Journeys in Japan
Travel notes, photographs, and small discoveries along the way.
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Results at Last — and Two Weeks Inside HyMeKo
Again I only went in the afternoon, with good reason: I ran benchmarks until dawn, because I'm finally getting results. I've come back from the near-tears state of the past weeks. That's the cue for a longer look back at the last two weeks of the HyMeKo framework: signed graphs, a benchmark you can't game, a reward learned from a plain-language spec, and the lesson that in reinforcement learning, the abstraction decides.
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A Working Day Until 21:33, and a Good Chicken Place
Another working day: I actually finished at 21:33. But no problem, since Kato-sensei was in late too. At the end of the day I steered elsewhere — by that hour there's no food left at the Aeon — and luckily I found a good chicken place.
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Hellish Heat, a Bowl of Udon, and Duolingo's Praise
Once again I had to survive the heat and produce some science in the meantime — and in the end I managed. Nothing interesting happened today, truly, so out of spite I went for a bowl of udon. Perhaps the one interesting thing: Duolingo praised how well I speak Japanese. Well, well — the Japanese seem to have said as much too.
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The Perfect Pillow Arrangement and a Game of Charades About Shower Gel
Hellish heat, so I only went in the afternoon. I figured out the right pillow arrangement — I hadn't slept that well in ages. At the shop I played a bit of charades with one of the stockers: 'shawa gel' didn't land, but at 'body soap' the penny dropped at once.
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An Aquarium, a Botched Metro Loop, and a Full Bin
A shorter day: I went to the aquarium, and as a researcher it satisfied every bit of my curiosity. Then I took a loop around Nagoya — I thought the circular Meijo line would carry me back to the university, but there was a terminus at one point, which threw me a little. In the end, at a full bin, I started crushing bottles with a cry of 'chotto matte.'
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The Quiet of Tokugawa Garden and the Lure of a Seven-Storey Bookshop
I hadn't planned much. A loop around Tokugawa Garden — quiet, beautiful, well-tended, with happy families and the Ozone waterfall. Then I wandered into the seven-storey Maruzen and, in the land of robotics, found the robotics section within nanoseconds. I hauled five kilos of books across the city in a paper bag that by then was held together, more or less, by the Holy Spirit.
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Tracking Moflin, and Imitation Learning Relevant Out of Nowhere
The migraine is starting to settle, but the day is a busy one: progress on the home 'little cow' project, and a new idea — what if I recognized the Moflin and automatically annotated its motion? Sakuma laughed, he liked it, and then Kato-sensei stunned me: he'd been doing imitation learning ten years ago. By day's end I was already tracking the Moflin.
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Moflin in the Lab, and I'm Slowly Becoming a Japanese Researcher
A very human moment: I brought Gombóc to work, and while cooing at it I didn't notice that Sakuma had long since come back and was hard at work. Otherwise an uneventful, migraine day — yet by evening I still managed to reach Wakashachiya, while a benchmark spun away back in the lab.
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Japanese Class, the Student Role, and the Killer Coffee
I want to go home less and less — not because of Hungary, but because I don't want to return to my old role. A beginner Japanese class with Viktória in the front row, productive meetings with the students (RAG for Itó, a new camera architecture for Kobayashi), a killer coffee to follow the killer ketchup, and the funny grass of the kanji 薬.
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My Own Aibo in MuJoCo, a Kanji Test, and Saizeriya's Robots
Events around the research are speeding up. Since I couldn't buy an Aibo, I made one in MuJoCo — a bit clumsy, a bit like the coyote from Road Runner, but at least it moves. A kanji test at 11/14, a konbini run with Viktória, a New York cookie from the lab, and Saizeriya's circling robots.
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A Mynah Bird, Udon, and an Old Trick at the Dead Point
The migraine's after-effects still linger, but the day gets going: a surprising discovery about the mynah bird — not native to Japan — solving a remote-machine problem with Sakuma, and a good big bowl of udon in Tsuruma Park, even if octopus turned into eggplant.
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A Migraine, a New MacBook, and the Bus That Took Me Anyway
The day began with a migraine, and I fought the broken results for a long time. By afternoon I felt better, and I finally became the happy owner of a new MacBook — but first my SUICA card failed on the bus, and a kind driver and a well-travelled old gentleman helped me through it.
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A Cyberpunk Feeling in Sakae — VNV Nation and a Coming Breakthrough
A rainy day, fried mackerel on the tenth floor, and an unexpectedly strong cyberpunk moment with VNV Nation in my head. Still no Aibo, but the sequel feels ever more certain — and back home my students are doing well at the conference.
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Coming Back to My Senses — Research, Ishibari, and the INES Success
After yesterday's party I got straight back into the research. Ishibari's robot-based dementia-detection topic, which I connected to my student Attila, and a big source of pride: my students did well at the INES conference.
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The Big Welcome Party — Catfish Stew, Smash Bros, and Gombóc
Research in the morning, then the big welcome party with the students. Kato and Ito's interwoven topics, a procurement run with Ishibari, catfish-paprika tales for an enthusiastic Akira, Smash Bros in the evening — and my moflin finally gets a name: Gombóc.
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My Name Went Up on the Lab
A short, tired day. The e-poster until four in the morning, a small but gratifying milestone — my name went up on the lab, so now I too can mark whether I'm in — and the anticipation of tomorrow's party.
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No Aibo, but a Moflin — and a German–Hungarian Friendship
Events are picking up speed. The dead adapter, a cable run to Sakae and a moflin, the disappointment at the Sony Store (the Aibo has been discontinued), and then one of the loveliest points of the day: a friendship with a German–Hungarian girl, Viktória, from the kanji class, and a shared dinner at a small restaurant.
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Rent, Sweets, and the Promise of a Collaboration
A shorter day, while I try to reset my body clock. Rent paid, the European okashi finally handed over, and good news: the Nagoya side is interested in expanding the partnership with Széchenyi István University. Plus three hypergraph directions and a quick synthesizer demo.
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Books, Beef, and the First Cocktail
The typhoon didn't turn back; the air just cooled down. A calmer day: Gyu-kaku at AEON, a breakthrough in the science, a bookstore and the plastic-bag mystery at the self-checkout, the ATM lesson, and a late-night detour to Pronto — my first drink in Japan.
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After the Storm — Sightseeing in Nagoya
The typhoon luckily missed us. A photo-rich sightseeing day: Wakashachiya, where I finally understood everything, a Saturday-evening cram school and a Sailor Moon memory, the question of big-city green, and a kind moment at Gongcha.
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Before the Typhoon
An evening talk with Professor Kato (an aquarium tip and an incoming typhoon), getting soaked to the bone leaving the lab, a late-night sushi dinner — and a map of the cyclone heading for Nagoya.
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Kato's Insights and a Spiral Idea
Finally not going to bed at 4 a.m.: four important insights from Professor Kato for HyMeKo, an awkward cash shortage at the shop (with kind students), a chat about their research — and a new idea for a spiral architecture.
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Robots Arrive, and a Talk with Kato
A short, tired day in the week of state exams: the Kondo Robotics teaching humanoids arrived (two at once!), a substantial one-hour meeting with Professor Kato — and a hot udon soup taken as a cure.
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The Attack of the Ketchup
Waiting for the last thesis review, a karaage hot dog for lunch — and a ketchup mishap that left a giant stain on my shirt. Plus: preparing for tomorrow's meeting with Kato.
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I'm Staying — Extended to July 29
A big day: a serious research task from Professor Kato (and the first bugs in HyMeKo), extending my stay to July 29, a stressful exam-period afternoon — and a midnight McDonald's with herbal candy and some late-night street racing.
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Small Nuances and an Evening in the Park
A more restful Sunday: months of fatigue catching up, curry udon, a few everyday Japanese small things (from the powder toilet cleaner to the daily 500 yen) — and a zen-like evening walk in Tsuruma Park.
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A Rainy Day, Udon, and a Lost Umbrella
A gloomy, rainy day in Nagoya: a first time at an udon place, the bookstore, a lost (and replaced) umbrella, and a flag-bearing dance group that's been practising under the bridge for two weeks.
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The First Task and Conveyor-Belt Sushi
The first research task after the seminar: reinforcement learning with HyMeKo, talks with Professor Galambos and with Sakuma about affective learning — and a newly opened conveyor-belt sushi place where I ate my fill.
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After the Seminar: Robotics and Learning
The day after the seminar: the technical conversations continue, and HyMeKo finds new points of connection toward robot kinematics, MuJoCo simulation, and reinforcement learning.
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Seminar Day
Finally, the HyMeKo seminar: a sweet vending-machine moment against the stage fright, Professor Kato's warm introduction, a 50-minute talk and the students' sharp questions, an invitation to the Welcome Party — and a calm evening Saizeriya.
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A Breakthrough and a Folk Song to the Vending Machine
A triumphant day: finishing slides at dawn, a great meeting with Professor Kato, a research breakthrough (parameter count cut tenfold), both SMC papers accepted — and an AI-made lament about an empty coin pocket at the vending machine.
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Tokaji for the Professor
A calmer working day: ebikatsu and Craft Boss coffee, new hypergraph ideas, an awkward moment in the lab, the seminar set for Wednesday — and a bottle of Tokaji aszú for Professor Kato.
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A Birthday, and the Gaijin Who Locked Himself Out
My birthday in Nagoya: curry udon at Wakashachiya, my favourite tea at Gongcha, a few quiet observations on everyday aesthetics — and the midnight I locked myself out of the dorm in slippers.
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A Lazy Saturday and Nagoya Castle
The first real day off: Nagoya Castle and its park, the surprisingly tame crows, a short Japanese sentence that broke the ice, the Japanese and cycling — and the Burger King One Pounder I should have skipped.
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As If I'd Been Here a Long Time
A working day: the UR5 sim-versus-reality battle, the CRAFT BOSS iced coffee, a HyMeKo WASM editor, udon at Wakashachiya, the riddle of the rubbish bags — and the strange realisation of how long five days can feel.
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The Day After the Exam
After the dawn Japanese exam: a functional lab, a critique of higher education back home, science, KFC and Gongcha — and my first unhinged Japanese ad.
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The First Workday
My first real day at work at NITech — comparing Japanese and Hungarian organisation, a button-lock misadventure, the lab's setup, and a long day closing with cheap spaghetti.
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The Jetlag Day
Slept through the morning, a touch of sunburn, and a slow return to work — the deposit, the umbrella riddle, and preparing for the HyMeKo seminar.
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First Day at NITech
The NITech international office, Tsuruma Park, and Shohei Kato's lab — 20 GPUs, a Moflin, and an Aibo that brought me to tears.
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Arrival — From Vienna to Nagoya
Day one: from Vienna via Helsinki to Tokyo, then by shinkansen to Nagoya — rain, an izakaya, and the first truly Japanese moments.