The RAKAN Ace Their "Final Exam"

When the Friends of Lee first got together to begin our preparations for this trip to Japan, Lee put forth the proposition that, by the time of our arrival in Tokyo, all would be prepared, ready and able to strike out on our own, taking in the sights of the city that most intrigued us individually or as a couple.

Friday came the test -- and everyone did, indeed, manage just fine, despite the showery weather encountered throughout the day.

Three of the guys made their way very early in the day to one of the ubiquitous golf driving ranges; several tramped through the Tsukiji fish market well before breakfast. Over the course of the day, quite a few took in either the permanent collection or the special exhibition, "The Legacy of the Tokugawa", at the Tokyo National Museum.

Late in the afternoon eight of us watched raptly from the single act nose-bleed balcony at the Kabukiza as Tomasaburo (kabuki's leading male actor specializing in female roles) mesmerized the capacity audience with his superb dancing skills.

Others shopped at Shinjuku's Takashimaya Times Square department store, lunched in the elegant Wako department store's tearoom, visited the Nikkei Stock Exchange, wandered through Venus Fort and the world's largest Toyota showroom out on Odaiba (an artificial island in Tokyo Bay), marveled at an ikebana flower arrangement exhibition, salivated over the newest products on display at the Sony headquarters showroom on the Ginza, shopped for grandkids at Mitsukoshi and were awestruck by the forest of skyscrapers crowding the Shiodome area skyline.

Having by this time mastered the Tokyo public transportation network, many even wanted another day to engage in even more exploration of this magnificent city!

We gathered for our Farewell Dinner at Seryna, one of Tokyo's premier restaurants, in Roppongi. Besides enjoying an excellent shabu-shabu meal and sharing tales of our Tokyo explorations, we were regaled as the evening progressed by tribute poems and songs and speeches marking the occasion. No doubt about it, this group has bonded!

Twenty-one of us head off to the airport Saturday at noon. Sixteen of us fly together to Detroit with connections to Cleveland. Others will return to Germany, stay on in Tokyo for a few days, travel to Hawaii or on to Hong Kong and the Philippines.

We all will carry with us great memories of experiences shared with one another over the past two weeks and images of a culture so very different from our own, yet representative as well of a shared humanity.

Bye-bye, Japan. (No one says "Sayonara" anymore.) We'll miss you and think of you often, particularly as we sort through the hundreds and hundreds of digital pictures we have captured on our ever-ready cameras and the blizzard of brochures, entrance tickets and explanatory maps we have amassed along the way!