Almost a Tourist

4AM on Friday rolled around exactly as early as was expected, and the whole crew was down stairs in time to grab the taxis over to the fish market.  We got there only to see signs posted indicating that the tuna auction is closed to the public until further notice.  While we told the students this could happen, I think everyone was a little disappointed.  I know Keiko, Paul and I were particularly frustrated because the website indicates that they are still allowing the first 140 people into the auction each day.  Since we were there and everyone was game we headed to find a sushi restaurant and got a wonderful breakfast.

A quick aside -- One thing that is very clear about Tokyo is that taxis are NOT the way to get around.  For 9 people in 3 taxis, we spent almost 100 dollars for a 10 minute ride.  Clearly in this town where there is great public transportation, taxis shouldn't be pursued unless you have to (or don't really care about how much you spend).

After we got back and everyone decompressed from the morning for an hour or two, we headed to our last business meeting with American Express Japan.  The presentation focused on their business in Japan and how different the Japanese market for credit and charge cards is from the US.  For instance, 90% of all consumers in Japan pay off their whole bill each and every month (compared to about 50% in the US).  The presentation was great and given at a very high level as though we were visiting executives from America.

Thus ends the business visit portion of this trip.  I will be posting on the rest of Friday and Saturday later today.