In the West there are or were several programs that insert “smileys”. Many of those programs were probably malware but they were successful because even in the West many people like to insert at least faces like or emoji go far beyond just faces. A typical message might appear something like this

For whatever reason, lots of western tech people seem to hate this idea. They think emoji are frivolous and stupid. That might be true. What I’m not sure they realize though is just how big a part of Japanese culture they are at this point. They’re built into pretty much all standard Japanese input systems.

In Japanese you enter words by sounding out the word using roman or hiragana characters and then choosing one of the words that sounds the same as what you just typed. For example you might type ‘t’, ‘o’, ‘r’, ‘u’ and the system will display [とる」「取る」「撮る」「採る」「捕る」and others as some of the possible words that sound like ‘toru’.

All of the major Japanese input systems now support emoji as one of your choices. Enter the Japanese pronunciation of the word for strawberry, “ichigo” and you’ll not only get いちご、 一語、 苺 but you’ll also get the emoji for strawberry (🍓).

To show what I mean, here’s the Japanese input system on Mac (OSX) typing in various words and showing the options presented to the user.

Here’s the same ones on iPhone.

And on Android.

And on Windows 8

What you should take away from this is emoji are not some “optional” thing Japanese people have to install or go out of their way to use. At this point they are fully integrated into their workflow. Any computer, phone or tablet will present these choices to them in their daily use which makes it super easy for them to use in their communications.

As far as browsers so far only Internet Explorer on Windows and Safari on iOS and OSX appear to support them. Support should be coming to other browsers asap. Texting from iPhone to iPhone seems to work. Email might work. If you read your email online and use a browser that supports it or you read your email in an Apple product you might be in luck.

Apple’s support is fairly beautiful. Here are most of the emoji that are currently available as seen on OSX.

Windows 8 also supports them but they’re not nearly as beautiful.

Outside of Japanese I don’t know an easy way to insert them but if you want you can copy and paste from Wikipedia.

Sadly Facebook appears to block them. Given they’re part of the standard Japanese input systems (see above) it seems kind if arbitrary to not down right culturally insensitive to delete some of the characters all Japanese systems let you enter. If you write software that doesn’t currently support these characters I hope you’ll seriously consider updating it to support emoji.

Check it out if you can.

I’m not 100% sure what the exhibit’s point was but there were several parts. The first was a very large screen with video projected showing some part of Tokyo as seen from above very similar to Google Maps satellite view. The difference where was it as supposed to be a time lapsed video showing the city changing over time, buildings demolished and new ones built etc. I can’t imagine it was real but I suppose it could have been.

The next part had normal size TVs showing videos. All of them shared a team but each had a different piece of a story to tell about how Tokyo has changed over the years.

First off they pointed out that the average lifetime of a house in London is 140 years. In the USA it’s about 104 years. In Tokyo it’s only 26 years. In other words, in the 70+ years since World War 2 almost every building in Tokyo has been demolished and something new build 3 times over!

That exhibit showed pictures of Cat Street which is actually one of my favorite places in Tokyo. It’s this winding road that goes from Shibuya through Harajuku with no car traffic and lots of cool boutique stores and cafes. Well, according to the video that street used to be Shibuya River. At some point in the past it was covered over and then zoned for stores and over the years the buildings along it have been rebuilt many times. It was neat to see all the changes. They called Cat Street one of the best example of “commeridence” (actually I don’t remember the world they used. It was a combination of commerce or commercial with something meaning “place to live”. I don’t think they were putting it down at all. In fact I think they thought it was a good thing. The neighborhood is quiet and a nice place to spend time and yet it’s also got houses right behind all the stores.

Another video talked about how in the 1920s, most houses in Tokyo were single family homes, relatively large with a garden. Probably the kind you seen in old movies with very beautiful inner gardens that are viewable from the house. Over the years the property taxes on the land increased to the point that people had to sell off part of their land to afford to keep living there. It was implied, or maybe I inferred, that the government did this intentionally to divide up the land among more people, each time the land was divided new construction would happen on the sold land and so now most houses are 1/3 the size they used to be or at least occupy 1/3 the land as they did 80 or 90 years ago. They are taller now so they might actually have the same amount of living space. They called this process of subdividing the houses “subdivurban”.

The 3rd video probably had the most interesting idea. There was a big fire in Tokyo a long time ago. The fire burnt down most of the city. In order to prevent a fire from taking out so much of the city again, as they rebuilt the city they followed a specific design. They widened all the main streets making it harder for fires to jump across. Then they zoned just the area next to these main streets as commercial/business areas. The result is that each large city area is an inner neighborhood of individual houses surrounded by large “fence” of more fireproof buildings. That’s very different from say NYC where the blocks are very small and it’s all buildings. Or from say Paris where it’s almost all homogenous types of buildings. Instead Tokyo has this “urban village” feel. Going down the main streets of Tokyo it’s like a metropolis but step behind the buildings and you find individual family homes. I think that one of the ingredients that makes Tokyo feel a lot different than many other cities.

Much of the rest of the exhibit was about the architecture of some very modern designer Japanese houses and apartments designed to make them feel open, interesting, livable, etc all while being crammed into small spaces or in large apartment complexes.

Some other random things from the exhibit. 124,000 new houses are build every year in Tokyo compared to 43,000 in NYC and 20,000 in Paris. Another was that 2.5 billion cubic meters of rain fall on Tokyo every year but Tokyo only consumes 2 billion. That stat was attached to an idea for putting tanks under houses to collect rain water for each house.

Well, if you’ve seen Google’s Project Glass or things like Looxcie you can see a glimpse of the future. Those devices are always recording and while that might be the next generation of gadget, the one after that is something actually embedded in your eye or head or maybe even just contact lens that have a camera in them.

In such a world, what happens to all these rules? How can you tell when someone is taking a picture. Places that currently say “no pictures” will be S.O.L. It’s not just the above example where arguably you should be able to take a picture. Every policy arrest will be recorded, both from the officer’s point of view and the person they are arresting. Stopping people from recording movies will be impossible. At least the 2D movies. Maybe by that time we’ll have holographic movies.

But it’s not just that. Imagine the always on video camera. Now imagine you’re at a bar and someone does something embarrassing. Currently people have to remember to get their camera out and by the time it’s out and recording the embarrassing moment has passes. Not anymore. A few years from now every one of those events will be shared on facebook.

Imagine you’re doing something sketchy. Hope you remembered to turn it off.

What if you’re going to the bathroom? Taking a shower? Taking a shower with someone else? In bed with some? Think sexting is a big deal. Once these cameras are in your eye or head you’ll have to trust every person you’re around not to post every tiny thing they see you do.

I’m not really going anywhere with this. That future seems inevitable. I just find it interesting to think about a world with no privacy.

It turns out though that the Robot Restaurant is not really a restaurant. It’s more like a Las Vegas show that happens to give you some food. In fact the food is just a bento box. They only have 2 choices and for those with dietary restrictions you are S.O.L. (but of course you already new that or you wouldn’t have visited Japan in the first place )

I have a feeling the food is to get around some law. Or maybe it’s just the word “restaurant” makes it seem more appealing to a wider audience.

Anyway the location is in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho which is one of the many red light districts of Tokyo. Buried among all the shops in that crazy part of town is the Robot Restaurant. I wish I had taken better pictures but the Robot Restaurant’s entrance is like Vegas on steroids. I don’t think there’s a single surface in the entire place that isn’t flashing with colorful lights.

The show takes place 2 floors underground in a long room with seats along both sides of the room each backed by a 50 foot long display

The meat of the Robot Restaurant is basically an hour long show about half of which consists of dancing girls and the other half of people in robot costumes. It was good fun.

At some point in the show they started the Robot Wars.

In the Robot Wars a robot came out and fought various things including a raptor

and of course other robots

They also have these giant robot women machines.

At some point they pick volunteers and let them ride the robots. The robots can actually be driven around.

Personally I thought it was great ridiculous fun. If you’re in Tokyo it’s certainly an experience. I called 2 days before the day I wanted to go to try to make reservations for 4 people and was told there were no openings that day but there were some the next so if you’re planning to go be sure to call early. The Robot Restaurant website is here. I don’t see any English so you might want to have your concierge make the reservations for you. Digital cameras are welcome though they’d prefer you only take pictures and no video. Also other than your camera they don’t want to bring anything into the theater like coats, jackets or bags though they do provide free lockers to lock your stuff up. One last thing, they don’t allow people with tattoos so if you have tats be sure to cover them. The reason tattoos are not allowed in general is because in Japan tats represent that you are part of the mob.

Honestly I don’t know how popular they are but shopping around Tokyo in 2012 every men’s store seemed to have tons of them. The crazy thing to me is they seemed too small to be all that useful. I suppose you could put a Nexus 7, Kindle or iPad Mini inside but you can’t carry much else. What do they put in them? Point and Shoot camera? A single novel? I’m sure some Japanese men’s magazine would spell this all out for me but I didn’t have time to check.

Anyway here’s a few examples.

I didn’t actually notice that many around town but then again I’m not usually looking at the men when there’s so much other eye candy to watch

Some of them were fairly expensive. $200. Hmm, I guess compared to a Prada bag that’s cheap. Then again, I didn’t visit the Prada store in Japan to see how crazy expensive their’s are.

Excuse the swearing. I thought about editing this but decided this is how I wanted it. Raw.

Just in case you haven’t actually thought about what being “inconsiderate” means it means “to not consider”. I’m going to assume you believe that being inconsiderate is bad, dickish, not cool, something your parents tried to raise you not be. So why is it sooooo many people are so fucking inconsiderate? I suppose it comes from the definition …. they don’t consider. They are too self centered and selfish to consider others or just oblivious. What am I talking about? Let’s take some examples.

I ride a company shuttle to work. The 9am shuttle is generally close to full. I get on at the first stop when no one is on the bus. The bus has 2 seats on either side of the aisle. Most people take the seat close to the window leaving room for those who are going to get on the bus later. But a few assholes take aisle seats setting their bags on the seat by the window without considering that the bus is going to get full. By being selfish assholes they force people to take other seats, seats in the sun on the sunny side of the bus, seats in the back where it’s impossible to work as it bounces so much, or they make people ask “can I please use that seat?” which to the person asking usually feels awkward like they are putting someone out. They shouldn’t feel that way because they are taking to a selfish inconsiderate jerk but because they themselves are considerate they didn’t want to have to ask in the first place. If you’re riding a shuttle or bus, take the seat by the window. If the bus has passed the last pickup and the seat next to you is still available feel free to scoot over to the aisle or use both seats but before that don’t be a dick. Apparently people complained about this because at one point they put stickers all over the buses, “Don’t be an Edgehog”.

How about another? Pedestrians who cross against the light or cross extremely late. I look at it this way. Traffic lights are designed to facilitate sharing. Remember Sesame Street teaching us to share and cooperate? When the light turns green it’s like someone saying “It’s your turn now.” and saying to the people who get the red light “Remember to share, let the others have their turn.” And yet these assholes never learned that message. To them, they are the most important person in the world and everyone else can just fuck off. That’s really selfish and inconsiderate. It’s one thing to cross if there is no one around but if you cross against the light or cross late so that you force others who have the right of way to wait then you’re taking their turn. You’re being selfish and inconsiderate. Wait your turn like you were taught by your parents. That’s how societies function. People cooperate and share.

Don’t even get me started on cyclists. Especially in SF. I’m guessing 9 of 10 don’t stop and stop signs or traffic lights. FUCKING WAIT YOUR TURN!!! Riding a bike does not give you special permission to break all traffic rules.

Another? How many of your are too tough to use an umbrella? You probably think of it as a badge of honor, “I’m so cool I don’t need an umbrella”. Well guess, what? Did you ever consider that once you arrive at your destination it might be inconsiderate to DRIP ALL OVER THE FUCKING PLACE? Your clothing is drenched, your hair is dripping and you’re getting things all wet all because you only though of yourself trying not to look whimpy by using an umbrella. Or maybe you just didn’t want to have to carry it all day. Well, tough shit! You’re being an inconsiderate dickwad dripping all over whatever store, office, restaurant or house you arrive at.

Here’s another stupid one. Taking forever at a buffet. We have cafeterias at work and there will often be 20-50 people in one of the many lines. Quite often someone in the line is filling their plate one teaspoon at a time. FUCKING TAKE A SCOOP AND MOVE ON! Holding up 50 people so you can dish out one macaroni noodle at a time is FUCKING INCONSIDERATE! If you’re that damn picky then maybe you should schedule your lunch when you aren’t inconveniencing so many people.

While I’m on the cafe thing, the cafe I eat at most often is extremely full. There are never enough seats to seat everyone. There are about 12 six person booths. And yet, every day I see several of these booths occupied by 2 or LESS people! WTF? Can you not look around you and see that 50+ people are looking for a place to sit and here you are taking up 6 spots with only 1 or 2 people? That’s pretty much the definition of “not considering”.

Another and maybe it’s just the way I was raised. My dad taught me when waiting for an elevator, stand to the side as people are likely to be getting out. The same holds true for trains and subways. People are going to be getting off. When waiting to get in, don’t stand in the middle of the door way or rush on the train. Get the FUCK OUT OF THE WAY and let people get off first.

I’ve probably bitched about this one but what is it about certain cultures that so many inconsiderate men feel they have to destroy public bathrooms? The number of public men’s bathrooms I’ve seen that were messed up is far larger than the number that weren’t. Broken doors, broken seats, seats that are peed all over, toilets clogged with TP, it’s fucking messed up. It’s like 9 out of 10 men were raised by dogs or something. Actually it’s probably only 1-3 out of 10 but it only takes a few assholes to ruin it for everyone else. This is probably my bias but I have this stereotype that most of this comes from jock assholes who are actually closet sissies. They are afraid of someone seeing their tiny cocks so they use a stall instead of the urinal to hide themselves. Then they pee all over the place and flush with their piss covered shoe as a means of feeling macho. I don’t have any actual data to back this up but my own anecdotal accounts is that 19 times out of 20 it’s the jock asshole that uses the stall instead of the urinal. I keep hoping Andy Samberg would figure out some viral video song to shame jock assholes from using the stalls as they do and ruining it for the rest.

Peace out!

At some point, partly due to the humidity in Japan, I got tired of having a pocket full of lose change that I had to rummage through to find coins so I picked up a coin purse. I’m not going back.

There’s tons of them in Japan. They are a little on the pricey side considering what they are. Around $40-$120

Crazier, at the Men’s Isetan in Shinjuku, a high end department store they had crazy Italian brands there from $200-$700 for an effing coin purse. I didn’t look at the prices of the matching key holder, business card holder, and wallets :-p

Still I find mine invaluable. It’s much easier to find the change I’m looking for. The coins don’t jiggle around noisily in my pocket and they don’t get my pocket dirty. Unfortunately they do get the inside of the coin purse dirty. It’s easier to empty my pockets and easier to grab them in the morning on my way out. Yes, I suppose I could go with one of those cheap rubber ones but where’s the fun in that? :p

I’m really curious why those companies haven’t tried harder to push them here in the USA. Not considered manly enough? Whatever dude.

I didn’t take nearly enough pictures to show the variety but here’s a few casual ones.

Here’s a few less casual but not quite dressy. These are from a few years ago and sadly these are not the most interesting once in this style.

Unfortunately for me I’m a U.S. 10-11 (depending on the brand) or a Europe 44 which is a 29cm shoe in Japan. Most Japanese shoes only go to 27cm or 28cm max but once in a while I get lucky.　For example Dragon Beard goes to size 44 on some shoes. If you’re an American size 9 or smaller and you like this kind of stuff be sure to check out Japanese shoes next time you’re in Japan. Good places to look. 109 Men’s in Shibuya, Marui Men’s (0101) in Shinjuku, Hankyu Men’s in Yurakucho/Ginza are 3 places that come to mind.

So, I’m looking for a new one and it’s surprising with just a few, I would think, common sense requirements it’s hard to find a bag.

The requirements

*) Must have a separate notebook area.

Some bags, like my current one, have a main area and inside that area is a pocket. I want a bag that separates those 2 areas (separate zippers) so I can always very quickly put notebook back in the bag with no fuss.

This bag has an inside pocket like my current bag which can make it frustrating to put the notebook in when the back is not straight or when it’s full or when you’re in a cramped area like a bus or plane

Where as this pack, though it’s a camera bag, has a distinct separate area for the notebook so even when it’s full it’s easier to take the notebook in and out

*) The separate notebook area must not have a zipper lip.

Some bags have a cloth lip the covers the zipper. To open the bag you need to peel back the cover. This makes it slightly harder to open and close the back. Also if you do it wrong the lip scrapes across your finger nail cuticles which is no fun. Here’s one with a zipper lip

Those zipper lips probably prevent rain and snow from getting through the zipper but I don’t need that.

*) There must be an easy access area on the front for flat stuff

In my current bag there are 2 pockets in the front cover were put flat things and they are super easy to access. Things like a kleenex pack, wet tissues, my passport, etc..

*) A front pocket for smaller things like pens, batteries, iPods.

That’s pretty common but there are some bags that put some kind of organizer in the main pocket instead of having a separate pocket. That makes all those small things unreachable if the main pocket is full.

*) The bag should be a normal size.

North Face appeared to have some bags I might like which I saw on their website. I went to their store though and the bags were giant. At least 30% larger than my current one. I guess being North Face they were designed for hiking not commuting.

*) The bag can be flattened for packing.

I found a few beautiful bags that meet the above requirements but they are padded to be stiff. In other words I can’t put the bag in a suitcase as it won’t flatten. That may or may not be important but there are times when it’s nice to be able to limit your bags. Like coming back from vacation you might have your new loot bag and you’d like to carry one less bag so you pack your backpack. But you can only do that if your backpack is packable.

These 2 are both padded

*) At least a little style.

Of course that’s subjective but that’s just to say I’d like a bag I find attractive.

Here’s two from Victorinox. The first one has this strange front flap. It’s held up by 2 zippers and 2 buttons. If the bottons come undone the entire front of bag opens. Sounds like an easy way for everything to fall out and doesn’t meet my criteria for a smaller front area.

Here’s another that’s also missing the small front area. It has a tiny area in front which so too small for anything but maybe a few pens.

Sigh…. I’ll keep looking.