Japan - Day One

We flew out of Seattle on a Saturday at 12:30 on United. I was lucky enough get in Economy Plus which gave me a bit more room. It was 2 - 5 - 2 seating configuration, I was in the middle row one seat from the aisle. I took two tylenol pm before we boarded and as soon as we took off I was asleep. I slept for 5 hours. Not the greatest sleep in the world, but sleep none-the-less. I stayed awake for the rest of the trip, and we landed Sunday at 3:10 pm local time. After clearing customs, we caught the limousine bus and arrived at our hotel the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel in the Shibuya District around 5:30 pm.

My hotel room was on the 32nd floor and I had an awesome view from my hotel room, nice view from my bed. The bed was very low to the floor, futon style and the bathroom was small and quaint. I really liked the heated toilet seat, but there are a lot of buttons on there that I don't think I'll push. :)

I met Tom Taylor (the boss man) and Joe Walowski (the product manager) in the lobby at 6:30 and went looking for some dinner. The restaurant on the 40th floor was not open to walk-in's so we went to a Japanese restaurant in the hotel. I was amazed at the prices. I got the Sushi ala carte for around $50 US, it had 10 pieces which were fresh but pretty small. Tom ordered the trout, which was tiny and around $27 US. An appetizer that our waiter tried to dissuade us from getting informing us it was "Japanese" and basically that "foreigners" sometimes don't like it. It was $37 US and was interesting to say the least. The entire amount of food could have been put in a very small tea cup. There were 2 small pieces of shrimp tail, 1 tiny squid, 2 very small oysters, 2 scallions, 3 coiled leafy stalk plants, 1 tiny piece of mackerel, two tiny radishes and 2 tiny pieces of fish. Notice I use the word tiny a lot, it was small. There was also a tiny bowl of sauce that was an intense reduction of fish paste. The taste stayed with you for some time. We finally got our check around 8:30 and wandered back up to bed. I fell asleep around 9 pm.

Japan - Day Two

I woke around 4 am, not able to sleep any more. I had done a bit of research the night before and decided to go for a run down to Yoyogi Park. Sunrise was around 6 am and after putzing around on the computer, talking to my family on the phone I left the hotel around 5:49 am. I ran down the street toward the park and ended up at the Meiji Jingu Shrine. The guard informed I couldn't run, but could walk through. It was like walking back in time. The shrine is surrounded by a dense mature forest. Even though it is early spring and most leaves are not past the bud stage, the were a lot trees that are similar to live oaks that are evergreen. The forest canopy was full and large, full of numerous crows cawing throughout the trees and the sounds of the city quickly disappeared. At 6 am there was no one around and at the shrine itself there were several individuals in traditional clothing cleaning and taking care of the temple, it was like I was witnessing time 50 years ago.

After exiting the shrine I went over to Yoyogi Park, which was ok, most of the trees were not in bloom yet, though there were a small handful of trees with some cherry blossoms. I ran around the park and then back to the hotel. Route I took on gmap-pedometer.com/.

I met Tom for breakfast, which was a buffet for $27 US, which was the best deal. The fresh OJ if you got it ala carte was $10 a glass, but I drank 3 so I pretty much payed for the buffet in OJ. :)

At 9 we met Kevin Liu an Amazon employee in Japan and we walked through Shibuya to the Cross Tower where Amazon's JP offices are located.

After meetings in the morning we went to lunch in the Cross Tower at a Japanese restaurant. We all had the cooked salmon and rice bento. It was tasty and not outrageous at $8 US. A lot of the pricing seems to depend on where you eat, obviously the hotels really jack up the prices. One thing I noticed at lunch is that a lot of people smoke and there is very little separation in the eating space, so your constantly breathing second hand smoke. I decided to just pretend I was in Vegas. :)

After a day of meetings with the various teams in Japan, I caught a few pictures of the sunset, and Tosh (VP of Asia Ops), Andy Kazuma (director of supply chain), Kevin Liu, myself, Tom and Joe headed out for dinner around 7pm to a seafood restaurant in Shibuya. There must have been 8 or 9 courses. Small plate with mashed soybeans and a deep friend clam. Small plate of sashimi, tuna and mackerel. Large salad to share for three. Huge clam shell full of oysters and scallops. Large plate of tempura with one piece for each party of three of lotus, fish cake and fried chicken. Plate of seaweed in a vinegar sauce. Hot pot full of mushrooms, crab legs, scallops, oysters, noodles, salmon and mackerel. Soup made from the leftovers of the hot pot, remove all the excess fish, pour in more broth, stir in some egg and bunch of rice. Fruit tray of pineapple, strawberries and orange slices and green tea.

2 1/2 hours we left the restaurant and wandered back through Shibuya to Shibuya Station to Sentaa Gai, a 4 way pedestrian stop where in a mad scramble everyone crosses the intersections surrounded by huge neon billboards and TV screens. We stopped at Starbucks, reputedly one of the busiest in the world where Joe was sad no donuts were to be found. I hung out at Sentaa Gai taking photos and then wandered back to my hotel and to bed around 11 pm.

Japan - Day Three

I slept much more soundly last night, I woke up at 5 am and chatted with Stac on meebo and watched the sunrise. I went for a run again, shorter this time as my shins were hurting. I brought my trail runners instead of pavement running shoes and I think I am feeling the lack of padding. I met a nice middle aged Japanese man who was out running as well, he walked with me to Sugekari Park and we chatted about Amazon and Rakuten, where he sells interior furniture.

I joined Tom and Joe again in the hotel lobby for the breakfast buffet and we headed over to Amazon around 9:30 am. We had a slew of meetings all day again with various groups, riding up and down the two elevator banks between the 5 floors. Morning was fascinating listening to how the book business in Japan operates. For lunch we went to a small quiet Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed some nice sashimi bento. We were in our own private room and once inside the outside world faded. Its surprising to me how things can be so busy busy and yet there are quiet moments amid it all.

After our evening meetings Kevin took us out to dinner to a kind of Japanese tappas restaurant, with lots of small dishes of sashimi and fish and it also had a grill for cooking meat and veggies. I had a small fish, bit larger than a sardine stuffed with fish eggs that was cooked and way too fishy, as well a piece of liver, none of those were that tasty, but the sashimi was very fresh. Around 8:30 we made our way home and I wandered around for 45 minutes looking for a t-shirt for my Kiah to no avail. Toddling off to the hotel to update the blog and make my way to bed, I was beat from going to bed so late the night before. Tomorrow the FC and off to China.

Japan - Day 4

Last night at dinner Kevin was contemplating having us find our own way to the Fulfillment Center (FC), it was about a 40 minute ride on the subway with a couple of transfers. He though it was too confusing and we wouldn't make it on our own. I had mentioned to several folks that I was possibly going to go the Tsukiji Wholesalfe Fish Market, where you can watch them auction off the fresh and frozen tuna. They were dubious about my ability to find my way there and to the FC on my own. I was a bit irked and of course saw it as a challenge. :) I woke up at 5:15 am after a very good nights sleep and decided that I was just going to "go for it" and make my way to the Market and to the FC. The auction was supposed to still be going on if you got there by 6am, so I was going to have to hurry to shower, pack and make my way out of the hotel to the station. I quickly logged on, sent Tom and Joe a note saying I was heading out to see the market and would meet them at the FC. and wrote down the address for the Amazon Japan FC which was in Ichikawa, out near Tokyo Disneyland. At the front desk I got a Tokyo Subway Map and asked if they could give me directions to the Fish Market and to Ichikawa, they showed me which the locations and which subway lines to take. They even looked up the address of the FC and printed me a copy of the map with the FC relative the the Ichikawa Shiohama stop, (the FC is about a two block walk).

I left the hotel and walked down the Shibuya Subway Station, which is huge and a transfer location for many major lines. I ended up at the Japan Railway (JR) line, which runs trains on the outskirts of the Tokyo Subway system and despite a menu system to buy tickets in English, I couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket, finally an elderly Japanese business man took me to attendant who told me I needed to get a ticket on the Ginza line which was in a completely different section of the station. I bought a ticket, but wasn't sure for how much to purchase for and got on the line. Every line in Tokyo is color coded, each line and stop is written in Japanese and English and within the Tokyo Subway system each stop on the cars is announced over the speaker system in Japanese and English, so its pretty easy to understand and once your on train. I rode the Ginza for a couple of stops and then transfered to the Odeo Line which I rode out to the station for the Fish Market. I didn't arrive till around 6:30 am, which was a bit late but I hoped there would still be some action. Outside the station a map in Japanese and English pointed out the location of the market and off I headed. I eventually found the entrance to the market and made my way inside, things seemed REALLY quiet and I guessed I was later than I thought. I wandered past the docks and in and out of a ton of empty stands where vendors sold fish. I wandered past what looked to be an empty fish processing plant, with rows of troughs full of water and stacks of trays outside. I noticed a single styrofoam box on the ground with blood inside and large knife. A single Japanese man in blue came out grabbed the box and motioned for me to follow him into the row. He pulled out one of the trays it was full of Red Snapper each in separated from the other by a wire separator. He pulled out a Snapper held it up for me to snap a photo and then slapped it down on a board, stuffed his knife under its gill and cut something that I supposed quickly ended the fish's life and then cut the tail about 3/4 of the way through. I snapped some photos and watched him for a few minutes, thanked him and continued my wandering, searching for some more action. Everything was pretty empty and eventually I ran into a couple of German tourists who had a picked up a map at the entrance and were trying to locate the section where the tuna auction. Using the map we tried guessing where we were and were the auction was, just then an elderly man rode up on a bicycle and I asked him where maguro was. He told us it was "closed", I then remember reading that the market was closed on Wednesday, duh! That explained why no one was around and the German guys said, "Oh that is what the attendant at the gate meant when he drew a line through today date and circled tomorrow. I shrugged and resolved I'd have to see it another time, wish the German's better luck tomorrow and went out to see the river.

From there I walked back towards the station, along the way I spotted a restaurant that was open advertising sushi, it was around 7:30 am. The night before Kevin had told me how sushi for breakfast was a treat outside the fish market and quite tasty. I was hungry and decided to give it a try. I ordered the "Best Tuna Sushi" plate, which consisted of 7 nigiri sushi and a tuna roll. The fatty tuna (toro) was fabulous, melted like butter in your mouth, delicious! I was surprised how refreshing it was to have sushi for breakfast. Getting the check I made my way back to the Odeo line, buying another ticket transferring to the Yurakucho Line and then finally its last stop to JR for the ride out to Ichikawa-Shiohama. Outside of the Tokyo Subway the profusion of English signs and announcements stops and it was a little more difficult to ensure I was on the right train. Each stop had a sign with the station name in English, so I watched carefully. Finally a bit nervous, as we passed Tokyo Disneyland and as the crowds thinned I asked a couple from India if they knew if this train stopped at Shiohama. They looked at their map and confirmed that yes it stopped at Ichikawa-Shiohama, I was only looking for Shiohama and that probably saved me from missing it. I got off at the next stop and outside asked an elderly gentleman, who was guarding the hundreds of bicycles parked outside the station, based on my map which way was the Amazon building. He pointed and after turning the corner there was a very tall building with Amazon.co.jp on the outside. I made my way to the FC, got inside and waited for Tom, Joe and Kevin to show up. They were around 10 minutes late, and had a 100 yen bet whether I would be there or not. Joe bet against me (just for friendly wagering he assured me) and lost. :)

We took a tour of the FC with several of floor leaders, the automation and efficiency of the FC was amazing. It was 10;30 am and they had already received and stowed 58 thousand items and shipped 98 thousand. After meetings covering the changes that we would introduce for FBA and a bento lunch we made our way with Kevin to the train station to a hotel where we caught a Limousine Bus to the Narita airport. We killed an hour or so wandering around the mall, which sold kitschy Japanese tourist goods had an ice cream and then boarded the All Nipon Airways for the four hour flight to Beijing.