you know where to find one.
There are also few pictures up in the Japan gallery. Watch the album as the trip progresses for more pictures.
By Collin on April 28th, 2004
Our group will be covering a lot of ground while we’re in Japan. Here are some of the places we’re going to be going and some of the businesses we’ll be visiting:
Cultural
- Kinkakuji
- Ryoanji
- Sanjusangendo
- Kiyomize-dera
- Kasuga Shrine
- Todaiji
- Byodo-in
Companies
- Shoyeido-an incense manufacturer
- Sharp
- Sanyo
- Toyota
- Nippondenso
- Mitsui engineering and shipbuilding (MES)
- Daiwa steel and tube corporation (MANAK)
- Wal-mart / Seiyu
- Kirin Beer
We also have to cover several economic topics related to Japan:
- Kanban
- Keiretsu
- Management/labor union relationship
- Just-In-Time Management (JIT)
- Current state of the Japanese economy
- Financial Deregulation (“Big Bang”)
- ISO 14000 Certification
- Demings 14 points
By Collin on April 27th, 2004
This is my blog of my travels to Japan. I will be leaving for Japan on May 10 as part of the MBA program at the University of Arkansas. Part of the course requirement is a daily journal. I have decided to make my journal an online one for the whole world to read.
I intend to let you know what going on, post a few interesting pictures of Japan, and maybe even a movie or two. Please stop by and let me know what you think!
