For all his carefully considered — if not weightily measured — words, Geoffrey Tudor's inner child is never far away. It twinkles at the corners of his eyes, twitches the corners of his mouth, and often convulses his body in mischievous laughter.
On April 27 this year, after two and a half years as an adviser following his formal retirement from Japan Airlines in November 2004, Tudor finally left the company with (in his own words) "a pension and a bunch of flowers." He had worked for the company for a total of 38 years.
Having hung up his suit and tie, the first Monday he did not have to get up to trim his mustache and go to work was a national holiday, followed by Golden Week. He and wife, Naoko, then took off to Europe for seven weeks.