Lunch in Osaka

Let’s all go to Osaka! You’ve seen the fare this week. Northwest Airlines is offering $150 round trip between Saipan and Osaka. You can’t even get to Rota and back for that price. It makes sense that Northwest is offering this fare. Northwest is starting its new service between Osaka and Saipan. The planes will arrive full of tourists, but that same plane has to fly back to Osaka the next morning to pick up more people. Rather than fly back empty, NWA is offering us a chance to go up to Osaka, whether we need to or not. It’s a deal that’s hard to pass up. But, more importantly, I think that by going to Osaka, it’s our opportunity to support a partner.

A few months ago I was invited to speak at a conference on “Partnership in Healthcare.” I placed a lot emphasis on the idea of partnership. Partners realize that they need each other—that their relationship is interdependent. I think that it helps us to think of the players in the tourism industry—the airlines, the tour agents, the hotels, the tourists themselves—as our partners. Partners are concerned about one another’s well-being. They make some sacrifices for each other. They understand that their survival is interconnected. One of the questions that we can begin to ask, is “How can I help my partners in the tourism industry? How can I help the tourists? The hotels? The tour agents? The airlines?” When I saw the Northwest Airlines ad, I saw that a partner was asking for our help. They’re saying “Hey, people of Saipan, help us fill up these planes for the next couple of weeks, so we don’t have to fly them back to Osaka empty. Help us defray the costs and get this route off to a strong start.”

So, I cleared my schedule, went down to the airport ticket office, and asked Mina to book a flight for me and my daughter to Osaka. And then I asked, “Is there anything to do in Osaka?” As it turns out, there are a couple of great things there. Osaka has a world-class aquarium, and there is also a Universal Studios theme park there. Osaka is also only a 20-40 minute train ride from Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital of Japan. Kyoto is the cultural center of the country. There’s lots to do and see there, including visiting temples and museums, eating great food, taking nice walks, shopping and maybe even a getting glimpse of the fall leaves.

Traveling into and out of Saipan can be difficult because of the flight times, but the flights to Osaka are pretty reasonable. The flight leaves Saipan around 6am and then head out of Osaka around 8pm. So if you don’t want to spend the night, you can even fly up for the day, just to have lunch in Osaka.

If you’re able, think about taking a day or two off next week to head up to Osaka. It’s a chance to see a big city, and more importantly, a chance to support a partner.

(David Khorram, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist, and director of Marianas Eye Institute. Questions and comments are welcome. Call 235-9090 or email eye@vzpacifica.net. Copyright © 2005 David Khorram.)