Alright Tokyo!

Today we left Iruma and made the short journey by train to Tokyo, one of the most exciting and densely populated cities in the world. Right now it continues to also be one of the warmest and most humid (at least for me). With Typhoon Fitow approaching it is starting to rain a lot and this is adding to the humidity. It must be close to 90+% humidity at this point. Incredible....

We spent some time resting at our hotel and then made our way to a district of Tokyo called Denenchofu.  A friend that I met at the MBA plenary session that I attended in London, England back in June knew that we were traveling to Japan and graciously invited us to have supper and a visit with her, her mother, and some friends at her mother's home in Denenchofu. Until this trip I did not know much about Denenchofu but it is definitely one of the nicest and "greenest" areas of Tokyo. The district (according to a top-notch source such as Wikipedia) was laid out in the early 1900's as a "garden district" of Tokyo, with lots of green space and mainly detached homes. Houses here are large by Tokyo standards, thus this is a fairly exclusive part of the city. 

It was dark when we arrived in Denenchofu but we were still able to see many of the homes and the tree-lined streets. The homes were beautiful. Apparently some movie stars and other celebrities and VIP's live in this area. Not surprising since a high income would definitely be needed to afford to live here. It was very impressive and somewhat reminiscent of San Francisco. If we ever get a chance to go back during daylight hours, it would be very interesting to take a tour through Denenchofu.

We were met at the station by my MBA colleague Takako-san and her friends Ichiro and Matsukura. From there we proceeded to Takako's mother's home and had a great meal of sushi and other Japanese food. It was great! We also had a very nice visit with everyone. I was very glad that Takako-san invited us to spend an evening with her and her friends. The MBA program that we are working on is distance-based and as such, one does not get to meet many other students in person. It was wonderful to once again have an opportunity to meet with Takako-san.