More pics

In the morning we went to the largest Meiji era cemetary in Tokyo. Here's Zee Zee trying to figure out where we are. 

Friday night it rained, just to show us how beautiful the streets are, glistening with rain, and how the umbrellas magically appear. 

And finally, Shinjuku. These lights sprang up out of relative darkness. It made me wonder about Tokyo's power bill. It must be astounding. This view certainly was.

All for now... More later.
 

What you've been waiting for

Morning in Tokyo

Bruce, Zee Zee and the Sun Japan K.K. team.

One of the Amazing dishes at Ninja restaurant. This is Monkfish liver Pate. Like a jewel.

Sunset, Tokyo.

I'll post more as they become available.

Wow!

It's unbelievable that two days have already passed and I'm already done with the business part of the trip. But so be it. 

Here are some highlights:

1. totally gracious hosts! The Sun K.K. team is absolutely fantastic. We were taken care of every step of the way. It really makes me wonder about us in the US. We don't treat our guests very well, I think.

2. really productive work. The way Japanese business is conducted really suits my natural inclination to get buy-in and agreement from everyone. So the meetings seemed in some ways more natural than business meetings in the states where everyone shouts each other down, advocating for an idea. In those shouting matches, sometimes the loudest persons idea gets implemented, instead of the best idea. So we accomplished a lot.

3. amazing food. We had a wide variety of food, including chirashi, my favorite Sashimi and rice dish on yesterday, and the pork filet lunch with hand ground sesame sauce that we had today. But what really stands out is the Ninja restaurant, half theatre, magic and intrigue of the ninja, and half traditional japanese food with truly amazing presentation. Haute Cuisine at it's finest.

The plane has landed

I'm in Tokyo! And I'm here to talk about the big brand values...the things that make us do what we do. It couldn't be more exciting, and I'm as prepared as I possibly can be. I'm prepared with materials. I'm prepared to listen. That's one of the most important things any of us can do.

The Friendly Limousine trip from Narita to downtown Tokyo was uneventful, with the highway looking for all the world like a highway anywhere else in the world. A couple of hotels got up like neon pinball machines pop up alongside the highway. Hotel Hibiscus. Hotel Dayglo.

Then the real Tokyo--tall tall buildings and a big red sun in a purplish haze that took its own time to set. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was dark, and we had to dodge luminaries and a phalanx of press people who were after them. With flashbulbs and bright lights going off in our faces, we finally got to the checkin desk at the hotel.

It's so safe here, and I guess so the opposite of safe in the states, that it felt weird to leave our luggage,  receipts and all, with the bus driver and porters downstairs. But sure enough, they showed up at the right place at the right time. And everyone is gracious and forgiving of my ignorance. For that I'm thankful.  I'll try to post some pics in a bit.

A couple of things

First, the GM Saturn

If you take a look at the new Saturn as described in the GM corporate blog by Bob Lutz, GM Chairman, the word brand is mentioned no less than five times in a single entry at the top of the page. So what's the result of this attention to the Saturn brand? Experience!

When the new Saturn Aurora premiered in the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week, the reporter from NPR asked about what made this car different, he couldn't really describe it. He went on about how it really seemed like "they spent some money on this". Get the NPR Audio here. Ah, the intangible attractions of brand and design. Saturn probably didn't spend much more, if any more on the interior of the car, but what they did was pay attention to what made a difference to customers, and put  resources into design. This is up front cost, but good design can potentially even save you money down stream. Just think of the Ford Cherokee rollover problem if you doubt this.

 Second,

Consumer reports has a brand problem. It's not a baby-seat problem, per se, but it all started with Consumer reports playing to hard with the razor's edge. Their biggest brand asset was truth. Only truth doesn't sell as well as scandal. They've never been brought up short by bad research before, but making the readership numbers is a powerful motivator. The only thing that a research business like Consumer Reports has to trade is trust. The deadliest thing for them would be to lose the trust of their readers. Brand equals reputation.

It's simple silly! or is that silly simple?

My Pals in xDesign and Hardware design have been sending some great links recently!

Here's one from Matthias Mueller-Prove on prototyping, and one from Chris Frank on simplicity. 

Read 'em and try not to weep.