Tokyo International Book Fair at Big sight

Japan is the World’s 2nd Largest Publishing Market. Today, July 13 was the last day of book fair. One of my friend, Mr. Guo zhen, who is originally from China during our Japanese lessons at OVTA told me about the 15th Tokyo International Book Fair. The venue was in Big sight Tokyo, around 10 minutes by train from Toyosu station. Big sight and Toyosu are some of Tokyo's posh areas.

Finding English books in Tokyo is a tiresome task. Manytimes I had felt sorry about myself saying shit about this trend. I was searching for such a book fair from the first week of my stay in Japan. Along with my Indonesian friend, I could enjoy purchasing books from TIBF.

There were 770 Exhibitors from over 30 Countries. As the leading event in the world's 2nd largest publishing market, TIBF is the best venue to find the latest releases in all genres - fiction & non-fiction, business & economics, education, how-to's, manga & comics, all types of magazines, and many other specialty books. As TIBF brings more business every year, the number of both exhibitors and visitors is increasing.

There were international publishers around the world will be joining TIBF, such as Asian exhibitors from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India, as well as those from all over Europe including UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. As well, TIBF will welcome exhibitors from US, Canada, and Brazil. To be the Hub of Rights Trade in Asia TIBF Show Management offers an online “Rights Trade Support Service” for its participants.

English bookd were very less compared to the Japanese books. The used books section observed the peak of rush, with foreigners and Japanese people eagerly looking for books of their interest. We purchased some really useful books of our interest. The low price of technical books in Used books section surprised us.

Organizers had arranged stage programs for the visitors to relax and take interval during purchase. Ofcourse it was in Japanese ! no doubt, but atleast I could take some snaps !

Japanese Marriages

I have studied in our Japanese language class about verbs, that 'getting married' in Japanese is 'Kekkonshimasu'. Huge amounts of money is spent on getting married in Japan, as the lavish advertising by specicalized wedding establishments in trains and other public places indicates. Eventhough this is the general case, in recent years, simple inexpensive marriages, popularly known in Japanese as jimikon have become popular. The meaning of jimikon is plain wedding.

Love marriages are most popular in Japan. In Tokyo and other cities, love matches or Ren'ai kekkon are increasingly becoming trend. But arranged marriages or miai kekkon are frequent in interiror parts.

In arranged marriages, the families first exchange shashin or photograhs and rirekisho or bio-data, which generally give information about the family as a whole and about the prospective candidate. Even though these marriages are arranged by families, the couple will be given enough opportunities to get to know each other. And in worst case to say no, if anything wrong they found each other, before any final arrangements are made. This formal introduction and get know each other helps marriage breaks after.

The first formal meeting of the prospective candidates is known as o-miai. They will be accompanied by the perosn who is arranging the marriage. In Japan such persons are known as nakodo. Nakodo is an important figure during the wedding festivities in Japan. Nakodo is so important in Japan that even couples who have met without the aid of a nakodo will ask someone close to them to act as a nakodo.

iPhone launched in Japan

Yesterday I wrote in this blog that Japan is waiting for iPhone. Today, after having my lunch at McDonald at Itoyokado in Kiba, near to my office, I was walking through the open shopping malls, watching Japanese people shopping.

My attention was drawn to a mike announcement in Japanse and many people gathered near one of the entrance of Itoyokado. There was a huge rush and as I approached, I found many leaflets of iPone 3G. It was a booking counter and the displays showed i-Phone 3G, 8G and 16G models.

Further I read Reuters news that more than a thousand excited and sleep deprived Japanese celebrate the launch of Apple's new iPhone in Tokyo. The long-anticipated third-generation (3G) iPhone, which has faster Web links than its predecessor and supports third-party applications such as games and email, was Launched Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand on Friday as part of the global launch in 22 countries.

Wath the Video Report from Chika Osaka, Reuters:

Reuters Reports Japan awaits for iPhone 3G

Reuters reported on July 9 that the wait is almost over for the new 3G version of the Apple iPhone which hits stores around the world on Friday. In markets like Britain retailers have already warned that demand could well outstrip supply.

But in tech-savvy Japan analysts say the iPhone faces a big battle justifying all the hype.

In Japan, one of the world's most advanced mobile markets, about 20 people were lining up outside of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, with a sign at the top of the queue reading "We Love iPhone".

"The big appeal (of the iPhone) is that this is an Apple product," said Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student who arrived early on Tuesday from Nagoya, 360 km (225 miles) west of Tokyo, to be first in the line.

He will turn 25 on Thursday while waiting to get his hands on the high-end version of the iPhone with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple also offers an entry-level version with an 8 gigabyte memory.

Softbank, Japan's third-biggest mobile carrier, will start selling iPhones at the flagship store at 7 a.m. on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) and expand sales nationwide at noon.

Research firm Enterbrain has said 6.7 percent of 1,200 people it surveyed in Japan wanted to buy an iPhone immediately, and most of the people in the queue plan to buy the device as their second cellphone.

Japan's 108 million mobile users already frequently use Web browsing and email on 3G networks, and some analysts say the iPhone might not attract many buyers among mainstream cellphone users. "We can expect certain demand from core Apple fans and others, but there will be users who would hesitate about buying iPhone because of high monthly charges of some 8,000 yen," said Hironobu Sawake, a JPMorgan senior analyst in Tokyo.

Even though there will be other features that are more attractive than ordinary phones, the fact that iPhone does not offer some features that are available on most handsets could turn off some users too, some users commented.

Japanese Tea Ceremony and Reese Witherspoon

The Japanese tea ceremony is a great part of Japanese culture. It is known in Japanese as cha-no-yu. Japanese tea ceremony is a custom influenced by Zen Buddhism. In Tea ceremony, powdered green tea, or matcha 抹茶, is traditionally and ceremonially prepared by skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a calm and cool atmosphere.

A tea practitioner is familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices. For this reason, the study of tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime for many. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of sado, including the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, and the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.

On June 11, Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon took part in a Japanese tea ceremony, serving green tea for breast cancer survivors in Tokyo.

Watch this Video News from Reuters:

Wearing a traditional Japanese kimono, Witherspoon was taught the tea-making procedure in which powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared and served to others. The Legally Blonde star is an Avon Global Ambassador promoting women's health and safety, a project supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

She was visiting Japan to raise awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence. A study shows only 12% of Japanese women get regular screenings for breast cancer.

Working in a Japanese company

Many Japanese companies have branches abroad and they do employ foreigners. This publisher is also belong to this category. Japanese companies employ foreigners both in Japan and in foreign country as well. Japanese companies are well known for their systematic approach to work and discipline. They are also known for their system of lifetime employment and promotion of staff according to the age rather than personal achievements. Even after this, only the most talented will be able to got right to the topp.

Change is happening in these areas and now a days the word 'Risutora' or downsizing has entered in the vocabulary. If you are working in a Japanese company, over time will be a must. You have to show a lot of output and give the company a right place in your life probably equal status to the life.

It is well known that Japanese people are addicted to work. Many times during discussion I have heard about Japanese work culture their obsession with the job. Most of the Japanese are workaholics. They expect the same attitude from their foreign counterparts.

So, if you are selected by a Japanese company, be prepared to do hard work and earn reputation.

Love to Wear Stylish Prescription Glasses

Like other parts of the world, Japanese people also love to wear glasses. Wearing glasses is a symbol of intellectual level of a person and also it is a fashion.

Zenny Optical Sells Stylish Prescription Glasses Online. They have a huge selection of frames, with single vision lens, sun-sensor (photo-chromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. Which you will love to own. The Secret of Zenni’s Low Prices is that they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. That makes Zenny Optical unique and genuine.

Zenny Optical’s Single Vison, Bi-Focal and progressive bi-focal lenses are premium-quality high-index Polycarbonate composite polymer high-impact resistant lenses with full UV protection and a special strong anti-scratch coating. Sunglass tint is available for any of our glasses for $4.95. Premium Anti-Reflective plus Anti-Radiation coating, a very highly recommended upgrade, is only $4.95 extra.

The anti-reflective & anti-radiation coating is great for night driving and Computer use. They minimize annoying and dangerous reflections and glare in night driving and reduce glare from computer screens to prevent eye strain. Also, Anti-reflective coating greatly reduces the external reflections on the lens surface which would mask the eyes, producing a much nicer cosmetic appearance.

Most Japanese love to wear stylish glasses. Like the tooth brush habits, wearing glasses is another popular stereotype of the Japanese. It makes them feel good and recent surveys had shown that Japanese people think that wearing glassess is a symbol of intellectual thinking level of a person. Japanese society value the spectacles or glasses and those who wear it !

Japan use Fiber Optic cable to Monitor Earth Quake and Tsunami

Japan is prone to earth quakes and had witnessed many worst hit tragedies in the past. Gained experience from past events and in order to take preventive action to save its citizens, Japan has been investing in its research facilities to get more advanced technologies to monitor earth quake, Tsunami and similar natural disasters.

As a measure to monitor natural disasters, Japan’s Meteorological Agency abbreviated as JMA has begun laying a fiber-optic cable under the Pacific Ocean. Generally Fiber Optic cables are deployed for high data transmission and supreme quality voice channels. Japan will not use this undersea fiber optic cables for telecommunications. The cable will be part of an advanced monitoring and alert system that could provide warning before a destructive earthquake hit the shores of Japan.

In the past the mainly the south east asian and far east Asian countries had bad experience with Tsunami. One of the major reasons for these destructive tidal waves was the undersea earthquakes. Undersea tidal waves possess much more energy that normal waves. Japan has been hit by killer tsunami waves in the past. The worst series of tsunami waves were those that occurred in December 2004 that followed an earthquake near another island nation, Indonesia.
The new monitoring system with fiber cable extends 220 kilometers from the south coast of Japan near Shizuoka prefecture. Shizuoka prefecture has long been marked by seismologists for having a significant chance of a major earthquake.

Along with the cable there are nine large pods. Each around 2 meters long and approx. 26 cm wide. The pods were developed by NEC as part of the project. Out of these nine pods, five pods are earthquake sensors, three pods are tsunami sensors and the last pod handles signal relay from the far end of the cable back to shore. From the shore the signals are sent to data processing centers in Tokyo and Osaka. Since the two cities are several hundred kilometers apart, even if one got affected by an earthquake, the other should keep running. Data from the pods can be used to determine the location and size of undersea earthquakes and the possibility of a tidal wave.

As Japan is one of the most seismically active nations, it has a highly sophisticated earthquake monitoring and reporting systems. Typically the size and intensity of a quake is announced by the JMA and flashed over Television screens within 2 or 3 minutes of its occurrence. An important integral part of this reporting system is that it predicts the possibility of tidal waves.

A more recent innovation is an early-warning system that seeks to provide notice seconds in advance of strong quakes. The system monitors the fast moving but weak primary waves to quickly determine the approximate location and intensity of a quake and attempts to get out a warning in advance of the more destructive secondary waves.

Recently the warning system provided about 13 seconds warning of a strong quake to the 1 million residents of Sendai city in northern Japan. The warning system can't yet provide alerts fast enough to those very close to the epicenter but it's still in its early days having started operation last October.

The new cable is being laid by the Subaru. It is a ship owned by Japanese telecom provider NTT. This ship is specifically built for this job. It set sail from Yokohama port on the first week of July. Before the ship started its journey the reporters were allowed on-board to observe the functionality of the ship.

Fiber Optic Cable was in a large circular storage area that is several stories high in the center of the ship. This time the circular storage contained only 220 kilometers of fiber optic cable for the new cable system. But the storage is capable of storing up to 5,000 kilometers. Just like pulling a piece of string from the center of a ball, the cable is pulled up to the deck level of the ship and then through a series of pulleys and wheels before disappearing over the back of the boat and into the ocean.

In the deep ocean the fiber optic cable sits on the seabed. Near to land a trench needs to be dug so the fiber optic cable lays under the surface for protection. Once the installation is over, the system will provide advanced features for seismologists to predict earthquakes and killer waves. Fiber optics not just limited to voice or internet communication in Japan !

Japanese Monkeys put on Crash diet !

It is reporte by Reuters that a group of monkeys in a Japanese Park have been put on a strict diet after many of them ballooned from overeating as measure to reduce their weight.

About 50 Rhesus monkeys, who live in an enclosure at Ohama park in Osaka, have been steadily gaining weight for several years. Some became so fat they couldn't move around.

Ohama park authorities decided to put these primates on a crash diet, with their calorie intake being cut nearly sixty-percent.

Watch full video:


Source, Reuters, Sonia Legg reports.

Water-fuel car unveiled in Japan

Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water.

The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.

SOUNDBITE: Kiyoshi Hirasawa, CEO, Genepax.

Sourc: Reuters, Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports.

Japan bank ties with Bank of India

Jan. 25 - Japan's No. 2, Mizuho Financial, will form business ties with top State Bank of India, the latest global move by a Japanese lender.

Mizuho last week announced a $1.2 billion investment in Merrill Lynch, a milestone for Japan's once reeling banks, now looking for overseas opportunities.

Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports