Delicious seafood

OK, OK, I know it may not look so appetizing, but believe me - the taste was amazing. Slightly salty, crunchy skin, and soft inside.

Fresh Sashimi

Almost too atractive to eat .... (almost!) The colour was beetroot red and the scent of lavendar from the flower buds created a relaxing aroma. Paused for a short while to appreciate the beauty and preperation - then tucked in.

News from Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu, MHI and Nintendo

Toshiba and NEC are now negotiating to integrate their semiconductor business. NEC is also studying the possibility of business integration with Fujitsu.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd reached a basic agreement with General Electric to tie up in the development of power generation turbines.

Nintendo’s operating profit will increase by 9% to 530 billion yen, but its net profit will drop by 11% to 230 billion yen.

Meetings at Canon and Stanley

I had good meetings today with a client at Canon Chemical HQ and Stanley R&D Centre. Both meetings went well, and I'm optimistic that Japanese companies see this as a good economic climate to invest in overseas technology.

Stunning view from the plane

I took this picture on Sunday during the flight back to Japan. The reduction in size on the blog restricts appreciation of the view, but you can see snow covered mountains at the bottom, the curvature of the earth on the horizon and stars twinkling at the top. This kind of scene puts all the 'day to day' challenges of ones life into a different perspective.

Good use of free space in Tokyo

This scene made me smile ...... back in December there were 3 vending machines in this location near our office, and I noticed the suppliers had taken one away recently. But within 48 hours of it's removal, a fast moving local resident had claimed the space as a parking spot for his micro-car! Where else in the world could you see a car so small it can occupy the space vacated by a vending machine?

Meeting at DoCoMo HQ

I attended a meeting at DoCoMo HQ in Tokyo to hear the Managing Director of Corp Marketing Strategy Dept (Miki-san) give a talk on DoCoMo's vision of the future. As you can imagine, it was pretty mind blowing stuff, far beyond the current limitations of mobile devices. I picked up many ideas for our clients, and was particularly pleased to see how important GPS will become in DoCoMo's world (music to the ears of one of our new clients who have lading edge GPS technology!). I have a public copy of DoCoMo's presentation, so drop me a line if you would like one.

Back in Japan to make a speech to Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission

I headed back to Japan on January 12th to deliver a speech and presentation to a group of companies attending a trade mission organized by Enterprise Ireland. The event was refreshingly well attended with almost 80 companies taking part overall, and 28 from the ICT sector. I delivered a speech on my experiences as a foreigner doing business in Japan, together with some 'tips and tricks', and also a section on the 'hot emerging' technology trends in Japan. I met some great people, and enjoyed a sociable evening or two during the week!

Watching Manchester United play at Old Trafford

Manchester United have just returned from Japan as proud winners of the 'Club World Championship'. I got to join a group of friends as guests at Old Trafford to see the Red Devils parade the trophy. This is the one and only time my friends and I will get to hold the European Cup and Premiership Trophy ...... one for the photo album!

Sushi .... UK Style !!

Had the chance to visit YoSushi in Leicester UK. The quality of sushi was very good and atmosphere / layout of the restaurant is excellent. A really fun evening out ...... a slice of Japan in the East Midlands!

Premium tuna fetches $100,000 at auction in Tokyo

Two sushi bar owners paid more than $100,000 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction Monday, several times the average price and the highest in nearly a decade, market officials said.
The 282-pound (128-kilogram) premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched 9.63 million yen ($104,700), the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said.