My Overall Reflection

What can I say about my trip to Taiwan and Japan other than it was eye-opening, educational and, at times, fast paced. I met so many good people and have great experiences with them that they will be missed.

During my visit, I have experienced many difference things that I wish we had here in America. Most of them would be culturally. I've seen that most of the cities in the Far East embrace their culture and that we tend to forget about it. If a building in Taiwan or Japan has some significant historical value, they would maintain it. But here, would would just look at it as "missing value" thinking that if we tear it down, we can build something that can make money.

The balance between historical culture and booming corporate life in both countries was amazing to me. As I mentioned before, allot of countries have a problem with that balance but Japan and Taiwan didn't.

Another thing that I liked was the transportation infrastructure. In Taiwan to have all the drivers share the road with scooter riders and have equal amount of respect for each while driving impressed me. And in Japan, their highway system seemed to be structured in a way that I didn't see any real backup or delayed traffic even during rush hour. And riding train in both countries was actually fun. A little crowded but fun.

There were many things that I notice in both countries that I feel that it be difficult of have here in America. One being the vending machines practically on every corner. I personally enjoyed purchasing items from vending machines and I find them very convenient. But it's not the vending machines themselves, it's the items that are in it. What are these items in these machines? Soft drinks, water, energy drinks, coffee drinks, tea and beer.

That's right, beer. These unsupervised vending machines usually have two or three different types of beer in their machines. Purchasing a beer from a machine and walking down the street drinking it didn't seem to be a problem. It seemed to me that, unlike our culture in America, young adults under 21 are not very interested in purchasing alcoholic beverages. Unlike here in the US, if an under-aged person is capable to get beer or liquor for their friends, it raises their status among them. I didn't see that in Taiwan or Japan among the students. Some young people here in American would say, "Oh, they don't know how to have fun." Which is not the case. They just don't see the need to have alcohol to have a good time. If we were to have this in America, young adults and even kids would probably end up purchasing all the alcoholic beverages, getting drunk, and more than likely, loitering, getting into trouble and/or starting fights.

Another thing I really liked about their culture and way of life is the way the people of Taiwan and Japan recycle. We here in America are still trying to get at least 50% of our population to recycle where much of the population of both countries do recycle. In fact, since the inception of the Law for the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging (1997), Japan has the highest recycling levels of any country.

This is particularly very useful in many fast-food restaurants in both countries. One place for paper products, one for plastics and a funnel to discard ice and leftover drinks. I think this a great idea for fast food restaurants who want to recycle. One problem: getting individuals to comply.

I honestly could see myself working and living in either country. The companies, the educational institutions, great people, the rich culture and vast history was truly a delight. For a moment or two, I wasn't going to take this trip but now that I have experienced it, I'm glad that I did. I feel that taking this trip and seeing the people in both countries gave me more respect for them, their history, their mannerisms and their way of living.

My Reflection of Japan

Japan was pretty much what I expected it to be but with allot of little things that you couldn't experience unless you've been there.

One thing that I noticed, unlike Taiwan, allot of people in Japan do not speak English or understand it when they hear it spoken. I actually kind of liked that because it made me learn the language. And I think that's the best way to learn a language which is to live among the people. To me this wasn't too big of a problem because most of the interact I have with the Japanese people is in retail stores or in restaurants. And like Dr. Laurence said, "If they don't understand you, just use your finger and point at it." Not to many sign I saw were in English and I think that would have posed a problem for me if I were to be traveling alone.

One fun activities that I really enjoyed was attending the Sumo Wrestling tourney. That was too much fun. I just glad that Dr. Laurence was their to explain everything to us.

The corporations that we visited seemed to run their businesses just like the ones in Taiwan. This must be a normal operation for companies in the Far East. I personally like the way that they conduct business practices because it helps employees become better at their work, which in turn, helps the company grow.

I really enjoyed the museum and temple trip in Japan. And because of those, I really learned allot about the history and culture of Japan. One of my favorites was the Hiroshima Peace Park and Atomic Bomb museum. There you really learn about the power and destructive nature of atomic energy. In our culture in America, it's just so easy for people to say, "Why don't we just nuke them and get it over with?" Because it's very easy when you're not the target of that power you can remove yourself from that equation. But when you see the results first hand and the horrific images that go along with it, it will change your mind. Although I still feel that it was the right decision, the consequences were just devastating

.

I also find very interesting the small "mom and pops" businesses that have been around for over 100+ years. And there are allot of them. You just don't see that in America. If a family has a business that the parent started, usually the children have no interest in continuing on with that business. The children go to college and find other profession more interesting instead of carrying on the family legacy which is their business. but in Japan, allot of people do carry on their family's business. Perfect example: Daisuti Hayashi is a sixth generation Wagashi chef and their family business has been around for over 140 years. To me, that's just incredible and they still make a great product.

The people of Japan were just like the people in Taiwan, very friendly and very courteous. Even when they were racing through the train stations, most of the people were kind. The students that we met in Japan were a little quieter than the students in Taiwan. But once we got them talking, once again, we became very good friends. I would have to say that in my lifetime, I have never been around such a group of individuals that treated a bunch of strangers like good, old friends.

Overall, Japan was a great country to visit. I really enjoyed Japan because of their urbanization and corporate life culture and kept a balance with their historical culture. Thank you Japan. It was fun and educational.

My Reflection on Taiwan

I have to admit that the only thing that I really knew about Taiwan is that half of the world was made there. I personally thought it was going to be like some Third World country that major corporations take advantage of their land and the people. I was completely wrong. From what I did see, I was very impressed with the landscape, the people and all the students that we met.

The people in Taiwan are very friendly and hospitable to the point where I don't wan to leave and return to the customer service we are used to in America. The Taiwanese people are a very hard-working group of people that I will never forget. I honestly was not expecting that I would become great friends with the students at NTNU. I thought that they were just going to show us around and then go off and do their own thing. But they were asking us to go to different places with them and when we went back to our hotel, we were calling them to come visit us and to hang out. Although many of the Taiwanese spoke English, the NTNU students did teach us some Mandarin that will stick with me for a long time.They are such a great group of people. To all the new friends that I made, I wish them all the absolute best in their endeavors in life.

Another thing about Taiwan that I really enjoyed was the landscape. All the mountainous terrain was new for me. I loved looking out my hotel window and seeing the mountain in the background. I think that was one of the things that made me really feel like I wasn't home.

Another thing that I loved is that they have their own traditions and culture. We, here in America, have many traditions and culture too but most are borrowed from other cultures. The Sky Lantern Experience was really cool. I that was some artsy thing that wouldn't be interesting but I really enjoyed it. They have found a way to keep a healthy balance between keeping their history alive and urban corporate development.

I was also impressed with the city of Taipei. To me, this is like the New York City of Taiwan. So many great businesses like HTC, Giant and ASUS and the way that they handle their employees is just incredible. To have programs and a work environment that included swimming pools, work out facilities and organized sports for the employees does make the work more enjoyable and makes the employee more healthy and productive.

Another thing that I thought was interesting about Taiwan was the transportation infrastructure. Scooters, scooters, scooters everywhere. When I see a country that almost has more scooters than cars on the road, they are doing something right. Even the way that they conduct themselves while driving was incredible. People were actually letting people change lanes, no flashing the middle finger, and evenly sharing the road with scooters and bicycle riders.

I have to say that other than the smell of stinky tofu almost everywhere, I was really impressed with Taiwan. I do hope that they get their independence one day but if you follow the politics of it, it may come at a steep price. To Taiwan and their people I say thank you for your hospitality and good luck in your efforts to reach independence.

May 31st

Our last full day. First, before leaving for our last visit, I had to take in one last look of Tokyo from the balcony of my room.

Our last meeting with with JICA: Japanese International Cooperation Agency. JICA is a governmental funded agency which is responsible for the technical cooperation of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs.

They are an agency that gives technical cooperation, gives O.D.A. loans (concessionary loans), grand aid, have cooperation through citizen participation (volunteers) and help in disaster relief.

Technical cooperation: In countries that are developing and have a need for human resources development and help with the formulation of administrative systems, JICA can dispatch experts, provisions of necessary equipment and training of personnel. Cooperation plans are tailored to the needs that are addressed.

ODA Loans: These loans help support developing countries that are above a certain income level by providing low-interest, long term  and concessional funds (in Japanese Yen) to help finance their development efforts.Most of these loans are used to help create large scale infrastructure like railways and bridges.

Grant Aid: These funds are dispersed to developing countries which have low income levels without the obligation of repayment. These funds are mostly used to help build hospitals, schools,  water supply facilities and much needed roads.

Disaster Relief: During a disaster occurrence, JICA dispatches Japan Disaster Relief teams in response to requests from government affect by these situations. JICA has teams of doctors on stand by 24 hours a day and medical and recovery equipment always packed and ready to go at Narita International airport.

Cooperation through citizen Participation: These are ordinary citizen with some expertise in certain field that volunteer their time to JICA. Sometimes they  are dispatches overseas to certain areas that JICA needs them to be to help out with certain projects.

JICA is also about education. They get involved with trying to boost the level of education to children around the world. Their activities include teacher trainings and development of training systems, establishing school management and eduction governance, strengthening core vocational training institutions of each country by improving the curricula, creation of research exchange network between universities and expansion of core universities of each country/region by providing teacher training, materials, and equipment. This agency does allot of great things for those people and countries that are in need or need help.

After our visit to JICA, we were practically finish with the program and had a free half day. So a group of us jumped on the train and headed over to Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (House of Ramen). That's right, the people that brought you Ramen noodles has a museum and eatery in Japan.

The first floor was a gift shop and had a the history of the company on displayed on the walls. 

To get to try the noodles, we ended up walking down four flights of stairs. Each turn had some weird cut-out that you could take pictures with.

At the bottom, there was a very large room that was to make you feel like you were back in the 1950s Japan in the center of town. The atmosphere was very interesting and really relaxing. I enjoying having my noodles in that setting.

After the House of Ramen, we headed back to the Yokohama Station and jumped on a Bullet Train and headed for Mount Fuji. We figured, "Since we're here, why not."

As we got closer and closer to Mount Fuji, it got cloudier and cloudier. This is a shot of Mt. Fuji from the station before get got there. You can barely see it.

I'm glad that I took that picture because when we arrived at the station that was closest to Mt. Fuji, this is what we were able to see. Believe it or not, Mt. Fuji is there in the mist.

After trying to see Mt. Fuji, we headed back to the hotel. For one last hurrah, we found a rooftop patio.

And with good friends on a great educational trip, we toasted one last one for Japan.

May 30th

As our educational journey begins to come to a close, he had only one company to visit today, Yamaha Music Instrument Factory in Shizuoka.

Before we took a tour of the assembly floor (no photos), we were given a brief history of the Yamaha Toyooka Factory. It began operations in 1970 with around 900 employees. Its function is being the "Mother factory" of Yamaha wind instruments. This facility also conducts Product Development, Manufacturing Engineering, Procurement and Quality Control.

In 1887, the company was established by Torakusu Yamaha. In 1937, they assisted another instrument company called Nikkan which led Nikkan to become a part of Yamaha in 1970. And in 1987, they were now known as "Yamaha Co."

Some of their product achievements:1965, First Yamaha Trumpet; 1967, First Yamaha Sax; 1968, First Yamaha Clarinet; 1969, First Yamaha Trombone. In 1991, they sold over 5 million instruments and hit 10 million in 2005.

Their production volume is mostly Flutes at 25%. then Sax at 20%, Trumpets at 19% and Clarinets at 18%, Trombones at 7% and other instruments round off the other 11%.

On the factory tour, I figured that most of the work would be done by hand, and it was. The only time machines were being used were to bend the material into shape, clean, or buff and shine the instruments. Everything else was hands on. Even the special designs that are engraved in the instruments are performed by hand. We watched two men do this on saxophones and they made it look really easy. The two men that as this position were artists that applied for this special job.

They even had a quality control room where two people were inside testing the instruments. I asked if prior knowledge of music notes and sounds was a must for these positions. I was told that most of the employees that work at this facility have a love of music or have played some sort of wind instrument playing experience even before they received employment. So they really don't have to ask individuals to have some musical background because everyone that applied already did.

After a tour of the factory floor, their second floor showroom had instruments on display for people to try. Danielle thought she would give it a shot.

Our group picture

After the factory tour, we had a group dinner celebration. This was the name of the restaurant but I can't pronounce it.

This was the last meal that we would have as a group. It was kind of bittersweet knowing the this was the last time we would be together at a class.

We were joined by Daisuke and Margie Hayashi (who showed us Wagashi) and we had a really good time.

We had your typical Japanese meal with foods that I could not identify but I had to try them anyways.

After dinner, Dr. Peng presented us with our certifications of completions of the study abroad program.

One day left.

May 29th

Today, we traveled to the city of Gifu which is located in the south central part of the Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The city of Gifu serves as the prefectural capital. Here, we visited Fujii Butsudan. This company specializes in selling and restoring Buddhist altar, their fittings and other maintenance pertaining to them.

Each alter is catered to the needs of the customer. They have many different types of alters. Some are Karaki-Butsudan for Zen Buddhism, Kin-Butsudan for Shin Buddhism, and others like compact alters, modern designs and many others.They can also custom design an alter or they can modify one that has been previously purchased. Many of these alters have been purchased many years ago and handed down from generation to generation which is a place to put the ashes for loved ones that have passed away.

Other items that they have are home shrine articles,  Buddhist rosaries and specialty items for those that that want to leave a personal items at grave sites.

Some of these alters can be very simple and small while others can be very large and complex. It was said that the alter below took over three years to built and assemble. It was a challenging experience for the builder because of the vast details on the figures, the intricate panel design and the size of the alter.

And to give us a taste of how some of this work is done, we tried our hand at laying a gold sheet on into a bowl using the same technique that the builders use when they are restoring other alters.We first had to spread a thin layer of a type of lacquer in the bowl and let it sit for about five minutes.

After about five minutes, using tweezers, we had to pick up the gold paper and position it in the bowl so it can lay flat. There were many different types of paper to use but we used the basic gold standard.

This was kind of a tricky process only because the gold paper that we were using was so very thin and very delicate. I had some trouble laying the gold paper into the bowl evenly but after a few tries I got it down pretty good. We then used some kind of cotton material to smooth it out and polish it up. This, to, was a delicate process. If you pressed down too hard, you could tear the paper off. I was the first done in my group. I was told that I did a pretty good job for a first-timers. Even one of the gentlemen there said to me in Japanese, "For a big man, you have very delicate hands."

After we left Fujii Butsudan, we walked to a 440 year old Buddhist temple called Gifu Zenkoji. 

At this temple, we were shown the proper and correct way to practice “Zazen” or silent meditation. Zazen is a way to increase concentration and focus while decreasing anxiety and stress. First, before entering the temple, we had to purify our hand and remove our shoes.

Upon entering the temple, we were shown how to sit properly (which put my legs to sleep) and how to position our arms, hands and back. Sitting flat, back straight, eyes half closed, and hands positioned near your belly button in the position of an open fist with your thumbs on top. You are to breathe slowly through our nose and exhale out of our mouth.

We performed one fifteen minute Zazen and then a ten minute Zazen. I have to admit, even though my legs fell asleep, the fifteen minutes did feel like it went by quick. And when the first Zazen was complete, my legs didn't tingle anymore. I did feel very relaxed. We did a second Zazen for ten minutes and I felt the same when it was complete, very relaxed. It was a great experience.

The area where this temple is located has very beautiful scenery.

Now that we were in a relaxed mood, it was time to visit the  Okinaya Japanese Sweet Company featuring Wagashi. There we met Daisuke and Margie (from California) Hayashi (Facebook picture). Daisuke is a sixth generation Wagashi chef. Although Daisuke is a college graduate, he felt that his family business was his calling and he loves being a Wagashi chef. Founded in 1865, Okinaya has been dedicated to producing and selling Wagashi for the tea ceremony, gifts and home use for over 140 years. 

So what is Wagashi you ask? Wagashi, translated as "sweets", is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea. All the treats are made by hand, no machines. Daisuke gave us a brief background about his shop and some history about the art of Wagashi and the different types of Wagashi.

After a quick demonstration about how it is done, we gave it a shot. First, we were given our ingredients.

This is what the end product is suppose to look like.

These are how mine turned out. Not too bad I would say myself.

With our Wagashi, we were given a glass of tea. I don't remember the name of the tea but it was pretty good. We were told that it was respectful to try and finish the tea within three or four drinks. Three for me.

After everything was said and done, Dr. Laurence presented a few gifts of our appreciation.