From the category archives:

Japan

What to do in Tokyo?

August 4, 2010 Japan

An old friend is visiting Tokyo and asked for recommendations. I often get this kind of question (I lived there for 10 years and am half-Japanese)  so for future reference, to point people in the future (and a place to park any follow up suggestions in the comments) I’ll put my recommendations here in this [...]

View Comments →

Manga Farming

July 5, 2010 Books

From the sustainable Otaku department. Tokyo artist Koshi Kawachi demonstrated how to use old manga to start your own urban farm. [via Pink Tentacle]

View Comments →

docomo’s designer collection

June 1, 2010 Design

My wife just got back from Japan and picked up the latest brochure from NTT Docomo. As a member of the very desirable young female demographic, she’s always been pestering me that Nokia should focus less on whiz-bang geek features and more on the phone as a fashion statement.
I would agree and, in that vein I [...]

View Comments →

Stamp Rally for Grown-Ups

February 7, 2010 Japan

On our last trip to Japan, we decided to take our dog, Mimi, along to meet the rest of the family. We moved to Finland from the United States so we knew that travelling with pets involves a lot of paperwork. Avoiding a lengthy quarantine for Mimi coming to Finland required the signature and stamp [...]

View Comments →

Physical and Virtual Spaces

January 8, 2010 Advertising

I just returned from a year-end holiday in Tokyo. As always, the city never ceases to amaze me.
The people in the photo above are all standing outside Yodobashi Camera, an electronics store in Akihabara. The store offers free wifi for anyone with a Nintendo DS and on that network they can get access to free [...]

View Comments →

Japan’s Super Phones

December 15, 2008 Hardware

I had a chance to visit the KDDI Design Center in Harajuku right at the base of Takeshita-dori (well worth a visit if you get a chance) as well as a few electronics stores to see what’s on offer from the major operators. Here’s some of the highlights of what I saw.
The obligatory 8.1 [...]

View Comments →

DoCoMo Branding

November 24, 2008 Advertising

DoCoMo’s new branding campaign is underway and it’s a full court press on people here in Tokyo on segmenting the market into four major archetypes.

Take a guess – which box goes with the individual featured in the photo above. Stumped? Bath yourself in the full flash experience of a very slick marketing site.

View Comments →

Uniqlock – Uniqlo’s Viral Advertisement

September 5, 2007 Advertising

The Japanese clothing store Uniqlo has burst onto the scene with a viral widget that features a clock interspersed with a robotic model featuring their new polo shirt. Click through to the site and explore the video in more detail as well as a cool, interactive map which features other blogs running the widget.
The only [...]

View Comments →

We want Spring

April 3, 2006 Japan

With all the rain we’ve been getting, our thoughts really pine for a good Hanami. That’s not me above but it’s exactly how I feel. More on getting prepared for Hanami over at PingMag, a great new site covering the art scene in Tokyo that Mark Dytham mentioned to me when he was recently visiting.

View Comments →

Lizards & pork chop hats = entertainment

November 9, 2005 Japan

Now wonder the rest of the world thinks Japan is crazy. Here’s a video of an old game show featuring lizards and girls with pork chop hats. (pointer and further commentary on BoingBoing)

View Comments →

← Previous Entries