April 1999

Thursday 1st April 1999

Well it all starts here! Today, a lovely sunny spring day, I went into London on my Japanese motorbike, to the Japanese Consulate. At half past eleven, simultaneously with the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, only a few hundred yards away, I met my company's representative and went to collect my visa permitting me to work in Japan for the next year. My plan is to stay in Japan for two years, requiring me to renew my visa at some point.

I've started making plans for my pre-visit to Tokyo. I hope to go in two weeks' time to arrange accommodation and meet my new colleagues. It will also be my first taste of life in Japan (and my last chance to decide this adventure is not for me)!

INFO: My name is Ricky. I am a thirty-five year old mechanical research engineer, with nineteen years of design experience. This will however, not be of much relevance, as I do not intend to dwell on the business aspect of the trip (top secret and all that)!

Tuesday 6th April 1999

I've now agreed a time for my pre-visit. I've started receiving faxes of apartment floor plans from real estate agencies, all of which so far have been beyond my stated maximum monthly rent! I've also started showing people around my flat in Hertfordshire, about fifteen miles north of Central London. I'll be leaving the management of my flat to an agency to minimise my need for involvement.

Wednesday 7th April 1999

I've now seen four prospective tenants for my flat, some of which I would hope not to let to. In order to comply with UK regulations I've ordered a new gas cooker. I need to get it fitted and have a full system safety check done. Fortunately, the income should comfortably exceed the expenditure.

Monday 12th April 1999

Only four weeks to go and the pressure is now starting to build. My biggest outstanding chore is to empty my flat in the UK and make it habitable for my prospective tenants. On top of that I still have some work to do on my car to make that saleable. It always seems that the information I need is never available immediately. This is true of several aspects of my planning. Waiting and doing a job "tomorrow" is becoming a less and less available option!

Sunday 25th April 1999

Wow! Got back from Tokyo yesterday afternoon. It's an amazing place. I think I'm going to love it there. Spent two whole days looking at apartments with four different agencies. I must have seen about fifteen flats and houses at various central and suburban locations. Although I could have chosen at the end of the first day, I'm glad I didn't as the best apartments by far were all shown to me by the last agent. The first agent showed me some pretty average places - I was quite disappointed, but the last agent showed me what could truly be called "luxury" apartments, most of which were brand new and unlived in. I chose a 16th floor penthouse apartment with a fabulous view over Tokyo. It's in the Toranomon district of the Minato-ku area. It's very near a subway station and only about 20 minutes walk to my office. Perfect! It's a pretty expensive apartment, but that's one of the perks of being an ex-pat sponsored by the company.

Tokyo seems to be a very exciting city. Very large, very built-up and a suffering a little from the effects of smog. I've never seen so many elevated roads, sometimes stacked three high and running for long stretches through the city. The nightlife looks lively, I tried several bars, some filled mainly with foreigners, and others mainly Japanese. I haven't yet visited a real British pub although several have claimed to be. Food - well I don't see myself becoming a fan of Japanese food (or drinking cold tea), but there's a whole spectrum of restaurants in Tokyo. Beer - the quality is fine, but the cost is a bit excessive - about 700 to 800 Yen/pint.

Met my colleagues and went on a work/social excursion to Yokosuka (near Tokyo) with them. A good fun bunch with all nationalities mixing very well. We had a meeting followed by a buffet dinner, including lots of varieties of raw fish and strange textured foods. There were many things I couldn't identify, but just enough that I could. I used my Japanese language skills frequently, but they leave a lot to be desired at this stage. During the evening we drank a lot of sake and beer. My boss-to-be wanted a drinker in his team to combat one of the girls who seemed to have been the strongest recently! He never let my glass get empty, and I did him proud. Proud that is, if diving drunk into the onsen in the early hours is a good thing! I'd been due to take the train back to Tokyo during the evening, but as I was having such a great time, I delayed my flight so that I could stay overnight with my new-found chums!