The Blackberry, the ubiquitous tool that has become a fixture in the hands of the white-collar executive in North America and Europe will finally gain a foothold in the Japanese market. NTT DoCoMo is partnering with Canadian Blackberry-maker RIM (Research in Motion) to offer customers GSM/WCMDA “worldphone” versions of the handhelds. Now as a Canadian [...]

2 Comments »

Every gaijin who was in Japan in 2005 remembers Takfumi Horie. Riding by the seat of his pants, his company, Livedoor, was the symbol of new Japan. Young people, breaking the rules, creating the rules and doing things that they truly believed would better Japan. Unfortunately, when Horie made a hostile take-over attempt for NBS [...]

1 Comment »

I usually try to say a few words about videos which we introduce here… well, I’m not going to even try to comment on this one, it just has to be seen. To watch the video

3 Comments »

By Guest Writer Simon Adams Editor’s note: For us who have been living in Japan for so long, it is refreshing to occasionally read the account of someone who is fresh off the plane, and still living in wonder everyday at how this country ticks. This is an article that Simon wrote when he had [...]

6 Comments »

Japan is a country that is obsessive about packaging. From wrapping goods in simple furoshiki cloth to the thirteenth layer of plastic on your box of evening gumboots, anyone who has had anything to do with Japan knows how they love to package things here. So it makes sense that they should have a solution [...]

13 Comments »

For anyone who has ever studied in Japan or is thinking of moving here and taking the plunge into a language that has three alphabets you will more than likely be lured by the electronic option. For me, who came to study in Japan with next to no Japanese ability, as with most foreign students [...]

2 Comments »

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) has been running a show called “Pitagora Suicchi” ピタゴラスイッチ, (direct translation: “Pythagorean Switch”) for about 4 years now. It is an educational show overseen by Masahiko Satou (佐藤雅彦), aimed at assisting the development of kids minds, allowing them to think differently. The program is mainly puppet based and really is [...]

4 Comments »

しゃくにさわる (shakunisawaru) * “J-WOTD” = “Japanese Word of the Day” “grate on one’s nerves” or when used about a person, “gets on my nerves” Examples: 「お嬢ちゃんと言われるのは、本当にしゃくに障るよ」 “Being called a ojyo-san really grates (gets) on my nerves” 「彼はしゃくに障るね」 “He gets on my nerves”, “He is a trying person”

1 Comment »

たもと (tamoto) * “J-WOTD” = “Japanese Word of the Day” As I was getting my daily dose today of Horie’s trial today on the livedoor higaisha nikki, I came accross the word tamoto. While it literally refers to the sleve of a kimono, it is generally combined with the verb 分かつ (wakatsu) and used to [...]

No Comments »

“My name is Blue, and I am an addict”.. When I was still a coffee cherry-boy, back in the days when all I knew was instant Nescafe (I still shudder when I think of those times!), I always used to scoff at the self proclaimed coffee habitués that loved to tell everyone within earshot how [...]

4 Comments »