36 Hours

...is precisely the amount of time James was on the ground in Japan. So that means he spent more time in airports and in the air than actually in the country. Wowzas. That would definitely not go over well for me and my internal clock. Luckily, James handled it okay and he came through the whirlwind travel week in one piece. And to top it off, he found out today he has to spend the next two weeks in Canada! He's a traveling man and I'm a lonely wife. At least his passport is making out well these days!

Anyway, back to Japan. Because James is such a smarty pants (he would never admit this to you but since I can't get him to write this blog himself, I'll gloat for him) his company put him in charge of developing a brand new high tech machine to enhance their fleet of Tsugami CNC machines. Don't know what those are? That's okay, I don't really either. Basically, as I understand it, these machines are capable of making all kinds of parts - from medical devices (think knee replacement systems and bone screws) to aerospace products and everything in between. So customers contact James' company and say, "I want a machine that will make __(fill in the blank)__ and I want it in my factory producing parts by __(fill in deadline)__." Then, it's James' job to determine what is the best Tsugami machine for the job and decide what attachments and tools the machine needs to make the product. From a blueprint he writes the program to make the product and ensures that the machine can make it within tolerance. Sometimes these parts are microscopic! After the machine gets shipped to the customer, James has to be there in person to provide training on how to run the machine and make the parts. This type of training is usually the reason he has to travel so often.

L: bone screw ; R: spool for robotic medical arm

The company that makes the type of machines James specializes in is Tsugami and if you couldn't tell by the name, they are based in Japan. Because James is part of a team working to develop this new machine, he will be making several trips to Japan this year. The purpose of this first trip was just a meet and greet. I don't know many people who fly across the world just for a meeting, but that is essentially what this was. They toured the Tsugami facilities, talked a little shop, went out for a fancy meal (apparently Kobe beef is the "best thing ever") and then got back on the airplane to fly home.

Kobe beef cattle receiving it's daily massage. source

Such a short trip didn't lend itself well to sightseeing but here are a few of the pictures James snapped on his way to the Tsugami plant in Nagaoka, Japan. Nagaoka is located 3 hours outside of Tokyo. To get there and back James rode Japan's 300 mph high speed rail, which apparently is something to see/experience in it's own right.

Japan's 300 mph high speed trains

James spent his last (second) night in Japan in Toyko. He'll be heading back to Japan in three months and probably a few other times over the next year or so. Hopefully the next time around he'll have more time on the ground and experiences to share with us and maybe, just maybe I'll get to tag along on one of the trips! And you know me...I can PROMISE you there will be photos!

Japan has as much snow right now as we do...well, almost.


A little slice of Toyko at night

Somehow during that short trip, James managed to go shopping. He brought back some Japanese tea and a loose leaf tea kettle, a bottle of Sake and some interesting looking dried sea creatures which he swears are delicious. I don't know about that...