I visited Guam from October 13th for four days and three nights. I was invited by Dr. Robert Underwood, the President of Guam University, whom I met at the Pacific Science Association two years ago and have kept in touch with since. The main industry of this area is tourism and the largest number of tourists are from Japan.
Professor Ko Nakajima of emergency medicine at Tokai University and Mr. Ichida of Birdlife International came along for the program to conservation program of the Guam rail (in Japanese) (1). The color of the beak is different from that of the Okinawa rail, but they are very close.
The next day was the Presidential Lecture series where academic and administrative staff as well as students participated and gathered in the lecture hall. There were many engaging questions and we had a fun time. The board and senior members of the university, including Dr. Kurashina, an emeritus professor of the University of California Berkley had a dinner and Governor of Guam Mr Calvo joined with us.
The next day, I had a seminar with the students, which many academics also joined, and we all enjoyed the discussion. Afterwards, I met with Guam council members and was able to hear their opinions.
There is a connection with Okinawa, so I talked about the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology OIST.
The next day, although there was a typhoon headed towards Japan, my flight in the morning departed as scheduled and I was surprised when I saw the water rising in northern Chiba before landing in Narita.
The typhoon swept through a while before but it was clear that there was significant damage.