The girl in the video works typing subtitles in real time for Japanese live TV shows. It is just amazing to see how fast she can type and how she does it doing combos with a tiny keyboard. It is even more awesome if you think that daily Japanese uses around 2000 different characters, she can type all those characters using so few keys!
This is the cheapest drink being sold on a vending machine that I’ve ever seen in Tokyo. On of the drinks in the picture costs only 50 yen! Sometimes, in Japan it is cheaper to buy a drink in a vending machine than in a supermarket, I guess it is because here there are much more vending machines than in other countries.
 | Yakult and lactobacillus casei |
At the last Tokyo CGM Night I decided to bring my camera and take some pictures. In the previous editions of the event I was too busy helping to organize.
Tokyo CGM Night is a monthly event and is organized by Danny Choo together with Andrew Shuttleworth.
CGM = Consumer Generated Media and Tokyo CGM Night is an event dedicated to folks who truly understand and excel in CGM - the result being millions of unique users and page views per month. Apart from the most awesome bloggers and vloggers, the best in the IT, media and entertainment industry are also mixed in to form an incredible recipe of Bodacious Harmonious Awesomeness. My vision is for CGMers and Industry folks to seek ways to either work with each other or gain new friendships while having a groovesome time.
Danny Chooand Andrew Shuttleworth preparing the show.
Eye-fi presentation.
Star Wars figurines give aways.
Jonny was very nice explaining me how to use an SB-800.
Derek Arnwine, he showed up at the CGM Night. He was one of the first persons who thought me some advanced functions in my Nikon D40 a while ago. Thanks sensei!
Chris Gaunt, he was pretty good at staying still!
See you at the next Tokyo CGM Night!
 | Wood keyboards |  |
Last weekend I was having ramen with my friend Antonio and we found Son Goku! It is pretty normal to find people with kame (亀) t-shirts but this Son Goku was orange until his shoes 
Related entries:
 | Nekobus |  | Gundam - ガンダム |
Where can I draw? 
There are not many graffitis in Japanese cities, this is the only sign prohibiting it I’ve seen until now and curiously it was at the entrance of a US military base in Okinawa.
I loved this! It is a Biccamera (Electronics shop) with a phone facade where each button indicates what the clients can find in each floor. For example in the button(floor) number seven we can find “Windows, computers” and in the button(floor) number six we can find “Macintosh, computers”.
A while ago Japan was known as the country where 3G smartphones cost 1 yen. The terrible competition in the mobile phone market made telephone prices drop until the limit of 1 yen. Not only the most basic phones cost 1 yen, even the advanced and pretty good phones cost also 1 yen. Those were crazy times and the carriers only wanted to get more and more users even if they had to loose money giving away terminals. Nowadays this tendency is almost finished in the world of mobile phones, now users have to pay quite a bit of money to get new phones, although there are still some 1 yen phones like for example the 8Gb iPhone.
Selling 100 yen Netbooks on the street.
The same thing that happened with mobile phones is happening right now with Netbooks. Since more than 10 years ago there is a market in Japan of ultra-light portable computers with screens of 6 until 12 inches but these where never called Netbooks. These where laptops as good as any other laptop and were even more expensive, there was not much competition and the market of these ultra-light portable laptops was controlled by local Japanese manufacturers like Panasonic.
But the Netbooks also arrived to Japan, at the beginning local brands like Toshiba or Panasonic tried to stop it to protect their market but at the end they could not spot the inevitable invasion of cheap ultra-light computers known as Netbooks made by Taiwanese manufacturers like Acer and Asus or north-american like Dell. During 2007 100.000 Netbooks were sold in Japan and in 2008 it was 10X that number, 1.000.000 Netbooks were sold in Japan during 2008!
There is so much competition during the last months that Netbook prices have dropped to 100 yen and even 1 yen. There is only one condition; the user has to sign a 3G (HSDPA) data contract for at least two years. The contract fees and conditions are different depending on the carrier but for example EMobile offers a 7.2Mbps flat rate plan for 6.000 yen a month (45 Euros) without any download volume data limit. As it is a pretty good speed for a decent price there are many users who are canceling their home hikari lines (fiber lines) and using their Emobile connection also at home.
Emobile and other carriers like Docomo or AU-KDDI confess that they are loosing tons of money giving away 100 yen and even 1 yen Netbooks. Some analysts like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanly think that this tendency will last until the beginning of next year when the carrier will have the necessary data users to make good money without the need to give more Netbooks for free. Get one while it still costs 100 Yen! This is the one that Danny bought for Mirai.
This is our Dell Mini 9, it cost 100 yen with a two years contract with Emobile. The only bad thing of this Netbook is the keyboard, it is too little, I prefer the size of my Acer Aspire One.
| Wood keyboards | |
I’ve been trying the new Nikon D5000. A camera that I would classify in the middle of the Nikon D60 and the Nikon D90 but with a little bit of “new style” because of the vari-angle color LCD monitor. It is awesome to be able to freely move the LCD monitor in a D-SLR camera!
The first thing I noticed is how light it is, and how compact it is compared to my Nikon D90, it weights only 560 grams. But it has the same sensor as the Nikon D90, it also has 11 focus points and it also can record video. But the LCD monitor quality is much worse, I could notice it in a second, they’ve got rid off the little LCD from the top (Like in the D40 and D60) and it also lack an internal focusing motor (Like the D40 and the D60). The main reason I moved from my D40 to the D90 it was because of the lack of internal focusing that forced me to buy my lenses selecting only among a very reduced number of new models but I could not buy old lenses.
It is a very simple, cheap and light camera, where the quality of the pictures is comparable to the Nikon D90, I find it as the best option for those who are looking for their first SLR. Why do you need a D60 if you can get a D5000?
If you want to read more about this new mini-SLR trend with incredible sensors able to record video continue reading this excellent article by the NYT.
 | Buying cameras in Japan |
The Japanese popstar Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, one of the most charismatic members of the SMAP pop group has been arrested for alleged public indecency after he was reportedly found nude at a park and drunk. I can’t believe it! I don’t really like SMAP or any of its members but I thought Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was the most decent guy in the group.
This is going to be REALLY HOT news in Japan during the next days, it is like if you find Justin Timberlake drunk and naked in Central Park. He is a really famous guy with a pretty good reputation.
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi with his nice-guy face. Would you ever think you could find him naked and drunk in a park?
 | 夕焼小焼け - Yuyake Koyake |
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