Thursday, December 15, 2005

Background

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be taking off for Tokyo to kick off three and a half weeks of travel around the Japan. At my side will be my little sister Anja and our mom Judy.

A little bit of background: this trip is a kind of congratulatory present to Anja, who recently finished high school and is now about to step out into life as a college student and a San Francisco citydweller. She's long been interested in Japan: she wears clothing fit for Harajuku, draws manga graphics, has an encyclopedic knowledge of anime, studied Japanese enough to hold a conversation and even managed to pick up calligraphy. Thanks to my generous mother, Anja is now about to see the object of her fascination first-hand. I've had a passing interest in Japan myself, thanks to some childhood training in Aikido, occasional anime marathons in high school and college, and the fact that I've spent a good part of the last year at work digging up facts on their neighbors China and Russia. I don't know that my mom has any specific connection to the country. It's so foreign that neither of us would have picked it as a destination on our own, but the chance to explore it with a somewhat-informed guide is a wonderful opportunity.

I'll be posting my thoughts here as we travel, and also the photos that I'll be occasionally dumping into my Flickr account. Inspirational credit goes to my colleague Jenny Johnston, who put together a marvellously interesting account of her trip to Ghana under the flag of Lobster Harmonica. I don't know exactly what kind of 'net access we'll have while we're moving around, but I have a feeling it won't be hard to find WiFi. After all, this is the country known for inventing nifty new cellphone gadgets and pioneering the use of e-cash. I'm just hoping that Tokyo is just as futuristic as William Gibson and Neal Stephenson make it out to be. If not, I'll be having some words with them when I get back...

2 Comments:

At 6:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Japanese phrase most equivalent to "Good luck" translates best as "Do your best" (I am told).

So, rather than good luck, I wish you an enjoyable visit!

 
At 2:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have a great, great time. I certainly hope you post here and in Flickr as much as possible. I am eager to hear of your adventures.

 

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