Cute Caterpillar is Cute

We came across this cute guy on an epic mission across a dam wall in Nagano earlier today.

Pop 'n' Cute - Harajuku Kawaii Fashion and Music Event Report (AkihabaraNews.com)

Squee! the System 
Mainstream Japanese society is boring. One could argue that mainstream society globally is never exciting, but the homogenous nature and stubborn adherence to routines and social hierarchies make this island nation particularly dull.

Being that it's a free country, however, those individuals who don’t fancy themselves following the herd don’t have to. As a result of the extremely dull mainstream, the subcultures that have formed in reaction to it are equally, albeit inversely extreme. And thats the stuff that we tend to associate with Japan.

The Harajuku Kawaii Scene is one such subculture, and at the POP'N'CUTE event at Shibuya Milkyway on May 24th 2014, we got to experience it first hand.

Read the rest here... 
 Do it. I rate this as one of my best pieces since my Otaku Magazine days. got 3 videos and a craptonne of kawaii pictures too.

Momentum Factory Orii (JETRO)

This article is about a Toyama Based company called Momentum Factory Orii. It's a 3rd generation family business that specialises in the colouring and restoration of bronze sculptures as well as the creation of some very hi end coloured bronze or copper panels using some nifty traditional science.

Momentum Factory Orii - Brass and Copper Coloring and Restoration

The science of art

The company was established in 1950 by Takejiro Orii in Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture. They specialized in the coloring of brass by using chemical reactions to form an oxidized layer that protects the brass from the elements but can also give it a different hue. While the coloring process is based on scientific principles, the means by which these chemical reactions are created are a traditional technique that has been passed down three generations to the current CEO, Koji Orii.

read the rest...

As before, Here are some of the extra shots I took on the day in a decent resolution there are quite e few so be sure to hit the jump and check out the rest on flickr:

VIDEO ESSAY: 2014 Tokyo International Toy Show (AkihabaraNews.com)

I made another video ;)

AkihabaraNews' Senior Contributor and All-Around Multimedia Guy Nayalan Moodley has assembled a fairly comprehensive video essay on the event. Have a watch, get your groove on to the funkytech track he put down, and get yourself hip to what does it for the kids of all sizes in Japan. 

If you want to read the rest of Reno's words and get more info on the event, go here.

YouYouAng Incense (JETRO)

Those of you who watch 7 Days 7 minutes will recall that I was hopping around the country quite regularly for work earlier in the year. What I was doing was writing promotional articles for JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation. The pieces have finally been published. I'm glad to see that the editing on the pieces was minimal. What bothers me is that JETRO didn't publish the names of the writers on these pieces. I realise these were for promotional purposes but I somehow thought we would get recognition for our contribution to helping promote Japanese Businesses to the world. To be fair, I got to travel, and they did pay me. I'll link them all on this site over the next few days and If I took any at the interview, I'll put up some bonus Hi Res pics here and on flickr. First up is a Gunma based incense company

YouYouAng - Incense 

Simple and refined elegance

Kanako Yoshida started her career as a product planner in the jewellery world, looking at what trends and products would do well in the Japanese market. She realised there was also a market overseas for goods from Japan. She wanted to create something that was quintessentially Japanese yet small and simple enough to be used regularly. That goal, paired with her personal affinity for perfumes and aromatherapy, inspired her to create incense.

Read the rest...

REVIEW: Casio EX-100 Compact Camera (AkihabaraNews.com)

My next big and beastly review is up. I put a good deal of effort into it and I reckon it turned out pretty damn well.

A Flagship with Many Flags
On paper, the Casio EX-100 seems the greatest imaging device in the history of our species.

It can do things that sound mind blowing for a camera this small and almost too good to be true for a consumer imaging device of any kind.

It features a 28-300mm range f/2.8 aperture 10.7x optical zoom lens. It has a 1/1.7-inch back-lit 12 megapixel CMOS sensor, tiltable 3.5-inch display (180-degree up and 55-degree down), Wi-Fi, 5-axis image stabilization mechanism, and a really fancy sounding engine (Exilim Engine HS3)

This camera has a list of features so long that, even in the 3 weeks I had to play with it, I couldn’t truly explore every single one of them.

Read the full review here.

Props to Reno at AkihabaraNews.com for putting the tonnes of media and words I dumped on him together.

Related: 7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-05-12) Casio EX100, Timelapse, Kabukicho and more...

Shots #123 Shadows

R2's D2

At the Tokyo Toy show there was a display of classic Star Wars toys and amongst them was an interesting R2 unit. I suppose he always was a 'versatile' little droid.

Japan, How It Is - A long Walk from The Imperial Palace to Shibuya

In Spring I ended up at the Imperial Palace for reason's I no longer recall. Because I didn't want to have to deal with all the zombies on the train, I decided to walk to Omotesando and Beyond.

In addition to the video I took a crap tonne of photos, 

80 of which I've uploaded to Flickr.

Music by The Living: http://mothdelacruz.bandcamp.com

If you liked this video, take a look at my 

'Long Walk from Kawasaki to Shibuya' and 'Driving Around Okinawa' 

Japan, How It Is Videos.

This Picture Is The answer to EVERY Question You Have About the Japanese Idol Scene!

Japan is churning out  pre-pubescent plastic, lip syncing idols faster than Toru Hashimoto can say something stupid. But to those of us who look at this bizarre mutation of pop music from the outside, what could possibly make them such a popular and powerful force, is unfathomable.
Invariably we are left with a number of questions, that no matter how hard we try, we can never answered. As a result, we could never understand what it's all about... UNTIL NOW.

While shooting the Tokyo International Toy Show for Akihabara News, I managed to shoot the single best idol photo I have ever seen. It is the Idol scene's 42. The ultimate answer to any possible question regarding Idols, Idol Music, Idol fans and the multibillion yen industry that is the Idol.

BEHOLD THE ULTIMATE ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER HAD ABOUT POP IDOLS:

Shots #122 I'm Lovin' It

Tesla's Exclusive docomo Data Deal (AkihabaraNews.com)

Tesla and Docomo are going steady.

"  Tesla’s decision to go with Docomo is likely because of their network penetration. While the other carriers have caught up to and in some cases passed docomo in throughput (particularly in urban areas), in many rural parts of Japan Docomo is the only carrier that works.    "

Read the full (albeit short) article on AkihabaraNews.com

Tokyo Street Shots: The Living Gallery - Collection 4; Set 5 (AkihabaraNews.com)

The Living Gallery 
It can't be all tech all the time, so each week AkihabaraNews editors set out to collect 10 high-res shots of average, public Tokyo life. Some of the Street Shots scream and grab the eye, some are subtle and nuanced, and some are quite mundane. In any case, we feel lucky to be here and privileged to share the Tokyo that we see. Oh, and to add a bit of flavor every once and again, we also stir-in a few Osaka Street Shots.

more of my shots: click the red shoes or here to go to the page on AkihabaraNews.com

or click below to jump to the gallery:

Shots #121 Caption This Photo

As the title says... caption this pic.

7 Days 7 Minutes (2015-05-26) NAGOYA, Inside an Arcade and random Tokyo streets

00:00 notMONDAY Shinjuku Streets <location>
01:00 notTUESDAY 270km/h <JR Tokaido Shinkansen>
02:00 WEDNESDAY Why I Like Nagoya <location>
03:00 notTHURSDAY Random Nagoya
<locations: Nishiki  -  Tsubaki-cho  -  Sakae >
04:00 FRIDAY That Damn Popcorn <KuKuRuZa Popcorn location>
05:00 notSATURDAY Inside a Japanese Arcade
  <Taito Station Akihabara location>
06:00 notSUNDAY Random Tokyo
<locations: Ikebukuro  -  Shinjuku 3-chome  -  Shibuya Stn.>


Like if you like, dislike if you dislike and share it along because you can.

Also be sure to watch my latest Japan, How it Is and It's Not Sushi videos:

REVIEW: Lightning Rabbit Premium Gadget Cables (AkihabaraNews.com)

Lightning Rabbits are cables. Some very nice cables. We reviewed them...err, commented on them. A 2000-word TL:DR expose on a gadget cable is a level of geekery to which we cannot rise, so comments suffice.

And so, read on for our impressions of this nice little accessory developed by LAT28 DESIGN:

• • •

What we Have Here Are: 
• Five-foot fabric-wound gadget cables that;
• connect USB power and data via;
• Apple Lightning; Apple 30-pin; or Micro USB;
• and have nice aluminum terminal covers and;
• come in three lovely colors.

We tested on an iPhone 5S, an iPhone 4S, an Android phone, 3-4 different cameras, and some other random gadgetry. Our test cables were the ‘Classy Silver’ colorway (orange and purple cables are also available).

Data transfer was never a problem, so herein we're really we're talking form, use, and value. So, to get the ball rolling...

Read the full story at AkihabaraNews.com

You get some of my witty commentary and a gallery of my photography (albeit of a cable) but hey published content is published content. No jokes though. If you must buy a cable, these are pretty good.

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-05-19) Casio Selfie Cam, The Seaside, Yoyogi Park and more...

00:00 MONDAY Casio Selfie Camera
01:00 TUESDAY Biked to the Beach <location>
02:00 WEDNESDAY Just Another Day <GH4 Review on Akihabara News>
03:00 THURSDAY Rambling On
04:00 FRIDAY Mc Mission <location1> <Location2> <location3>
05:00 SATURDAY Perfect Park Day <location>
06:00 notSUNDAY The Chuo Main line <location>

Yoyogi Park ~5 hit combo~

It's not me Tokyo, It's you.

Those of you who've been following my 7 Days 7 Minutes vids and a few of my posts here will likely know that Ive been having some serious bowl problems. after 2 endoscopies and numerous blood tests, The diagnosis is finally in..

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!!!!!

Doc reckons that I have other things in my life that are worrying me and that stress is causing my problems, and worrying about the problems causes no stress. and so it repeats. He also reckons I need to see a shrink.

All of this got really bad when I moved to the big city so Whatever has gone awry in my life has happened here and It needs to be addressed before I can start chilling out and then hopefully my body will stop giving me grief. Knowing nothing is wrong with me doesn't help the fact that the stomach is churning as I type this, And that Ive been nauseous since last night.

Wikipedia says that this is actually a thing. Physical symptoms of indigestion without anything actually being wrong. It's not fun but I'm not going to worry about it anymore lest it gets worse.

unrelated pics are unrelated... but awesome.

Cats in Slow-mo「ねこスローモーション」

For those of you who just like cats, cats and only cats
And don't care about Japanese parks or my witty text.

Music: The Living - Mr. Punch


If you wanna know more about the cat park in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, click here.

to sweeten the deal... 4 more bonus cat pics:

Shots #120 Abenomics Explained