Japan - Day 5

Japan – Day 5

26 May 2024

Today is the day I present at the conference. For the first time since I arrived in Tokyo, I had a really good night’s sleep without setting my alarm. Yesterday I double-checked with the organiser as to whether it was ok if I just attended my session and I was doubly assured that it was ok.

So I spent the whole morning preparing for my presentation, getting suitably dressed, and heading out to the venue. I arrived in good time and for my particular session, there were a total of 3 miserable members in the audience. Worse, one of the presenters didn’t even bother to show up and when I enquired about this, I was informed by the organiser that this was a recurring problem faced by this particular conference proceedings. Does not sound like a very prestigious or professional conference to me but the boss insists that it is (and that is why I was allowed to attend) but just like in any job, I have to defer to people who know better (or think they do).

Anyway, the presentation went very well and on the way back I bought some food and beer from Family Mart and went back to my room to eat, write and rest. As I was doing some research I realised that there was one more place that I should visit, which is the Senso-ji temple, possibly one of the oldest temples in Japan. I contemplated going to the Senso-ji temple there and then, but decided against it when I remembered THE CROWD. So I decided to head out early tomorrow morning so that I can enjoy my last sightseeing activity in some relative peace. I also decided to be adventurous and use public transportation and my own legs tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will not get lost.