Hoff Tour

Hanafuda was one of the ways to keep the troops in control in the ryokans. This night in Nara was a particularly memorable one!

Rohm was always a popular visit. They were in Kyoto, convenient for travel and tourism. They liked the formal visits, with some factory tour time, that could be shown off to other unlucky investors who merely bought their shares and could never visit Kyoto. Don't we look professional in this shot? Except for that bozo McAlear up on the top row!

The tours were never the same after Hisayo sent Jim McAlear on one and Jim sang karaoke in Oregon with CJ on the Sea of Japan coast. After that he was addicted and regularly came back with cat toys, masks, noses, hats and noise makers. Ha! He thought the tour was for fun!

I think this fellow was from the largest Irish fund management company. His secretary told the London sales person that he didn't eat fish. Ha! I asked the Ryokan to get a Big Mac and to serve it when the Kaiseki fried fish course was served. Have you ever seen the Irish eat their Big Macs with chopsticks before?

One of the weekend pastimes for the tour was to visit famous gardens in Japan. The Korakuen Garden in Okayama was a popular one, especially if you got the weather right. This day was a particularly nice one. Don't we all look happy!

Sometimes on tour we needed protection from the companies we were visiting!