Well, the International Day of the iPhone is here, when Apple’s new 3G iPhone launches around the world.
In Japan, the line outside Softbank’s flagship store in Omotesando, Tokyo reached 1500 people and over a kilometer in length, as Japanese fans lined up to get their hands on the device for the first time. Masayoshi […]

The New York Times has an interesting article on Japanese energy technology. What always leaves me scratching my head is how this environmentally-minded country has such lousy windows and insulation which leads to more heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer (and thus more energy consumed and greater expense). I’d also love […]

MSNBC has still another story about the high-tech toilets of Japan.
Japanese toilets can warm and wash one’s bottom, whisk away odors with built-in fans and play water noises that drown out potty sounds. They play relaxation music, too. “Ave Maria” is a favorite.
High-end toilets can also sense when someone enters or leaves the bathroom, raising […]

courtesy of bat japan an invention to make menthol cigarettes more more flavorful: a ball in the filter which when squeezed adds a burst of flavor to the smoke

Images via Trends In Japan

The Japanese government announced recently that it is considering relaxing the country’s immigration laws in a bid to reach a alien resident population of 10% by the year 2050. At the time we thought they were talking about people from other countries, but Reuters is reporting:
[A] project, led by Japanese astronomers, will bring together a […]

Well, it looks like the science is in on you guys. Researchers in the U.S. have concluded that obsessive internet use is a public health problem, which is so serious it should be officially recognized as a clinical disorder
Sufferers spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing.
They suffer four […]

Four of Japan’s top robot startups have decided to pool their efforts in order to meet the threat of rival South Korea overcoming Japan’s lead int he race to commercialize robot technology.
Japan, which has long led the world in robo-technology, has created machines that can clean, dance, greet, feed, monitor, relax and befriend. […]

Sega Toys has come out with a new plastic plant robot thingy that apparently is designed for people who have no one to talk to.

The Pekoppa sits there like a regular plastic plant until you talk to it, which will cause the stem to bend, creating the impression that the plant is nodding in […]

For some reason, there’s a lot of interesting culture to be found at the porcelain altar, between the seatless Japanese-style toilets that present foreign visitors with their first major culture shock in Japan to those wonderful “Washlet” toilet seats that clean and dry your rear end while you do your business.
Once I went to […]

The New York Times has a nice bio piece on Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Nintendo’s Wii game system as well as Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, and Zelda! The latter 3 games have sold more than 350 million copies while the new Wii system has sold 25 million units.
 

He lives near Kyoto with his […]

Toyota recently became the world’s leading car maker and the Associated Press is reporting that last month it surpassed 1,000,000 gas-electric hybrid Prius sold (I looked it up, Toyota says the plural of Prius is Prius).

The Prius first went on sale in 1997.
It’s sold in 40 countries and regions.
592,000 were sold in North America and 315,000 in Japan.
The latest […]

The New York Times has an interesting article about the shortage of engineers in Japan. It’s really an astounding fact given how Japan is such a leader in science and technology. A big theme of the article is the Japanese attitude towards foreigners since allowing engineers to immigrate - as U.S. high-tech companies do to a large extent - […]

Japan’s oldest “modern” robot — the 10-foot, 6-inch GakuTenSoku — has been awakened in Japan. Gone are the inflatable rubber tubes of the original 1928 android build by biologist Makoto Nishimura. The bot now tilts its head, moves his eyes, smiles, and puffs out his cheeks thanks to a $200,000, computer-controlled, pneumatic-servo makeover. While nothing […]

Reuters is reporting that Japanese companies are coming out with supplements that are targeted specifically to providing a jolt to the tired eyes and sluggish brains of the nation’s game players. A new potion called “Game Suppli” has been developed specifically for those who play games.
Maker Kyowa-Yakuhin produces two different supplements for the “Game […]

Travelling by train turned out to be more lucrative than a visit to a pachinko parlour for some commuters last week, it was revealed yesterday.
Commuters at Hisayaodori, Nagoya “got back 10,000-yen and 5,000-yen bills as change instead of 1,000-yen bills after a station employee mistakenly put the wrong notes in a subway ticket vending machine […]

Someone seems to think so. . .

From Popgadget comes news of a super-looking little digital camera - the Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0. And the magpie in me is squawking “Want!”
Made by Komomura Corp., the MiniDigi AF5.0 is modelled on the original twin-lens 6×6 Rolleiflex, which debuted in 1929 and is still going.
This is a follow-up to the original MiniDigi, […]

ever thought about cruising on your own boat around the pacific ocean? you know, just for the hell of it? well then, are you an environmentalist perhaps? someone who is worried about the increasing acidity of our oceans and the giant pile of trash polluting the pacific. hmmm? then you’ll love this man.

his […]

i wasn’t really that impressed by the group of japanese engineers conclusions about the short comings of the macbook air’s design quality. it really seemed like nitpicking to bring up the amount of screws that hold down the keyboard and the non utilized space inside the casing. moreover, feigning surprise that apple would […]

InventorSpot’s Steve Levenstein has the lowdown on the new KIZUNA satellite that was launched recently by Japan, which promises to introduce a new era of super-high speed data communications across Asia

Let’s put things in perspective here: 1.2 Gbps is 150 times faster than the average high-speed ADSL connection rate (around 8 Mbps). It’s also 12 […]