CEATEC

So I was at the Makuhari Messe yesterday for an expo. I was in charge of handling foreign press that came to the Mitsubishi Electric Booth. It was all the way out in Chiba, so I had to wake up earlier than usual to make it out to the convention center. The area of Makuhari Messe, you can just see ghosts of rice fields. The development is all so new (and parts of the pavilion very Ando-esque, very pleasing to me), that maybe 5 or 8 years ago, It was probably just another rural area. I think it was the first time I've ever felt suburban in Japan.

The press that came were interesting. We had Reuters, the Asian Wall Street Journal, as well as some other periodical publications from Europe, Australia, And a group of four or five press all invited by Panasonic to attend the expo

The Mitsubishi Electric booth was interesting. We had a lot of electronics displayed, but more than that, I couldn't help but notice the 'companion ladies' that were at all the booths. Basically they dress up in synthetic, non-breathable dresses that are something from Japan's not to distant but unattainable future. They stand in front of things, take off jackets to reveal more of themselves, and basically smile and look cute. There were some even doing ballet and stuff. It was interesting to see something like this, because I don't think it could happen in America. Talking to my roomate, he said that these girls are really proud of what they do. Even after four years, somethings still suprise you.

Walking around the floor of the exposition area, I found some pretty interesting things. Sanyo had a display of its solar panels, which made me pretty excited. (There was an article that puts Sharp as the number one producer of Solar panels in the world, Mitsubishi Electric is Number 6). Other than that it was electronics and stuff.

All in all, a really interesting experience.