Fans of Japanese comedy know TKO well. The manzai pair can often be seen on TV. The members of TKO are Takayuki Kinoshita and Takehiro Kimoto, both also have popular blogs on Ameblo where Kimoto has confirmed that it is indeed him that was captured by the Google Streetview car camera in Setagaya Ward and…
So I had some time on my hands and I was playing around with Google Translate, which I think shows a lot of promise, but still has some weaknesses as well. The main weakness is that it’s well a machine. I don’t know what possessed me to do this but in the Japanese to English…
Google has changed its Japan logo for the celebration of Coming of Age Day, also called Adult’s Day. New adults (age 20 here) hear a few speeches from bureaucrats about the responsibilities of being an adult and a “shakaijin” or contributing member of society.
As smart phones are finally starting to catch on in Japan, mobile phone powerhouse Au is introducing a smartphone running Google’s Android OS. Although the term smart phone is almost silly when considering that the majority of even Japan’s simpler phones have had cameras, music playing capabilities, texting, and applications or “apuri” for years. Videos…
While others were enjoying the Scooby Doo Halloween Google Logos on Google America, Japan got to see a Google logo dedicated to the birthday of one of Japan’s most internationally famous artists, Hokusai (whose birthday, I believe, is not known for certain). Hokusai was another person (like myself) captivated by the beauty of Mt. Fuji…
The YouTube Japan Mobile Site has recently been revamped and released out on the public. YouTube has been accessible on mobile phones in Japan for several years now (depending on your make and model of phone), but the writers at the official Japanese language blog of YouTube seem particularly proud of the latest version. They…
This design was only released on the Japanese language Google homepage but a lot of thought was put into it. The young 20 year old coming of age ceremony participant in a traditional kimono is prominently featured, but there is also the subtle adjustment of the Os in google to look like the number 20!
In an interview with Nikkei Business Online, Yahoo President Masahiro Inoue said that Google is not so great, and implied that Yahoo Japan has done great things while staying in the law. This comment may be a reference to Streetview which is one of Google’s most popular products in Japan, and for which Yahoo Japan…
Google Japan has entered another unexpected market with the release of a free Japanese input software. Reviews on the net hail it as a very natural and easy to use system posing a huge threat to the standard issue ATOK, Anthy, WinAnthy, and other input systems. Google’s Japanese input can be used with Windows XP…
I’m not going to explain the obvious ones like and but I’ll go down a little list of some that I think people might find interesting or useful… refers to the Japanese version of the expression “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” good for “sorry” or “pretty please” (although it looks like…
As the iPhone went to Softbank (owned by Yahoo Japan), I was wondering if the Google Android phone would ever come to Japan. Well, the Google Android Phone Japan Version is here, and it went to Docomo. Other Docomo phones have gradually been increasing its compatibility with Google products such as YouTube and Google Maps…
As I was perusing the Google Maps page to check out information about the new Street View filming in Japan I happened upon another link that shows that Google Street View Japan is looking for “partners”. The following video illustrates: This video features the first ever Google Street View Japan partner filming which took place…