Video

March 8th, 2010

I came across these guys from a post on Twitter a little while ago and can’t believe how good they are. If you like your J-Rock hard and played by guys who can actually play (the bassist is amazing), make sure you check out – Nothing’s Carved In Stone.

3 Ways to Learn Japanese With YouTube

February 17th, 2010

YouTube offers an amazing array of free resources for anyone wanting to learn Japanese. From anime to cooking, sports and Japanese news broadcasts, anyone with an internet connection can get instant access to tens of thousands of videos on demand.

Here are three ways to harness the power of YouTube to improve your Japanese.

Google debuts instant translation service

November 18th, 2009

This week Google introduced a new look and feel for it’s online translation service, Google Translate.

For a free service it’s great but let’s just say that I wouldn’t use it to do up a resume for that job at Microsoft in Tokyo you really wanted to nail.

Google Japan animates Street View concerns

October 14th, 2009

When Google Japan debuted its new Street View service in August 2008, there was such an uproar that by May 2009, Google announced that it would re-shoot all of Street View data it had captured in Japan and also lower the height of the Street View car’s camera pole.

Tokyo loses Olympics bid to Rio

October 5th, 2009

I missed the news over the weekend but it seems Tokyo has lost out to Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro in it’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

It’s a shame as Tokyo, who last hosted the Olympics in 1964, would have done a great job (okay I’m biased) but after hearing that Rio is first South American city to ever hold an Olympics it is probably a fair call. The other cities in the finals race were Chicago and Madrid.

Honda introduces Segway-like U3-X

September 27th, 2009

In the leadup to the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, Honda has introduced the U3-X, it’s own sit-down take on Dean Kamen’s famous two-wheeled Segway.

The one-wheeled U3-X, dubbed by Honda as the “world’s smallest existing transport device”, can move in any direction by the rider simply shifting their weight in the direction they wish to go.

The Cyber Homeless

September 18th, 2009

The cyber homeless are becoming more and more prevalent in Japanese society.

For about $500 a month, out-of-work Japanese geeks can now make their home in a cyber-cafe cubicle.

Robo-sapians coming of age?

September 15th, 2009

The creators of the rather eerie-looking CB2 (Child-robot with Biomimetic Body), which was first introduced to the world back in 2007, say that the 130cm silicone-enveloped android is making excellent progress towards their goal of simulating a real-life 1-2 year old.