Robin Nakamura had joined a start-up in the City called Transactor, which was addressing on-line transactions. We set up a time and I brought Ichihashi-san along. The office was in an industrial building in the southern end of the City; we climbed the concrete stairs to meet the president, Ron. He, Robin, Noriyuki and I […]
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This website is an extension of the book, Fastlane: My Japanese Roadster on the Information SuperHighway.
Taiwanese Go-Cart
Something was burning. I could smell it in the air: plastic, electric, acrid. Since I was walking down the corridor inside the offices of UMAX, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, this was not good. Turning the corner and approaching my cubicle, I recognized the scent, understood its meaning, and started to laugh. “What happened?” I asked […]
New Models
Excitement was high as the Internet economy grew, but so was uncertainty. Companies were building out the network while entrepreneurs cobbled together new companies, with or without revenue models. That was problematic. Who was going to pay for all this build out? The government was not going to fund its growth, despite DARPA’s involvement in […]
Chasing Cisco
Cisco was growing rapidly, providing networking equipment to speed the new digital freeway. To me, networking seemed dull. Yes, it was great for sending data back and forth, and there were lots of business uses for that. But it was just bits in the stream — techie flow control. When my boss and I both […]
Tokyo Independence
I read the English newspaper in the morning. It had an article on Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo. I found his initiative fascinating for Japan, almost uppity. He planned to charge banks a local tax of 3%. This would bring some money and power to local governments and break the overriding control of the central […]
Occupied Japan
In San Francisco in the 1970s, I bought a sewing machine at a garage sale. Sewing was just construction — carpentry without the splinters and purple thumbs. This machine referenced a complex time in the history of our two countries: printed were the words, “Made in Occupied Japan.” My guess was that after the war, […]
Tokyo Nightlife
After a rest in my room, I went out to Shinjuku for dinner. The place still puzzled me. Thousands of Japanese young people cruised the streets for evening entertainment. It was like a flood of humanity pulsing from the train station, up the streets, into restaurants or onto walls and benches. I went toward a […]
Japanese Trade Showing
I accompanied Ichihashi-san to a Tokyo trade show, scrambling along behind him as he navigated both metro and JR trains to arrive at a large pavilion. It was not well attended and we quickly found CTC’s booth — spartan by American standards. The information was there, but the presentation lacked the Las Vegas glitz. This […]
Cruising Shibuya
For dinner I walked from Shibuya station, outward. Worst case would be that I meandered around until the closing of the subway, at which time I would follow the stream of revelers like a dutiful lemming. After a bit of wandering I found myself in an area with large, open patios – rather unusual for […]
Jazz on the Radio
I was determined this trip to find some local music. Yamaha saxophones, Keiko Matsui, Hiroshima — Tokyo must be abuzz with jazz. I found a club named STB 139, aka Sweet Basil. How could I go wrong with one of my favorite spices? I scheduled my day to end up near Roppongi. In spite of […]