In response to Peter Kirn’s “An American in Tokyo” article, retired Pan Am and UAL pilot Mike Kaufmann from Santa Cruz, CA writes:
Back in January, My son, Mike, who works for Panasonic in Chicago, went to Kofu, Japan for a two week school. I went over to visit him during the weekend he had off so we could tour Tokyo and the surrounding area. Our family had visited Japan in the ’70s when he was a boy.
Visiting Akihabara and the Laox store, I was amazed to see the retail displays had cardboard models of the G4 PowerBook which hadn’t shipped in Japan yet. The sales staffs had made these models to show the size and look of the TiBook!
They had pasted pictures (to scale) of the keyboard, screen, lid, and ports in back. How nifty! You don’t see retailing detail like that in the States! Having flown to Japan off and on since 1960, I’ve always appreciated the fascination the Japanese have with technology and the latest gadgets.
I enjoyed your article.
Mike is right, Tokyo rocks.
After reading my “Macworld Express Bus Trip to Expo” article, Steve Abrahamson writes:
A very cool idea. I think you ought to take it to the next level. Offer the Macworld Tokyo Junket. Have everyone get to a central location (say, Chicago, since United flies direct from there), and arrange the air, ground transport, hotel, and gaijin survival tips for everyone. What do you say?
I have to admit to being somewhat intrigued by Steve’s idea. While Tokyo is expensive it is not prohibitively so. Airfare can be had for less than US$1000 and hotel rooms range from about $150 per night and up. Don’t get me wrong, food and drink can cost a King’s ransom, but high prices can also be avoided if you know where to go.
If you have always wanted to go to Tokyo and have an open week in February 2002, drop me a line with your thoughts.
