Erik Nielsen is currently globe-trotting on behalf of his company, but finds time to check out the local car scene. We received the following report from Japan just in time to get it into this edition of VeloceToday. We'll be including his dispatches from around the world as he sends them. (ed.)

My business plans changed mid-stream, so I was given a rare chance of an around the world trip this year rather than two separate trips to Asia and Europe with a week rest in between. While I'm an engineer with a knack for writing about cars, this is my shot at a travel piece to share what I've seen with VeloceToday readers. The Travel Channel it's not, but then again, I don't intend it to be.

Flying direct from Atlanta to Tokyo gives one plenty of time to reflect on the things that affect our daily lives. This was my first trip to Asia, and I didn't know quite what to expect. Flying business class made me a little more relaxed to stand in line for an hour and a half in immigration in Narita.

I was born in Montreal to European parents (Dad is from Copenhagen and Mom is of Ukrainian decent born just north of Munich) so I always seemed to look at things from a more old world point of view. Here, even the European old world is the new kid on the block. One of the things that I greatly enjoy doing is seeing how other cultures do the daily things in life.

On the first night in country, I was introduced to Japanese pub grub. I found it to be much lighter than western food. All of it was finger, or, more correctly, chopsticks food: slices of marinated pork, skewers of chicken and pork. The best tuna I've had to date (and yes, this was a cheap bar). And light soup with a chicken wing thrown in. Japanese beer is light, but flavorful and there is nothing like hot sake to warm a globetrotter in the middle of winter. Avoid the coffee. Shabu-shabu (cooking thin slices of meat in boiling water) the next night was a treat that I will always remember. The sushi in Numazu was the best that I've ever had. Anywhere.

I spent most of my business time in Numazu, which started life off as a fishing village at the base of Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san to the locals). The city is packed. Everything is stacked on top of everything else. Streets just wander in different directions, with what seems to be no rhyme or reason.

The morning view out of my window made the trip pleasurable. Water birds skimmed over the surface of the river. The light climbed gently over the ridges at sunrise, and the green tea tastes much better than the overdone black tea that southerners can't seem to sweeten enough.

One day of my trip, I was able to sneak away from work and do what ever I wanted. Within reason, that is. Just because Karen was more than 6000 miles away, somehow in today's age of global communications (and our common network of friends), she'd know if I was up to no good. To stay out of trouble, I hooked up with VeloceToday's Japanese correspondent and freelance author Mitch Isobe. I also dragged along an R&D colleague of mine from Japan on the pretense that he would be practicing his English. The three of us headed up to Gotenba for a visit of the Matsuda Collection. Mitch will be providing a complete article of the collection in a future article.

Gotenba is a mountain resort area, similar to some parts of Colorado. From here, there are some dramatic views of Fuji-san and with it being winter; the snowcap was absolutely beautiful. Tokyo businessman Yoshiho Matsuda has managed to put together one of the largest Ferrari collections anywhere made up of some of the highest quality examples ever produced included. He has presented them tastefully to the public at his museum.

I knew that Mitch was a generous host, but a private tour of the collection with Matsuda-san himself as the guide was beyond my belief. I owe you one Mitch. Going through the collection of Ferraris, modern art, watches and models was a welcome escape from the pressures of business far from home. Matsuda-san was also the generous host, and provided copies of his book "My Favorite Things" to us as mementos of our visit. As you can see, "My Favorite Things" is not a recitation of a Broadway song.

Heading back to Numazu, we discussed the ownership of Ferraris in Japan. While they have similar owner profiles to enthusiasts in the United States, Japanese enthusiasts seem to need a little more yen in their pocket to support the habit. Most are businessmen, doctors, and attorneys. The favored series are the 3x8's, the Dinos and the Boxers. While I didn't see any on the road, the sight of two original 250 GTO's in one day and at one place was enough to almost overdose me on the marque for the trip. Japan no longer uses the graduated license system where only the best drivers are allowed to drive the cars with the largest displacement. However, you must prove that you have a spot to park your car before you can buy one.

The roads in Japan outside of the major cities allow for some flexing of engines and the design and conditions only tempt the drivers. Tokyo on the other hand is too congested to flog anything unless you get up very early in the morning, or like to slam on the brakes in time to stop before the next light. Mind you, the taxi driver I had going from Tokyo station to the New Otani Hotel thought he was Schumacher and hit 130 km/hr on surface streets. The view looked just like that out of the bullet train.

Overall, Japan was a great place to visit. I was expecting it to be much more exotic in nature, but found it to be rather western in flavor. I managed speaking only limited Japanese and could survive speaking entirely in English in a pinch. The people on the streets of Tokyo seem to be some of the best-dressed business people anywhere. If you were wondering where Armani has been selling all of their clothes, guess no more. I felt like a slob wearing a cashmere Brioni sports coat with blue jeans.

Business will take me back to Japan at least one more time in 2002, so hopefully next time I'll have more than 4 days to explore this fascinating country. The next stop on my journey was Shanghai China and will be covered in part two of this series. Stay tuned.