Culture Japan - Your portal to Japan

A Week in Tokyo 77

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:22:00 +0900

Have a read through this post and tell me what you prefer:-
1. More regular life-from-Tokyo photo updates - but photos are iPhone Instagram quality or,
2. Lesser updates but taken with a DSLR - the type of photos that I usually take.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

I personally prefer the regular landscape photos - the quality is so much better but current technology does not allow me to upload to the Internets from my camera - Sure I could use eye-fi but I cant post text with each photo. I want to be able to do updates on the go and thats what the iPhone currently enables me to do.
Currently I post everything to my Instagram (user id = dannychoo) which then gets propagated to my Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook - this post is a collection of those photos taken over the past week. Any Japanese in this post that you see was posted at the same time from the iPhone.

This post is called A Week in Tokyo 77 because I plan to go back in time to write 71 - 76 which will cover the past few months that I missed.

First photo - heading back to the office from lunch. I love Japan’s rail crossings - the sound feels so nostalgic from the time I first visited Japan.
日本の踏切は素敵。

Good morning! How about some Tokyo blue skies to start the day?
今日も清々しい朝だな。わはははは。

There is a cat at my entrance with red eyes.
玄関に子猫がいる。何だか目が赤いぞ。

Buying some groovy tunes on iTunes. You can see what I buy by following me on iTunes Ping. Most of the tunes are electronic or lounge.
iTunesでグルービーな曲を買う。

Working on Mirai Millennium - here is a sneaky peeky.
ミライミレニアムのストーリー展開中。ちらり一枚。

Roadwork machinery in Japan is so cute and chibi - but noisy.
工事中。夢七海ちゃんどこ？

Caption this image.
この画像にセリフつけて。

Thai for lunch - which of these would you choose?
今日のランチどれにしますか？

Thai Hofun for lunch with a Popura-chan.
ねんどろいどぽぷらちゃんとランチ。

Guilty Crown gatcha on the streets of Tokyo. I've seen gatcha machines in many parts of Asia - how about in your neck of the woods?

Stopping by a temple on the way back to base.
法連寺。日本のお寺も素敵。

View from the train track.
路線からの眺め。

I love Japan’s shopping streets called Shotengai.
日本の商店街好き。「日本人で良かった」と僕は外人なので言えないが、「日本と出逢って良かった」と言える。

Lanterns on the streets of Japan are so cool. Would you hang these in your room?
街中の提灯は外人目線から見るとクールだよね。
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Out n about on the Mirai Itachari.
商店街に痛チャリ発見。

Do you know what Japanese traditional character this is called?

Trains in Japan are so on time that you can set your watch by them.
外人目線で日本の電車もクールだよね。

Even street signs in Japan are cooler. Can you guess what this sign is saying?
日本の標識の方がクールだよね。

These park signs are brilliant! Can you add some interesting text below each item?

At Hatanodai Shotengai.
旗の台商店街です。

Example prices of apartments ranging from 630 usd - 755 usd per month. How does that compare to your woods?

“Tomare” is the imperative form of "tomaru" [とまる] meaning "stop."

Sending Mirai’s doll uniform to factory overseas for mass production.
みらいちゃんのドール用制服サンプルを海外の工場に。

Prepping the Itachari post. I use a software called Photo Mechanic to sort the order - there is a tool that then renames the image file name.
The photos are zipped up and uploaded to Mirai Gaia where the photos are then inserted into the database in the order that I specified and automatically sent to Flickr.

You will be able to use these tools in Mirai Gaia Ruby soon.

Mirai school uniform back from the dry cleaners. Decided to use a half mannequin as I can hang it up on a wall.
みらいちゃん夏制服クリーニングから帰ってきた。

Figma Robocop is extremely well made!
You can look for him on one of the following trusted retailers.
http://www.amiami.com
http://toylet.net
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://hlj.com
http://hobbystock.jp
http://kidnemo.com
http://jlist.com

She fell from the ceiling. I think I’ll name her Reina.
またもらっちゃった＞＜ 7人目のお迎えだ。レイナと言う名前にしよう。

Paying the annual fee to my neighborhood association which is known as Chokaihi [町会費[ちょうかいひ]]. Its not compulsory but everybody pays it and is separate to the taxes that folks pay to the government.
This fee helps fund local activities in the area such as festivals. Paying of this fee goes way back into Japan's past where villages would ask residents to chip in.
You can choose not to pay it but cold stares from the neighbors you shall receive if you dont. Its only 2,400 yen per year. Any similar fees like this in your neck of the woods?

You can even make nomalicious dishes with Moekana.

Shinobu Oshino figure by Good Smile Company - very cute and looks great with the plants!
グッスマの忍野忍フィギュア。

Shiitake mushroom tea tastes lovely - do try it!
椎茸茶美味しい。

Downloading the PSP version of Ridge Racers 2 - actually downloaded it first on my PS Vita and now downloading it on the PSP. Got it because the Vita version of Ridge Racer was apparently a rip off with only 3 tracks and 3 cars.
Ridge Racers 2 for PSP in action below.

Ridge Racer is my all time fave racing game. Folks say that the cars dont handle realistically - but how realistic are you going to get on a game console anyway?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Editing footage taken at Goodsmile for the Asian broadcast of Culture Japan - a few announces in the show!
グッスマで撮った映像を編集中。カルジャパのアジア放送用だ。

These flags are called Nobori which are now used in Japan as advertising tools. They were used in the past to identify clans in battle.

Lunch! Dont know why the sausages have bones in them though.

Heading to Lazona in Kawasaki - our car navigation leading the way.
川崎に移動中。

At Kawasaki Lazona. 川崎ラザーナにて。

Bump into Mr Ken Lee at Lazona.

Popura-chan joins us for dindins.

580 yen dinner.

Didn't really get time to enjoy this meal as we were rushing to make the movie.

iPhone 5 prototype get. Not.

Watched Battleship - t’was a fun show! About 1,200 yen or about 15 USD per seat. How does that compare to your woods?
バトルシップ見た。面白かった！映画作って見たいな〜

There is a poll embedded in this article.

Spiderman is out June 30th in Japan. When is it out in your kingdom?

Paying for the parking - 600 yen.

Next Mirai Itasha.
次のみらいちゃん痛車。

I'm still on the iPhone 4. Does the iPhone 4S take better pictures in low light? I'll probably upgrade with the iPhone 5.

Break time with some Ridge Racers 2 - got myself one of those cables that allows me to play on the TV. Our Regza TV has a game mode which makes retro games (or anything with a lower resolution than full HD) look good.

The question on this quiz show is "Why do kangaroo's lick their front feet?"

Looks like somebody is making some shoes.

Ebi Gyoza (prawn dumplings) for brekkie.
朝食はエビ餃子

There is something about girls with chains.
女の子と鎖。

Homu Homu.
ほむほむ。

Dracuriot poster.
ドラクリオットポスター。

Sony HXR-NX70J which we use to shoot Culture Japan. Any of you in TV/Video production and if so what camera do you recommend?
番組撮影用カメラはこれ。

Moekana T-Shirt container sample arrived. Aiming to have a full fleet of Moekana T-shirts ready by late Summer.
もえかなTシャツのコンテナー試作品キタ。

Cheap cyclops cosplay.
僕サイクロプスのコスプレ挑戦して見ました。

About to kill a watermelon with mah katana.
刀でスイカを斬って見る。

Here are my most fave Super Famicom games. All of them by Konami! cWhats your all time fave Super Famicom game?
僕が一番好きなスーパーファミコンゲームをみつ。全部コナミ作！

Reina-chan kawaii ><
レイナちゃん可愛い＞＜

More cute girlies on the streets of Tokyo.

Japanese Mc Donald’s tastes good once in a while.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

The service level in a Japanese Mc Donald’s is just astoundingly good!
日本のマックのサービスレベルは世界一。

Japanese streets have so much character.
日本の街風景は美しい〜。

Lunch in Japan for 280 yen or 3.51 USD. Who said it was expensive to live here?
お昼で280円。ヨーロッパと比べると、日本での食事の方が安いよね。

This chap wants you to come play.

Peaceful Japan !
平和な日本！

Throwing out the paper for recycle collection.
今日はリサイクルの日。

More progress on Mirai Millennium.
ミライミレニアムストーリー展開中。

Skype with my man Chris getting ready to roll our Mirai Gaia Ruby soon.
クリスとスカイプ中。ミライガイアルビーはそろそろ出ます。

Ginger Ale and Robocop. Dead or alive you are drinking with me.

Yamato 2199.

Moekana in weekly Ascii!
週刊アスキーにもえかな！

Discovering a new neighborhood at Hatanodai.
おしゃれな住宅地を旗の台で見つけた。

One of the reasons why I love Japan - always a new discovery! Stumbled onto this neck of the woods filled with gorgeous residential housing.
ここに住んでみたいな〜。

Sunny day in Tokyo.
晴れた午後の日。

Italian for lunch.
イタリアでランチ。

Out n about on the itachari.
移動はもちろん痛チャリで。

The bring-your-own-toppings pizza.
ピザの具はお家から持ってきてみたいな。

What flavor is this pizza? Why that’s the bring-your-own-toppings pizza my son.
具は少なさ過ぎ。(^O^)

Anime North 2012

Tue, 29 May 2012 09:28:12 +0900

Some great coverage of the cosplay held at Anime North 2012 - photos taken by Rin and you can see more at his burogu.
More coverage at figure.fm too.
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39873/Anime+North+2012+part+1.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39874/Anime+North+2012+part+2.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39871/AN+2012+Cosplay.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39854/Anime+North+2012+Part+2.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39851/Anime+North+2012+Part+1.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/39853/Anime+North+2012+loot.html

Yuzuriha Inori Dollfie

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:58:00 +0900

A Dollfie Dream gets the Guilty Crown treatment - Yuzuhara Inori custom work by Kuraikawaii - make up by Hikaru132. She's such a cutie!

Places to visit in Japan

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:14:00 +0900

Thought I'd put together some of the photo posts that I've written about various places to visit in Japan - how many of these places have you been to?

There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Mirai Suenaga Cosplay

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:00:00 +0900

Ladies around the world like to cosplay as Mirai Suenaga and if I was a lady too then I would probably do so - but wait - I *can* cosplay as Mirai during the evenings.
If you have cosplayed as Mirai (or any of the Mirai Millennium characters) then post a link in the comments with a photo to your work and I'll post it here!
If you are attending any anime event that I'm attending, then come to my panel and I'll film you for Culture Japan just like we have done in the past.

The lovely Alodia from the Philippines as Mirai in Winter school uniform.

From the US hails "Real Saber" Maridah who does a lovely Mirai in Summer uniform.

One of Japan's most popular cosplayers Kipi does our Mirai-chan!

Awesome cosplay of Mirai in her Solar Marine uniform by Jan from the US.

Sweetie Cela Krissel in Mirai Summer uniform. Photo by kazereivolt.

Mirai-chan Summer uniform cosplay by Kawon from Japan.

Sweetsome Mirai cosplay by mkxxx from Japan.

Some beautiful Mirai Summer uniform cosplay by Lucy from Mexico.

More Mirai Summer uniform cosplay from the Philippines by SupahGal.

Alodia also does Mirai in Summer uniform too!

Mari Tan and Peach Hime from the US cosplay as Mirai and Kanata in Summer uniform.

LittleYuki from Malaysia in Mirai Maid cosplay.

Another one of Jan this time in Summer uniform.

Utaco from Japan tries her dab hand at Mirai's Summer uniform.

Lucy from Mexico does Mirai in Winter uniform.

Mirai Summer uniform by Esther from Singapore.

Jessica from Canada does a great Mirai Summer uniform cosplay, and she even made a video!

Edelyn from Indonesia does Mirai Summer uniform too.

Sweet Mirai in Summer uniform cosplay by Hion from Japan.

Jessie from the US does a great Solar Marine uniform cosplay of Mirai.

Azhuri from Indonesia does a sweet Mirai Summer uniform cosplay too.

Another great cosplay of Mirai in Solar Marine uniform by Hammi from Malaysia!

And here's another Summer uniform cosplay by Reyna Toledo from Manila!

Winter uniform cosplay by Hime from Indonesia!

Great Summer uniform cosplay by AnsaMao from Canada!

Summer uniform cosplay by Ai-chan from Japan at NicoNico Chokaigi!

Summer uniform cosplay by Asanon from Japan, next to the new Mirai Suenaga Itasha!

Summer uniform cosplay by Sachie from Canada - and a video too!

Winter uniform cosplay by Shanna Palileo from the Philippines!

Kigurumi cosplay by Haru from the US!

Check out my lovely daughters who also like to cosplay as mirai-chan! Here we have Karin in Mirai-chan's Summer School Uniform.

Yuki in Mirai-chan's Winter School Uniform.

Yuki wearing Mirai's Pichi Pichi Bikini.

Ryomo in Mirai's Solar Marine Uniform.

Saber in Mirai-chan's Maid outfit.

And for folks who need Mirai’s Summer Uniform in a rush - its available for purchase at Lucy Pop!

These illustrations for your reference if you plan to cosplay as Mirai-chan too!
Mirai in her Summer uniform.

Mirai in her Winter uniform.

Mirai in her Solar Marine uniform.

Mirai's weapon of choice - Millennium Blade.

The Solar Marine Biostream Boots.

Mirai in her Maid outfit.

Mirai in her cute bikini!

Racing Miku Giveaway

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:45:00 +0900

Recently had a giveaway to win this Racing Miku from Good Smile Company over at Facebook - winner announced this morning.
But the nice folks at Hobby Search are offering another Racing Miku as a giveaway! This time we'll run the giveaway here at dannychoo.com.

To win, all you have to do is leave a comment below with your feedback on what sort of improvements you would like to see around here - it can be anything from "more posts about Japan, figures, dolls or wot not" to "site needs speeding up" or "I want to earn points when I comment so that I can use those points for getting discounts when buying figures online" - leave any feedback that would help me improve the community and content. If you are already content with everything, just leave a comment to let me know what you already like.

I'm asking because we are nearing the completion of the Ruby version of Mirai Gaia. As many of you know, Mirai Gaia is the web platform that runs this and all of my client sites too.

Ruby will run on Amazon EC2 and will be able to scale as traffic increases. I'm also thinking of merging figure.fm back to this site and include proper comrades functionality so that you can follow the posts belonging to just your comrades. There will be a single Culture Japan account which you can use across a variety of networks too.

The main reason why we lost the community was because I could not afford to maintain it - server costs are obscene! Now that my company is making a wee bit of a profit, I can afford to invest into scaling my web properties. All your data is safe and will be available on the new platform too.

The new Mirai Gaia will provide you with a bunch of tools to pull and push your content to and from networks such as Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, Wordpress etc. I want to provide you with tools that make content creation as easy as doing a bottom burp.

As I have a large amount of Japanese users too - I want to connect you with them through the new platform which will help you absorb the culture much quicker though making new Japanese friends.

If you think that the otaku/Japan content community is missing something and you would like to see it then mention that in your comment too. If you are a dab hand at photoshop, have a good sense of design, can translate from Japanese to English and would like to do some part time work to help out on the up n coming stuff then leave a comment too!

Will choose a winner this time next week - the winner will be notified by me replying to your comment below. I'll need your snail mail which I will pass onto Hobby Search - they will send you your Racing Miku when she's out later this year.

Japanese Pets

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:34:00 +0900

Look closely before you pick these up at the super market thinking that they are salads - because they are actually beetles.

One of the most interesting aspects of Japanese culture I've seen is that many folks in Japan love to keep these Kabuto Mushi (otherwise known as stag beetles) as pets - see some of them in action below.

Stag beetles are usually kept in the toy section of department stores - this little fella was like "dad I want one!!"

Hmmmm. The more I look at them the more they seem cute to me?!!!
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Not absolutely sure how long their lifespan is but some of my Japanese followers on Twitter tell me anything from 1 - 4 years.

Caption this image.

Shelves of beetle goodies - food, houses and objects for the beetles to play with.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Anime Expo x Culture Japan

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:12:00 +0900

Anime Expo and I have been working on this years program guide for the past few weeks and its finally done! The artwork was directed by myself and put together by my illustrator Pinakes. The artwork features Anime Expo's mascot character Max with our Culture Japan character Mirai Suenaga in her Solar Marine Suit.

This announcement was made on the AX website earlier today. You can grab the 1920 x 1080 HD version of this wallpaper from the AX website.

And here is the portrait version. In the foreground we have Retrokyu conveniently guarding Max's booty.

And here is a larger version of the portrait for those of you with bigger screens. If you want a bigger version with transparency - you can download it from my Flickr in PNG format - its 2374px x 2672px.

The whole piece was constructed with Sai and Photoshop.
Do make sure you grab a copy of the program guide! I'll be signing em if you want at my panel.

Last years program guide...

...which also had a wee bit of Mirai.

Japan Road Bike

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:49:00 +0900

I skipped the Itachari and made two Itasha instead - the Nissan March and recently the Nissan Dualis - but! The circle had to be complete so I recently made my road bike into a Mirai Suenaga Itachari.

An Itachari [痛チャリ[いたちゃり]] is the word to describe a bike that is decorated with moe 2D girls. The kanji 痛 (ita) when prefixed to an object usually means that its covered in 2D girl stickers. Examples are Itasha and Ita-curtain.

The "Chari" [ちゃり] is a short form of "Chariot" [ちゃりおっと] which is a colloquial term to describe a bicycle. A bicycle used by a mother is called Mama-Chari [ママチャリ] for example.

My first road bike is a GIOS! Looking a bit too plain at the moment though...

The model is GIOS Leggero. I was told that the bike cost a bomb - the basic model alone retails for 388,500 yen at Rakuten @.@

Yes - it fell from the ceiling ^^;;

Anyway, today we look at road biking and how to make an Itachari. First up - turn bike upside down like so and remove wheels. I removed both because I thought I was going to do both wheels but it seems that most folks only do the back - apparently having the front one done too could cause the bike to blow over in strong winds.
But why go out biking in strong winds anyway? ^^

My wheel size is 622x15C Tubeless. I actually got my local bike shop to put tubes in them as they are easier to maintain. Without the inner tube, they go flat real quick.

Wheels are Shamal Ultra 2 Way - looks like they cost 123,500 yen alone on Amazon Japan ><

This is the back wheel with the gears removed.

As this is the first time we are making an Itachari, we take a sheet of plastic and cut it so that it rests on the wheel like so - this becomes a template and helps us make the real wheel cover later.

Preparing image data on the computer. I've asked POPBOX in Asakusa to help me with the printing - all I do is give them the data in Illustrator format and they make the wheel cover.

If you dont have folks handy who can do this for you, you can just try using your printer at home too. What you print should then be covered in a plastic film which you should be able to pick up from a stationers.

The template is ready and we can use it to make the real wheel cover from another sheet of plastic.

And here is one I prepared earlier. You should be able to pick up sheets like this from a DIY store. In Japan you could go to Tokyu Hands.

Dont forget to make a hole so that you can fill up the tyres! But dont cut them like this - cut a circle instead as we found that it was difficult to unscrew the cap ^^;

The folks at Popbox now proceed to print the data that I sent them. You need not worry about the markings of where the screws go as they do all that.
The Mirai on the left of this sheet in Summer uniform will be the sloped side of the wheel meaning that a small slice needs to be cut off.

I didn't know this but if I did then I would have designed the wheel in a way so that the slice that gets chopped off does not affect the illustration - will show you what I mean further down the post.

The other side of the wheel (the side with the gears) is completely flat so no slices need to be cut off.

The cutting machine starts to do its thing.

The Mirai stickers are stuck on the wheel covers - I have already put one cover on and replaced the gears.

These are small plastic spacers which allow me to screw on the wheel covers - you should be able to pick up something similar at a DIY store which you can just cut down to this size - or try using something like thick wire cabling?

This is how the wheel cover is held to the wheel.

And here are the small plastic clear screws that hold on the covers - if you dont have any handy - you can take the small screws out from your best friends computer which will be used to hold in the HDD's.

Snapped when making a prototype wheel cover.

Picked up this DS-30 BLT Minoura stand from Amazon - will need it to display the Itachari at events such as ItaG Festa.

Mirai Itachari complete!

Illustration is by Japanese illustrator Hagure Yuuki-sensei. If you look closely at Mirai's arm, you will see that a slice has been taken out. You should design your wheel cover so that the slice is taken out of the background instead.

My first time making an Itachari and have gained much learnings. It's much obvious later on but we were designing just the wheels in Photoshop and Illustrator - should have taken into account the position of the bars which hold the wheel - at the moment they cover up Mirai so we should have designed this side with her facing backwards.

This side of the wheel looks fine - the bars dont cover Mirai but her logo gets covered up a bit. If you are designing your own Itachari then take these points into account and dont make the same mistake that I made!

The person who gave me this bike replaced the parts with a load of highgrade bits n bobs - DURA-ACE 7900 series which seems to have cost a bomb ><

Goodsmile Racing logo - a hint as to who gave me the bike.

Mirai-chan in her Winter uniform.

I've always loved Hagure Yuuki-sensei's artwork and was over the moon when he agreed to doodle Mirai-chan for us. You can see some of his work below in the eroge title Koikishi Purely Kiss.

Was thinking of placing stickers over the frame too but decided to leave it like this for now.

Tempted to do the front too ^^;
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Front light - if you dont turn it on during the night then be prepared to be stopped if a policeman sees you. The light was picked up from Amazon - really cheap at about 700 yen.

Dura-ace dual control levers. These alone cost 54,546 yen ><

MiraiClock3 to keep me company during a ride - free for you iOS users and Android coming soon. Android is so much more difficult to program for which is why its taking a long time.

Minoura phone grip - this thing is rock solid!

Picked up a mini pump too.

Retail price for this crankset cost 53,898 yen. Have no idea why they cost an arm and leg.

The pedals alone cost money too! 23,000 yen ^^

Picked up a handy little mirror too.

Still getting used to the levers which move sideways too.

The person who gave me the bike literally high-graded everything! Brakes cost 31,639 yen @.@

Fi'zi:k saddle costing 16,000 yen.

And got myself this lock to secure the bike to a pole while I nip into a restaurant for a bite.

I usually leave bicycles outside the house but everybody understandably recommended me to leave this one inside^^; Not much space to put it though so made use of the Minoura Bike Tower 10 - 10,830 yen.

Pretty simple to put together.

And she's up and away - bottom rack waiting for my wife's road bike to be shipped from the UK she's going for Wiggle.

There is a poll embedded in this article.

A lock for the bike also from Amazon for 1,575 yen.

And here is that pump up close - Mini Morph from Amazon - 3,431 yen.

Mini Morph folks out like so ready for action.

Spending an evening maintaining the bike.

I'm still very new to road biking - dont even know what this bit is called. At first I didn't know it could be flipped around to make the handlebars higher.

Photos taken pre-Itachari - going for a spin in my neck of the woods.

Reached Tamagawa River a few kilos away from home. Photos taken in the same spot as the Cycling in Tokyo post.

On a wet day like this, a mud guard would come in handy - still trying to look for a decent one.

I initially wanted to respray the frame orange but was told that to strip the paint and respray would cost about 200,000 yen! I decided to convince myself that the blue matches Mirai's blue ribbon and that I should keep it as it is ^^;

I love these riversides which you often see in anime.

Stopping for a break on the way to Kawasaki.

The iPhone leads the way.

Needs a mount for the iPhone.

And here is the Minoura iH-100M Phone Grip which I picked up from Amazon.

Owned one of these phone mounts before which was terrible - this phone grip however is really rock solid. Make sure you get one that fits your handle bars as they come in 2 different sizes.

The iPhone can be mounted with its case still on - many other mounts require that you remove the case. The case I'm using is the Magpul.

A few companies have offered to make Mirai cases but I dont want to make anything that I would not use myself. The character cases I've seen offer no protection of the actual phone apart from scratch protection - I drop my phone all the time and need to make sure that it does not bite the dust. Will consider making some if the covers protect the phone from a drop.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Back of the mount.

The ZEFAL 472SPY Mirror - 1,420 yen from Amazon.

The mirror is a wee bit small and you really need to adjust it each time you ride so that it points to where you want to be looking - it always ends up moving from its original position when you prop the bike against the wall.

Taking the Itachari out for a spin in the evening.

Certainly looks better after Itarization!

Going back in time to see where I got the bike from. Tonight we are at the Good Smile Company offices.

Gorgeous entrance!

Very cute Miku to greet us.

Reception phone guarded by Gumako.

And there it is!

As you have read, I have spinal hernia which means that my back is pretty much in constant pain. The Good Smile Company boss and comrade Aki Takanori was telling me about somebody who cured his spinal hernia after regularly exercising using a road bike. Then during dinner all of a sudden he said "Take my blue one - I dont use it" and I was like "WHAT?!"

And so reluctantly I took the GIOS of Aki-sans hands - loading it up into our old Itasha to head back to Meguro. How many of you into road biking?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

This was back in February just after Wonder Festival. This was also the evening where we decided that we would work together to change the way Japanese language was taught - a few months later Moekana was released and due to the success it became the start of a series - the booster pack followed shortly and later on this year we have Moekanji.

I always look up to Aki-san - an inspiration of mine. Thank you for everything Aki-san!

Tokyo Today 4

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:07:00 +0900

Attempting to try to bring you more life from Tokyo as it happens using Instagram. All these are posted live from my iPhone to my Facebook, Twitter and now Tumblr. This batch of photos actually taken over 2 days.

I *usually* try to post Instagram photos with English and Japanese text so will leave it as is - I dont always say the same thing in Japanese as it may not be relevant for my Japanese followers - but most of the time it is a direct translation of what I'm saying in English which may be useful for those studying Japanese.

Starting with this evenings office - this is what's behind me. 今晩のオフィス。僕の後ろ。

Very warm yesterday in Tokyo. Freezing today - gas heater turn on desu. 今日は寒いな。ガス暖房つけよう。

Sending some stuff to Malaysia. What address shall I put? みらいちゃんグッズをマレーシア宛て。

This is why Japanese brollys are cooler. ビニール傘は好き！

Which lunch set will you choose? あなたはどんなランチセットォ？

Bubbles when you pour tea looks like somebody's spit. Can't unsee.

Today's lunch is chuuka. 今日のランチは中華。

Gorgeous girls on the streets of Tokyo. Mahjong Monogatari.

You can get you glasses cleaned for free in Japan. There is usually a small table outside an opticians where you can clean your glasses yourself if nobody is around.

I love traditional Japanese clothing. Do you own any Japanese garments?

More gorgeous girlies on the streets of Tokyo. 街で撮った可愛い女の子の写真。

If you can't read this then you need moekana. これ読めなければもえかなが必要だ。

A shop with a lot of character on the streets of Tokyo.

Retro coin laundry in Tokyo. I love the smell of launderettes - I remember spending a lot of time in one when I was younger washing my clothes. When I moved back to my mums place, we didn't have a working washing machine ;-;

Nice bike.

Another "if you can't read this then you need moekana." As for the kanji however - I have a product for that coming soon.

Fill in the gap - if you can't read this then you need -------

Tiny house is tiny.

Am working this year to grow the Mirai brand and her goodies.

Which of these figures tickle your fancy?

Wifeys cooking - Singapore Laksa for dindins ^o^ 妻が作ったシンガポールラクサをディナーで！

The Singaporean sitting next to me says "this is not spicy by Singaporean standards"

The Singaporean sitting next to me now says that I should not drink water when eating spicy foods because it makes it taste even more spicy ?

Joined by a cute girl for dinner. She's only wearing pantsu though. 可愛い女の子が一緒にディナー。しかし下半身にはパンツ？ズボン？

Been working with Iizuki Tasuku sensei lately - really nice person! 唯々月たすく先生はとっても優しい方です o(^▽^)o

Skype meeting in evening with the AFA Malaysia folks going over stage schedule and my booth setup.

Here are just some of the guests you can expect to meet at Anime Festival Asia Malaysia in 2 weeks time. What? 2 weeks time?!!!

Sony MDR-CD009ST and Blue Snowball. Mai daily tools.

Black Rock Shooter White Edition looking like a baws.

This evenings office - what's in front of me. 今晩のオフィス。僕の前で見えるもの。

Sneek peek at my... これまだ見せていないんでしたっけ？

Today's wear. I love that T-shirt. Am working on securing a production line for the T-shirts. Gimme a wee bit more time! 今日着たもの。あのTシャツ好き。

What I wear to beddy byes. Nighty! 寝るときに着る服。おやすみ！

Following day - brekkie in Tokyo - cinnamon powder sprinkled over frosties. We dont have Cinnamon Toast over here so this is the next best thing. 朝食です！

Saying good morning to our car. 痛車に朝の挨拶。

Blue skies this morning in Tokyo. 清々しい朝だな。わはははははははっ。

Every time I hit send, 5 new mails appear. How many email do you get through each day? When I was at Amazon, it was usually about 100 - 120 mails sent each day.
「送信」をクリックするたびに、新着メール5件増える。

About to start an apparel brand - for dolls?! ドール用の服ブランドもスタート?!

If you don’t know how to say “shop curtain” in Japanese then you need moekana.

Gorgeous day on the back streets of Tokyo.

Lunch with Azunyan. あずにゃんとランチ。

The Sony NEX-5N with the Zeiss lens. Sony NEX-5NにZeissレンズ。

Peaceful Japan! 平和な日本！

Forbidden dessert after lunch. ランチ後の禁物のデザート。

Parking here costs 200 yen for every 30 mins. How does that compare to your neck of the woods? 最も安いパーキングはどのぐらいだろう?

Abandoned bikes. 放棄自転車。

Mai new secretary drinking on the job. 娘が勤務中にビール？

Business card follow up. 名刺処理中。

There are a pair of eyes on my keyboard. キーボードの上にドールアイが。

Working on the official Facebook page for the anime “K”. アニメタイトル「K」の公式Facebookページ作業中。

Figma’s are so cool. フィグマって本当にクールだな。