Japan electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which markets products under the Panasonic brand overseas, has announced plans to introduce Internet-ready plasma TVs in North America in the spring that will allow users to directly browse videos on YouTube and photos in Google-based web albums.
“This is the first time mainstream consumers will be able to […]

The above are phone straps from Japan that are available here.
Via Popgadget

Posting this from a waiting area in Keio University Hospital where my son is undergoing surgery, I am wondering about the cell phone restrictions that are so strictly enforced by medical institutions.
I am fully aware of the warnings that signals connected with cellphone use can interfere with the proper operation of medical equipment. However, I […]

The world’s first cell phone camera film festival is currently being held in Yokohama.
The Pocket Films Festival features submissions by people who recorded films on ther camera-equipped cellphones.
The works, streaming on monitors of cell phones strapped to tables, are filled with everyday shots, some literally taken on the run with streets and cars whizzing […]

Caught a story recently in THE ASAHI about a Japanese kite that needs very little wind to fly.

The BioKite, which is controlled using a rod and reel, is even able to fly indoors and uses the same aerodynamic principles as aircraft to fly.
BioKite website (Japanese) is here.

That’s the title of a Newsweek article that explores why Japan is not more of a powerhouse on the world technological stage.
Japan is a technological powerhouse. If you exult in brilliantly bizarre gadgetry, engineering wonkery and prodigious feats of craftsmanship, you’ll feel right at home. It’s also an extremely sophisticated business environment. The Japanese domestic […]

Following up on Japundit’s post about the October 2007 introduction of the earthquake warning system, and a Tokyo cable TV company’s earthquake warning service, the cable provider has an instructional video on it’s site (scroll down to the second video).
Could you remember everything this woman does in 10 seconds, while this warning “siren” sounds?

Check out this miniskirt mouse pad that is sure to put a leer on the face of otaku everywhere.

Walt Disney Co. has announced plans to launch a mobile phone service in Japan next near in cooperation with Softbank, which will offer users animated content. The two companies plan to work together to develop handsets.
While the tie-up would secure Softbank stable revenues from leasing unused frequencies, Disney’s entrance into Japan as a mobile […]

In October, 17,110 members of the MyVoice Internet community completed a questionnaire about manga on mobile phones, according to the latest What Japan Thinks summary.
It turns out that while 64% of Japanese do not buy manga at all (which nevertheless does not mean they don’t read them), about 25% spend up to 1000 each month […]

It seems like only yesterday that we were constantly hearing stories about how the Japanese people saved “too much” and about how something “had to be done” in order to pry some of the cash out of the nation’s bank accounts and get it back into circulation.
Now it’s the other way around, and economists […]

Japundit reader Janine kindly writes in to let us know that the Hello Kitty vibrator is back. no doubt by popular demand.
And this time it is the real deal, straight from the offical Sanrio catalog (Volume 27, Page 3).

Looks like it is just the thing for working those nasty kinks out of your neck. […]

Japanese vending machine manufacturer Fujitaka Co. has come up with a new type of vending machine that uses a camera and face-recognition software to take a look the people trying to purchase cigarettes to see if they are old enough.
The vending machine has an “adult recognition” button, and when this is pressed a tiny camera […]

If there is one thing that Japan does not have a shortage it’s ramen shops. Just about anywhere you go in this country, a walk of a few minutes will be plenty to satiate your need for noodles.
So now the next question is why does Sony think that people living in Tokyo need something like […]

In case you have not seen this yet, SoftBank will be selling a Sharp phone in Japan that comes with a charger unit/stand shaped like a Gundam Zaku 2 helmet.

Via Akihabara News

Japan toymaker Tomy is planning to market the world’s smallest radio-controlled toy helecopter starting next month. The Heli-Q is designed to fly for five minutes on a 20-minute charge.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a squadron of these things and mount attacks on co-workers in neighboring cubicles? I wonder if they play Richard Wagner’s Ride […]

Here’s a little something guaranteed to drive just about everyone bonkers. . . A Hello Kitty karakoke machine and CD player!

Price: $50.00
Via Hello Kitty Hell

Kaneko Sangyo Co. reportedly has developed a portable toilet designed for use in automobiles.
The new “Kurumarukun” toilet presented the same day at a trade fair in Nagoya is the first ever model of its kind small enough to fit inside a car, the Aichi Prefecture-based manufacturer of plastic car accessories said.
“The commode will come […]

Check out this mouse pad for cat lovers.

The pads are arranged to resemble a cat’s paw, but they look to me like they would just get in the way.
Price: 1,800 yen
Via A Rinkya Blog

Behind corporate giants Toyota and Mitsubishi, number 3 in Japan is now Nintendo, which experts currently value at ¥10 trillion.
As the TG Daily notes, that’s the equivalent of US$85 billion (Disney is valued at US$80 billion, for the sake of comparison).
TG also reports that the company has tripled in value since the launch of the […]