Crowded local train in Mumbai

It is summer here now in Japan and it is very hot and humid especially here in Tokyo.  I was surprised to see that India was much cooler than Japan at this time.  Our Indian friend Raj was kind enough to show us around in Mumbai as well as in the satellite city of New Mumbai.

We tried some adventures in Mumbai, and one of them was commuting by the local train in ordinary class. The train was very crowded even on Sunday, and it was quite unusual for us to see people hanging out from the trains.  In Japan, the train doors get locked before the train starts, so we can not see such scenes in Japan. But we challenged and we did it ! We travelled for about 40 minutes from Mumbai to New Mumbai in such crowded train.  It was quite an experience.

Mumbai is a vibrant and busy city.  It is changing quite fast and one can easily see the contrasts in lifestyles everywhere.  On one hand, you can see tall modern skyscrapers where the price of an apartment or office is as high as in Tokyo or London;  on the other hand, you can see old style markets and small businesses being run in old dilapidated buildings.

Overall, we had a nice trip.  It was a good break from the busy life in Japan.

In New Mumbai with my friend Raj

In old Mumbai with my friend Shiotsu

Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese, used car, auction, India, Mumbai, train

I had one hour and half transferring from Huston to Memphis, however, the airplane arrived at Huston with an hour delay, (well, this news didn’t make me laugh), it took another hour for getting out of the US custom. On top of that, in spite of I had mentioned my contact person, the immigration officers got me out of line for not providing enough information. By the time I was in line for an interview, I was exhausted of making several calls to my friends. (My friend reserved the hotel but I was not told where to stay) There is information counter for tourists in the airport. If people don’t make reservation in hotels, they cannot write information of accommodation, I wonder whoever don’t write where to stay on the custom declare form, are they suspected as members of terrorists? I think, it is easy to write false documents if a person want to do, so there is no solution for protecting us from those terrorists. It is nice of those security officers in the USA airport, but I would say I had enough! They are wasting time. I had happened to meet a person in the plane on the way back from the USA. The person had big trouble because he didn’t have information of his accommodation. He was kept in the searching room for 2 hours. After I had been checked by the security on the way back form Memphis airport, I left my luggage in the waiting room and went to the washroom for 2 to 3 minutes. When I came back from the washroom, my luggage was gone! The security took away my luggage!

I admit that I was a bit careless, but I was going to take the first airplane in the morning and the security officer saw me going to the washroom. I got nervous because I didn’t want to miss the plane and if I missed it, I was not going to be able to make for another transfer. Fortunately, I got my luggage back at the last minute. What an experience I had in this travel! Well, it makes me think that it is not a good time going to the USA.Well, this time, I am not going to mention about the job, because my clients told me not to write about them. In this travel, I had an idea that I will get profit on non-registered vehicles in the USA. The people in the south are very friendly. They like simple life style. Although I don’t want to think about what had happened in the airport, I had a great time in there.

Technorati Tags: Memphis, USA, Elvis Presley, Japanese

During my stay here, I met many nice Saudi Arabian people who believe in Islam very much; however they are very friendly and honest. I was glad to meet Mr.Al Shareef Ali who taught me a lot about Islam culture and also shared valuable information about car and heavy equipment.

I like Saudi Arabia but I am really missing alcohol and faces of pretty girls which we see so often in Japan. I’ll be going back to Japan tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Saudi Arabia, Japan, JETRO, Riyadh, Japanese, Islam, car, pretty girls

Especially Mr.Nishida (President of Oriental Trading) and Mr.Nakajima (President of AID company) were awake till 5:30 AM discussing about the business. They are really workaholic !! I tried to stay awake till 4:00 AM, but could not control my sleep anymore.

In Okinawa, some cars are sold cheaper than in any other place in Japan. So I’d like to establish a branch in Okinawa someday. They have a free trade zone in Okinawa. I was strongly impressed by that.

You can see here pictures of my friends who went with me to Okinawa.

Technorati Tags: Japanese car exporters, Okinawa, Japan, trade

2. JUMVEA President giving speech

3. Liverpool Auction

4. South Hampton Auto Auction

5. Customers at Liverpool Auction

Technorati Tags: Liverpool, South Hampton, Auto Auction

Well, on an experiment basis, our company exhibited cars at two Japanese car auction houses in Britain. Profit was definitely not our objective; rather we wanted to learn by experience. We could sell 6 of our 11 vehicles. We plan to put the remaining 5 cars on auction next time.

We found that cars which were more than 10 year old were popular in the auctions, as they were exempted from taking the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test. In the retail market, however, one can see expensive cars with high quality were popular. The main cars exhibited in the auction were 4WD and sports cars. Not many standard cars were seen at the auction.

This trip was a package tour sponsored by the Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA), and 23 persons from used car exporting companies participated in this trip. Best Trading is still a new player in this trade.  In this trip, I could meet the presidents of many big corporations, and was able to receive guidance from them on various issues. This was a rare experience for all participants to be on such a long tour with people from similar business field. That was the best point of this trip.

Prices in Britain are very high. I was really surprised to see that most things were expensive than in Tokyo; almost by 1.5 times. Almost every day, the temerature was above 30 degree C. However, the air conditioners in public transport vehicles such as the train, taxis, and buses were not functioning well.  And I felt it was very hot.

In the countryside the beauty of similar buidings lined up against green backdrop was very picturesque. It will always remain in my memory.

I sincerely wish to express my gratitude to the auction house staff who helped us a lot since our arrival in UK and provided us with all the facilities. That’s a big help for us to build business with Great Britain in the future.

Technorati Tags: Tokyo, UK, Japanese car auction, Britain, SVA, sports cars, JUMVEA

Technorati Tags: Russian, New Zealand, imports, JETRO, Trade, Saudi Arabia, Japanese

An unpleasant experience I faced was I was taken by the police in their car while I was waiting for a taxi. I was questioned with full body and baggage check and released. But when I returned to my hotel room I discovered that the police had stolen my cash in the bag while they searched my baggage.

I visited the Japanese car market and met some car dealers and also distributed of our promotion material. I also arranged publishing of our ad in a local newspaper.

I really hope that they soon start flights from Tokyo International airport to Russia other than flights from Kansai International airport in Osaka and Niigata. Niigata and Osaka are very far from Tokyo and thus it is not so convenient to take these flights.

Technorati Tags: Russia, Russian, car, Japanese car, Tokyo, Osaka

We are getting ready for UK Auto auction on 21st June in SOUTHAMPTON and 22nd June in LIVERPOOL.

We bought 11 vehicles -(1)FIGARO FK10 (2)HIACE LH103V (3)PAO PK10 (4) HILUX SURF KZN130W (5) SKYLINE ECR33 (6) LEGACY BG5 (7) FIGARO FK10 ( MR2 SW20 (9) CELICA ST202 (10) LANCER CN9A (11) DELICA PD8W

I am going to go there with more than 20 Japanese used car exporters who are members of JUMVEA. I will stay in UK from 18th to 23 th June, I want to meet each of my customers in UK. Please contact me at that time by email !!

Technorati Tags: UK, Japan, Auto auction, LIVERPOOL, HIACE, SKYLINE, JUMVEA