Citing toys aimed at promoting the latest "Shrek" movie, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald's restaurants where they are then likely to order food that is too high in calories, fat and salt.
The photo above shows traders wearing 3-D glasses as they watch RealD 3-D screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
http://caveviews.blogs.com/cave_news/2010/07/is-3d-here-to-stay-reald-thinks-so.html
Smart companies, large and small, should continually seek ways to drive quality improvements in both product development and customer support processes to keep customer satisfaction high. From the customer’s perspective, not needing service in the first place is best but when service is needed, companies must be ready to respond with fast problem resolution. When the product or solution is working properly, customers are satisfied—and satisfied customers equal repeat business.
For smaller companies with limited resources, the biggest challenge can be pinpointing the issues that cause customer base frustration and finding quick, effective ways to obtain this insight. A management-by-metrics approach is the best way for customer support organizations to get the clarity needed to improve the customer experience almost immediately. The basis for this approach is having one view of the truth across all operations. This provides a common language for discussing issues and sharing best practices. Additionally, the data collected through this approach allows for future refinement and improvements. As you build out your management-by-metrics approach, here are some best practices to consider:
1. Map out all the customer contact points over the life cycle of a service request to understand where customer expectations are set.
2. Collect data on your company’s performance from the customer’s point of view, not to meet internal objectives.
3. Be sure your data collection and measurement is consistent across all your products and all the geographies to which you sell.
4. Set clear benchmarks to measure your performance against and to track improvement.
5. Create a tool to store and manage the information that allows you to track trends but also supports ad hoc queries. It’s important to have only one view of the truth that every organization manages by, but also to allow a few different lenses to get a holistic view of the customer experience.
6. Hold your support personnel accountable for not only resolving customer issues but also for setting expectations.
7. Respond and change. Getting the true value out of the information requires flexibility and the willingness to implement quick fixes and long-term change.
Collecting accurate customer information will be a long-term endeavor, but identifying simple process changes based on the customer view can help you get started now.
Tony Kolish
Senior Vice-President, Customer Support Services
EMC Corporation
Hopkinton, Mass.
Customer support differentiates your organization, whether your company is a vendor to thousands of businesses or an IT organization with hundreds of users. Customer support accelerates success, or failure, for an enterprise. Outstanding customer support creates loyalty while poor customer support destroys confidence, loyalty, and profitability. Start effective customer support by doing the following:
1. Validate and reinforce the mission. Customer support is only valid when it meets the needs of your customers. Assess organizational performance by meeting with customers. Support management can become mission-myopic and work to meet metrics, rather than needs. Regular customer interaction is necessary as it ensures constant improvement of your customer support process, reinforcing success and providing valuable data points to address errors.
2. Establish and articulate performance objectives. Customer support teams need objectives against which performance can be consistently measured. Goals should be based on a pyramid of capacity (how many incidents are addressable per day?); performance (how long are incidents open?); and satisfaction (how did the customer interpret the experience?). Other criteria may be added, but avoid distractions from the core of what support is meant to do—fix issues efficiently and make customers happy. With metrics in mind, set a stretch goal of at least 10 percent improvement from your prior best and communicate and manage these goals with every transaction.
3. Monitor your expectations. Commit to at least an annual reassessment of your customer support operational performance. This forces an inspection of expectations. If the objectives have been achieved, applaud your team and take the next hill.
Robert Brower
Global Vice-President, Customer Support
CommVault Systems
Oceanport, N.J.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2010/07/build_a_customer-centric_business.html
The notion that you can manage your brand by simply crafting messages onto print and digital materials and then handing them down from headquarters is becoming more outdated every day. Today, monologues need to be replaced by dialogues; formal market research needs to be paired with attentive listening; participation in social media is now both de rigueur and high-stakes; and constituents who before trusted only close friends to help them make decisions now have a huge, portable social network they can call on for round-the-clock consultation.
What you plan and execute from your conference room can be either reinforced or undermined by what you don’t plan and execute. And anyone can create a brouhaha.
How to cope? More important: How to succeed?
Start by thinking of your brand as a mosaic. You place some of the tiles, then the rest are placed by others. Your job is to place enough tiles to control the context of your mosaic so that the brand picture you’ve outlined (and partially filled in) will influence how those extra, external tiles are seen and understood.
How do you make that happen?
1. Craft an irreducible—and indestructible—core message. Your message must be able to survive today’s social equivalent of the telephone game you played in 6th grade if it’s going to emerge from the Tweeting-blogging gauntlet intact.
2. Evolve an approach to visual brand expression that will hold up across different media. Create a system for your use of color, type, imagery, and design that will connect your many different communication initiatives. You can’t come close to owning your identity—or achieving higher visibility—if how you look in print differs wildly from your visual presence on the Web, or face-to-face impressions at a trade show.
3. Engage in the dialogue. You’re much less likely to get dissed if you’re perceived to be listening, learning, and participating. Sincerely solicit input. (Trust us, you’ll learn a lot.) And remember that transparency is your best form of brand protection: People can’t unearth something that’s in plain sight.
4. Give your constituents the thinking and tools—and encouragement—to participate in your brand and to place tiles in your evolving mosaic. Not only will you tilt conversations in a favorable direction, but you’ll set your feet firmly on the path towards building a community of engaged advocates who will Tweet, blog, and share … all to your brand’s benefit.
Roger Sametz
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sametz Blackstone Associates
Boston
Washington is poised to launch its most direct attempt to revive small business lending since the financial crisis with a plan to invest up to $30 billion of federal money in small banks and give them incentives to re-lend that money to Main Street companies.
The Small Business Lending Fund, outlined by President Obama in his State of the Union speech six months ago, cleared a key Senate vote to end debate July 22 as two Republicans broke with their caucus to support the measure.
The full bill, which includes business tax breaks and enhancements to Small Business Administration loan programs, could come to a vote as soon as July 27, according to Richard Carbo, spokesman for the Senate Committee on Small Business. The House passed a version June 18.
The fund would invest in small banks—those with less than $10 billion in assets—by purchasing preferred stock, which would pay the government a dividend of 5 percent. The cost of that money would decrease to a dividend as small as 1 percent if banks boost their small business loans over 2009 levels by 10 percent. For banks that do not increase their small business lending, the capital would become more expensive, with the dividend rising to 7 percent.
Bank lending to small businesses has dropped to $670 billion from $710 billion since 2008, according to data filed with regulators. Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have connected the drop in small business credit to weak job growth and urged banks to increase the flow of loans to creditworthy businesses. “The formation and growth of small businesses depends critically on access to credit,” Bernanke told a forum on small business July 12. “Unfortunately, those businesses report that credit conditions remain very difficult.”
Banks say lending is down because fewer companies want to take on debt and fewer borrowers are good credit risks. “Loan demand has fallen dramatically since the start of the recession,” the American Bankers Association noted in a recent fact sheet. The lobby group supports the Small Business Lending Fund.
Analysts like Raj Date question whether the money will be effective, however. Date, a former managing director at Deutsche Bank who now runs the Washington research group Cambridge Winter Center, calls the program “well-intentioned” but says it won’t work as well as lawmakers claim. While the bill’s authors say the $30 billion in federal money invested in banks would spur $300 billion in private lending to businesses, Date estimates that the Small Business Lending Fund would support only $70 billion in new credit. Banks will use most of the money to cover losses on existing commercial real estate loans, he says.
“The amount of help is relatively small to the size of the problem,” he says in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. Date also says that taking government money will be most attractive to the banks in the most trouble. Originally conceived as a part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Small Business Lending Fund was separated from TARP to avoid discouraging banks from participating because of restrictions and the stigma associated with the bailout.
Republicans opposed the measure on the grounds that it mirrors the Troubled Asset Relief Program and “injects capital into banks with no guarantees they will actually lend,” according to a policy statement. Senate Small Business Committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said in a statement that the bill has strong protections for taxpayer money and is expected to raise $1.1 billion in dividend income over 10 years.
The bill includes other provisions intended to aid small businesses such as $11.7 billion in tax breaks on things like investing in new equipment or the sale of small business stock. The SBA provisions would increase the limits on government-guaranteed loans to $5 million from $2 million, and extend the reduced fees and higher guarantees passed last year in the stimulus bill. The law would also allow self-employed workers to fully write off their health insurance costs in 2010.
SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) An 18-meter-tall "life-size" statue of Gundam, a giant robot featured in a classic sci-fi animation series, made a fresh appearance Saturday at an event in Shizuoka to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Gundam plastic model kit.
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| Robot tour: People check out an 18-meter-tall "life-size" statue of Gundam displayed outside JR Higashi-Shizuoka Station in Shizuoka on Saturday. KYODO PHOTO |
The statue was erected at the Shizuoka Hobby Fair outside JR Higashi-Shizuoka Station in the city's Aoi Ward, after first appearing in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the broadcasting of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series that started in April 1979.
The Gundam statue is holding the robot's hallmark weapon, a beam saber. As a bonus, visitors may be able to see Mount Fuji behind the statue, depending on the weather.
The city is home to many plastic model kit manufacturers and is a Mecca for enthusiasts. A museum was created inside the fair site to showcase the history of the city's 50-year-old plastic model kit industry. The event runs through March 27, 2011, with the statue on display throughout the period.
The original "Toy Story," from way back in 1995, was a fiendishly clever film. Its heartwarming story involved a good-natured but low-tech cowboy doll who was feeling all angsty about getting supplanted by a flashy, high-tech spaceman toy; quite a premise for one of the first animated films to be created entirely digitally, seeking to supplant the warm-and-fuzzy, human hand-drawn animation of decades past.
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Filmgoers rarely register these sorts of ironies between content and means of production — just witness how many people swallowed the neo-tribal back-to-nature trip of "Avatar" whole, while somehow ignoring the fact that nearly the entire film was made inside a hard drive, not a forest.
"Toy Story 3" opens with a similarly ironic conception: A rollicking chase scene on a runaway stagecoach involving all the familiar toys — Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Jessie, Rex and Slinky Dog — turns out to be all in the imagination of their owner Andy, making up the story as he plays contentedly with his plastic friends. It's the type of old-school creative play that's being supplanted by digital media and games — of which Pixar is a part — in which everything is created for you, and no imagination is required. A truer commitment to this notion would, no doubt, involve a filming style closer to the hands-on, puppet and figurine techniques employed by Henry Selick or Nick Park.
That's a typically stick-in-the-mud critic thing to say, but hey, I'm on a roll, so here's another: Review after review in the United States — where "Toy Story 3" opened last month — has described how it will "make adults weep." Didn't happen at the screening I attended, not even a little, though perhaps the refrigerator-level air-con just froze up our tear-ducts.
Which is not to say that "Toy Story 3" is a bad film; it's just that the hyperventilating over Pixar films is starting to get a bit much. "Up," despite what many reviewers said, was no masterpiece; not even close. Likewise, "Toy Story 3" is well made, charming, and has a heart — in fact, it wears it on its sleeve — yet it also shows all the symptoms of acute sequelitis: declining imagination, bloated budget and a tendency to repeat oneself.
If you've seen the first two films, you could probably guess the plot without me telling you: Once again, the toys, led by Sheriff Woody, are in danger of being discarded — to the attic, the Dumpster, or possibly donated to a day care center — and they must overcome all sorts of obstacles to be reunited with their beloved owner, Andy (voiced by John Morris).
Of course, Andy is a teenager now and about to go off to college, and hasn't played with them in years. Maybe, think some of the toys, day care isn't such a bad deal; at least there they will have a raison d'e^tre. Anyone who's ever witnessed the chaos of day care toddler playtime, though, will realize the living hell they are about to enter. And Woody is, as ever, loyal to Andy, and thinks being close to him is the best option, no matter what.
Sheriff Woody, voiced by the reliably vanilla Tom Hanks, is one of the blander characters to ever grace a Pixar film, and he's at his blandest here, without the jealousy (of Buzz) that gave him a little depth in the original "Toy Story." Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), meanwhile, reverts to his out-of-the-box personality once again, before switching into Spanish-language mode, where he starts chatting up Barbie and dancing flamenco, a rather stale racial stereotype joke that gets pushed way too far. (As if Antonio Banderas in "Shrek 2" hadn't already killed it.)
Faring better are Ned Beatty as a tyrannical pink huggy-bear, who rules the day care center toy box with a plush iron paw, and the vain Ken doll (Michael Keaton) with his closet full of 1970s fashions and ability to make Barbie go all starry-eyed. ("It's like we were made for each other!" she exclaims.) Director Lee Unkrich and his team also borrow profitably from film noir and prison break movie tropes in staging some of their scenes.
Overall, not so much for the adults this time, but younger viewers should respond enthusiastically: Be forewarned that the film's climax, in which the toys face the flaming pits of hell in a garbage incinerator, will be a bit much for the littlest ones.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to announce the arrival of the Tokyo Toy Show 2010! It’s an annual exhibition designed to introduce new toy products to the world market in preparation for the upcoming winter sales season.
Scheduled to occur between July 15 and July 18, this year’s Tokyo Toy Show will feature over 36,000 toys from a variety of manufacturers, including Capcom, Hitachi Maxwell, Maruka and Square Enix, to name a few.
Since we at WeirdAsiaNews aren’t adequately equipped to cover 36,000 toys, let alone 360, we’re going to cover the five most unique ones instead. Assuming you the reader enjoy this post, we may go ahead and bring you 5, 10 or even 15 more sometime in the near future!
The Robotic Monkey Bank
First up is Choenbako, a miniature robotic monkey that’ll smack your pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters into the box bank situated beneath him. It doesn’t look all that exciting, but at least it’s more interactive than a conventional piggy bank.
The Robotic Dancing Mushroom
Next is a lifelike mushroom that dances and glows. It doesn’t look all that entertaining, but it might function well as a fireplace-mantle novelty item.
The Robotic Butterfly in a Jar
Third is the ChouChou robotic butterfly that flies around a jar in a lifelike way. It’s basically a humanitarian solution for people who dream about capturing and then torturing a butterfly. There is however no word on how exactly one is supposed to replace the battery.
Ryo Ishikawa Excite Golf
Next up is a virtual golf game produced by Epoch Co. in collaboration with professional golfer Ryo Ishikawa. It’s designed to compete with Wii Golf, though the graphics look quite cheesy.
The Pop-up Pirate
Last but not least is the Pop-Up Pirate. 2010 marks the 35th anniversary of this popular children’s game. So in accordance, Takara Tomy has released a special anniversary pop-up pirate, a dangerous-looking Pop-up samurai and an adult-oriented Pop-up Love Hige.
We’re especially interested in the Love Hige, which Akihabara News says “will oblige you to do/ask what it is written on your plastic knife.” This could include doing something nasty to yourself, or doing something nasty to someone else. Remind me to add this to my Christmas list!
For a look at more toys from this year’s lineup, check out Dengeki Online.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/07/23/time-tokyo-toy-show-2010/
Ronak Vitha may be barely out of diapers, but he still managed to set a record for push-ups in his homeland of India by pumping 1,500 arm bends in just 40 minutes. If that isn’t amazing enough, consider the fact that he has been training for this moment for years!
His mother, Ruchi Vitha of Rajkot, India, realized that her son’s body was unusually flexible when at the tender age of two, he joined in on family stretching exercises. She and her husband hired Satyajit Chaurasia, a famous celebrity personal trainer, to work with their son to help him prepare for his record-setting goal.
“He has been doing pushups since his toddler days. When he was 2 years old, we used to practice yoga at home, stretching exercises, and he used to perform yoga on his own, something that was very difficult for us to do…Then we made him do one or two pushups, and the next day he did 10 on his own,” said Ronak’s proud mother.
Trainer Chaurasia coached Indian actor, Aamir Khan, for the film, Ghajini. Similar to the American film, Memento, this Hindu action-thriller feature a hero who, while battling amnesia, is faced with many violent encounters of all sorts.
At the age of four when building blocks and kindergarten appear to be the biggest challenges in a child’s life, this little boy has already established goals for himself. And he is going somewhere. God knows how far he can reach from the lofty perch on which he now stands!
The video below depicts Ronak performing speed pushups in several different ways. His perseverance and determination are commendable, to say the least.
“I want to become a tennis player and also have a body like Aamir Khan’s in the film, Ghajini,” the little boy said.
And who dares not to believe him?
What do YOU think about this?
The Japanese version of soccer, known as Kemari, dates back to roughly 1004 BC and varies greatly from the sport as we know it today.
Japanese soccer fans have evolved along with the sport, and today their support for the “home team” which is demonstrated by among other things, the sporting of pope hats, has reached epidemic proportions.
Are these Japanese pope hats worn by adoring fans a combination of cosplay, theatrics and enthusiastic freedom of expression? Perhaps no one can say for sure, but they are certainly something extraordinary and surreal, and will only seem normal to those who also see pink elephants in their line of vision.
“These Japanese pope hats read Yamato Damashi, the traditional way to say Japanese awesomeness,” according to 3yen.com, one of Japan’s most well-read and popular blogs.
The hats are certainly awesome but their gaudy allure can also be construed by sports purists as somewhat distracting and very in-your-face.
Still, the hats are symbols of support, not unlike the swirling batons of those cheerleaders of the western world that capture the vitality, appreciation and enthusiasm for all those hard-working athletes who play their hearts out.
The fans with and without their pope hats broke the global record for the most ever tweets per second in the hours following Samurai Blue’s victory over Denmark in the competition for The Soccer World Cup (FIFA).
According to Twitter, the average number of tweets in the 30 seconds after the final whistle was an incredible 3,283 tweets per second.
How many pope hats were responsible for the number of tweets is a statistic that no one can claim to know.
Hats off to pope hats.
What do YOU think about this?
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/07/20/japanese-pope-hats-world-cup-fans-run-amuck/
Angered by the perceived blasphemy of the Prophet Mohammad, a Pakistani lawyer named Muhammad Azhar Sidiqque has petitioned the nation’s highest court to charge the three founders of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes with the death penalty.
None of the three men are currently involved with the Facebook company which was originally conceived as a harmless social networking site for those seeking love and other elusive commodities on line.
The basis for the charges is Section 295-C of Pakistan’s Penal Code which clearly states that “use of derogatory remarks etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet, whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable for fine.”
The charges were filed after Zuckerberg hosted a “Draw Muhammad” contest, but the Pakistani law enforcement agencies have not yet acted on those accusations.
This current indictment comes in the wake of and is perhaps an over-reaction to last month’s court orders to ban the entire Facebook site from Pakistan because a German woman created an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” while using Facebook.
The charges against the three men could possibly lead to a request for the death penalty and if this Pakistani lawyer has his way, he will see his named enemies shipped to Pakistan, executed and still faced with paying a fine after death!
While no one has the right to disrespect the religious beliefs of another, it would seem a bit extreme to punish such action with death. Are not the qualities of kindness, understanding and forgiveness more in line with the tenets of all the world’s major religions when they are broken down to the basics?
What do YOU think about this?
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/07/19/facebook-founders-charged-death-penalty/
The wide and wonderfully weird nation of the People’s Republic of China gives rise to many wacky things, and haircuts are no exception. From long to short to sculpted to shaved, bizarre Chinese hairstyles come in many different guises. Check out our photo rundown of some of the most unusual hairstyles to be found across the Middle Kingdom.
1. The Architectural Scalp
This person evidently has lots of pride in China’s national instiutions – she has transformed the back of her head into a colorful and surprisingly convincing representation of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
2. The Political Message
This man from Henan province had the hair on the back of his head cut into eight Chinese characters. The evidently labor-intensive message translates as “Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong’s return”.
3. The Bizzarre Baby Bob
No further explanation necessary…
4. The Whale-Shaped Headache Hair
Even though it looks like it may cause severe neck trauma, this bloated ponytail was all the rage in China during the 19th Century. This lady’s visible discontent may or may not be related to the massive wedge of hair hanging off her scalp.
5. The Shanghai Expo Mascot
This kid looks like he was very excited about the 2010 Shanghai Expo when he got his last haircut. The Worlds Fair-style event, which involves more than 190 countries, is expected to have seen 100 million visitors by the time it wraps up on 31 October.
Alternatively, the boy might just be a fan of ‘Haibao’, the cute official mascot for the event. The little blue cartoon man’s name translates as “treasure of the world”, and his body comes in the shape of Ren, the Chinese character for people.
6. The Olympic Boys
2008’s Beijing Olympics captured the imagination of millions of ordinary Chinese. Estimates for the final bill footed by China for the event range from $15 billion all the way to $40 billion. With the world’s eyes on China for the competition, these youngsters took Olympic fever to unseen new heights with their wacky hairdos.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/07/19/strangest-chinese-haircuts/
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. is planning to produce vegetables and fruits in China for sale at the outlet in Tianjin of its Isetan Co department store subsidiary, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Isetan Mitsukoshi will begin trial production in the northeastern Chinese city in August in a tie-up with a farming corporation in Miyazaki Prefecture to determine whether to put the project into practice on a commercial basis, the sources said. Apples and other fruits produced in Japan are in strong demand among affluent Chinese consumers because of their safety and high quality. But many of them are subject to import restrictions in connection with plant quarantine rules.
JERUSALEM —
Japanese men’s judo Olympic gold medalists Yasuhiro Yamashita and Kosei Inoue recently taught the martial art to some 50 children from Israel and Palestine at a ‘‘dojo’’ training hall in Jerusalem.
Speaking in front of about 30 Israeli and 20 Palestinian children, Yamashita, a gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, said, ‘‘I think it is meaningful that Israeli and Palestinian children are grappling together to do judo.’‘
The event was held as part of activities by the Solidarity of International Judo Education. Yamashita heads the Japan-based nonprofit organization aimed at spreading judo internationally.
Yamashita told the children about the time that Egyptian judoka Mohamed Ali Rashwan did not target Yamashita’s injured right leg in the final of the men’s judo open weight class at the Los Angeles Olympics.
‘‘Judo is a sport that develops an attitude of respect for other people,’’ Yamashita said. ‘‘I’d like you to make a point of respecting those around you even after returning home from the dojo.’‘
Inoue, the gold medalist in the under 100 kilogram class at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and who is now studying in Britain, taught his classes in English.
A 13-year old Palestinian boy, who took part in the practice wearing a borrowed judo jacket and a pair of shorts, said, ‘‘Mr Inoue was very strong. I want to participate in the Olympics as a Palestine representative in the future.’’
LOS ANGELES —
While many films have explored the European Theater of World War II, showing the tragedy and brutality of the Western Front, Occupied France, Nazi Germany or the Holocaust, the Pacific theater of operations has largely been overlooked, and has rarely been examined on screen in such detail.
Executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, as well as a bevy of directors, writers, and actors, hope to remedy this inequity with ‘‘The Pacific.’‘
The monumental 10-part miniseries goes ‘‘under the helmet’’ to follow the intersecting experiences of three U.S. Marines as they fight against Japan in battles throughout the Pacific Ocean.
In a phone interview with Kyodo News, Hanks explained the intention of this epic undertaking, which was filmed in Australia and cost over $200 million to produce.
‘‘War in Japan takes second seat to the much more recognizable and much more accessible war in Europe,’’ he said. ‘‘I look at this era like I am unlocking a mystery. During this period of time, not just life but every aspect of society was up for grabs. That’s powerful storytelling.’‘
Based on the memoirs of Private First Class (PFC) Robert Leckie and PFC Eugene Sledge, the story traces their individual experiences, as well as the storied military career of Sergeant John Basilone, as all three Marines traverse the Pacific.
‘‘We ended up forging this very specific journey from the U.S. to Guadalcanal to Peleliu and back and forth with our characters in one,’’ explained Hanks. ‘‘We tried to do our due diligence in making sure the narratives of the characters were going to be true and authentic and recognizable within everybody’s experiences.’‘
Starring James Badge Dale, Joe Mazzello, and Jon Seda as Leckie, Sledge and Basilone, respectively, The Pacific takes a very graphic and raw look at war in the Pacific theater through the lens of these real-life figures.
‘‘You can’t talk about maps, you can’t talk about strategies, you can’t talk about the bigger stripes of history,’’ expressed Hanks. ‘‘You can only talk about what it was like for our guys and in that, we didn’t want to cut any corners.’‘
The Pacific is viewed as something of a companion piece to ‘‘Band of Brothers,’’ a similar series which focused on the European theater of operations and was created by the same production team.
While “Band of Brothers” aired nearly 10 years ago and was fairly successful in Japan, “The Pacific” obviously touches upon a more direct and sensitive part of World War II for the Japanese people.
Coincidentally, the series will also play through the 65th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in August of 1945.
While the series makes no claim to objectivity and focuses entirely on American soldiers, Hanks believes “The Pacific” can reach all audiences with a universality that transcends both time and borders.
‘‘You end up seeing the price that’s paid on both sides,’’ he remarked. ‘‘I think this is not a matter of healing; it’s just a matter of discussion. I think the important thing to come out of this is the memories.’‘
In Japan, “The Pacific” airs Sundays at 10 p.m. (subtitled version) on the WOWOW pay TV station, starting tonight.
TOKYO — Curious that some people don’t actually remember Dennis Rodman. How high-profile can you get? OK, Michael Jordan is at the top of the NBA tree, with a host of others (Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, etc, etc) almost up there with him.
But Rodman – Jordan’s Chicago Bulls teammate for five years – is arguably next on the list. He is probably the most visible, perhaps the most risible – he wrote the book on body decorations and partying – but undoubtedly totally unforgettable. So when he makes an appearance in Japan in August, you can be guaranteed he’ll attract a lot of fans who do remember him and, it goes without saying, a truckload of publicity.
Rodman is coming to Japan to appear in STREET 2ELITE, a street basketball contest at Ariake Colosseum on Aug 19 (there’s also a game in Osaka on Aug 17) that will pit the best of Japan against the pick of the USA. He will be accompanied by another former NBA player, Tracy Murray, a three-point specialist who once scored 50 points for the Washington Wizards against the Golden State Warriors. The Japan team was decided in a championship game on July 3.
For the STREET 2ELITE games, the basketball will be 5-on-5 on a full court with two baskets. Scoring will be as per regular basketball games (2 points, 3 points, 1-point free throws). As with most events of this kind, the action will be accompanied by plenty of music with an MC and DJ, and there will be a halftime show. Rodman and Murray will both be playing for the U.S. team – along with a bunch of other American players – and Rodman will select the MVP from the Japanese side.
A spokesman for organizers Sports Biz says it’s a whole new ball game for Japan. “There have been similar tours of countries in Europe, but as far as I am aware, the mixing of former NBA players and street basketball players is a new format for an event in Japan.” The spokesman says the Japan players are sourced from the many events around the country and that street basketball is becoming popular in Japan, in part because of the dazzling dribbling and dunks, but also because of the music and other activities that are mixed with the sport.
“The entertainment, music and fashion aspects are really important,” the spokesman says. “These events are more than just sports events. The audiences come not only to enjoy the spectacular performances of the athletes, but also to enjoy an atmosphere that is in tune with their lifestyle and which they are more used to. It’s been big in the U.S. for some time, but now it’s growing in Japan. Almost everyone in Japan has played basketball because it’s part of the educational program in elementary school, so we are very familiar with the sport, and the pro basketball league has been growing year by year.”
Like the NFL, NHL and major leagues, the NBA has also played regular-season games in Japan, and the likes of local stars Yuta Tabuse and Kei Igarashi have helped boost the game here. The basketball boom all started, according to the Sports Biz spokesman, with the legendary Chicago Bulls team of the late 1990s, of which Rodman was a member.
“In Japan, Rodman is one of the most famous NBA players of all time,” the spokesman points out, “mainly because he played for the Chicago Bulls during their golden era with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen when they did the three-peat. His book, ‘Bad As I Wanna Be,‘was a big seller in Japan.”
In addition, Rodman is said to have been the model of Hanamichi Sakuragi, the main character in the popular comic “SLAM DUNK.”
That fits Rodman perfectly. While always being a supreme athlete on the court, he was little more than a comic character off-court. He was a five-time NBA champion (twice with the Detroit Pistons, three times with the Bulls) and led the league in rebounds for seven straight years (1992-98).
Rodman’s personal life has been one of extreme individuality (tattoos, piercings, freaky hair styles); along the way, he dated Madonna and married Carmen Electra, so he ain’t stupid. But despite dalliances as an actor, DJ and pro wrestler, he’s still a basketball man at heart, and the more flamboyant style of street basketball should suit him perfectly.
This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).
NEW YORK —
Justin Bieber’s music video for “Baby” is the most-watched video ever on YouTube.
The 16-year-old pop star’s video passed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video to take the all-time lead. More than 246 million have watched Bieber’s video on the Google Inc.-owned website.
Bieber tweeted a thank you to “Beliebers” and said the video’s success was “crazy.” The singer wrote: “I started on youtube so ... WOW!”
Bieber’s video and Lady Gaga’s switched positions briefly Friday, but as of late afternoon, Bieber was ahead by more than 600,000 views.
The most-watched clip on YouTube that isn’t a music video is the popular “Charlie bit me” viral video, which more than 210 million have watched.
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Online:
http://bit.ly/9qYX7L
TOKYO —
About a year ago, visitors to the ANA InterContinental Hotel in Akasaka got a treat when they saw Leonardo DiCaprio and Ken Watanabe filming a scene from their new movie “Inception.” The action later moved up to the hotel’s heliport during two very busy days of filming, before the team headed off to five other countries.
“I’m glad we started here in Tokyo because this is the sort of film that will appeal to the cerebral and surreal nature of Japanese audiences,” said DiCaprio, 35, back in Tokyo for his second visit in four months. Joining him were Watanabe, director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas.
“Inception” is probably the most original movie of the year, dealing with a team of “extractors” led by DiCaprio’s character, who enter the dreams of their targets and steal top secrets. Only this time, a billionaire (Watanabe) wants the team to go into the mind of a rival and plant an idea so that so he will awaken and act on it as if it were his own. “This is a very rare film to come out of the Hollywood system,” said DiCaprio. “It has a multi-dimensional plot structure and it’s thought-provoking. Too many films these days, especially summer ones, look like they have just been recycled from other plots.”
Nolan, 40, said he first started writing the script about 10 years ago. During that time, the British director has made a name for himself with films such as “Memento,” “Insomnia,” “Batman Begins,” “The Prestige” and “The Dark Knight.” “The studios and audiences crave novelty but they tend to go with what they know,” he said. “The trick is to convince the studio that what you’ve got is the novelty that audiences will respond to. For me, the dream world was a very inviting theme. Dreams feel real and for the most part, the dreamscape is familiar. All we needed was a peculiar twist.”
And that’s what we get with Paris streets that fold up like a map, characters floating about a hotel corridor in a gravity-defying fight scene, a train roaring through the streets of LA upside down and so on. “There wasn’t a day on the set when we weren’t totally flabbergasted,” said DiCaprio. “But I really enjoyed the emotional sequences. Without those, the film wouldn’t work. I think I had more existential conversations with my fellow actors than I have ever had before.”
Watanabe, 50, said “Inception” was unlike anything he had ever seen before. “Nolan is a visionary, like the Da Vinci of filmmaking,” he said. “I used to look at the script with all its scientific and literary intricacies and parts and I couldn’t imagine how he was going to put it all together. He was always discussing each character with the actors. At the outset, he suggested that I should play my character a bit like James Bond. The only trouble with that, I told him, was that there was no Bond girl for me.”
Before coming to Tokyo, the stars visited London, Paris and LA to promote the film, and at each stop, DiCaprio said the most commonly asked question was whose head he would like to get into, if he could. “I wouldn’t want to go into anyone’s mind,” he insisted. “There is no telling what is rattling around in some people’s heads.”
However, he may have to, since he is in talks with Clint Eastwood to play J Edgar Hoover in a film which will depict the secret life of the notorious longtime FBI director. Nolan, meanwhile, will be heading back to familiar territory – with a third, as yet untitled Batman film. “Batman has been very good to me,” he said. “The first two films opened up a lot of doors for me.”
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment-arts/view/dicaprio-has-plenty-to-dream-about
Twenty ships, 200 aircraft along with 8,000 US & South Korean military are on full exercise along Japanese waters with their objective of empowering South Korea following the South Korean ship which was attacked last year.
The reaction of North Korea yesterday was to announce their standard threat of using their nuclear card which they have used over past few years, with the reminder of their threat of bringing on a Korean “sacred war”. China has urged restraint.
N/Korean News said:"The army & people of the DPRK will start a retaliatory sacred war based on nuclear deterrent in order to counter the US imperialists & the South Korean puppet forces deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war."
According to a biannual survey conducted by the Texas State Teachers Association approximately 40 percent of teachers working in public schools have a second and sometimes a third job to survive financially.
The number of teachers moonlighting has jumped 50 percent since 2008. Of the teachers working more than one job two in three say that the situation has an effect on their teaching performance.
"It can be tough for a teacher with a family to make ends meet... My regular salary has never been enough to cover all the expenses... It could be worse. Some teachers I know are working as waitresses," said teacher Nena Harrison.
OSAKA —
Panasonic Corp is planning to consolidate its production of consumer electronics and other products at five locations in India into a new plant to be established in the suburbs of New Delhi in a bid to boost its competitiveness in the growing Indian market, company sources said Friday. By streamlining and consolidating production as well as introducing strategic, low-cost home appliances, Panasonic aims to increase its sales in India in the business year ending in 2013 to 200 billion yen.
The company expects the new plant, which is targeted to begin operation in 2012, to be its largest manufacturing base in India in terms of total land area. Panasonic manufactures products such as liquid crystal display televisions, one of its core lines, as well as dry cell batteries and rice cookers, at its existing plants.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/panasonic-to-consolidate-indian-production
TOKYO —
Mitsubishi Electric Corp said Friday it will build a new plant at its factory in the city of Wakayama to produce air-conditioning equipment for use in buildings to meet growing demand in emerging economies, including China.
Mitsubishi Electric plans to bring the new plant into operation in September and raise its annual production capacity from 100,000 units to 150,000 units by investing around 3.5 billion yen, it said. The new plant is also aimed at meeting increased domestic demand for more energy efficient air conditioners.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/mitsubishi-electric-to-build-new-plant-in-wakayama
TOKYO —
The Japan Automobile Importers Association will co-host next year’s Tokyo Motor Show with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, following a JAMA request aimed at increasing imported cars on display. JAIA Chairman Roland Krueger, who is president of BMW Japan Corp, said the JAIA has decided to grant the automakers’ request to join in organizing the biennial event slated to commence Dec 2, 2011, for a 10-day run.
But the co-hosting will not assure a comeback of foreign automakers that did not take part in the 2009 show due to the 2008 global financial crisis, JAIA officials said, referring to a factor that caused the latest show to suffer a 56.9 percent plunge in the number of visitors from 2007. The planned stoppage in September of the provision of a Japanese government subsidy to purchasers of environmentally friendly automobiles will likely affect sales of automobiles imported into Japan, he also said.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/auto-importers-to-co-host-tokyo-motor-show
TOKYO —
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to charge a premium of up to 200 yen per month on each household in electricity bills to cover costs for utility companies to buy power from expanded sources of renewable energy in an effort to address climate change.
The ministry is planning to start as early as 2012 a system to oblige utilities to buy electricity generated by businesses and homes from wind, water, geothermal heat and biomass energy in addition to solar energy, which is included in the existing renewable energy purchase program.
Under the ministry’s power sourcing plan approved by a panel of experts, a standard household of a couple and two children would be charged around 150 to 200 yen per month 10 years after the system is introduced. It is based on the estimate that a standard household consumes 300 kilowatt hours per month.
The plan may draw flak from the public as companies and households that do not have power-generating facilities may just have to pay the charges and receive no benefit.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima told a press conference prior to the meeting, ‘‘Based on the outcome of the meeting, we would like to design the details of the system and try to introduce the system smoothly soon.’‘
Regarding the view that people who cannot afford power-generating facilities may feel the system is unfair, he said further discussions will take place on the issue when hammering out the details, which is expected to finish by the end of this year.
But Naoshima added that the envisioned system is ‘‘essential’’ in promoting the introduction of renewable energy while tackling climate change.
The plan has also set the purchasing price of electricity generated from renewable energy sources other than solar power to around 15-20 yen a kilowatt hour, with the term to last about 15-20 years.
The present system, which started in November last year, requires power utilities to buy excess electricity generated from solar power in households. So far, households have not been footed with a premium on their electricity bills.
Utilities are currently paying 48 yen a kilowatt hour for excess electricity, but the ministry said that it plans to gradually lower the price.
TAIPEI —
Three big Japanese corporations may join Taiwan in developing cutting-edge broadband technologies that will allow them to jointly tap China’s vast telecommunications market.
Fujitsu Ltd, NEC Corp and Mitsubishi Corp have expressed an interest in the offer to develop WiMax technologies together with Taiwanese firms, said Yiin Chi-ming, a Taiwanese state minister.
Yiin said he expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with the three Japanese firms to set up a company involved in WiMax system integration when he leads a trade mission to Japan next week.
WiMAX—short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access—expands broadband wireless access over longer distances of up to 50 kilometers and reduces the cost of implementing broadband.
Taiwan has sought foreign investment in the wake of a landmark trade deal the island signed last month with China, under which the mainland would slash tariffs on goods produced in Taiwan.
The trade pact, known as Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, will also cover a broad range of services, Yiin said.
“Foreign firms can benefit from Taiwanese companies’ knowledge of the Chinese market and their strengths in product innovation and commercialization,” he said.
The trade group will also visit other Japanese firms to discuss joint projects in electric car, electronic components and energy-related technologies, he said.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/taiwan-japan-to-develop-broadband-technologies
A study in England involving 9 men and 9 women has shown that listening to sports radio commentary in the car can be just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. Hard breaking incdients doubled while listening to sports.
Reaction times slowed by up to 20% while the drivers -- aged between 25 and 45 -- were listening to sports on the car radio. This adds 20 additional feet to stopping distance when the car is travelling at 70 miles per hour.
"To put this into context, this increase in distance traveled is 10 per cent further than the additional stopping distance when driving with a blood alcohol level at the U.K. legal limit."
Mark Nadeau is no longer mayor of Cobleskill,New York. After being identified on a secret taping of a conversation with another town official.
Nadeau is was on the audio tape as saying Presidents Obama ´Change´ slogan actually stood for "Come Help a Nigger Get Elected".
Former mayor Nadeau has resigned and has announced he will start an anti-bias program and that he himself will sit on the committee. Mr.Nadeau has stated he is not a racist.
TOKYO —
Twitter Chief Executive Evan Williams celebrated the dramatic growth of the microblogging service he co-founded at a dinner event Friday with 500 Japanese fans and promised to learn from them.
“We’ve come a long way in two years especially in Japan,” he told a cheering crowd at a Tokyo hall.
Twitter has been a huge hit in Japan. As Williams noted in his presentation, Japanese tweeters set a world record when the whistle blew in the World Cup game in which Japan beat Denmark at 3,283 tweets per second, mostly believed to have been Japanese.
Williams—appearing in a T-shirt with the Twitter trademark bird set in a red circle, the symbol of the Japanese flag—said when Twitter held a similar event in 2008, only 40 people came.
He mingled with tweeters to find out how they were using the technology, in what he said was an effort to make the service better for his important market.
He thanked the crowd in Japanese and offered a celebratory toast with beer, as the crowd cheered.
Noriaki Takayama, who translates imported software and has 2,500 followers on Twitter, said he has made dozens of friends through Twitter.
“It’s a great way to expand your network, and one connection leads to another,” he said.
Not only have Japanese like Takayama embraced Twitter, but they are also tweeting with a vehemence unparalleled in other parts of the world, including the United States. San Francisco-based Twitter Inc estimates Japanese send nearly 8 million tweets a day, about 12 percent of the global total.
Joseph Tame, a 32-year-old Briton, said he no longer feels lonely living in Japan, thanks to Twitter. He says Twitter was instrumental in attracting 13,000 viewers to his live video broadcasting of his run in the Tokyo Marathon.
“I’m a Twitter addict,” he said.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/twitter-ceo-celebrates-dramatic-growth-in-japan
Teen singer Charice confessed that she was getting Botox and anti-aging procedure with 18 just to look good for her debut on the Fox TV show "Glee". BANGKOK —
To help recover from the recent political turmoil in Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Thai Airways International hosted the “Thailand Today” Mega Fam Trip, inviting 500 travel agents and media representatives (including 50 from Japan) earlier this month.
During the tour, participants toured Phuket and Bangkok, visiting such resorts as Indigo Pearl, The Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa, Banthai Beach Resort & Spa and the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel.
The message from Thai authorities was that the country has returned to normal and is safe for visitors.
TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said they specifically chose to showcase the north, northeast, and eastern regions because they have lower market share than the very popular southern Thailand beach resorts. “However, they are all very culturally rich and diverse parts of the world which need more global exposure. Many of the new products that have emerged in these regions need to get more prominent presence on the international tour circuit,” he said.
TOKYO —
Browsing websites in Japanese just became easy for Apple iPad owners. Rikai Browser, a free web browser with a built-in Japanese-to-English dictionary accessible with a touch, is now available on the App Store.
Long Weekend LLC, developers of the study tool Japanese Flash, created Rikai Browser because there was no good way to read Japanese on the iPad if you didn’t read fluently. As fans of the popular Firefox plugin “Rikaichan”, the Rikai Browser was designed to bring that level of simplicity to reading Japanese on the iPad.
“When you’re reading a Japanese website, you tend to stop every time you encounter an unknown word or kanji - not very motivating or fun. Rikai Browser looks up Japanese words almost instantly, so you can just keep learning while you read,” said Mark Makdad, one of Long Weekend’s founders.
The application is a fully-functional web browser, complete with history, bookmarks, and navigation buttons. It also keeps a word history of searched words for later reference. It can be downloaded free at http://itunes.apple.com/app/rikai-browser-for-ipad-read/id380853144?mt=8.
NEW YORK —
The cola wars are back, and this time they have zero calories but plenty of nostalgia. PepsiCo Inc premiered a revamped version of its “Diner” Super Bowl commercial on Monday night, pitting its Pepsi MAX against Coca-Cola’s popular Coke Zero, a brand five times its size.
Analysts say people love the funny, spirited rivalry of the decades-old cola wars and the move will benefit both soda makers. That’s good news for the $100 billion industry, which is seeing weak soft drink sales as shoppers switch to healthier juices and teas.
The premise of the new Pepsi MAX ad is the same from the 1995 original, one of the better loved commercials from Super Bowl XXIX: Delivery drivers from the rival soft drink makers form a short-lived friendship in a diner over music. The first ad’s song was The Youngblood’s “Get Together.” This time around it’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War. They sample each other’s drinks and the Coca-Cola driver prefers the Pepsi product. And then the friendship comes to an abrupt—and funny—end.
The first version compared the longtime No. 2 Pepsi and Coca-Cola brands. This time around, the ads take on a very 21st century product—zero-calorie versions of their full-calorie counterparts.
Coca-Cola Co has been wildly successful with its five-year-old Coke Zero brand, which taps into the healthy shopper mindset. Now PepsiCo wants to move into that market with Pepsi MAX, which has its roots in Europe but is relatively new to the U.S. Pepsi MAX first launched in 1993 overseas and came to the U.S. in 2007, two years after Coke Zero’s release. The entire brand did $1.7 billion in sales in 68 countries last year. Coke Zero has been growing in the double digits for four years now and is in 133 countries. The brand is worth more than $1 billion in sales.
The new ad is again directed by Joe Pytka, who has directed dozens of Pepsi ads over the years, including ones featuring notable stars such as Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin. Viewers will see a familiar face. Art LaFleur, who played the Pepsi driver in the original, runs the diner.
Coca-Cola has not done comparison advertising for Coca-Cola Zero beyond comparing itself to Coca-Cola. It was quick to downplay the assertion that Pepsi MAX is better.
“Doesn’t a fight require two sides? As far as we can tell, the two drivers in this ad may be the only remaining Pepsi MAX drinkers,” said Coca-Cola North America spokesman Scott Williamson.
The updated version of “Diner” is the latest in a long line of advertising remakes, as creators dig back to past successes to tap into nostalgia. A Coke Zero Super Bowl ad in 2009 remade the company’s classic “Mean Joe Greene” commercial with Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu. Boost Mobile remade the famous Super Bowl Shuffle with Chicago Bears alumni in this past year’s Super Bowl.
PepsiCo declined to say how much it is spending on the ad, which was made in collaboration with TBWA/Chiat/Day LA ad agencies. The company, based in Purchase, New York, promises this is just the beginning of a new push for the brand. The campaign will also be extended online to feature exclusive content on Facebook and YouTube.
“We think now is the time to start banging on the drum, on the fact that we believe we have a great tasting, zero-calorie soda and we’re ready to take on the competition,” said spokeswoman Melisa Tezanos.
The cola wars have been successful for Pepsi and Coca-Cola in the past because they draw attention to the products and they’ll likely do so again, said John Sicher, editor of trade publication Beverage Digest.
“This is sort of classic Pepsi, a funny, provocative ad taking a shot at Coke,” he said. “This can only help both companies and both products.”
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/cola-wars-return-as-pepsi-max-takes-on-coke-zero
TOKYO —
Sharp Corp said Tuesday it will enter the e-book market later this year with a device that allows users to read e-book contents it plans to distribute in cooperation with newspaper companies and other publishing firms. With the multifunctional device that will also allow users to access video and audio contents, in addition to text and still images, Sharp aims to better compete in the increasingly competitive e-book reader market.
In Japan, Sony Corp and NEC Corp also plan to release e-book reader devices in the near future. With such electronics giants’ entry into the market, consumers will likely be able to see greater line-ups of e-book products, as well as falls in their prices and improved functions, industry watchers say.
Sharp aims to offer a wide variety of contents ranging from regular books to newspaper articles through the device. For its article distribution service, the company plans to cooperate with such newspaper companies as Nikkei Inc, The Nishinippon Shimbun Co and The Mainichi Newspapers.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/sharp-to-enter-e-book-market
Chinese hairdresser trained in kung fu is turning heads with his unique way of cutting hair – while standing on his head.
Wang Xiaoyu of Changsha in Hunan Province was first spotted last year by local media, who found him styling a person’s hair while doing a handstand.
Wang, 36, has been working as a hair stylist for the past 16 years. His new technique makes surprising use of his 18 years’ training in kung fu.
While some say his methods are just a gimmick to attract business, Wang has had many satisfied customers since he started to combine his kung fu skills with his day job.
It is not known whether these customers are pleased with the haircuts they get, or if they simply come for the novelty of having their hair cut by an upside down kung fu expert.
Wang’s technique could be the strangest hair styling method seen since Italian-American hairdresser Pietro Santoro was found to be cutting hair over a naked flame in Washington D.C. last year.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/07/18/kung-fu-barber-upside-haircuts/
TOKYO —
An increasing number of people are growing vegetables on balconies and even on a rooftop garden at a railway station to ensure food safety and for healing purposes.TOKYO —
Nobuhiro Tajima used to develop sports cars until 2008 when he was hit by the global recession generated by the bankruptcy of U.S. financial services company Lehman Brothers.
‘‘Originally, my core business was motor sports,’’ he said. ‘‘I put all my energy into making sports cars, which was opposite to environmentally friendly cars.’‘
His Tajima Motor Corp in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, is among a growing number of midsized and small Japanese companies embarking on the development of electric vehicles as consumers are becoming increasingly more aware of the environment.
Rising to the challenge of producing a mini-sports EV, he put some thought into reducing parts to make it light. As a result, he succeeded in producing a distinctive, slender and low body car measuring about 2.5 meters in total length.
Tajima plans to put the single-driver ‘‘EV Mini Sports’’ on sale in June saying that he has already received an order for 3O cars.
He also plans to sell a kit for use in converting a gas-fed car into an electric vehicle. He has already received inquiries from other countries, including New Zealand.
Zerosports Co, an auto part maker in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, plans to turn out EVs in the range of several thousand units, including those converted from fuel cars, in partnership with other parts makers.
The company under President Tokushi Nakashima has been wrestling with the development of EVs since 1998. It has fashioned a single rider compact car and a mini truck.
It delivered two collection and distribution EVs converted from gas-driven cars to Japan Post Service Co last July. The post service company said the EVs are environmentally friendly and quiet, adding that it has received favorable reactions from those at collection and distribution sites.
Nakashima’s company received about 200 million yen in investment from a major oil wholesaler last year. He said, ‘‘We’d like to extend technical and other support to enterprises hoping to develop electric cars.’‘
ZMP, a Tokyo-based company dealing with the manufacture of robots, sells EVs with an emphasis on information and technology. The chassis of the car is ready for installation of sensors to avoid a collision or a function capable of connecting the vehicle with the Internet according to the needs of a customer.
The company expects demand for the vehicle will come for its use for research and transportation purposes at medical facilities.
ZMP will make available to customers the technology that serves as the basis of controlling the vehicle.
‘‘Confining the technology to the company alone is not good,’’ said Hisashi Taniguchi, the company president, adding that he hopes that better products may come from opening the technology to customers.
There are less than 10 midsized and small companies in the country that sell EVs with government subsidies, according to the Next Generation Vehicle Promotion Center. Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd sell minivehicles while Nissan Motor Co is expected to sell passenger cars at the end of this year.
Many corporations are likely to join the sale of vehicles with government subsidies from now on, said a center official. He added that maintaining uniformity of standards and security will become problems.
Nakashima said mid- and small-sized companies need to establish an organization.
OSAKA —
Ari Fuji was not deterred when she was deemed too small for admission to the government-affiliated pilot training school. Instead, she went to the United States to get a pilot’s license and became Japan’s first female captain for commercial passenger flights this month.
Fuji, 42, now dons a short-sleeve uniform of JAL Express Co with four gold stripes, one more than during her first-officer years. “I feel the weight of one stripe added,” a nervous-looking Fuji said after her appointment ceremony at the company’s Osaka headquarters on July 9.
She is the only woman among about 3,800 aircraft captains in Japan and one of the three among around 300 pilots working for JAL Express, which operates regional flights chiefly to and from Osaka.
Speaking to reporters, Fuji said she liked airplanes when she was a child and decided to pursue a career as a pilot while at university.
But at only 155 cm tall, she was barred from even taking the Civil Aviation College admission test. The college required candidates’ height to be at least 163 cm until this spring, when it lowered the minimum to 158 cm.
While some people around her at that time said it would be impossible for her to realize her dream, she refused to give up and decided to go to the United States to get her wings.
She said she was optimistic of achieving her goal if she went there, and, after attending a U.S. flight school, she got her license.
In 1999, she joined JAL Express as a trainee. From the start, her goal was to be pilot in command.
Fuji said training was arduous for the captain’s examination administered by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. Having logged roughly 6,200 hours, she is now certified to fly a Boeing 737-400, which can seat up to 145 people, in the JAL Express fleet.
She said that at times over the years she became disheartened because she was not able to achieve what she wanted and started questioning whether she was really fit for the job. But she said she was always able to overcome the lows because she is “unrelenting.” People around her describe her as “stubborn.”
Her husband is also a captain and is currently working for an airline in China. She described him as a “senior associate I admire.” He has been very supportive of her progress and is a good listener to her problems, she said.
Even though she is in the minority in the pilot community, Fuji says she does not feel she is handicapped on account of her gender. “I happened to be born a woman,” she said. “If people have faith and the strength of mind not to give up, anyone can do (like me).”
TOKYO —
Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo has introduced an iPhone/iPad application. The iPhone/iPad application is a complimentary tool for guests and can be downloaded free of charge from the iTunes application store.
The application will enable direct room bookings and help guests to manage their stay at the hotel and find their way around Tokyo. Guests can view images and videos of the hotel, learn about hotel amenities and read about upcoming events at the hotel and in Tokyo.
Guests can also browse guest relations information and receive exclusive offers directly on their iPhone/iPad. Another feature is the interactive map that serves as a city guide to help guests find the location of all the nearest restaurants, bars, shops, cultural venues and must-see attractions. The hotel can connect with guests through their mobile phones and provide useful information about the hotel and city, much as if the hotel concierge was at their side to help.
WASHINGTON —
Thirty students from the U.S. traveled to Kyoto last month under a new U.S. government initiative to boost the country’s number of Japanese speakers, to make the country more competitive globally.
The student trip was sponsored by the U.S. State Department as part of its Critical Language Scholarship Program, known as CLS, a government initiative aimed at improving the foreign language skills of U.S. citizens.
The two-month program gives undergraduate and graduate students from across the country the opportunity to study Japanese in intensive, full-immersion environments at Doshisha University and Kyoto University.
Japanese was added to the CLS program for the first time this year since it started in 2006 under the administration of former President George W Bush, in line with the launch of the National Security Language Initiative, a scheme to increase the study of languages considered vital to U.S. national security.
In the program’s first years, scholarships were offered for Arabic, Pashtun, Korean and other languages that are rarely studied in the United States but are considered to be of strategic importance by the U.S. military and intelligence communities.
But the program has gradually expanded to include languages that are more broadly relevant to U.S. global interests, including trade and finance, and Japanese was chosen this year.
Susan Schmidt, an expert on Japanese language acquisition at the Association of Teachers of Japanese, believes that including Japanese in this year’s program reflects the changing attitudes of U.S. policymakers about what makes a language “critical.”
“I think what happened probably is that in the State Department, it was felt that that definition of critical, as in important for national security or national purposes, that that definition should be expanded a little bit, beyond the strictly military context,” Schmidt said.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Alina Romanowski said that CLS selects “challenging, difficult languages in places where we know there’s economic opportunity, we have long-term bilateral security interests and where to be proficient in that language takes time.”
The program comes at a time that some describe as a fraught period in Japan-U.S. relations, when the outlook of bilateral ties has grown uncertain due to a change in Japan’s political leadership and a dispute over the fate of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa.
The decision to include Japanese in the CLS program, however, was made well before the current tensions began, Romanowski noted. “It’s a very important relationship. . . . It made sense that we would end up including Japanese,” she said.
In fact, in its decision to add Japanese to the CLS program, the State Department seems to be riding a growing wave of interest in the study of Japanese within the U.S.
The number of American students studying Japanese has more than doubled over the last two decades and continues to increase steadily, according to a 2006 report on foreign language study in the U.S. conducted every four years by the Modern Language Association.
Schmidt believes this interest has been primarily driven by student interest in Japanese cultural exports, noting that ” ‘manga’ cartoons and animated films and the video games are a fairly big motivation for students.”
Once their interest has been sparked, Schmidt said, these students increasingly put their Japanese to use in their studies.
“A lot of students in the sciences now are interested in learning Japanese and studying in Japan,” she said.
Schmidt’s assessment was confirmed at an orientation session for the CLS program held in Washington in early June, where participants said that although Japanese culture was what initially interested them in the language, they see it as an important tool for their future, whether in international business, diplomacy or the sciences.
“Before the large ‘anime’ boom around the early 2000s, I had never even heard of Japan,” said Tiarra Beaver, a 19-year-old student at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, who now hopes to work with Japanese immigrants as they adjust to life in the U.S.
While not discounting the attraction of Japanese culture, Ryan Seebruck, a 27-year-old graduate student at the University of Arizona, sees the Japanese language as “critical” for a more pragmatic reason.
“Japan will undoubtedly remain a top economic power for a long time,” Seebruck said.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japanese-seen-as-critical-in-us-language-program
Japan’s celebrated kaiseki master, Yoshihiro Murata, has combined his culinary expertise with his enthusiasm for sharing Japanese cuisine into one book: “Japanese Home Cooking with Master Chef Murata.”
This book contains 60 healthy home recipes, from classic to modern, that are popular all over Japan. All of the dishes can be made using Western kitchen tools and ordinary ingredients from the supermarket. With his trademark charisma, Murata shows how easy and fun it can be to make tasty, popular Japanese dishes like beef teriyaki at home from scratch. With his versatile sauce, you can also create tempting teriyaki dishes of your own using healthy ingredients such as fish or tofu. Sukiyaki, tempura, hot pot, yakitori grilled chicken, salad with peanut dressing—in these pages you will find making all these favorites to be surprisingly simple.
Throughout the book, Murata maintains the authenticity of traditional recipes, but avoids complicated methods and techniques, showing the easiest and best way to make recipes that can be enjoyed just about anywhere in the world. He also has many suggestions for readily available ingredients as substitutes for their Japanese counterparts. For example, he suggests using store-bought chicken broth instead of traditional Japanese dashi stock. With chicken broth and soy sauce you can make tempura with its classic dipping sauce, Japanese-style savory custard, miso soup, and beef shabu-shabu.
“Japanese Home Cooking with Master Chef Murata” brings Japanese cooking within reach, allowing you to expand your cooking techniques and make your meals healthier and more enjoyable.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/book-reviews/view/japanese-home-cooking-with-master-chef-murata
