Culture Japan - Your portal to Japan

Lamp Miku

Sun, 26 May 2013 09:41:00 +0900

Over at the Alphamax offices again the other day to take photos of this most cutesome puchi style figure of Hatsune Miku. The non-scale figure is called "Lamp Miku feat Nekozakana" and is due out later this year in October. Retail price will be 3,800 yen.

The figure is based on the illustration by illustrator Nekozakana who can be found on Pixiv.

Folks interested in Lamp Miku can pre-order on one of the following trusted retailers.

Unfortunately the lamps dont light up but would be most awesome if they did ^o^

And this is what Miku would look around the workspace.
(C) Crypton Future Media.
More figure photo reviews listed up below.

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La Cittadella Kawasaki

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:19:02 +0900

La Cittadella [ラチッタデッラ] - a slice of Italy in the heart of Kawasaki. Stylised to look like a small town in Italy, La Cittadella contains a cinema complex, concert hall, shops and a load of restaurants - especially Italian ones. La Cittadella is also home to the annual Hallowen parade too.
Today wifey and I go for walkies around the area. You can see a bit of what the area is like by day in the video below.

To get to La Cittadella, get of at Kawasaki Station and head to the following location on the map.
[gmap=35.528299, 139.697878]

We start off our evening by parking at Kawasaki Lazona and then walk towards La Cittadella. Building in the background is the MUZA concert hall.

Latest news in Japan is that they want to raise the initial fare of Tokyo taxi's to 730 yen which would last for the first 2 kilometers before you need to start paying more.
How does that compare to your neck of the woods? Tis better than some of the taxi's I tried to take in Malaysia at least - when I ask "How much to Blah" the drivers would answer "How much you got?"

Walking through Kawasaki Station.

Starting to explore more of Kawasaki.

Discover a street filled with a ton of restaurants.

Due to the lack of space in Japan, each building more often than not contains many restaurants or shops so always make sure to always look up at the signs or you may miss some gems.

Many restaurants have some really nice exterior designs.

"Kawasaki Blender"
It says that a cosplay girl with give you a wash.

You already know the word Oppai (meaning mammies) but another useful daily word you should know is "Kyonyu" [巨乳[きょにゅう]] (pronounced kyo-nyuu) which means "BIG OPPAI."
"巨" means "huge" or "gigantic" and is the same kanji used in "進撃の巨人" (Shingeki no Kyojin).

When you reach the end of this post make sure to shout out "Kyonyu" 50 times to memorize the word.

Check out more plastic food and find out where to buy in Japan.

"Aroma Beauty Salon" - photo annotate the one who you want to attend to your beauty needs.

Many of these "DVD rooms" allow you to "watch DVD's" in the privacy of your own small room. I know many gaijin folks who are travelling cheap use these places to stay in instead of a hotel as the rates are really cheap in the early hours of the morning.
For example its 3,000 yen for 12 hours.

Can you read that katakana? If not then I'll need to bring out a Katakana learning product in addition to Moekana.

I always stop by a Gatcha to see if there is anything 1/3 cale for my daughters - and when I find something I usually get it but ends up in the cupboard most of the times ><

The gate you see across the road is the entrance to La Cittadella.

This place looks like an Izakaya - its like a Japanese pub.

This is the main square at La Cittadella - kinda looks like a set to some movie.

A list of some of the restaurants at La Cittadella.

Moo.

Nice place to take a stroll in the evening.

And after walking for a bit, once you see things turn back to normal then you know you have left La Cittadella ^^

La Cittadella have a fountain show that takes place at certain times throughout the evenings.

The seeing-eye dog will open your mind and show you the future.

Occasionally you will see the head of some sea monster placed in a bucket of ice outside a restaurant to entice you to go in.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Heading back to Lazona.

Exploring the shotengai in the area.

Remember to always take the stairs if you dont get the chance to exercise much!

Back at Lazona.

Got to meet comrades from many corners of the world who I went to see Iron Man 3 with.

Then its a quick look around Lazona. Would love to go camping but probably very unlikely that I'll ever get to relax in this lifetime to be able to do so ><

I've only seen bicycles like these in Japan where the child seat is at the front. Bicycles like these are usually called Mamachari [ママチャリ] which is a short form of Mama Chariot. "Chariot" [チャリ] is a term used to refer to a bicycle.

Looking for some magic potion to keep water off the car.

More magic potion that keeps water off the windscreen.

Time to look for some noms.

We got Auntie Anne's in Japan too.

The best food is the fastest food - down in the food court.

Sushi go round.

Snap with one of our readers from Singapore who came to watch Iron Man 3 with us but was too shy to jump in the group photo ^^;

Katsu Curry noms.

Oyako Don noms.

Japanese traditional sweets noms.

Time to check out my readers goodies starting with this very nice Sony DSLR.

No Service.

From Singapore - my most fave mints! Cant find these in Japan >< I always steal some from Shawn's car - the guy who brings us AFA ^^;

The Japanese Galaxy S3 comes with an antenna for ONE SEG TV.

I always thought that hole in Galaxy S3 cases was for LTE models.

Time to grab some groceries.

Picked up one of these rolls. Was supposed to have a crisp layer around it though ><

Krispy Kreme Sakura n Green Tea doughnuts.

Ichigo = Strawberries.

Some side dishes for dindins.

Back to the Mirai Mobile.

Our grocery catch for the day.
More places to visit in Japan listed up in the photo posts below.

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Dark Magician Girl

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:06:00 +0900

You is being familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh! If so then you will probably be familair with this little lady - Dark Magician Girl which has been given the Cu-Poche treatment by Kotobukiya.
I managed to nab one from the Kotobukiya offices before she's out this July.

Dark Magician Girl will retail for 3,990 yen and if she tickles your fancy then you can check out one of the following online retailers who may have her up for pre-order.

As with the other Cu-Poche figures, this little lady comes with a load of accessories and face plates.

How many of you have consumed Yu-Gi-Oh! contents (anime, card games) in your lifetime? Many people I speak to say they used to when they were younger.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

More figure photo reviews listed up below.

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Attack on Titan

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:16:00 +0900

Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) [進撃の巨人] - one of the most awesome anime series I've seen so far that I simply must babble about!

Its a story about man eating giants who have been kept separate from humans for many moons by tall walls - until those walls are destroyed. We then start to see the struggle against the giants as friends and family get om nommed for brekkie and dindins.
Check out the trailers below.

There is a poll embedded in this article.

The anime is based on the popular manga series of the same name. Now that the anime has come out - many folks (including me) have been wanting to get the entire set of manga only to find that its pretty much sold out everywhere until they can print more.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

The series is so popular that apparel maker UNIQLO made Shingeki T-shirts too. This belongs to my comrade at Yuzusoft.

When I forget to record/watch Shingeki every Sunday at 11:30PM, I get to catch up on Crunchyroll using Apple TV to steam to my TV ^o^

This is one of the heroines in the show - Mikasa who is such a cool cutie.

I've been posting a load of Shingeki stuff on my facebook of late too ^^;
By the way - do you refer to the show as "Shingeki no Kyojin" or "Attack on Titan" ?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

This is my comrade Wada-san who just happens to be the producer of the anime series Attack on Titan. He also produced Guilty Crown, Robotics Notes and Psycho Pass.

He is also the big boss of WIT Studio which is a subsidiary company of Production IG. I have regular meetings at Production IG and caught up with him yesterday to see if he was free to come over to Anime Expo 2013 which takes place next month. I've also asked if he can bring some exclusive Shigeki footage to AX too.

I'll let AX give the official announcement ^o^

Shingeki no Mirai - made by a Twitter user who I lost track of who used the MMD Mirai Suenaga data.

Kaiyodo Office Tour

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:48:00 +0900

One of my agenda items during my visit to Kansai this week was to meetup with Shuichi Miyawaki [宮脇修一] - the boss of Kaiyodo which is one of the longest standing hobby makers in Japan who produce the Revoltech series and also own the worlds biggest figure and garage kit event Wonder Festival.

Before we settle down to talk and visit their office, we go for some nom noms Osaka style.

The Kaiyodo office is located in Osaka which we headed to straight after meeting up with Volks in Kyoto. The exterior of the Kaiyodo headquarters is a mixture of modern and the past with the brick walls which is not so common in Japan.

Greeted by a huge sculpt at the entrance.

One of Kaiyodo's major hit products - Revoltech Danbo.

Miyawaki-san is really into military stuf and owns a few vehicles used in past World Wars.

Yep - he owns a few anti aircraft vehicles too ^^

...and a few cannons ^^

A peak around the Kaiyodo warehouse.

Ton O figures ready to hit the shelves.

Huge Ah My Goddess figurines.

A look around the main meeting/show room.

Now taking a gander at the sculptors studio.

Got to meet sculptor BOME! He made my first ever figure of Aya Natsume that I got back in 2005.

Taking a look at the workspaces of the other sculptors.

The design of ED209 is classic.

My precioussssssss.

Airbrush booths.

I need more practice if I want to paint my own doll faces one day.

Name that thingy.

Still my most fave ship from Star Wars.

Now its time to take a lookie at Miyawaki-sans model collection - certainly the biggest in Japan and possibly the world?

Time to sit down and talk about this and that and a new collaboration ^o^

I should have got one of these way back then ><

Bottle caps in Japan are most coolsome.

The Yotsuba Danbo has seen many collaborations so far with companies like Amazon, 7/11, Tamiya, Pepsi and Calbee.

I think you can guess what comes next ^o^
Check out more office tours of other Japanese companies in the anime industry listed up below.

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Volks

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:20:00 +0900

Had the pleasure of being invited by the Managing Director of Volks (pictured here to my right) to Kyoto a while ago but only just managed to make the trip this week ><

Volks is one of the major players in the Japanese hobby world. They have a long history of manufacturing injection moulded kits and also bring us the Super Dollfie and Dollfie Dream line of dolls.

Today Volks gave us a tour of their Tenshi no Sato museum in Kyoto and after we had a long lunch meeting to discuss this n that ^o^

Yuki-chan is my fave Dollfie Dream who got to go with me to Tenshi no Sato.

While I do have some comrades who work at Volks, I've never really had the chance to hook up with the top management but now that I have, I can tell you that they are one of the nicest family run businesses that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. The Managing Director is such a sweet lady too who is also the wife of the big boss.

I've always loved their Dollfie Dream line of dolls which have really had an impact on my life - not only are they so cute and great to have around - they have also enabled me to connect with other Dollfie Dream owners around the world. My first Dollfie Dream I got was Saber back in 2008.

The Dollfie Dream line of dolls is also one of the factors that has influenced my decision to produce my own doll of my mascot Mirai Suenaga too.

I'll talk about it when the time is right but Volks and I will be working together on some really cool stuff in the very near future - keep em peeled ^o^

The last few photos in this post with Yuki-chan taken at Arashiyama in Kyoto which is very near the Volks Tenshi no Sato.

Just spent a week in Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe) going through back to back meetings - will post photos of my trip soon.

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「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©1998-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©2003-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
スーパードルフィー®、ドルフィードリーム® はボークス社の商標登録であり、その全ての権利を所有しています。

Flumpool

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:55:00 +0900

Spent time with the pop rock band flumpool on one of their previous tours - if you watched Season 1 of my other TV show Japan Mode then the following photos will seem familiar.
Flumpool is an immensely popular band in Japan - their music and posters are all over the place. Since their first single Hana ni Nare back in 2008, they have released a ton of singles and albums which you can check out in their Discography.

Check them out in action below.

For the flumpool special, I spent time with the folks who manage the sound, lighting, equipment and visuals. They especially put a lot of effort into the visuals which are quite stunning and really compliment the music and atmosphere in the hall.

When I was younger, artists that I would go see perform include Kylie Minogue and Nishida Hikaru. These days, the only time I get to peek at concerts are the ones at Anime Festival Asia and Anime Expo while I'm back stage ><

As for music - most of the stuff I listen too these days is jazz internet radio stations like Jazz.fm.

What concerts have you been attending of late and what music are you listening to of late that you recommend to your comrades?

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Akihabara Shops 7

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:05:00 +0900

Its that time again where we go for a photo walk around my most fave place on Earth - Akihabara ^o^
Today we visit places such as Hobby Tengoku, Sega Game center, Toranoana, Animate, Don Quijote, Melon Books (newly opened 2号店), Sofmap, Kotobukiya, Yodobashi, Culture Zone Akihabara, other small stores and the Yanagimori Shrine. We also bump into the Kanda Matsuri festival too.

As for the first photo - will talk more about the shenanigans that I got up to in a separate post ^o^

To get to Akihabara, just get off at JR Akihabara station and get out at the Electronic Town exit - this is what will greet your mince pies.

How many of you watching Uta no Prince Sama and who is your fave dude?

The Volks Hobby Tengoku store - get off at the Electronic Town Exit but turn right after the ticket barrier to get here.

Hobby Stock Asuna goodies.

The Love Live cuties.

Say sayonara to roneriness - pick up a 2D girlie of your choice with these dakimakura and pillow cases.

K-ON force still strong.

I want more Valkyria games!

Kos Mos and her big...guns.

Looking forward to the Girls Und Panzer movie. How many of you enjoyed the series?

Who is your fave Dollfie out of this bunch? Mine is Aoi-chan.

Sonico gets the Ichiban Kuji treatment.

The lovely ladies of Momoclo.

Sailor Moon gets the S.H.Figarts treatment.

Hatsune Miku Carnavi.

Bakuman Boys.

Mixed bunch O figures.

Cuties from the eroge Ojonana [お嬢様はご機嫌ナナメ]

Hentai Ouji on your watch list?

Fate Saber.

Idolmaster goodies.

Meruru Curry.

Anime tapestries - Oreimo, Madoka and Aimasu.

1/1 scale Asuka.

Now in Don Quijote.

When in Don Quijote - make sure you look up at the ceiling too.

Asuka eye patch.

Asuka shaves it seems.

Eroge cuties.

Load of Nendoroids.

Stack O figures at the Kotobukiya store.

Knight Sword Umbrella.

It says "Free Entry"

Melon Books - for all your doujin needs.

Rilakkuma glasses stand.

Moe cuties now employed to sell you broadband.

Voice actress magazines available too.

So many cuties in Akihabara ^o^

Lovely X Cation 2 illustrated by Iizuki Tasuku-sensei ^o^

Gundam Galore

PSP still very strong.

Anime magazines.

Whats up Shinji?

More 1/1 scale Evangelion figures - which do you choose to have at your entrance?

Sakura Miku.

More dakimakura covers to keep you company at night.

Akihabara by night - gorgeous.

Yanagimori Shrine [柳森神社] located below.
[gmap=35.696811, 139.773490]

Catching some of the Kanda Matsuri.

Right outside the doll store DOLK.

Check out more from Akihabara in the photo posts listed up below.

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Amairo Clock

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:11:00 +0900

So you got Moekana and have pre-ordered Moekanji but you want your Japanese learning to be even more fun? I've got just the thing!

I've just released Amairo Clock [天色＊時計] (Amairo*Clock) for iOS which features the cuties from the eroge Amairo Islenauts. Just like the other app we made called DRACLOCK, you can interact with the characters through touch communication and depending on which part of their body you are communicating with, they will say something different.

Tap on the time and the characters will read out the time to you in Japanese. You can also set the clock so that the characters read out the time to you at intervals - can be every 30 mins, hour or even every minute - you will be able to tell the time in Japanese in a jiffy! All voices are by the original voice actresses too.

This time, Apple approved the bikini versions too - but in order to do so we had to set the app rating as 18+ ><
Check out the video below to see the clock in action which was developed together with Ken Lee.

We added a new feature in the clock which enables you to use any background of your choice from your photo library or even take a new one on the spot - you can even take a photo with one of our lovely heroines ^o^

Unfortunately, there is no Android version at the moment and I'm not in charge of developing one for a simple reason - I dont have any Android developers! If you think you are a dab hand at making Android apps then leave links to your previous apps on Google Play. You need to at least be able to program apps to the same spec as DRACLOCK.
Or send me mail at [jobs at mirai dot fm] with links to your apps. We can discuss renumeration depending on project spec.

In the meantime you can still download the Android version of DRACLOCK from the Yuzusoft website - it has all the Japanese learning functions of Amairo Clock but was developed by another team.

Anyway - get the app for free!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amairo*clock/id625672662?ls=1&mt=8

I do have an app for Android folks called MiraiClock3 featuring my mascot character Mirai Suenaga which was developed by Cybernoids. While she does not teach you Japanese - she is a great companion to keep you company while you learn Japanese ^o^
MiraiClock3 is available for the Android and iOS below.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.culturejapan.mirai
https://itunes.apple.com/app/miraiclock3/id484980828?mt=8

Mitaka

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:16:00 +0900

Mitaka [三鷹] - an area located in the West of Tokyo which is home to Kichijoji, the Ghibli Museum and a load of anime studios.
92% of all Japanese anime production studios are located within Tokyo and a large % of that is located in West Tokyo in the Mitaka and immediate surrounding area along the Chuo-line.

42% of that are small studios with less than 10 employees and 10,000,000 yen of capital - many of them were started up by employees who previously worked at other animation studios.
Some of these studios specialise in just some of the processes involved in anime production like the animation between key frames or background coloring.

Many moons ago, anime studios used to hire animators full time but due to the costs of keeping them onboard and the fact that they could not afford to remunerate them based on their performance, most animators are now paid based on how much they can do (ie number of frames they can draw) - for this reason, freelance animators float between various studios based on when they are needed for work.

These days, full time staff at anime studios are usually comprised of managerial, Producers, Directors and general admin - hardly any animators are hired full time. While Production IG has many full time employees, only about 10% of the warm bodies in most anime studios are full time employees.

One of the reason why anime studios are concentrated in the same area is that they often loan thier staff to help each other out - this is the reason why when you see the credits of an anime which was produced by lets say Mad House, you may see "with help from Production IG."
Staff from each studio can easily get to another studio by hopping on the chuo line and be at another studio in less than 30 mins.

I've always loved anime since the Macross Super Dimension Fortress era and am fortunate to work in the anime field which is why I'm in Mitaka so often. Some of the people I work with there are JC Staff, Production IG, and Sato Dai (click on links to see photos and details of my work ^o^)

Mitaka is largely a residential district and if you want to catch a slice of life in Japan then you will enjoy a relaxing stroll around the area absorbing the sights and sounds of daily life.

To get to Mitaka just get off on the JR Chuo or Sobu lines at Mitaka station.

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