Polar Bear Plus

Waiting for my daughter

My daughter is taking a Kanji Aptitude Test now, and I'm waiting at a cafe near the test site.

"Boys Pasture"

Do you want to "breed" boys in a pasture? In Japan, you can. But not in the real world, of course.

Cyber Agent, a major dot-com company in Japan, has opened a mobile website titled "Otokonoko Bokujo (Boys Pasture)". It's a kind of SNS and enables women to communicate each other. Here's a screen shot of "Profile" page:

So, why is it called "Boys Pasture"? Well, members (women) can upload information and photos of their male acquaintances (their permission is required, but not verified), and share them with other members. "Boys" are displayed as horses, oxen, and sheep in a pasture:

The purpose of the website, Cyber Agent says in its press release, is to share the information of "boys" and help the members to find a boyfriend, hopefully a fiance.

In Japan, marriage rate has been declining for some reasons, and young men and women who want to get married are struggling for Mr./Ms. Right. Their activity of finding a fiance/fiancee is called "Konkatsu (fiance-hunting)", which is named after job-hunting. Now, marrying is as hard as finding a work. Cyber Agent claims "Boys Pasture" will be a great tool for Konkatsu.

Does it creep you out? Yes, many Japanese people feel so, and raise a hue and cry against the website. Facing criticism, Cyber Agent declared in its official blog that it is planning to change the name and start deleting boys information without their permission. But some netizens are still angry, and joking around the website by creating a website titled "Girls Pasture".

People could allow its name "Boys Pasture" by considering it as a joke, but not Cyber Agent's downplaying privacy. The service will be forced to close, if it does not take some substantial measures to block personal information without permission.

Omikoshi @Ome

I'm staying at my parents' house in Ome with my daughter since it's "Golden Week" (a series of national holidays in Japan) now. And today we have a traditionall festival of Ome.

Like many other small town in Japan, population of young people has been diminishing year by year. In the past, many young men participated in Omikoshi (a wooden house with wheels which people pull and move around the town), but today I saw few young males there.

However, according to my mother, young women love Happi (traditional Japanese cloth for festivals) and are willing to participate in Omikoshi because they can wear Happi when they pull it. Actually, I did see many young females wearing Happi.

Mitaka Station

Mitaka station (JR Line) has been renewaled. Now you can take a rest at nice cafe and restaurants. Among them, I love "Muffinari's",which has so many kinds of muffins!

Once again

Still testing iPhone and typepad app. Thank you for your patience!

(Photo: Hibiya Park, Tokyo)

From my new mobile phone

I've just got iPhone. Now I'm testing typepad app. Do you hear me now?

WBC on Twitter

WBC (World Baseball Classic) final was held yesterday. As you may know, Japan again rose to the top!

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to watch the game on TV because it was held around noon in Japanese standard time, and I had a lot of works to do. However, I knew what's happened on the ground when it happened without watching TV at all --  thanks to so many tweets that told me the details about what was going on! Actually, there were so many twitter users who kept reporting the final game that my twitter timeline was filled up with the comments about WBC. The information was faster and deeper than those of other news sites.

The other day, I saw a TV program titled "Terebi No Korekara (Future of TV)." On that program, some people said TV will loose its power in Japan. They argued that Japanese family used to gather around a TV in a "chanoma (living room)" and have a chat about TV programs, but "gathering at chanoma" is vanishing since Japanese lifestyle is changing, thus TV's importance is also declining. I agree to the argument, but what I saw on Twitter  was "virtual chanoma" in my opinion. Friends are gathering around a special event (in this case, WBC final) and chat about it -- in a virtual, not real, living room. Japanese TV stations could offer something to them, even though it's not through a TV screen, but through Internet.

In the next WBC (it will be held in 2013), more people will express their excitements on Twitter or similar web services. I hope "virtual chanoma" will prosper, and the Japanese national team win the victory again!

2006 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 公式記録DVD(通常版) スポーツ

HD-DVD Will Promotes Digital Downloads

I've read "The Ghost Map", an interesting book about two men who fought against the cholera outbreak in London 1854. Since the book is filled with logical analysis and arguments, I'm so surprised that the author, Steven Johnson, is one of the early-adopters who bought HD-DVD player:

- Interview with HD DVD player owner Steven Johnson (kottke.org)

The interview reveals the reason why Johnson mistakenly chose HD-DVD, not Blu-Ray, and also his reaction against Toshiba's rout. What is interesting, though, is his following comment about Blu-Ray:

The consolation prize is that Apple introduced HD rentals with the AppleTV -- which we also have -- right as HD-DVD was dying, so I might be able to bypass Blu-Ray altogether, just out of spite. 

He has no intention to buy any Blu-Ray player, at least for a while. Apple TV, a digital media receiver with which users can download content from the iTunes Store, could be a substitute for defeated HD-DVD. If Johnson is a particular early-adopter who owns HD-DVD, its defeat would boost the demand for digital downloads.

The following article is talking about the inevitable war between Blu-Ray and Internet:

- Digital downloads will be Blu-ray's downfall (CNET)

If Blu-Ray alliance grows bullish because now there is only one dominating standard, some consumers -- especially ex-HD-DVD owners -- will turn into supporters of digital downloads. Blu-Ray must keep on fighting, otherwise Internet  will avenge the death of HD-DVD.

BTW, Johnson would envy Japanese consumers who also mistakenly bought HD-DVD players like him:

- Insanely Great: Japanese Electronic Store Letting Customers Trade HD DVD Players for Blu-ray (GIZMODO)

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic -- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World Steven Johnson

The Pen That You Can Write and Record with

Do you know how to use a pen? Yes, a pen is a tool to write, but now you can use it to record messages.

- Pen-style Voice Recorder, DVP-2000

The "Digital Voice-Pen", produced by NHC, is a combination of pen and digital voice recorder. You can write, record messages, and transfer files with USB connection. There are already some pen-style voice recorder, but most of them visibly look like a machince, and contain no ink. Thus people around you will notice you have a recorder, not a pen.

So who is using NHC's Digital Voice-Pen? The company says the main users are businesspersons in their thirties and forties. They use it to record important business negotiations without letting negotiating partners detect it. Actually, you can start recording by pushing the clip, so nobody will realize that you have a voice recorder.

Well, I want to have one, but do not let someone use it when we have a meeting. What do you think?

Now, You Can Call a Robot Porter

You don't have to carry your luggage at Kita Kyushu Airport. You can call a porter -- not human, it's robot!

asahi.com reports Yaskawa Electric Corporation has started proving test of "RoboPorter", a full automatic machine which can carry luggage and navigate passangers. The robot has three wheels and laser sensors, which enable it to avoid obstacles automatically.

(You can see more pictures at this page.)

Yaskawa Electric is planning to put RoboPorter into practical use within three years. Does anyone want to buy one for your home?

Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime