Internship Report, 9/2/95

Work has been getting more intense lately as I struggle to get my project prepared for presentation. I have mentioned before that they love building demonstration models here at work and are doing demos all the time. I guess that's how they sell their products before they are finished.

This weekend my joumu planned a Mt. Fuji trip for anyone who wanted to go. In descending order of importance at the kaisha, the participants were Sonku-joumu, Torii-jichou, Muraki-kachou, Tahara-san, myself, and my wife. It was an interesting combination because it had people at all levels: joumu, jichou, kachou, shain, pet gaijin, pet gaijin's pet wife -- at least that's the way they see it, I suppose.

It was interesting to see how people I knew pretty well inside the kaisha played outside the kaisha. And it was fun to see them all in their play clothes too. It was also interesting to watch the group as a whole because of the mixture of authority.

Throughout the trip there was still a deep consciousness of company membership and company rank. Though I may report on this experience in more detail in my Society Reports, for now let it suffice to say I have seen again that once you are in the kaisha, you are in it 24 hours a day, and that membership will guide your behavior not only during your "on time," but your "off time" as well. Or at least I should say, when two or more from the kaisha are gathered together, the kaisha becomes the world.