Mr. F.F　/　 Mr. S.H　/　 Mr. Y. H　/　 Mr. H.H　/　 Mr. M.A　/　 Mr. S.F　/　

　I have sketched more than two hundred friends from work in lunch times. 　I often asked him or her to write an essay for a booklet with portraits.
　The eighth volume is the newest and each volume contains from thirteen to eighteen friends, consequently more than one hundreds friends appear on my booklets.
　I'd like to put some pages of them here whose OK I could get.
　I'm very happy if my whole friends will be friends each other. Thanks again to be my models.

　　　Michio Wakamatsu

Mr. F.F
(Sketched on April 15 in 1994)

　In Munich where I grew up we lived close to the R&D center of a large German company. In the mid-eighties they started an ambitious program to catch up on their Japanese competitors in Semiconductor Devices. Many people from my University took part in the program and some of my friends worked there as well. Despite all the efforts, the figures published every year showed that the Japanese kept the leading position. So what is it all about, this Japanese miracle? Why is it that Japanese companies are so successful in so many fields?
　Of course I always had an idea of what "the Japanese" are like. Me too, I had seen Richard Chamberlain on the screen learning how to say "Hai, Toranaga-sama!". Me too, I had heard of Kamikaze, Sushi and Karoshi. This is just to say that in reality, I didn't have much of a clue of what's going on in Japan. I definetly wanted to change this, therefore I gladly accepted the opportunity to work for 6 month in a Japanese company, namely NTT.
　I have been here for four months now and I already had to throw many of my prejudices about "the Japanese" into the wastebasket. My first impression of the country and its people is very positive, though I found out that to get an at least halfway complete picture, one has to stay here a lot longer than just a few months. Many things are just too different from what a European is used to. This is one of the reason why I hope that after my graduation in July, I will be able to return to Japan and to go on working for NTT.
　　　　　 F.F
Mr. S.H
(Sketched on December 1 in 1993)

　Sometimes life is really surprising. So I had to come to Japan to become portrayed.
　My name is S.H, and I am from Germany. I was born in 1964 in Berlin, two years after the wall was erected. During school, study and thesis I lived in Hannover, which is a pretty medium sized town south of Hamburg and 300 km away from Berlin. So in a sense I have two home-towns. The distance to Berlin was small enough for keeping in permanent touch with it. So I have seen the wall coming down and the enthusiastic days of reunification. All these changes during the last few years made Berlin to the most vital city in the world - I thought.
　But then I came to Tokyo. It is hard to compare these towns. Both are glitzy metropolis with an international flair. But when I try to characterize them with one word, it is: Berlin - generous, Tokyo - narrow. The broad boulevards of Berlin, the large parks and forrests, so much space for living - on theother hand the narrow and crowded streets of Tokyo, which is nevertheless much larger than Berlin, and the breath-taking illumination in the evenings. And Tokyo has - at least to me - this special feeling that I can not describe. Maybe I like these two towns because they are so different.
　Some short remarks to my C. V.: I studied surface science at the Universitaet Hannover where I examined crystal growth with different methods. During my study I never had the idea to go to Japan, but then I got the offer to work for NTT Interdisciplinary Research Labarotories as a postdoc, and I decided to go to Japan. And up to now I have not repent it.
　One last tip: If you ever come to Germany, forget the Hofbraeuhaus in Muenchen(Munich), but do not miss Berlin.
Mr. H.Y
(Sketched on November 19 in 1992)

　Mr. H.Y is working for NTT Network Information System Laboratories. He was born in Hokkaido in the year 1939 when World War II broke out. He was Mr. Wakamatsu's senior by two years at the University of Hokkaido and came up to Tokyo thirty years ago.
　His nationality is Japanese, but his mother's nationality was Canadian. It is a shame that she was ill-treated in Japan during the Pacific War and died of illness when he was five years old. At that time her husband was in prison because he assumed a critical attitude to Japan's war of aggression.
　His early life has made him a person who hates war and racialism and loves peace, democracy and international friendship. He is a member of the Japan Scientists Association.

Mr. Josef Noebauer
(Sketched on August 11 in 1994)


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