The Kagoshima Trip

It was not to be just a paper presentation in a scientific meeting. It was also a sightseeing trip, a reunion of some sort, and an experience of using almost all the means of transportation available in Japan.

My adviser asked me to present a short paper on hybrid rice (based on the ADB presentation and the book article) at the scientific meeting of the Society of Farm Management held at the Kagoshima University. Although only few persons attended our session, I received six questions, which made me feel many people listened anyway. Thank you for your prayers.

It was also a sightseeing trip because my adviser (knowing I wouldn’t understand the Japanese presentations anyway) booked me to a one-day tour of Kagoshima. We went to Mt. Kaimon (similar to Mt. Mayon), to some art and historical museums, and to what they say are some old Samurai houses. Although it would have been better if I understood what the tour guide was saying, the tour was omoshiroii (fun and interesting) anyway. Nothing can beat the endurance of that tour guide. He was talking almost incessantly while on the bus and at the tour sites. If he was not talking or bowing, he was singing. After an hour of trying hard to pick up some Nihongo nouns, verbs and adjectives for my Nihongo study, I gave up. I understood only the conjunctions and the ‘post’positions.

It was also a reunion of some sort because I met several old friends during the conference. There was Humnath Bhandari, a Nepalese who was all of a classmate, neighbor, friend and sensei while I was taking my MS at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. He is now a postdoctoral fellow at JIRCAS. He also presented a paper at the conference. I also met Kumi-san, Matsushita-san, and Sawada-san- old friends who helped me survive Japan back when I was in Tsukuba city for JICA training. Matsushita-san is now an associate professor at the Tsukuba University, and Sawada-san is in the NARC Tohoku region. Of course there was Kumi-san, who was our session chair. She was, at one time, a short-term expert of JICA at PhilRice. A quick re-un-yu-n desu ne.

Finally, funny how the trip allowed me the experience of using almost all the means of transportation here: by bus (from Asakura to Kochi airport), by hikooki (from Kochi to Fukouka), by shinkansen and local train (from Fukouka to Kagoshima), and street car and taxi (around Kagoshima). I left Asakura at 9:30 am and arrived in Kagoshima at around 4:00 pm. On the way back to Kochi, we used the efficient train all the way. What can I say? According to my adviser, the average speed of the shinkansen and the local train is 200 and 150 km per hour, respectively. I wish we have more trains in the Philippines. But I should not be wishing every time I write here, should I?