On my first trip to Japan, I arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, 26th May 1996 by Air-India AI-308 which departed Bombay at 6:40 pm on Saturday. Took the airport shuttlebus to the Hotel Shinagawa Prince. The fare was ¥ 2,900.

Japan is an archipelago, a chain of four main islands and about 4000 lesser islands that extends for about 4800 kilometers north to south totaling a land mass of 377,765 sq. km. The four main islands are Honshu (Mainland), Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Among the best known of the lesser islands is Okinawa.

Every morning I would get out of my hotel and walk to the Shinagawa station. Then I would take a train on the Keihin-Tohoku line to Higashi-Kanagawa. The stops on the way would be Oimachi, Omori, Kamata, Kawasaki, Tsurumi, Shin-Koyasu and Higashi-Kanagawa. Here I would change trains to the Yokohama line which would bring me to Shin-Yokohama a short walk from my workplace.

10% of the Japanese population lives in the Tokyo area. The commuter train at rush-hour is extremely crowded. (I was informed that over two million people pass through the Shinjuku station on any given business day) Everyone hangs limply from gray plastic rings on leather straps with inert expressions suggesting deep meditation or light hypnosis. Impetus rolls through the tightly-packed bodies like currents through a thick patch of grass.

Lots of young Japanese read juvenile comics. and listen to "Walkman" type personal audio equipment. The Japanese commuter is rarely seen sleeping on the train. Many Japanese carry PDAs and use them in the train. Others read a small paper-back book.

A portable phone chirps on somebody's person and a bogieful of humanity, rummages through their pockets, briefcases and handbags to check if their instrument needs attention. The one that did, continues chirping as if in protest, against the bermuda clad, ponytailed, single-ear-ringed cool guy whose Sony Discman has drowned out his attention to his portable communicator.

Nobody is looking at anybody. Were any physical threat or commotion offered on this subway, the situation would swiftly be nightmarish. But since nobody stirs, the experience is actually oddly soothing.

Everything came across as very electronics-embedded, high-technology, high-quality and very expensive. There were LCD/ Flatpanel Active matrix/Passive Matrix Displays everywhere.

Miniaturization

(The kei-haku-tan-sho (lightweight-thin-short-small) trend)

The first pocket-sized transistor radio I saw was a Japanese Asibo, acquired by my father, the late Mr. B. R. Jagannatha Rao in 1966. Ever since I have been keenly interested witness to the spread of Japanese miniaturization. Japanese lifestyles and small homes are observed to support rapid market acceptance of the kei-haku-tan-sho concept.

This includes tiny TVs and stereos suited for typically small living spaces.

Most Japanese use trains and buses, unlike Americans who drive a car. The Sony "Walkman" and its brothers-in-spirit from other manufacturers have made it possible to listen to radio or tapes privately during the commute. Small-sized paperback books are easy for commuters to carry and read. The portions of take-away food are smaller with a declining average number of members per family. In clothing, down ski jackets have been reduced in thickness from 20 mm to 5 mm. In automobiles, Suzuki introduced its miniature "Suzuki Alto" car. Even Japan's miniature bonsai trees have gotten smaller with the introduction of "mini" bonsai trees.

Japanese lifestyles and small homes echo the miniaturization concept.

The miniature compo stereo and miniature TVs further this drive toward products for small living spaces. Japan's miniature bonsai trees keep with the same theme.

Another curious miniature (miniature curiosity?) is the Japanese Capsule Hotel!

also known as Coffin Capsules. For 3500 to 5000 yen, you can rent a slot in the wall 3' x 3' x 6'. The slot will have a light, radio, TV, sheets and bedding, and a curtain over the entrance. The hotel will also have a public bath, TV room, vending machines, small locker for your street clothes, a sleeping robe, and maybe even a little restaurant.

Depositing your shoes at reception, you are shown inside to a room full of lockers. Into these go your clothes and personal belongings. Your clothes are swapped for a 'yukata' (a basic cotton bathrobe common in Japanese hotels) and a pair of slippers. You are then free to walk around the facility. The facility consists of rows upon rows of capsules, a big-screen tv, and vending-machines full of all sorts of stuff - most notably, 1-litre cardboard cartons of saki (Japanese rice wine). The capsules themselves, after you've fiddled with the radio, and watched the inbuilt tv (with your individual coin-slot for porn) are fairly uninteresting. The bedding consists of a foam matress, sheet and doona (quilt).

I thought this was a flashy air-conditioned equivalent of the pipe-dwellings in Mumbai. You know the folks that live in the RCC Hume pipes left here and there by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp., while they're busy preparing a PMP for installing the RCC pipes into the sewage system. These Coffin Capsules are made for businessmen who're low on money, and a need to sleep overnight in some town before moving on. Everything's made of off-white polished plasticky fiber-glass or stainless steel and feels like the interior of an aircraft toilet, complete with swiveling light and socket-swiveling a/c vents. The capsules are numbered like the bodydrawers in a mortuary. They are not good places for staying more than a few days, and there is no place to store belongings or purchases. But for short-term crash space, they're rather pleasant. So's a Maruti 800 or Omni!

The Japanese have large cars, "Nissan Cedric" and "Toyota Crown Royal Saloon" but have an acute premium on parking space. Close to where Abhijeet Barde lived I saw cars stacked three-high on a hydraulic car parking system. "क्या दब-दबके रहत हैं, भाई!!".

Close by, I saw a Japanese ground-floor condominium apartment, whose exterior wall was sculpted to accommodate more than the front half of a BMW, which was parked "into" the excavation.

On June 21, 1996, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) released a prototype "wristphone" just bigger than a conventional telephone pager -- and it tells the time too. A speaker and a microphone are built into the phone body, with an antenna in the band. Voice-Recognition System: To make a phone call, a user just pushes a button on the body and speaks the phone number into the microphone. The phone's voice-recognition system converts the sound into numerical data.

The 70 g model, is the world's smallest cellular phone based on the Japan-developed PHS mobile communications system. It will be introduced in the market around 2000 at a retail price of about 50,000 yen (US $463)

Japanese Tea (Ocha).

The Japanese drink green tea. When they take a break, they say "let's take a tea break". Tea related words in the Japanese language besides "ocha (tea)", include "ochazuke (boiled rice in tea)", "ochauke (tea cake)", "cha-nomi tomodachi (bosom companion [tead-drinking friend])", "chanoma (living room)", etc. Tea is a big thing in Japan.

Wa-kei-sei-jyaku is the key theme in the tea ceremony,
"Wa" is Harmony between ourselves and nature, between different aspects of our surroundings, between nature's seasons and our man-made environment and between us and other people.
"Kei" is Respect for, and the act of giving particular attention to the moment, each person, time, ourselves, the objects we use and nature. In showing this respect, we demonstrate our understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. And having shown respect, we understand even better why it is valued.
"Sei" means Purity of mind (like the clear stream) of purpose and action (undiluted focus), of vision (clarity of goal). To be pure is to contain nothing that does not properly belong; so that we are not weighed down or distracted by that which contributes nothing to the good of the whole.
"Jyak" means Tranquility. Tranquility the state of being free from agitation of mind and spirit. If we are in harmony with our environment and if we respect the moment and what it brings us, then we can achieve purity of mind, purpose and action, and thus carry with us a state of tranquility. Through the practice of Harmony Respect and Purity, Tranquility is ours to choose, and to create within ourselves.
"Jyaku" represents "wabi" and "sabi" which is the principle of beauty conscious serenity. "Wabi" stands for the refinement found in rusticity and "sabi" for the beauty in age. This is based on the Zen idea.

Food etiquette

Beer comes in large, 1-liter bottles and is meant to be shared with your companion(s). Typical Japanese brands of Beer are Kirin, Sapporo, and Asahi. It's bad manners to order a big bottle in a restaurant and keep it all to yourself. Also, never never pour your own beer. First, pour some for your friend(s), and place the bottle near them to fill your glass.

My client:Nozomi Tanabe, my engineer:Abhijeet Barde and myself.

While eating a soup or other liquid food, it's perfectly okay in Japan to bring the bowl to your mouth and slurp it directly. In fact, slurping out loud is even a sign of a healthy appetite and compliments to the chef!

After you finish your meal, you should say "gochisosama deshita" or just "gochisosama." Equivalent to saying in Marathi, "पोटोबा भरला" (Stomach is full to satisfaction!) This is to give thanks for a delicious meal. You can say it in general, to the host, and even to the restaurant workers as you walk out. But before you walk out, ensure all the little bowls are covered again.

Shinagawa

From the 39th floor, the hotel affords a magnificent view of the Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo.

I stayed at a single-bed room at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel (Main tower).

The room was awfully tiny. The last time I felt so claustrophobic was when I got into a Maruti 800.

A four-foot by four-foot bathroom has an acrylic bathtub, washbasin and toilet all molded together as one piece.

The National TV is all white. The enameled metal wardrobe has a microprocessor based combination lock with an LCD display and tactile feedback keys. A beautiful, neatly pressed, striped blue kimono (traditional Japanese clothing) is the first sign of hospitality. The kimono is not made to fit, but comes in a standard size. The wearer is to adjust the kimono to their own individual size by the way they put them on.

Shinkansen is unbelievably fast, punctual and silent - The rails are all individually welded together into one smooth line that runs for hundreds of miles. This removes the "click-clack" of trains typical of almost everywhere else in the world. The trains are ultra-clean and the leg-room (even for tall people) feels like 1st class air travel.

The tracks have earthquake detectors that automatically shut down the trains, which are all electric. Since they stop at very few stations, much of the bullet train lines run through rural areas away from the regular train lines. While they stop at many main city railway stations, in several cities the Shinkan-sen has a separate station all its own, like Shin-Kobe and Shin-Osaka stations (shin means 'new'). You may have to take another train or a bus to reach the main downtown station.

At first, the speed did not seem a whole lot faster than the ICE (Inter-City Express) I rode from Stuttgart to Frankfurt.

ICE-1 at Stuttgart Hofbahnhof, Germany

It is not until you look out the window that you realize just how fast you are going- there's no noise, and no discomforting acceleration. However, the cambered corners and pressure-induced sway as two trains pass each other, reminds you sufficiently that this is no ordinary train journey!

Shinkansen always arrive at the second in the timetable. The doors always open at the exact location indicated on the platform. The train moves off typically some 30 or so seconds later.

There are reserved and non-reserved carriages, and non-smoking cars are provided. Reservations are easily obtained from the ticket office. Your ticket indicates your assigned carriage number and it is important to determine where your carriage will stop on the platform so that you can board the train before the doors close and the train pulls away in 30 seconds. Similarly, be prepared to alight as soon as the train stops! Waitresses pushing laden trolleys regularly patrol the cars offering food and beverages. The Japanese often grab a bento box (boxed lunch) at the platform (These are inexpensive and typically less than ¥900) before joining the train.

My train, the Tokaido Shinkansen-Hikari on Monday, 3-June '96 departed Shin-Yokohama at 10:37 and covered the 489.9 km distance to Shin-Osaka in just under two hours and forty minutes, stopping at Nagoya and Kyoto on the way.

Kyoto was Japan's capital for over 10 centuries, from 794 to 1868, and it is still the country's cultural center. Within this busy, modern city-famous for its bridges, waterways, flowering trees, palaces, and religious festivals-are some of Japan's oldest and largest wooden structures.

Initially formed as 12-car units, all cars were powered, relying on a new 25,000V AC (60Hz) overhead supply, giving a top speed of 210 km/h. The maximum speed was raised to 220 km/h in 1986 following improvements to the infrastructure on the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

Series 300 type Nozomi

Along with this is the Japanese disdain for directness. Japanese never argue - they discuss! They don't open all their cards on the table - they feel it out! Do not expect that a Japanese person agrees with you when he says (Hai!) yes. Quite possibly, he is simply indicating that he is still listening. The Japanese will not normally disagree with you outright. Never answer the Japanese with "No". Instead, "Yes, I hear you, but it differs"

Clicking and holding on the launch button controls the launch velocity. The longer you wait to release the ball, the faster it will come out. An indicator beside the launch button shows the speed of the launch. You may purchase balls in 500 or 100 ball increments and can choose $.05, $.25, $1, or $5 balls. When you decide to cash out, you will receive money equal to the remaining balls multiplied by the dollar value of each ball.

Some gamblers read books, looking up only when a bell sounds a payoff, while others sit with the same riveted absorption common to videogame addicts.

The Pachinko parlor's neon glare has its place in Japanese social culture. The Pachinko industry draws over 3 crore adults to 18,000 parlors. It raked up 30.4 trillion yen (US$286 billion) in 1994! Pachinko khiladis come on their lunch breaks and after work ­ picking their "lucky" seat along the rows of upright pachinko machines, pouring in zillions of steel marbles into winner bins. After a few good games, bins of accumulated balls are swapped back for an electronically labeled card that is used as currency at a booth hawking cigarettes, soap, pulp magazines, CDs, software or a special "gift" (a wornout tiepin or a rusty lighter) which can be swapped at a shady noodle vendor for hard cash!

Pachinko was once the adda of idle businessmen and wizened retirees and a few "pros". But chic modern halls like Maruhan Pachinko Tower, Nagoya cater to young working women, post-graduate students, families, and "salarymen" catching a quick game between clients. Players typically trade 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen (around US$10 to $100) for a card, which buys a flood of shiny silver balls from a stand-up machine.