Nipponkan

Tokyo Jogging fun

2009-08-21T09:09:00.005+09:00

Just came across Tokyo-Jogging, a nice mashup using the Wii remote and Google Street View. I don't have a Wii myself, but totally love the idea - the recent Street View update has probably further improved the experience.

Alternative Tokyo Rail & Subway Map

2009-05-18T06:14:00.010+09:00

Via this Japan Times article, I bumped into Vollmer Design's great looking alternative Tokyo Rail & Subway map. The goal was to make the map fit better with long romaji station names, but in my opinion, certain names crossing subway lines could use an outline or dropshadow to improve the contrast. The "ei" in Seibu-Shinjuku for instance is almost unreadable in the online version. Otherwise, a very nice project.

Morisawa Fontpark 2.0

2009-04-11T00:44:00.003+09:00

Morisawa Fontpark 2.0 is an impressive Flash sandbox that allows you to create designs with Japanese (and also Western) glyphs. Every action is recorded, and there are plenty of movies showcasing how the various saved designs were conceived and the iterations they went through.

The Geisha entry is my favorite one - it's included below.

Interchange set

2009-03-12T01:41:00.002+09:00

Ken Ohyama has created an amazing set of 111 Japanese highway junctions photos. Maybe the soon to be completed (and disturbingly big) オーパス目黒大橋 is next?

Update: I found out that these pictures have also been turned into a book, aptly named ジャンクション.

Japanese web design bookmarking

2009-03-01T21:31:00.007+09:00

I just came across straightline _bookmark, which is a Japanese "web design bookmark" service - think del.icio.us for pretty Japanese sites, including preview screenshots. Neat.

Japanese stereoviews and more

2009-02-28T15:21:00.000+09:00

An amazing set of Meiji era stereoviews by Japanese and Western stereo-photographers, assembled by Flickr user Okinawa Soba. I recommend checking out his other sets too, such as the T. Enami glass slides one. Pity of the all-caps shouting and the sometimes overly verbose descriptions, but nevertheless worth a look :-)

Goo's historic Tokyo maps

2009-02-02T04:10:00.006+09:00

A while ago, Goo added an interesting twist to its online map service: historic aerial maps of Tokyo. In addition to satellite images of Tokyo, you can go back in time and see what the city looked like in Shōwa 22 (1947) and 38 (1963). The enormous transformation from a war-torn capital to the current-day crowded metropolis is absolutely mind-boggling. It's also worth pointing out that there is a new "Meiji" layer, which features cartographic data of the Meiji era, and puts the city's wards and boundaries in yet another perspective.

Traditional colors of Japan

2009-01-31T19:28:00.003+09:00

Ever heard of 桜鼠, 虹色, 甚三紅 or 淡紅藤? Neither had I before finding this great color chart listing traditional Japanese colors - HEX color codes included.

Wikipedia has more context: "The traditional colors of Japan trace their historical origins to the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System which was established in 603 by Prince Shōtoku and based on the system of Five elements."

へぇぇぇ。

"This is Japan" video

2009-01-27T00:17:00.003+09:00

Via Jean Snow, Eric Testroete's amazing "This is Japan" video. Immerse yourself for 7:40 minutes at 6fps.

NYPL's 19th century Japan photo sets

2009-01-25T17:57:00.003+09:00

As part of a larger "Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs" collection, the New York Public Library has posted two fascinating photo sets on Flickr that give a glimpse of Japan in the late 19th century: Japan / Kimbei Kusakabe and Album of Photographs of Japan.

Binbo Date and The Bubble Machine

2008-10-19T04:44:00.009+09:00

Oh, it's been a while since I posted the last entry on this blog... time flies!

Anyways, here are two fun links to get started again. Recently, my hard-working TAB/NYAB colleagues have opened up an API for both sites, allowing developers to reuse and mash up the event data in new and interesting ways.

So far, there have been a number of cool mashups - I'd like to highlight two of them.

The Bubble Machine: shows events as bubbles that emit sound and display event info on :hover. Beautiful execution and an arty way to browse cultural events.

Binbo Date: Having a date but no money? Binbo Date helps you out :-) simply indicate how much you want to spend and where you want to go, and a selection of bars, restaurants and TAB events is shown on an embedded Google Map. Love the feel of the site.

Tokyo Art Beat redesigns

2007-07-14T02:24:00.000+09:00

Last week, our latest Tokyo Art Beat makeover was released in the wild.

Besides a wider, 948px layout with an second sidebar, the TAB shop got a serious usability treatment. Chris has the nitty-gritty on the thinking process behind the shop UI and the "pixel-idealized conveyor belt" on his blog. Also be sure to check out those new T-shirt designs, and if you like them, purchase one! Or two!

I was mainly involved with the setup, templating and css coding of the new TABlog, which we turned into a fine e-mag with featured content instead of the previous blog-like roll of posts. For those interested, that's WordPress under the hood, with a heap of get_posts() instances on the frontpage.

Enjoy!

Godzilla vs. Sanshin

2007-05-10T09:09:00.001+09:00

Remember the Sanshin Building (map) I blogged about less than a year ago? Well, its final moments are ticking away at high speed...

Exactly on the same day as its much-hyped Tokyo Midtown complex was opened to the public, Mitsui Fudosan has decided to give the green light for the demolition of the Sanshin Building, one of the very few art deco buildings left in Tokyo. The official explanation is that the building isn't safe anymore and that Mitsui is doing this in the public interest. Mitsui's plans to demolish also the much more recent neighboring Hibiya Mitsui building however point in the direction of a bigger plan for the area... Oh-o, Tokyo, when will you ever learn?

For me, this "Godzilla vs. Sanshin" picture says it all. And sadly enough, this time Sanshin will lose.

Kansai Art Beat launch!

2007-04-23T21:16:00.001+09:00

Update: As of July 1st 2008, Kansai Art Beat is on hiatus.

I'm happy to announce the launch of Kansai Art Beat, the orange+blue result of a collaboration between Gadago (the non-profit behind Tokyo Art Beat, which I'm part of) and the Flanders Center in Osaka. Be sure to add Kansai Art Beat to your bookmarks!

A selection of Japanese music tracks on Last.fm

2007-03-28T03:40:00.000+09:00

Über-awesome music website Last.fm recently re-introduced full-track streaming (and sometimes also mp3 downloads) for certain artists in its catalog. As those "golden" tracks are usually quite hard to find, I've done some deep digging, and compiled a list of the best full Japanese tracks available. Enjoy!

Weblio beta

2007-03-18T02:58:00.000+09:00

I've just discovered Weblio, an online Japanese meta-dictionary with a cheesy name, which includes results from over 200 dictionaries and encyclopedias. Yup, that's two hundred. The site has a bit a bare-bones look, but there's some serious power under the hood if you click around and try a couple of queries. Fast response time is another plus point. And there's a thesaurus too.

The site provides instructions how to add this fine service to your browser's search box. I don't know if it's going to replace my Eijiro install, but so far, I like it a lot.

80s commercials

2007-03-12T12:13:00.000+09:00

I just bumped into this fantastic collection of Japanese commercials from the 80s, uploaded by YouTube user Poronko. Sneak preview below.

N.B.: In the video above, don't miss the public service announcement about the Northern Territories around the 06:36 mark (02:42 if you count down).

Going all ～

2007-03-05T17:33:00.000+09:00

There's something ～-ish going on in many Tokyoites' Flickr photo streams these days... Look for instance at this, this or this... A view from inside, curvy stairs, an outside wall.

I'm talking of course about the mind-bending curves of the recently opened National Art Center. This TAB venue page has everything you need for a visit.

Search box mock-ups in Japanese advertising

2007-02-14T17:18:00.000+09:00

As of lately, a lot of Japanese train and TV ads feature a mocked up web search box, suggesting the keyword you should use for getting to the site of the vendor in question, without having to remember its (often awkward) non-Japanese URL — an interesting evolution and in no time more widespread than QR codes (or so it seems).

Although a search term is easier to remember than a URL, there is of course a certain risk that users end up on a different website than the one intended. So, I decided to have a quick look at the SE strategies of three randomly chosen ventures that use web search box suggestions in their train ads.

The first example is Jindaiji Residence, a real estate company. In its ad (pictured above), it surprisingly suggests searching for 深く美しく, which stands for "deep, beautiful" and is probably a word play around the "jin" in Jindaiji. If you search for 深く美しく, something interesting happens: both the Google and Yahoo! pages sport a full-width Jindaiji Residence sponsored ad on top (with Yahoo! also displaying the Jindaiji Residence site as the 3rd result). And, because lots of people will get the order of the words wrong, the same ad is served for a 美しく深く ("beautiful, deep") search.

Example two is Tokyo Star Bank, which suggest you search for its loans offering with the search term バンクベスト ("Bank Best"). Not too great search results on Google nor Yahoo!, but also here adwords come to the rescue: the バンクベスト search term triggers display of sidebar and top ads.

A third example is Docomo's human resources ad, which consists of nothing more than... a search box pointing to ドコモ　派遣 ("Docomo staffing"). If you try this with Yahoo! and Google, the Docomo Staff site shows up as the first result. On Yahoo! you have to skip over a number of unrelated ads though, while on Google a wide Docomo Staff ad is displayed on top.

So, to summarize: Japanese companies promote specific search terms in trains and on TV, and register those terms as the adwords that trigger their ads. If lots of potential Japanese customers try these search term suggestions, I can imagine the search box mock-up phenomenon is a huge cash cow for Yahoo! and Google.

The link between Koguryo and Japanese

2007-02-09T04:21:00.000+09:00

A couple of weeks ago, marxy blogged about Christopher L. Beckwith's book "Koguryo: The Language of Japan's Continental Relatives," which focuses on a possible link between the Koguryo language and Old-Japanese. Marxy's entry is a good summary of the book's argument, and he also links to a PDF file showing some similarities between (Old-)Koguryo and Japanese.

And it gets more interesting: when browsing through Google Books today, I found out that Beckwith's book is available in "Full View" format, so you can read the complete work online! I've skimmed through a couple of chapters, and it's very intriguing to see e.g. the similarity between kuchi (meaning "mouth" in Japanese) and its equivalent in Old-Koguryo: kuərtsi. Or tani ("valley" in Japanese) and tan in Old-Koguryo. And there's much more.

Zotero JA and NL locales available

2007-01-15T14:52:00.000+09:00

I'd like to point to an entry I recently posted on my other blog, chosaq. Details below:

In November 2006, my colleague Michael Schiltz and I have been working on Japanese and Dutch locales for the excellent Zotero Firefox extension. The latest Zotero release (= 1.0.0b3.r1) features our JA and NL translations of the Zotero UI (*), so go check it out.

For those new to Zotero, it's a "Next-Generation Research Tool" that "helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources." If that sounds a bit opaque, have a look at the screencast demo, which does a great job explaining what Zotero is all about.

(*) I'd like to point out that our UI translation efforts so far were 1.0.0b2.r2 specific, so expect to see English strings for recently added functionality, such as the tagging interface in Zotero's left pane, the new report feature, etc. We'll do our best to have a complete translation ready for the next release.

Japanese and Dutch locale corrections, alternative translations and additions are absolutely welcome: feel free to leave a comment here or over at chosaq.

NDL Gallery: recent additions

2007-01-02T21:47:00.000+09:00

Pink Tentacle (one of my favorite Japan blogs—check out its 2006 hottest stories overview) recently linked to various curiosities in the National Diet Library's Edo period illustrations archive. Note: when you're browsing individual pages (like this one), you want to click on 「拡大画像を開く」 for the hi-res versions (example).

Also check out another recent addition to the NDL Gallery pages (earlier coverage): Modern Japan in archives, which is an interface to 100 year of Japanese history "from the opening of the country to the San Francisco Peace Treaty." A complete list of documents and illustrations is available too.

Postcard Delight: New Year's edition

2006-12-30T20:05:00.000+09:00

To end my 2006 post card frenzy, here are two New Year cards for ya.

On the first card, a violin player with the head of a wild pig, playing a song celebrating the New Year. In this case, that was probably 1911 (or maybe 1923?), as that is the year of the pig on the Chinese Zodiac. The sender of the card recommends the recipient—another Nakamura-san who was in a Yokosuka hospital at the point of writing—to listen to the pig's violin play in order to cheer up her day.

The second card is my all time favorite: a beautiful New Year's card I found in a tiny store in Yufuin, Kyūshū. The owner of the store told me he was born in the year the card was posted, which seems to be Taishō 8 (1920)—or is it Shōwa 8 (1934)? Anyway, I hope you enjoy its elegant Art Deco design!

Postcard Delight: part 6

2006-12-24T05:28:00.000+09:00

This card, which depicts a lady sitting in front of a tree, is one of my favorites. I'm not really sure what the author's autograph stands for (か-something?), but the date is quite clear: 1912. Also be sure to check out the backside of the card. The addressee is a certain Nakamura Yoneko, living in Yokosuka. (Note: one of the previously posted cards also had a Yokosuka link.) The ink on the stamp reads 29.11.1, which is probably November 29 of Taishō 1 (= 1912).

Postcard Delight: part 5

2006-12-22T16:23:00.000+09:00

A long overdue update to my Postcard Delight series. This week's card depicts 掘部弥兵衛源金丸 (anybody an idea how to pronounce this?). Just as was the case with the previous card, I have no clear idea about when this one was made. Info is welcome.

Update: Some insights from the gf... Apparently, the rest of the text says 江戸留守居役三百石行年七十八才, which means he was a daimyō's "Edo representative," owned quite a bit of rice-producing land, and died at the age of 78. The writing on his clothes also mentions 赤穂遺臣 (akō ishin), which is a reference to the Akō vendetta.

Haikuplanet.jp

2006-12-06T11:00:00.000+09:00

The first Jonkenpon project is out: it's called Haikuplanet and I love it. You can read, rate and comment on haiku or create one yourself. No tagging, but 4 seasonal categories + search. Tamjpn's Wii haiku is my current favorite!

Postcard Delight: part 4

2006-12-04T04:16:00.000+09:00

This week's post card is very different from the previous ones: no framed photographs this time, but pure illustration. No idea when this one was made though — the Leonard A. Lauder collection book I previously mentioned doesn't contain any similar designs.

The person featured is 大石内藏之助藤原良雄 (as written on the card). That's Ōishi Yoshio, also known as Ōishi Kuranosuke. Wikipedia has more info (JP).

Postcard Delight: part 3

2006-11-27T00:12:00.000+09:00

This week's card was made in commemoration of the training journey of two Japanese warships (the Sōya and the Misaki) through Oceania and along the coasts of South-East Asia (練習艦隊遠洋航海記念).

The trip, which was led by a certain rear-admiral S. Katō, took around 4 months; stops included Guam, Fiji, Auckland, Sidney, Townsville, Batavia, Singapore, Manila, Olongapo and Wu Song and ended in Yokosuka. Details of the journey can be found on the back side of the card, but alas, the exact year is not mentioned. I've posted a composite picture of the map on the front (練習艦隊航路圖) and the schedule on the back, so you get a better idea of when and where they stopped.

intitle:Japan

2006-11-24T10:59:00.000+09:00

Testing the new Google Book Search interface, I was surprised by the number of results you get for Japan related queries. It's now also possible to download public domain books in PDF format, which is a fantastic feature (just wished the PDFs were searchable). Have a look at these (mostly forgotten) first-person accounts of trips to pre-Meiji Japan, for instance. Intriguing.

NB: One of those books actually contains an small surprise: if you go to page 8 of "The Japan Expedition", you can see a spooky picture of the scanner's hand.

Postcard Delight: part 2

2006-11-19T16:24:00.000+09:00

This week's card was probably sold together with the one of last week. Featured are the base of the "4th Infantry Brigade" (近衛歩兵第四聨隊) and its officer in charge, Brigadier (?) IIDA Taisa (?) (聨隊長飯田大佐). A quick Google search brings up some pages about a certain captain Iida Taisa, but I'm not sure it's the same person.

Bigger sizes, as well as a close-up of the flower pattern, can be found on Flickr. A scan of the back side is available too.

Night cityscapes

2006-11-16T02:48:00.000+09:00

The Night Views of Seto is a small site featuring panorama night shots of major cities around Japan's Inland Sea. For Tokyo nightscapes you're probably better off with NIGHT Windows ～東京の夜景. For starters, check out the view from Roppongi Hills' skydeck, or this fascinating Osaka panorama.

Postcard Delight: part 1

2006-11-12T05:54:00.000+09:00

I love Japanese postcards, especially old ones. So, great was my delight when I found a nice set of Meiji/Taishō era cards in a garage sale close to where I live. In the next weeks I plan to post high quality scans of the few cards I've collected so far. Comments are absolutely welcome, as I don't have much background info...

The first couple of cards are all military ones, combining photographic insets with colored, embossed frames. The text on this one reads 近衛歩兵第四聨隊軍旗 (printed from right to left), which can be translated as "Banner of the 4th Infantry Brigade". Probably from late Meiji, early Taishō. Bigger versions on Flickr. I also uploaded a picture of the back side.

NB1: for the fans, a pointer to an amazing book/catalog about this topic: Art of the Japanese Postcard: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

NB2: shout-outs to Mari for the scanning help :-)

BullyTube

2006-11-11T01:15:00.000+09:00

Bullying, or ijime in Japanese, has always been a major problem in Japan's rigid hierarchic society. Two weeks ago, the nation was shocked by the suicide of a junior high school boy, who allegedly ended his life because his teacher couldn't stop bullying him (See this video on YouTube "He was easy to make fun of"). Most Japanese videos on YouTube are copied from a number of major television shows in the country, the previous video being an excellent example. In that sense, YouTube has become a thermometer for the interest level towards Japanese media. For the past few days, however, YouTube itself proved to be a source of interest for news topics. With over 200000 views in two days, these two videos depicting high school bullies in action, have now been picked up by Japanese news media. I'm sure anyone would agree that this gives the term "consumer generated content" a rather harsh connotation. Update: YouTube has officially removed both videos. They can still be seen here and here.

Tokyo 3D buildings in Google Earth

2006-11-07T01:07:00.000+09:00

The last couple of Google Earth builds have been a lot of fun. Besides the gorgeous photography, 3D buildings, road info and annotation tools, you can now also import and view texturized Google Sketchup models. And yes, Tokyo is well represented. Below, a rundown of models you definitely shouldn't miss.

Sumida Tower (or New Tokyo Tower), which I briefly featured before. Scary.
The Roppongi Hills Complex. For Adam.
The NTT DoCoMo Tower everybody knows, but nobody likes.
The elegant Sompo Japan Building in Shinjuku. Completed in 1976.
Tokyo City Hall. Wikipedia has more info.
The Diet Building. I believe this one took a while to make. Especially liking the little flags...
Tokyo Tower. Eats a lot of CPU on my machine.
And of course: Godzilla.

Cloud

2006-08-06T06:58:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, I bumped into Cloud, a fantastic game developed by students of the USC School of Cinema and Television — I decided to blog about it here because of its undeniable Japanese feel... From the game's kanji based logo, its cute character to the Joe Hisaishi inspired, super-dreamy soundtrack — they are all stylish and well-chosen references to Japanese anime and games. The gameplay (= collecting clouds) is also original and definitely harder than it seems at first — so, be sure to check out Cloud (tip: read the readme.txt notes before you begin!).

Also worth a look: the site's extra downloads section, featuring beautiful wallpapers and the game's complete soundtrack.

The Sanshin Building and its sad fate

2006-06-26T12:07:00.000+09:00

I posted a stitched image of Hibiya's Sanshin Building on Flickr (the lighting on the first floor's arches needs some retouching, but oh well...)

Sadly enough, the building is about to be demolished — something I'm afraid even the Save the Sanshin Building Project people won't be able to stop...

More pictures of the Sanshin Building's Art Deco like glory on Flickr.

List of Japanese-sounding web services and tools

2006-06-06T02:24:00.000+09:00

Between the Edgeios, Vyews and Hipcals of this world, there is also a considerable number of (non-Japanese) web services and tools sporting a brand name with a soft Japanese feel. An overview of the ones that have crossed the radar (including silly suggestions about what they might mean):

Awasu: comes from 合わす (according to their FAQ: "to join together, to unite, to combine, to connect, ...")
Hamachi: there's a はまち fish, as well as a 浜地 surname...
Oyogi: something to do with 泳ぎ ("swimming")? Probably not, as the (rather dead) site also mentions non-Japanese variants such as "yogis" and "Yog".
Hanzo:web: 半蔵 or 半増? Just kidding.
Mayomi: まよみ is a girls name.
Infogami: a clever combination of "info" and かみ, which means "paper".
Dōjō: 同上 ("ditto," "same as above"), 同情 ("compassion") or something else? You decide.
Mosuki: a difficult one. Maybe も好き ("I also like...")?
Shozu: possibly 小図 ("small graphic") or else, 小豆 ("red bean"), better known as azuki...
Yuku: 行く ("to go")? Or is it 逝く ("to pass away")?
Mojizu: according to the FAQ, moji stands for "character" (correct, except that character/文字 actually means "letter," not "comic figure," which is the site's theme). The -zu part is maybe 図 ("figure", "diagram").
And last but not least, Big in Japan, which has nothing to do with Japan, but everything with blogging tools.

Additions are welcome.

Tokyo high-rise

2006-04-30T07:07:00.000+09:00

This diagram at the SkyscraperPage gives you a great overview of Tokyo's high-rise buildings (incl. Tokyo Tower, pictured on the left).

On number one, the not yet completed, 610m Sumida or Shin Tokyo Tower. If you think Roppongi Hills is bad, you better NOT check out the Sumida Tower website's video section - expect to hear loads of crappy marketing slogans à la "Tokyo's new landmark" and the like.

Oh Jimbou!

2006-04-18T01:21:00.000+09:00

Yeah, a cheezy title - I know. This is an absolute must-see for book lovers though: Book Town Jimbou.

The site's Jimbou Navi section features a nice and easy-to-use flash map that comes in handy if you're searching for bookstores specialized in specific literary genres. There's also an "old books" database, where you can search on title, author, etc. Great for those who want to do some research before diving into the Jimbou jungle - surprisingly, online shopping functionality is also available, so you can do all your Jimbou shopping from home.

And then my favorite part: a tour around 151 (!) book stores, giving you an idea what you can buy for a 3000 Yen budget. The presentation format is great, and the section's individual items are linked with the earlier mentioned Jimbou map and database. Good stuff. (Minor nitpick: those terrible <table> tags!)

Japan HDR photography

2006-03-31T04:52:00.000+09:00

A couple of days ago, I discovered Altus' HDR pictures on Flickr and was blown away by what I saw. A couple of must-sees: Hazy sunrise in Tokyo, Niseko Sunset, Country home in Japan, Hokkaido Winter Sunset. And there's more. I really want to try this out myself!

Update: PingMag has an article up about HDR photography - with Tokyo examples, of course.

Flickr Zen: katakana signage

2006-03-16T18:04:00.000+09:00

Downloading video streams with GetASFStream

2006-03-09T16:59:00.000+09:00

Ever wished you could actually save those streaming-only clips you find on news websites and the like? Then GetASFStream (Windows only) might be exactly what you need. This nice piece of Japanese freeware allows you to save a local copy of ASX, WVX, WAX, ASF, WMV and WMA streams - completely effortless. Just paste the video file's URL (which you find in the containing page's source) in GetASFStream's URL field and hit 実行. The rest is done for you.

MIT Visualizing Cultures site

2006-03-08T22:45:00.000+09:00

Another site in the style of the earlier mentioned National Archives of Japan and NDL Gallery: MIT Visualizing Cultures, which consists of several "units," each highlighting another Japan related, historical event from the period 1850-1950.

The site is still a work in progress, but the parts that are finished are already worth a look.

Update 2006-04-29: from today's Chicago Tribune: "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology took down a history course Web page after Chinese students complained about a 19th Century wood-print image of Japanese soldiers beheading Chinese prisoners." That "history course Web page" is the site mentioned above...

Smatch Search

2006-03-08T04:17:00.000+09:00

Smatch is a great Japanese real estate search engine. Great, because it has al features you can think of: extensive search criteria (including distance to the nearest station or bus stop), RSS feeds, an intuitive interface, maps integration, and a slick layout. Also: a curvy logo and, guess what, it's in beta.

Japanese Typography Flickr group

2006-03-07T05:29:00.000+09:00

Hot on the heels of PingMag's recent features about Japanese typography (I, II), type guru Chris Palmieri has started a Flickr group documenting Japanese typographical artifacts found throughout Tokyo and Osaka. Only just begun, but already worth subscribing to.

Newsreel Japan videos

2006-02-28T12:05:00.000+09:00

Between the United Newsreel Motion Pictures Google has put online, there are some interesting Japan related WWII videos, each around 10 minutes in length.

Free idfont downloads

2006-02-20T10:34:00.000+09:00

Sweet and short: idfont offers a nice set of Japanese font downloads (so not just kana). Don't expect to find representations of all characters in there, but it's great if you're searching for a good looking font outside the Mincho/Gothic realm.

Asoboo, Chizumado, MixFeed and Checkpad

2006-02-16T10:46:00.000+09:00

The "web x.0" wave (or whatever you wanna call it) has also reached Japan, leading to a couple of interesting social software experiments. A couple of sites that passed the radar and are worth a look:

Asoboo: "Unlocking doors to people and places in your city." OK concept, but not too many users yet.
Chizumado: reminds me of the earlier mentioned maplog, but for some reason, this is just better (not to say different). I especially like the way how you can include the map in a blog entry.
MixFeed: allows you to, well, mix feeds. I know there are some similar, non-Japanese services, but none of them really works - MixFeed seems to do a better job (so far).
Checkpad: for people who really need to have a Japanese version of Ta-da lists. No frills, just plain to-do list creating and sharing.

National Archives

2006-02-14T10:23:00.000+09:00

Last week, Boing Boing linked to a set of Japanese WWII duck-and-cover-posters. Don't stop there though, as the National Archives website has interesting hi-res visual materials about other topics too. Start on the frontpage and browse around - there's plenty of great stuff to discover.

Mixi tools overview

2006-02-08T02:59:00.000+09:00

For all Mixi fans out there, this 「mixi系ツールのまとめ　リンク集」 page is a nice list of links to all kinds of Mixi browsers and enhancements, including two Firefox extensions. Also be sure to check out the neat mixiGraph app (Win/Mac).

Midnight Eye

2006-02-05T21:32:00.000+09:00

Apparently, this site has been around for a while -the copyright notice mentions 2001-, but to me, it's completely new: Midnight Eye, a Japanese cinema site with lots of reviews, interviews and special features. Worth checking out!

Browsing with Shiira

2006-02-04T17:02:00.000+09:00

I am not a Mac user, but the Shiira browser seems like it's a sweet piece of software: it's made in Japan, uses Webkit (aka KHTML) as its rendering engine, has great looks, and sports an awesome icon.

Update: PingMag has a nice interview with the Shiira project's team leader, Kinoshita Makoto.

Flickr Zen: flowers in the snow

2006-02-03T18:54:00.000+09:00

bitter*girls photography

2006-01-29T09:46:00.000+09:00

A couple of days ago, I found a great photography post at BLDGBLOG, introducing the work of Olivo Barbieri, who makes aerial photographs of real landscapes that resemble scale models.

It seems like several of the photos featured at the Japanese the bitter*girls blog are made with a similar technique - this picture of the Yurikamome line for instance is absolutely surreal.

N.B. Some of the pictures link to a bigger version at fotologue.jp, which is a site I didn't know. It looks quite nice, but uses a bit too much flash for my taste. Still worth checking out though, as there's plenty of great photo gazing to do.

The Library of Congress' Ukiyo-e exhibition

2006-01-28T20:22:00.000+09:00

The Floating World of Ukiyo-E - Shadows, Dreams and Substance is a Library of Congress exhibition with a clean site and ± 400x600px graphics. Worth a visit.

W32T trickery part 1: adding functionality with bookmarklets

2006-01-25T02:46:00.000+09:00

I recently bought Toshiba's W32T keitai, which comes, among other things, with Opera 7.60 (aka PCサイトビューアー) preinstalled. Great browser, decent speed and all that, but it is not capable of copying the text or downloading the images you see on your screen. Luckily, as the Opera browser is JavaScript enabled, bookmarklets come to our rescue - here are the ones I find invaluable (also usable on other PCサイトビューアー enabled keitai, such as W31T, W21CA/W21CAII, etc.):

Plain text popup = allows you to copy any webpage's text:
```
javascript:prompt('',document.body.innerText); 
```
View the current page in the EZ browser (aka Openwave Mobile Browser 6.2) = gives more content manipulation possibilities, but comes with rather strict size limits:
```
javascript:location.href='device:ezweb?url='+location.href
```

View all images on 1 page and optionally view each image separately in the EZ browser = images can be saved, as long as they're not too big:

javascript:(function(){var d=document,a=d.images,i; for(i=0;i<a.length; i++){ d.write('<a href="device:ezweb?url='+a[i].src+'"><img src="'+a[i].src+'"></a>');} d.write('<hr><a href="'+location.href+'">back</a>');d.close();})();

View all images on 1 page and optionally resize each image on the fly = any image can be resized and saved in the EZ browser:

javascript:(function(){var d=document,a=d.images,i; for(i=0;i<a.length; i++){ d.write('<a href="device:ezweb?url=http://tama.s68.xrea.com/ezch/resize.php?url='+a[i].src+'"><img src="'+a[i].src+'"></a>');} d.write('<hr><a
href="'+location.href+'">back</a>');d.close();})();

Credit where credit is due: bookmarklet 1 and 4 come almost straight from ayati.com, while 2 and 3 are variations on the same theme.

Quick explanation how to use the code snippets above: make a new bookmark in your PCサイトビューアー and copy the javascript:... string you find above to the field where you would otherwise put http://www.... Activating the bookmarklets' functionality is easy: navigate to a webpage of choice, and simply select the bookmarklet you want to use.

POPjisyo's mobile dictionary

2006-01-22T10:34:00.000+09:00

Looking around for an online Japanese-English dictionary service that is usable with cell phones, I bumped into the mobile version of POPjisyo.com. Very nice, especially the reverse lookup function, which allows you to find the word you're looking for really fast. Something for your mobile bookmarks.

Tokyo Art Beat search plugins for Firefox

2006-01-17T01:12:00.000+09:00

I've made two Firefox search plugins that give quick access to the Japanese and English search functionality on Tokyo Art Beat (powered by Google). Add them to the Firefox search bar for instant TAB querying pleasure. Note: I volunteer for Tokyo Art Beat.

Japanese manholes

2006-01-14T03:15:00.000+09:00

Talking about manholes (see previous post), there was a nice link list to Japanese manhole pictures on backspace.com back in October 2002. Some of the links are dead or forgotten, but マンホールのふた and マンホール Best! are worth a look.

There are also a LOT of Japanese manhole pictures on Flickr. A simple search returns more than 150 results, and the "manhole cover" group's Japan section is even completely devoted to the subject - this one's my favorite!

Update: there's a great manhole design gallery over at frangipani.

Free stuff and good food in Tokyo

2006-01-14T02:44:00.000+09:00

Today's PingMag comes with a great guide to free stuff in Tokyo. From collecting paper tissues over inspecting manhole cover designs to checking out Tokyo Art Beat's Free Entrance list, it's all there.

And in case you're feeling hungry after all the freeriding, Bento.com's new Google Maps powered restaurant guide will come in handy. (link via Jean Snow)

Imitation - the sincerest form of flattery?

2006-01-12T03:22:00.000+09:00

Compare!

BBC documentary: "Inside Nintendo"

2006-01-09T06:00:00.000+09:00

There's an interesting one hour BBC documentary about Nintendo up at Google Video. I don't know how long it will last, so better be fast ;-)

Vintage Tokyo Imagery

2006-01-08T02:11:00.000+09:00

Just found Old Tokyo, a site featuring pictures of early 20th century Tokyo. Very fascinating, and completely different from today's Tokyo.

Japanese type foundries with free fonts

2006-01-04T00:00:00.000+09:00

In the first half of 2005, the Fontleech blog was offering an almost daily portion of links to and reviews of quality free fonts. Among them, a lot of Japanese ones. Since the Summer however, Fontleech hasn't really been updated anymore, and comment spam is slowly taking over the place. As I'm afraid the site may go offline one day on another, I decided to reproduce its links to Japanese type foundries with free fonts, and added some of my own links too. Here we go, in no particular order:

Note that most "free" fonts listed on the sites above are only free for personal use - commercial use is often only possible under certain conditions (after paying a fee, for instance).

Online National Diet Library materials

2006-01-02T04:52:00.000+09:00

The National Diet Library website's NDL Gallery page gives an overview of its "electronic exhibitions," each highlighting a part of the NDL's extensive collection and featuring (quite) high-res images and (mostly) bilingual explanations. I like the "Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures" a lot, but the other exhibitions are also worth a look.

In a different section of the NDL site, you can also find the NDL's Rare Books database - there is not so much content available yet, but trying some Japan related queries, I got a couple of interesting results.

Tilted Osaka map

2006-01-01T19:42:00.000+09:00

Another maps related post: a couple of days ago, Google Maps Mania pointed to this Japan made, tilted Google Maps variant - only viewable with Firefox 1.5, and very proof-of-concept, but it's a great trick. Info about how this is done is available on the creator's site.

Flickr Zen: decay

2005-12-31T01:35:00.000+09:00

Japan on Weather Bonk

2005-12-28T09:32:00.000+09:00

Weather Bonk, a (new?) service displaying weather info and webcam locations on top of Google Maps (and Google Earth) has pretty extensive coverage of Japan. I like it.

Four Japanese blog search engines

2005-12-25T18:50:00.000+09:00

Digging through the Japanese blogosphere is of course possible with Technorati Japan, but if you want to try something else, be sure to give maplog.jp a spin. Search results are displayed in the classic list form, but also projected on a Google powered map. I don't know if it's terribly useful, but well, it's a cool trick.

Also worth a look is kizasi. Its interface is different from other search engines: you not only get search results, but also a tag cloud of related terms + a time based stats overview - try "メリークリスマス", for instance.

And to finish this short list, a link to blogWatcher: although the service is visually not very appealing, there's a lot of power under the hood, and the statistics on the right are more than a gimmick.

Yahoo! Japan's "scrolling maps" beta

2005-12-23T05:04:00.000+09:00

Yahoo! Japan recently released a beta version of its AJAX powered "scrolling maps" service: Sweet!

MegaTokyo (+ feed)

2005-12-21T21:05:00.000+09:00

MegaTokyo - relax, we understand j00 is an online comic with almost daily updates. And yes, you can track the latest installments via RSS. Great stuff.

Flickr Zen: "In Japan, Christmas is blue"

2005-12-20T00:12:00.000+09:00

Crash course "Tokyo"

2005-12-19T02:56:00.000+09:00

An oldie (Sep 2002), but a goodie - if you need a crash course "Tokyo", check out Justin Hall's CC-licensed "Just In Tokyo".

Edomoji and more

2005-12-15T18:21:00.000+09:00

Via PingMag's Introduction to Japanese Edo era fonts, a link to this fine "Japanese lettering" resource page.

Canned coffee goodness

2005-12-13T04:48:00.000+09:00

If you're into coffee, check out the recently launched Canned Coffee site - a snippet, discussing Georgia "Morning Coffee":

This acidic, low-sugar concoction tastes like coffee that's been left in the pot for a day then reheated in a microwave. Clean-lined and astringent. For best results, knock back with a grimace before telling her you need your freedom, then hop on the Inokashira line to Shibuya and get shit-faced on gin and tonics.

I just love that last sentence...

Japanese grammar resources

2005-12-12T11:35:00.000+09:00

For those looking for online Japanese grammar references and courses, a small list of useful links:
Jim's Japanese Grammar Summary
JGram
Japanese for the Western Brain
Wikipedia entry about Japanese Grammar
A Logical Japanese Grammar
A Japanese guide to Japanese grammar

Fwd: Japanese Cinema

2005-12-10T20:44:00.000+09:00

Godzilla-fetishists can get their fix at Barry's Temple of Godzilla, but if you're more into Akira Kurosawa maybe this Akira Kurosawa Database can be of help. You just can't get enough of female black hair drenched in blood: Snowblood Apple brings Japanese horror and SF reviews to your screen. More of a generalist, all-round kinda person, you say? Wikipedia brings relief and more external links at the bottom of the page. Too obvious? Take a look at the serious stuff - my top 3 is as follows: 1. Midnight Eye / 2. Kinema Club / 3. Bright Lights Film Journal's section on Japanese Cinema. Midnight Eye's links listing is the wet dream of many...For more info on the big movie studios, click your way to Wikipedia again. And finally, some Japanese content - it's like IMDB, but for Japanese cinema and in Japanese: enter the JMDB.

Flickr Zen: looking up

2005-12-10T05:16:00.000+09:00

Japanese font resources

2005-12-09T05:56:00.000+09:00

I knew about the fine "Japanese fonts" section in Alan Wood's great Unicode reference, but these two excellent pages are new to me: U+ fonts page 1 and page 2. Most of the fonts listed are free downloads, so go grab 'em before they're gone.

Japanese TV-commercials

2005-12-06T02:19:00.000+09:00

In Japan, they're called CM, which stands for commercial message, and they usually feature famous people and/or songs. You can find these icons of Japan's consumist mentality at CMJapan and CMExploration. As anywhere else in the world, TV advertising is big business, and involves big money. Big money attracts big people - the love story between Hollywood and Japanese Advertising is told by Japander.com. And if you feel like becoming a CM-director yourself, consider taking part in NHK's Mini Mini Movie Competition.

Flickr Zen: lo-res beauty

2005-12-04T02:19:00.000+09:00

Information management with ScrapBook

2005-12-04T02:18:00.000+09:00

It started as a experiment at the Tokyo based Murota Lab, but now it's one of the most powerful Firefox extensions out there: ScrapBook allows you save, order and annotate webpages in a multitude of ways - a must have for any serious internet user. Power-users should check out the Multi-ScrapBook add-on, too.

Snappy fashion pics

2005-12-03T02:17:00.000+09:00

Tokyo Street Style and Fashionsnap both provide weekly updates of Tokyo fashion pictures. Fashionsnap's strong point is its attention for detail and accessories, while Tokyo Street Style comes with a cool browse-per-place navigation: compare Harajuku with Ginza, for example. ;-)

J-dorama-o-rama

2005-12-03T02:16:00.000+09:00

Both D-addicts and Japan-TV provide J-drama torrent files. Yet, if you want to maintain your undoubtedly clean criminal record, keep it legal: buy at YesAsia.com or Sensasian.com, read at JDorama.com or J-Fan.com's Drama section.

Japanese Firefox goes Yahoo!

2005-12-03T02:15:00.000+09:00

A surprising twist in the Japanese version of Firefox 1.5 - the search engine included in the Firefox Start page is Yahoo!, not Google.

Product design of yesteryear

2005-12-03T02:11:00.000+09:00

Product Design Database: Japanese consumer product ads of the '70s, '80s and '90s. For nostalgici and brushed-metal lovers.

Carpe ponkan

2005-12-02T01:53:00.000+09:00

Carpe ponkan, said the wise [webmaster] man. His [surfer] followers did what they always did: [click and] follow. And when their [finger-like] teeth, hungry for knowledge, slid through the ponkan's juicy flesh, streams of [Japan-related] data filled their minds. More and more, they wanted. More and more, they had. Squish'em & click'em!