Year: 2009

Japanese Classics For Kindle

Amazon has recently announced their Global Wireless Kindle. However, as English only books are sold from Amazon.com, most Japanese couldn’t find the product very appealing. Takayama Kyosuke just released a web based tool which translates books from Aozora Project (Japanese equivalent to Gutenberg Project) to Kindle supported PDF format. To get your favorite Japanese classic… Continue reading Japanese Classics For Kindle

Google Releases Google Japanese Input (Beta)

Google Japan’s development section announced on Google Japan official blog [J] a project started from their famous 20% rule” produced a new Japanese input method “Google Japanese Input” application, both for Windows and Macintosh (currently for Intel 32 bit only, no 64 bit support). After installation, you may choose Google IME(Input Method Environment) on your… Continue reading Google Releases Google Japanese Input (Beta)

Tokyo Hermes Mixed Reality Ad

Japanese A-lister Masaki Ishitani [J] took an interesting video of an installation ad at Hermes Tokyo branch at the most decent shopping area Ginza (location on Google Street View). This is Tokujin Yoshioka‘s work and she is an actress Tae Kimura. See Also: Tokujin Yoshioka’s blog entry on this project [J]

Augmented Reality in Shibuya: Allows Street Walkers To Tag Anything Around The Town

In association with Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, NEC and Tokyu Agency(ad agency), Tokyu Corporation, which operates major railway lines including Shibuya-Yokohama, started today the trial of an augmented reality service “Pin@clip[J]” (pronounced “Pina-Kuri”, and named after pins and clips) using iPhone for commuters and shoppers in the Shibuya area, which allows you to tag… Continue reading Augmented Reality in Shibuya: Allows Street Walkers To Tag Anything Around The Town

Yahoo! Japan Testing Office Version For Enterprise Workers

The dominant portal/search Yahoo! Japan is testing a customized portal for office workers. On Yahoo! Japan’s top page, which is the most viewed page in Japan by the way, a new button “Office Version” is showed up at the best position on the top banner menu. Once you clicked it, your Yahoo top page is… Continue reading Yahoo! Japan Testing Office Version For Enterprise Workers

Google Japan’s Winter Present – Free WiFi In 370 Coffeeshops

Like Google US offers free WiFi in 47 airports, Google Japan announced 30 minutes free WiFi gift everyday for mobile users, at three chainshops, Tully’s Coffee, Pronto coffee/bar and Lotteria hamburger in populated areas [J] from November 30th to February 28th. On this campaign [J] to promote Google services (you need to register with your… Continue reading Google Japan’s Winter Present – Free WiFi In 370 Coffeeshops

JIMS On The Plane: What They Learn From SV Tech Start-ups

On Friday, at Mobile Yakan Daigaku[J], a serial after-hours study session and meet-up event for the mobile industry people, a tech incubator’s director Mr. Ryo Umezawa[J] presented a wrap-up of the tour titled “JIMS on the Plane” that he and mobile entrepreneurs had organized and visited tech start-ups in Silicon Valley for information and opinion… Continue reading JIMS On The Plane: What They Learn From SV Tech Start-ups

Make Tokyo Meeting 04: Where You Can See Future, Magic And Junk In A Place

Last weekend at Ookayama Campus, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O’reilly Media‘s mechatronics magazine “Make” held the 4th meeting[J] and gave Japanese geeks the opportunities to present their gadgets to the public. Let’s have a look at some of remarkable and unique items which get us excited. Tokyo-based tech start-up (founded by graduates from the University… Continue reading Make Tokyo Meeting 04: Where You Can See Future, Magic And Junk In A Place