I will be seated in the second last row----very close to the washrooms.
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Attending the 23rd Conference of Photopolymer Science and Technology
----A trip to Chiba, Japan
My experience in obtaining the entrance visa to Japan was not bad at all. No long lineup , no troublesome security checks, no tedious questioning, and more importantly no payment before getting your passport back. Actually I was the only "customer" that morning. I didn't have to unbelt and empty all my pockets several times to see a Japan visa officer while I had done so to see a US visa officer. The only important question from the Japan visa officer was "Is this your first visit to Japan?". I got my passport back a week later and at the same time paid for the visa processing. Maybe a Japan visa officer isn't so smiling and talkative as a US officer is, but you don't feel as much pressure either when talking to a Japan officer.
Simon has done so much in planning the trip and Grace knows so much about Japan that I didn't need to worry anything. I am a lazy guy when it comes to traveling :D. But, I planned to carry my camcorder and camera to catch every exciting and interesting moment. So then the trip started.
Look, that is our flight.
I will be seated in the second last row----very close to the washrooms.
Hurray! Each passenger gets a little
TV on the back of his/her front seat.
Have a beer to decorate the dinner on
board.
Day one in Japan:
We are here in Japan!
ようこそ(welcome)! 
Grace speaks Japanese so well that an officer stopped her at the checkout :D.
The officer wants to "buy" a bottle of Canadian ice wine from her since she
carries three. So Simon and me come out first and take some pictures at
Narita (成田) international airport.
I quickly checked the exchange rate (about 1$=100円) of Canadian dollars to Japanese Yen (円) and found out the rate was a little better than in Canada. The conclusion was I should not have exchanged all my dollars in Vancouver. We then went to the JR (Japan Rail) station at the airport to find our way to the destination ---- Chiba (千葉). JR is a very convenient transportation system for traveling between or within cities in Japan, but the expense is considerably high for frequent short-distance travel within cities. We didn't take buses since they are slow and not as frequent as the trains.
No lineup to buy a ticket. 
Comprehensive information in both
Japanese and English. Automated ticket machines actually talk to you even
if you just pass by.
Not so crowded as I expected. 
Automated gates check your ticket
when you get in and out of a station. If you lose your ticket you will be
in trouble getting out of the station. You will have to buy a new ticket
if you are too lazy to carry the old one.
The sightseeing on our way to Chiba
reminds me of my hometown. I had years of experience in the rice field
when I were young :D.
Here we go! The city of flowers
---- Chiba 
Sushi (寿司) is so attractive to Grace and Simon. However, I, as Simon said
several times, don't have the talent to enjoy sushi, because my stomach is
picky.
Going through the clear and clean underground cross walkway, we have found our
hotel, Chiba Washington
Hotel, on the other side of the road. The hotel room is not so decent
as what we saw from the
website. The view is, though, quite satisfying.
A view during the day 
A view at night 
Good looking and healthy breakfast
offered by our hotel
Look, Trains are running upside down!
These railways are for running trains
at both up and down side.
Chiba city at night 
Eat outside a small restaurant. Isn't that familiar? 
What a huge crab! 
Mini band and its fans. 
Day two in Japan: On-site conference registration wasn't going to start until 4:00 pm. So we decided to have a visit to the Imperial Palace of Japan (皇居) in Tokyo (東京). It turned out to be a great decision. The Palace is closed on weekends. And that Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday were our three free days to tour around in Japan. If we had missed the chance on Tuesday, we would have had to wait for years to have a visit to the Palace. But we didn't know that until we got there.
Tokyo station 
People are lining up for Taxi. 
High buildings in Tokyo 
Posters with cute cartoon characters. 
In a small park near the Palace
At the entrance 
Rock climbing? 
No, rock cleaning :D.
The weather is humid and hot. 
"How come you're still wearing a coat, Xin?" "Well, that is a good
question. I don't know. I am used to it ..."
Double Bridge (二重橋) 
The one in front is a stone bridge called Eyeglass Bridge (眼鏡橋). The one
in the back is a two-level wooden bridge. Together, they are called Double
Bridge, forming an entrance to the inner palace. The entrance is not open
to the public.
A statue in front of the Palace 
Part of the rebuilt
Edo Castle (江戸城) 
For more pictures of Edo Castle,
please go to this link.
We didn't want to be too exhausted in the humid and hot Tokyo. So we headed back to Chiba and easily found the conference center located in Chiba University. We were actually the first arrived international attendees, and therefore, attracted a lot of attention. Dr Nakamura (Tokai University) and several other organizers tried their best to make us feel comfortable in the welcome reception, since we were too early for the reception and for quite a period of time we didn't know how and who to start a conversion with. Until almost the end of the reception, other international attendees gradually registered and joined us. For this conference, since most international attendees were from big companies such as Intel, IBM, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, and so on, they had very tight schedule and just came for presenting and getting information.
Day three to day five in Japan: We were focused on the conference. Almost forgot that was our purpose of the trip to Japan. Each of us gave a clear, nice and simple presentation in the second day of the conference. Yes, compared to the presentations from big companies, ours seemed not so informative. But, it was a big victory for us to be on the stage. More importantly, we made new friends. During meeting breaks, we had several tours around the Chiba University to see how Japanese students eat, study and enjoy campus life.
Conference center 
Symposium for advanced
nanolithography 
At the banquet 
See
pictures of me in the banquet here.
With new friends ---- Satoshi (大塚 聡)
and Saori (浜村 幸織) 
"Parking lot" on campus of Chiba
University 
Isn't that familiar?
A poster saying "Japan, China and Korea, we are all one!"
It is lunch break now. "Where do we eat?" Simon asks. I then point
at the sign and answer "Follow the sign, you'll find where to eat". "Do
you read Japanese?" "Well, some of the writing is Chinese too."
Food price is reasonable for students
It not very crowded in the cafeteria even during the peak hour.
Chiba night market run by the student society (two nights event, once a year).
Day six in Japan: Grace had to see her old friends in Japan. Therefore, she wasn't able to be our tour guide for the last two "free days". Fortunately, our Japanese friends happily accepted our invitation to be our tour guide. I also contacted my undergrad classmate, Yuhu Xia (夏 玉虎), who is working in Tokyo. We haven't seen each other for five and a half years. He came to join the team too. So eventually we got a group of six happy members to enjoy the day.
Ueno (上野) Park
and
Ueno Toshogu Shrine (上野東照宮)
With Xia (夏 玉虎) in front of the
Kaminarimon (雷門)
Satoshi (菊池 聡) and Satoshi (大塚 聡)
Nakamise (仲店), a
famous shopping street, is a good place to buy some souvenirs.
Happy
carps
A mini-circus attracts some tourists.
I was once a big fan of this kind of show in the old times when TV wasn't so
popular.
Japanese pizza ---- Okonomiyaki and Monjyayaki (鉄板焼)
Hot weather plus hot food, really hot ...
2,200 yen (22 Canadian dollars) each
for the hot and delicious lunch. Pretty good appetite, eh?
Play cute. But it is not an easy job in such a humid and hot day.
Day seven in Japan: This was the last day of the trip. Grace has gone back to China in the earlier morning. Our three new friends were so nice and considerate that they decided to be our guide for another day and go to the airport to see off us. That was really a big help to Simon and me, since we didn't know how to plan the last day and where to go.
Satoshi (菊池 聡), Satoshi (大塚 聡) and Saori (浜村 幸織)
in front of
Chiba Castle
A well decorated lunch
Narita (成田): It was the last day of the raining season in Chiba Prefecture (千葉県). So we were lucky to get caught in showers. It was not too bad, because the rain cooled down the day. Thanks to many convenient lockers at rail stations, Simon and I didn't need to struggle with our luggage during the tour.
A very quite and nice-looking town
A poster with familiar wording
Narita-san (成田山)
Temple 
The Tower of Peace
Can you actually find me in the
picture?
Narita-san Park
The end
The seven-day experience in Japan, although quite limited, made me believe that Japan has a very well-run society. People are polite and organized even on a busy street. Culture and tradition are well kept. Cities are clean and quiet. Environment and resources are well reserved. Public services are efficient. Transportation system is extremely developed... I am critical when looking at different societies. However, I didn't have anything written down on my list that made me feel uncomfortable during my stay in Japan. There are definitely much more for me to learn about Japan. As an average person, I didn't have a chance to touch political and historical issues. But based on my first-hand experience up-to-now, my comment to Japan is positive.
I have to admit that traveling wasn't my cup of tea. I wasn't keen on visiting different places. However, the trip to Japan made me a lot more interested in traveling. Traveling isn't just about being tired, fooling around, or a list of what to carry. Making new friends, learning different cultures, enjoying different foods and sightseeing, and sharing trip experience with others, all of which could happen during a trip if you wish, are now so attractive to me. It grows on me. I will think about planning trips instead of waiting for chances.
