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It’s April 1st tomorrow, the start of the new financial year, and JR East are putting into practice their new policy of no smoking at stations in central Tokyo. These posters were up for a while a few weeks ago, but have now [...]
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With the cold weather, the Sakura have taken a while to come out. Most years we tend to have one day which is really warm and the Sakura bloom quickly only to be washed away a few days later by the rain. This year, we haven’t had [...]
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Although Shibuya is one of the major shopping/entertainment districts in Tokyo and the area around the station is fairly well built up, there are always some interesting places you can find that seemed to have got lost in a time warp. [...]
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I recently bought a new USB device that basically does nothing. Actually it lights up 3 cones and moves the arm on a stick man for the Koji Genba setup. It is a product from Koyoi Brothers (こよい兄弟) http://www.koyoi.jp. More information [...]
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Recently in the convenience stores the shelf area for candy seems to be seeing packages that have more variety than before. The most recent range of Pure Gummy candy now comes in four flavors, Orange, Grape, Lemon and Sakura. Each [...]
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I went past this bike cover in Shibuya today. I think it is a bike under there but it could be some sort of animal. It sort of looks like a dog if you pin a tail on it. The camouflage cover really didn’t seem to be having the [...]
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The online edition of the NY Times, Opinion section, carries a blog by Ben Schott focusing on the words of our times. Ben makes a review of the latest new words that are becoming popular in the mainstream media and public. Gyaku-choco [...]
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Found these great JR keyring chains with the station names on. The design is the same as the real display sign at the station. The product has been around for while and is officially licensed from the railway company and is designated [...]
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In the bubble years, the image of golf in Japan was one of wealthy businessmen paying exorbitant sums of money to be members of elite golf courses where waiting lists to play often extended over a one month period. More recently, a [...]
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Nagatani-en (永谷園) have released their first range of “function orientated” miso soups. A number of makers have been selling miso soup products with vitamins included, but Nagatani-en claim they are the first to successfully [...]
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There are a number of chocolate and other flavored power bars on sale at the moment. making me think a niche has been identified in the market that manufacturers are now competing for. Morinaga has released a ChocoFlake Bar and a Milk [...]
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Takara Tomy earlier this year released a new line of miniature walking robots called ROBO-Q. They are billed as the world’s smallest consumer robot standing at 3.5 cm tall. The robot is slightly bigger than a 100 Yen coin or about the [...]
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Pachinko is popular throughout Japan and while some of the parlors have ultra-modern architecture and look more like Las Vegas casinos, some still are the old variety that employ more “traditional” styles. Here is a street [...]
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The prediction for Sakura to arrive in Tokyo this year was the 22 or 23rd of March. With the weather forecast for rain tomorrow, it looks like Monday 23 should be the best time for the Sakura to come out, at least in Shibuya. I took [...]
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In a year of economic downturn, this years group of university graduates looking for a job must be finding things very tough. Companies seem to be busy cutting jobs rather than hiring new new staff so the graduate pool have to find [...]
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You can find almost any kind of service in Japan from the mundane to the obscure. This is the land of maid cafes, muscle-building theme parks, cosplay and pet rental services by the hour not to mention the rental plastic sex dolls. I [...]
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Omron have brought out a set of digital scales that not only measure your weight and body fitness but also allow you to capture that data on your mobile phone and chart your data. The product is called BI-LINK for mobiles. It is [...]
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I have obviously had internet access at home for some time now, but tonight I feel as if the internet has arrived at my home for the first time. I bought a Panasonic Blue-ray DVD player, not because I bought into the blue-ray hype, but [...]
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The Solar Bear stands outside of the entrance to Mediage at Odaiba (お台場) in Tokyo. It represents the threat of dramatic climate change. The statue has a question attached to it asking “As the ice melts at the North Pole the Sky [...]
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Tokyo Tower was opened on 23rd December 1958, over 50 years ago. It is enjoying a revival at the moment with internal renovations, new merchandise, new events and a new magazine, The Tokyo Tower Magazine. It is priced at 980 Yen and is [...]
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The iPhone has not proven a big hit in Japan but that has not stopped a number of applications that were popular with the imode range of phones being ported to the iPhone. Here is a free application made for the iPhone that shows the [...]
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Nice touch of Spring here as the Ume blossom at Odaiba. Tokyo is set to have its first Sakura blossoming around the 22/23 of this month. Here is a really useful map that shows you the expected dates for the whole country. You need to [...]
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This year, 2009, marks 150 years since Japan, from the port of Yokohama, opened to the West in 1859. To celebrate the occasion, Yokohama is hosting a series of events over a period of 5 months starting in late April through to the end [...]
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Meiji have launched 2 new flavors under their Fran line of chocolate sticks. They are Mix Berry and Apricot. It might not seem like they go too well with chocolate, but I can assure you the taste is good. The basic Fran product is a [...]
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A nice change from the rain today as the sun comes out in force. Plenty of people on the street and a new campaign ad up at 109 for the music artist JUJU. What’s Love JUJU ? The 109 building is a popular place for billboard [...]
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It is just a spec at the moment and pricing will certainly be a watchpoint, but the SDXC Association has announced they will be able to offer a 2 Terabyte smart memory card shortly. According to the Association: A 2 TB SDXC memory card [...]
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