Fukuoka
In addition to my research fellowship in Japan, I’m giving a few speeches around around the country through the American Embassy’s speaking program. This week, we traveled to Fukuoka, on Kyushu Island, a city of 2.5 million that is fashioning itself as the “Silicon Valley of robotics.”
To our surprise and pleasure, we ended up meeting and having lunch with the Mayor, Yamasaki. Then I spoke on a robotics panel with distinguished Sony researcher Hiroaki Kitano, the founder of the Robocup robotic soccer tournament.
Here’s a link to a Japanese news story about my visit: http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/science/kagaku/news/20060722k0000m040027000c.html. Naturally I have no idea what it says.