We are fortunate to be part of Children’s CPI trip to Japan and fourth journey as part of the Cancer program. We are joined by our colleagues from Transplant and Pharmacy and are enjoying spending time together.

We arrived in the bustling city of Nagoya on Friday evening after a day of travel and a day lost to crossing the international date line. The city is beautifully decorated for the holidays, giving us a sense of familiarity and reminding us of home. There are other familiar places - there is a Starbucks in our hotel and a McDonald’s right down the street!

We have been struck by the dense population of the area. In spite of the busyness of the streets, shops, and hotels, the service we have received throughout the city has been truly impressive. Customer service seems to be ingrained into the culture in a way which makes us feel very special and welcome.

Our first full day in Nagoya was spent touring Nagoya Castle and “learning to see” through sketching. At first, sketching seemed daunting to most of us but we all agreed it is helping us to see in a much more focused, detailed way than we are used to in our daily work. The castle is an impressive representation of flow and how beauty and function can be integrated.

Our second day in Nagoya was spent touring the Toyota Museum. We came away from this experience with a much deeper understanding of how continuous, small change over time leads to great successes - something we over-achievers are struggling to come to terms with! We recognize our instinct is to take on a big project in order to maximize potential benefit, but we have seen how small, frequent change leads to impressive results.

We then traveled by bullet train to the peaceful town of Odawara where we will begin to tour factories. Our Japanese senseis have spent the day reviewing CPI principles and preparing us for our learnings. Already, just a few days into our trip, we have many ideas for potential improvements in our work areas. We look forward to the remainder of our time to experience deeper understanding of these important tools and how we can apply them to make Children’s the BEST!

—Bonnie Fryzlewicz and Laura Winter