On day two we went to visit a science institute in Nara where they are working with genetically modified crops that can be grown in
arid deserts in places like
botswana. They had developed a modified potato that after 1 month in the soil had experienced a 30/40% increase in photosynthesis and a 3.5x increase in productivity - I'm not sure what that actually means but I was quite impressed. We went there as they want to carry out some research for our client. After the institute we went to headquarters of Panasonic Japan and pitched to one of their head honchos who said he was interested in investing. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of ancient Nara - and this is somewhere that I would like to revisit properly.
In the afternoon we flew up to Akita. Akita is quite a small town but it is famous for its excellent sake and tasty chicken - so we took full advantage of this. We went to a really nice
restaurant in the evening (where thankfully the low tables and a recess underneath so you could stretch your legs out) and ate truck loads of chicken and then onto a traditional karaoke bar afterwards where we tried about 4 different types of Sake. I wowed the locals with my superb
karaoke skills - of course.
The next day we went to visit the
biofuel plant in Akita - which was absolutely fascinating. We were picked up from our hotel in a 100%
biofuel powered Mercedes
EClass. The guy has a small refinery at home and so runs his car on nothing but old vegetable fat. To see how the machinery works was really interesting. There is talk about running a trial of their machinery in northern UK next year - so I'll definitely be signing up to save a pound or two!
On day two we went to visit a science institute in Nara where they are working with genetically modified crops that can be grown in arid deserts in places like botswana. They had developed a modified potato that after 1 month in the soil had experienced a 30/40% increase in photosynthesis and a 3.5x increase in productivity - I'm not sure what that actually means but I was quite impressed. We went there as they want to carry out some research for our client. After the institute we went to headquarters of Panasonic Japan and pitched to one of their head honchos who said he was interested in investing. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of ancient Nara - and this is somewhere that I would like to revisit properly.
In the afternoon we flew up to Akita. Akita is quite a small town but it is famous for its excellent sake and tasty chicken - so we took full advantage of this. We went to a really nice restaurant in the evening (where thankfully the low tables and a recess underneath so you could stretch your legs out) and ate truck loads of chicken and then onto a traditional karaoke bar afterwards where we tried about 4 different types of Sake. I wowed the locals with my superb karaoke skills - of course.
The next day we went to visit the biofuel plant in Akita - which was absolutely fascinating. We were picked up from our hotel in a 100% biofuel powered Mercedes EClass. The guy has a small refinery at home and so runs his car on nothing but old vegetable fat. To see how the machinery works was really interesting. There is talk about running a trial of their machinery in northern UK next year - so I'll definitely be signing up to save a pound or two!
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