I recently visited an incredibly well preserved example at Yokokura Temple in Ibigawa-cho, Western Gifu-ken. This monk, Myoshijyonin, was born in the village in 1781 and after the death of his parents embarked on an epic pilgrimage trail visiting, amongst others, the 88 shrines of Shikoku, the 33 sites in Saikoku (Kansai) and the 34 temples of Chichibu (Saitama). He then climbed Fuji-san and attempted to climb Goshotai-zan. It was here that he decided to become a mummy.

Self-inflicted mummification necessarily differs from the post-mortal method. In order to avoid decay, priests would remove the deceased organs and store them in jars around the body. The monk obviously couldn’t follow this practice. Instead a diet of nuts and berries, in conjunction with physical toil, would remove all body fat. This then gave way to an even more restrictive diet of bark and roots until the monk resembled a skeleton. Next he would begin to drink a poison made from the sap of the urushi tree. In addition to removing fluids by inducing vomiting, sweating and urinating, the poison would collect in the body, making them toxic to maggots and insects who would normally devour the body. The whole process could take as long as ten years, and one can only imagine the suffering and the strength of will needed to continue.

With the body theoretically protected from natural decay, he would be encased in a stone room little bigger than the size of a seated man. His only furnishings were a bell which he rang every day and a tube for air. When the bell ceased to ring the tube was removed and the room sealed.

The process is not fool-proof and many would rot anyway, but those who were successful became the focal point of prayer and worship. Myoshijyonin’s mummy was deified by the villagers. In Meiji 1 (1868) he was moved to a new home in Yamanashi-ken. The Emperor himself visited in Meiji 13 (1880) and finally in Meiji 23 (1890) he was returned to the temple of his hometown Yokokura.

Yokokura Temple itself has a long history. During the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) eras it was a famous site of learning and culture. The mountain was home to over 100 priests and was a major stop on the pilgrimage trail. It was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga and then lovingly restored.

It sits in a peaceful valley of clear rivers and bountiful rice fields. In autumn the trees blaze red and naturally draw many visitors. There are campsites nearby and the hills are a network of paths and trails. It is easiest to reach by road but there is public transport access via Tanigumiguchi or Kochibora stations on the private Tarumi line from Ogaki. This is a very small country line so check with them directly for services.

It’s official: Midway through 2009, one in seven citizens of Japan had heard of Star Trek.

I know this, because I finished personally quizzing 60-odd people round then for an article that popped up in the late lamented Geek Monthly to coincide with the late May release of J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek reboot here in Japan; these are the stats I conjured up from those loose discussions.

The margin of error was open to contention, since I interviewed people only in Tokyo, my test subjects were limited to students of English, techno DJs and musicians, or creative anime types, and the age group stretched from 18 to 72.

The one-in-seven figure is itself a stretch, since two inclusions in the ‘yes’ category confused Star Trek for Star Wars. One time when I asked the ongoing question – “Have you heard of Star Trek?” – my tipping-the-scales 72-year-old English student declared “Of course!” …thence proceeded to enact a rather sprite air-lightsabre cut-and-thrust routine.

It isn’t as if Japanese television consumption has been limited to only jidaigeki samurai dramas, or home-grown animated sci-fi romps like Mobile Suit Gundam.

Most of the 35 to 45 age-bracket grew up on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s British-made futurist marionette romp, Thunderbirds, in the 1970s.

Even when I arrived in this country eight years ago, Thunderbirds was still playing on NHK at primetime Sunday evenings. The week I sneaked through Customs, it was the turn of the episode ‘Cry Wolf’, set in Australia; for about an hour after, I had to explain to my Japanese hosts precisely why someone fresh off the boat from Melbourne didn’t sound like the outback butchers of pronunciation Thunderbirds had portrayed.

Then there’s the George Lucas factor.

Given that it’s based in large part on a classic Japanese movie (Kurosawa’s Kakushi-toride no san-akunin, aka The Hidden Fortress) that starred the late, great Toshiro Mifune at his formidable best, it should be no wonder that the Japanese fell in love with Star Wars when it was (finally) released in Japan, midway through 1978.

But they seem to have completely missed the boat when it comes to the various TV series of Star Trek stretching from 1966 to 2005, and don’t even tarry with the 10 cinematic offerings before this year’s reboot.

We’re not talking just your Joe Average salaryman or office lady here. I also interviewed techno luminary Ken Ishii, and he was a member of the Thank-God-There’s-At-Least-One-In-Seven Party.

Even so, Ishii echoed an ongoing issue for most Japanese.

“Of course I’ve seen Star Trek, but I never was careful with the different titles and series – so I don’t know which is which,” he admits.

“As you know if you live in Japan for a while, they tend to put a Japanese title on major Hollywood films, so we can hardly remember the original English titles, especially for the ones I watched when I was a child.”

Fellow Tokyo musician Toshiyuki Yasuda put it more frankly – “Sorry, I don’t know much about Star Trek. All I can remember is a bald head” – while Tatsuya Oe, who produces under the alias of Captain Funk and is considered one of the city’s top DJs, found himself apologizing.

“Actually, I don’t have much knowledge about Star Trek, though I do like it,” he explains.

“Here in Japan, we could say that Star Trek got the short end of the stick because they lost the chance for focused TV broadcasting in the 1960s and ‘70s. Moreover, people got more familiar with the series after Star Wars fever hit Japan, so they were even misunderstood as a kind of pale imitation, at least around the time of my childhood. According to Japanese Wiki, video games of Star Trek seem to have been more popular.”

In terms of his own experience, Oe referred back to Jean-Luc Picard and crew, instead of my own favourite – James T. Kirk.

“I sometimes watched Next Generation on TV, and Geordi La Forge was very impressive and cool when I saw him first – he reminds me of ‘80s future electro-funk, like Midnight Star,” he reports.

Even so, Oe did manage to cite the influence of Classic Trek, albeit from unusual quarters: “Leonard Nimoy appeared on a certain TV commercial here in Japan.”

That was for Teijin - a textile and pharmaceutical company (teijin.co.jp).

Think the artistic types at Production I.G, the animation studio behind Ghost in the Shell, should be more in the know when it comes to matters Trek? Well, I’ll confess to that kind of inkling having crossed my own mind, but you can hit delete right about now.

“Star Trek doesn’t sound too popular here,” says Francesco Prandoni, our man at I.G, when I bounce the subject off him. “They’re all Kamen Rider freaks around me.”

Our contact at fellow anime studio, Gonzo (Afro Samurai), proved far more fruitful in this instance.

“Star Trek?” laughs Kaz Haruna, at the production company’s International Division in Tokyo. “How did you know I was such a huge Trek geek? Of course I know the movie is coming out; it may be the most anticipated one for me this year!”

30-year-old Haruna quickly shapes up as the jewel in the Trek Japan crown; the fount of Starfleet know-how that could reboot my own otherwise listless task.

“I remember watching reruns of the original series when I was a kid, but what really got me interested in the whole franchise was Next Generation, which I watched in real time,” he gushes, and it’s not long before I idolize every single word.

Thank god someone in this city knows Trek, and doesn’t believe that Kirk likes to bulls-eye womp rats.

“Although it had its moments, the start of the show was not that great,” Haruna continues with great gusto. Now I know for sure he’s seen the Next Gen series.

“I think I even stopped watching around the second season. But from the third season, it really became a high-quality show, and I was hooked. The ships and gadgetry were always something to drool over, but what really grabbed me was the balance of sci-fi, action, and drama, not to mention all the moral and human problems the crew faced. It gave a kid a lot to think about.”

When it came to favorite characters, Haruna is also quick on the uptake, like Captain Kirk with his trusty flip-communicator.

“I’d have to say Jean-Luc Picard. He’s supposed to have a French background, but Patrick Stewart is so English. So many breaks in his office with a cup of Earl Grey! Really, though, his balance of wit and bravery always got me excited. Sometimes as gung-ho and daring as Kirk, but always with an air of intelligence and class.”

Then the truth seeped out: Haruna had spent 19 of his 30 years living in America, and suddenly there’s just so much less wonder as to why he knows his Star Trek from his Star Wars.

While that piece of news may have shaded the gloss of my personal revelation just a tad, it did effectively introduce a new angle, one that I’d like to believe dawned on me in that split second, but more likely bludgeoned me about the head later on.

The angle? That Haruna has the unique cross-cultural insight a Johnny-come-lately expat like me could never hope to grasp, even after 96 months in the country.

“Having lived in both Japan and the United States,” our Gonzo rep muses, seemingly reveling in his new role, “it’s evident that Star Trek has had a much bigger cultural impact in the States. One of Star Trek’s biggest philosophical views was that there was no racism in the future. The crew of the Enterprise consisted of officers from all races, some not even human. In these terms, the way the show influenced Japan – which is not as culturally diverse as the US – was completely different, and somewhat minimal.”

Then comes the twist.

“What I think it did do is get into the minds of the sci-fi and electronics people, because you can see facets of Trek designs everywhere, from cell phones to monitor screens. Almost every bridge design for any kind of spaceship seen in Japanese anime – and that American kids are watching right now on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and crunchyroll.com – looks very, very familiar…”

Andrez Bergen is senior editor of Impact magazine in the UK. He’s a long-term writer on Japanese pop culture, music, anime, movies and weird stuff who has covered the space since 2001. Andrez also runs Tokyo-based IF? Records, makes music as Little Nobody, writes a personal blog called JapaneseCultureGoNow!, and can be found on Twitter @andreziffy

There’s no doubt that the iPhone has become a success in Japan, especially amongst the foreign contingent living here.  Its ease of use, foreigner-friendly applications and the relatively smooth Softbank network are all  a testament to that.  But to really combine the convenience of iPhone (or iPod Touch) and Japan, I have pulled together a handy list of Japan-related apps that you can download right now.

Language Apps

Japanese

by Mark Gansicke, size 48.1MB. Price 19.99$

‘Japanese’ is supposed to be a dictionary app but ends up working as more of a kanji repository. If you are looking for something that will help you decipher kanji boards, road signs and Japanese messages while out and about – this isn’t it.  If, however, you are already learning Japanese and have a decent working knowledge of the writing system, then ‘Japanese’ will greatly help you along.  Classification is linked to what you need to learn in order to pass the JPLT 1,2,3,4 categories, or if you prefer, by strokes, radicals, categories or Japanese school grade.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/japanese/id290664053?mt=8

Jisho Touch

by James Van Dyne, size 34.8MB Price 9.99$

This for me is a real dictionary App.  Jisho Touch lets users search for a word in a multitude of languages then provides the Japanese romaji, hiragana and kanji translation. The dictionary has over 100,000 words but lets you also bookmark your favorite or mostly used words for quick reference. The only downside of Jisho Touch is if you are using it for traveling – individual words are translated but there is no translation of sentences or phrases in local dialects.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jisho-touch-multilingual-japanese/id289405248?mt=8

Talking Japanese Phrasebook

by iDev entertainment, size 6.6MB Price 0.99$

Whether or not you a short-term visitor, just moved to Japan or long-time veteran of the country, this has to be the most effective “alrounder” of the language apps available. Holding over 500 words and phrases it should help you get by in just about any situation you will find yourself in while in Japan.  Simply select the phrase you need and the app will respond with audio instruction, romaji, Japanese and an English written translation. Many of the phrases also include side notes to help you get some context and help your understanding of what it is exactly you are saying.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talking-english-to-japanese/id290627420?mt=8

Also Consider:

Japanese Verb Conjugator

Japanese Flip

Daijisen Jpn-Jpn Dictionary (Japanese-Japanese Dictionary)

Transportation Apps

Finding your way around has long been a core feature of keitais, but here is a little extra you might like to consider.

Tokyo Metro 2009

by Eric Redlinger, size 4.2MB Price 2.99$

Previously known as Tokyo Metro, the new edition includes a basic map of the Tokyo metro, individual maps for each of the Tokyo metro lines and a handy shortcut to find connecting stations between JR and metro lines.

Link: http://neilduckett.com/tokyo-metro-iphone-app

Japan Subway Route Map

by Kazuhiko Inoue, size 20.6MB Price 1.99$

Unlike Tokyo Subway, this domestically produced version offers more versatility in terms of zooming in and moving around the various maps.  The amount of info on offer is also expanded with transport data for Osaka and Nagoya as well as an enhanced version of Tokyo that includes exit plans for each station.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/japan-subway-route-map-tokyo/id317722577?mt=8

Fun stuff

iKoto is an application for playing Koto (Japanese Harp) on iPhone.  Koto is a Japanese traditional stringed musical instrument that can produce a typically oriental tone.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/ikoto/id290600207?mt=8

Samurai: Way of the Warrior lets you play a 2D slash and kill samurai game. Fun game to play with some really nice art work.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/samurai-way-of-the-warrior/id328219302?mt=8

Draw Slasher: Dark Ninja vs Pirate Monkey Zombies – another hack’n’slash game

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/draw-slasher-dark-ninja-vs/id333263239?mt=8

I am Ninja – from the people who brought you Ask a Ninja – will help you on your quest to become a master of sneakiness.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=312550882&mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6

Have some more suggestions for Japan related apps?  Let us know in the comments below.

Post kindly provided by Yugo of http://agaijinlife.com, who can also be found @agaijinlife

Back in the 80’s, Tim published a book called “Gaijin” through The Japan Times which was followed by several others over the years. In all, he has either illustrated and or authored about 17 titles. Tim has also drawn for magazines, television, advertising, together with a number of local, national and international exhibitions.

His love of cartooning is in the creation of image and story characters, or as he puts it, “taking an idea and bringing that image to life on the printed or digital page excites me! Seeing that image in my mind, or what I’d like the image to be, then instructing my hand to create it. Sometimes the distance my idea has to travel between my brain and my hand seems insurmountable, while other times, just a hop, skip and a jump! Giving life and a personality to one’s creations is what a cartoonist lives for!”

Wayne Malcolm, also an American, is a writer who has given voice to the duo’s creations. For the character that appears in GaijinPot, it has been Malcolm who has helped shaped her personality and charm. The motivation for designing the character is based on the legendary “Akita Bijins” from Akita Prefecture where they have both settled with their families. The women of this area are renowned throughout Japan for their exquisite beauty and poise. Some say it is their heritage, others claim it is the weather, local food, the water, or simply a myth. Perhaps it is all the above and more!

The character’s name is Akie, meaning “autumn picture,” derived from the same Chinese characters in the name Akita, meaning “autumn fields.”

You can find out more about the work of Malcolm Ernst and get in touch with them to talk more about art and illustration in Japan at the below address:

Tim Ernst

Emit2u@kne.biglobe.ne.jp

Wayne Malcolm

wayne_plumber@hotmail.com.

Read the Akie blogs on GaijinPot In Japan blogs.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

(The Yellow Wallpaper)

“Please follow me,’ the tall, African manager said to me as I entered the empty club. “I’ve been expecting you.”

I was broke and had no job, my English school having gone bankrupt just a couple of weeks before. They also hadn’t paid the previous two months of salary and I was in desperate need of cash, having just moved to Japan and lost my first job just as I was beginning to get settled. I had just finished an interview for a position teaching English at a preschool and here I was at a hostess club for my second interview of the evening.

Although the jobs seemed completely opposite, I had a feeling they had more in common than I thought. Both involved entertaining and keeping the clients happy and both were mind numbing. To say the least, I was curious about hostessing and had scanned the job postings for foreigners the previous night. Mustering up all the courage I had, I had called the very club where I was currently sitting and fiddling with the strap of my handbag nervously. Club Fantasy, it was called, an international hostess bar consisting of mostly Eastern Europeans, as the manager had told me over the phone. It was located in the heart of Osaka’s famed Kitashinchi district, the hub of hostess clubs in the city. The only other hub in the city for hostess clubs was in the Minami district, the south district near Shinsaibashi. That area I had been told to avoid, as many of the clubs there had a less than stellar reputation and was a place frequented often by yakuza.

“Okay so here are the rules,’ the manager began, clearing his throat and interrupting my thoughts. “Number one. If you are one minute to thirty minutes late, one hour of pay will be deducted from your salary. If you are thirty minutes to an hour late, two hours of pay will be deducted.”

I nodded, scribbling down the rules on a scrap of paper I had found in my bag.

“Number two,” he continued. “If you don’t show up to work when you are scheduled, you will receive a 20,000 yen penalty. If you call in sick, you will have a 7,000 yen penalty unless you have a doctor’s note. Number three. If you are told to go home then you have to go home. You will be clocked out as soon as you are told to leave. Number four. If you want to quit, you must give one month notice. If you don’t, you will only receive half of your salary for the month and no shime or drink back money.”

As I wrote the rules down as fast as I could, a young, blonde wearing a tight, sparkly dress walked out from behind the curtains of a small stage at the front of the club, which was used for karaoke. There was a stripper pole there and she caressed it, swirling around it with a sad expression on her beautiful face as she watched herself in the mirrors that surrounded the stage.

“Is there pole dancing at this club?” I asked, feeling overwhelmed already, my puritanical roots screaming for me to get out of there.

“Yes, but the dancers are fully clothed,” the manager replied, much to my relief. “Serena,” he called to the girl, “come here.”

As Serena walked over and spoke to the manager in low tones, I was shocked to see that upon a closer look, her face was not as beautiful as I had thought. Drinking every night had prematurely aged her, turning her skin sallow and dark circles under her eyes made her look haggard. From a distance, she looked like a dream, a vision. But that was all this really was, a dream world where the only thing for sale was a fantasy.

]]> http://blog.gaijinpot.com/kuchi/mizu-shobai-the-floating-world/5629/feed/ 0 http://blog.gaijinpot.com/kuchi/uncategorized/anime-avatars-rocking-bunnies-cute-nerds/7059/ http://blog.gaijinpot.com/kuchi/uncategorized/anime-avatars-rocking-bunnies-cute-nerds/7059/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:34:59 +0000 Stephanie Yanez http://blog.gaijinpot.com/?p=7059 Hello Gaijinpot! I have been so busy lately but have a lot to talk about. I wanted to first talk about how I have had the great opportunity to be a sponsor on the Japanese Anime site TinierMe.com which has now made it’s US debut recently. The site known in Japan as “SELFY” decided to come over to the States and contacted me to a big part of the site! On the site you can play mini games and create your own avatar with super cool clothes and to sign up is free. And you even have your own room to decorate! Some of the mini games on the site are Old Maid, Sevens, and the new game Doki Doki IQ High School which has many mini games within one game. Games that are very Japanese like Daruma Drop in which you hit blocks and calculate at the same time. They also have LunchTime Bento where you can use your memory skills! The site has really taken off and ever since becoming a sponsor I have made many awesome friends.

Since the debut success of TinierMe I decided recently to do an online concert for those who always wanted to see me perform live but couldn’t due to living in another country. So my Japanese guitarist Polo and I decided to rock out our original music written in both Japanese and English as well as some covers like Moonlight Densetsu from the anime Sailor Moon and Don’t Say Lazy from the anime K-On!. We were very happy with the success of the online event. And also happy to see how many users of TinierMe were watching the concert!

You can sign up for TinierMe and start making your avatar today! The website link is here: TinierMe.com

You can also watch the recorded online concert I did:

Here is a picture of my avatar which was CUSTOM MADE to look like me:

And here is also a picture of fan art that was drawn by TinierMe user Quiss after watching the online concert:

Talk to ya guys soon.

-Stephanie

At 5pm the big bearded biker sitting on the floor offered me a clump of dried squid and a plastic cup of sake. This, he told me, was how things were done in Rider Houses. For me, a Rider House virgin, his kindness was refreshing – certainly more so than his body odour and snoring 4 hours later.

Almost exclusive to Hokkaido, Rider Houses offer cheap dorm-style accommodation for bikers and cyclists. I had first heard about them that morning from the armed guard who protected me from the bears of Furano. He had recommended the Bun Bun House in Pippu, a village 80km north. With news that Typhoon 8 was approaching central Hokkaido, I needed to arrive by noon to avoid a soaking.

Pedalling without pause through Asahikawa, North Hokkaido’s largest town, the highlight of the morning was a ludicrously cheerful Yakult delivery woman who stopped her motorbike to give me two yoghurt drinks. Reaching Pippu minutes before noon, I was ready for a rest. Typically, the community-run Rider House was shut.

With a typhoon approaching, I was stuck in the village until 4 when the Bun Bun House would re-open. Fortunately, I found a small library and a counter-restaurant by the station to keep me happy, and more importantly, to keep my underpants dry.

I went to the Rider House when the typhoon died down around 4:30. Sparsely furnished but very clean, at 300 yen, the Bun Bun House is one of the cheapest and most popular Rider Houses in Hokkaido. On my July visit, 12 men, young and old, bikers and cyclists were staying. We shared a relaxing evening sprawled out on the benches and wooden floor. It was all very sociable and polite – Big Beard’s snoring and excessive armpit exposure aside.

The next morning, after two consecutive nights of good sleep, I was starting to feel human again. My recharged eyes were beginning to look above the handlebars. When I did, I was shocked to see a farmer spraying his crops by helicopter – a tiny remote-control one. Later on, in Nayoro, I joined a crowd to watch a school baseball match.
After the baseball, figuring knowledge overcomes fear, I visited an exhibition on Hokkaido’s bears. It didn’t work. Only drugs overcome fear. Informed that bears are big, dangerous and can be best avoided by shouting ‘humans are coming!’ as you progress, I decided to stay in another Rider House.

Rider House Sakkuru, a 120km ride from Pippu, is open only in summer. Run by Ozawa-San, a Kansai native, it costs 1,000 yen for the night, with dinner an extra 1,000. On arrival, the shy but friendly owner served me tea and biscuits. After, he drove me through Sakkuru to Teshio Onsen. Seeing overgrown grass outside a school, Ozawa-San told me the school had closed for lack of pupils. A small village anyway, much of Sakkuru’s life had been and gone.

The Onsen was still just about alive. For 400 yen, it had an outside bath and some naked old farmers to speak to. They generously answered some of my lingering questions about bears. Apparently, Hokkaido’s bears attack cattle far more than people; they stick to set migratory routes; and anyone terrified of them is a pathetic ignoramus. They did not actually say the last part, but it can’t have been far from their minds.

Back at the Rider House, a lone traveller in his late 40s had arrived. He had driven through the night to stay in this remote Deliverance-style location. Polite, but stern and withdrawn, he joined us for dinner. Ozawa-San had prepared grilled lamb for dinner, a popular dish in Hokkaido known as known as Jinghis Khan. It was a feast, although the evening was slightly awkward.  Coping with human company was not much easier than coping with bears. But at least I didn’t get bitten.

At some point, most expats in Japan have a rare moment of inspiration; “Now that would definitely be a hit in Japan!” we say confidently, or “Why didn’t anyone think of that before?”

Indeed, great ideas abound but few of us have the courage to bet our livelihood on them. This article is written for those of you who have come up with a business idea and want to see how good it is. Be warned, this article asks some difficult questions to challenge your idea. But if you still have confidence at the end, then you might just be on to something! So let’s start with a reality check.

Reality Check : Japan is different!

Even though this is the reason why so many of us love Japan, we often forget this in business. Very odd things become popular in Japan (…my favourite is the ganguro “panda” girls…) and some things that should become popular just don’t. Japan is a notoriously difficult market to penetrate and Japanese consumers are more diverse and fickle than ever. Just ask eBay, Carrefour and Prêt a Manger, who brought successful concepts from overseas to Japan and failed. To succeed in Japan, a foreign entrepreneur needs to really understand the Japanese consumer’s needs and wants, which may be very different from his own.

Go back to basics

So what business ideas stand a chance of succeeding? Let’s go back to basics. A successful business does 3 things namely i) it identifies a need ii) it creates a solution iii) it sells the solution. If any of these key elements are missing, then the business will not be successful. So here are a few exercises to test whether your business idea has got what it takes.

So what?

This is a simple but revealing exercise to find out what your unique selling point is. Be careful, it can be extremely humbling!

Write down your idea in a short sentence or two. Then ask yourself honestly “so what?” Then write down why it is such a good idea. Then ask yourself honestly again “so what?”. Try to write down the essence of the business idea. Then ask “so what?” one more time. Try it and you will find that seeds of doubt will appear in even the best ideas. If you can answer convincingly 3 times, then you probably have a good idea!

Read more on Japan Today Insight by Marcus Yeung, CEO, Smooch Japan K.K.

Takeshi Natsuno is well known in Japan as the creator of Docomo’s i-mode platform for their cell phones.  Local blog Shibuya246.com recently attended an event where he talked about the future of the mobile phone market in Japan, it’s opportunities, the disruption caused by devices such as iPhone and how Japanese handsets (long a source international envy) can respond.

The speech was in part to discuss the ‘Galapagos Islands’ branding of Japan’s mobile phone market.

“Japan is now commonly referred to as the “Galapagos Islands” of the cell phone world – a reference to the Pacific islands where a vast number of species have developed differently from most of the rest of the world.”

Natsuno-san covered his career spanning time with Tokyo Gas, studying for his MBA in America, setting up a free ISP company in Japan at the beginning of the internet boom (gaining 300,000 customers with the first year only to find advertisers were not ready to use the internet, and so could not sustain the business model), to then working for DoCoMo on their new idea of connecting people to the internet via mobile phones and charging for data packets.

At the beginning of his time with DoCoMo, Natsuno-san found most people at the company were not interested in the idea of gaining revenue from data and instead everyone was focused on more traditional voice revenue streams. He, therefore, had relatively free control to set up his own system for the data platform of DoCoMo’s mobile phone which would be branded as i-mode.

Future and Opportunities

Looking at the future of the market and what opportunities exist for Japanese manufacturers of handsets, Natsuno-san was critical of the way in which companies viewed overseas markets. Whilst many look to NTT and argue that they should take the imode platform overseas to expand it, NTT does not have any market abroad. They could license the technology and indeed tried that, but they would be unlikely to share in the data revenue stream which is where the real profits are. Without sufficient content users would lose interest and as has been seen recently, newer technologies have been able to leap frog the i-mode brand. In order to expand and utilise i-mode abroad NTT would have to make some acquisitions of foreign telecommunication companies. He does not see this happening as the experience at NTT’s Board level is too inward looking and they do not have a good working knowledge of overseas markets or Standards.

With regard to handset manufacturers, Natusno-san argues that Japan has some great features on its handsets that people in other countries would love to have. The ability to swipe your phone to pay for goods at convenience stores, departments, railway stations, airports has liberated many from reliance on small change, and in the last few years the official report on the circulation of small coins has shown a reduction where normally in a cash economy such as Japan you would expect growth.

Other features such as biometric devices, watching television, lock mechanisms to guard your secret data from others are argued to be cutting edge technology that many Japanese now take for granted

iPhone in Japan

When the iPhone first came out in Japan it was criticized for not having most of these features and many questioned whether it would be a sustainable product because of this. Recently, the iPhone’s popularity has increased greatly and it has become the number 1 handset sold, on a monthly basis. It is common though to find more than a few Japanese who use an iPhone to also have a normal Japanese mobile as well for those other functions.

As Natsuno-san himself said, paraphrasing, “the iPhone is not a good phone. It’s terrible, but it’s a great internet computer”. I agree with this. I dislike the iPhone as a phone, but its ability to connect to the internet quickly and access thousands of applications in a small but highly visible neat touch screen, is outstanding. Many of the things I can do on the iPhone I can still not find out how to do on the computer. I can list on one screen 10 email accounts at the same time and quickly see which ones have messages waiting (can’t find out how to do that on the PC in a web browser), I can easily switch from email to twitter to flickr to my blog with simple clicks not requiring typing in domain addresses (yes, i can set up shortcuts on the PC, but the iPhone does it with such ease it makes the PC look hard).

Data Revenue sources strong

The future for mobile operators certainly seems centered around data, but you have to keep your eye on the shifting revenue models as well. Whereas telecommunication companies in Japan were previously focused solely on voice revenue streams they have now shifted to valuing data revenue streams as well. Just as they get comfortable with that proposition the market will move again and they must now start exploring other ways to make money. One such way is through being a service provider for financial transactions. Building a credit facility directly into the phone is a way to make life more convenient and also ensure that part of the transaction fees goes to the telecommunications company, opening up a new source of revenue for them.

More

Shibuya246 continues to look at other aspects of the market for Japanese mobile phones including how Japanese handsets can succeed overseas, the expansion of Wi-Fi (see our article for getting Wi-Fi anywhere in Japan) and looks at what  factors drive the decision making process in purchasing internet-ready devices.

Shibuya246.com: The Father of i-mode

How do you use the mobile internet in Japan, if at all…?

Obuse is a peaceful town whose quaint country beauty is enhanced by abundant orchards and sweeping views of distant mountaintops. Known for its idyllic setting and artistic sensibility, this tiny geographical gem is only a half hour train ride away from Nagano City. Its folksy appeal is immediately evident on the short walk from the station to the center of town. The clean, quiet streets are lined with cheerful flowerpots while most homes and storefronts are crowned with old-fashioned, Edo style roofs.

A very generous person surprised me with a trip out there on my birthday, waking me up at dawn to catch a Shinkansen to Nagano prefecture. I didn’t understand the plan, but was very intrigued when we stepped out onto a platform in the middle of what seemed like an endless meadow. After a brief stroll, we arrived at the center of town. Though the main square was abuzz with activity, I found the relatively restrained hum of tourism to be a refreshing departure from the frenzied crowds characteristic of more popular destinations in Japan. Indeed, Obuse became famous for charming Katsushika Hokusai, the artist best known for his ubiquitous painting of what has become an iconic wave. In the twilight of his life, he made it his “home away from hometown”. In his memory, a spare, yet well curated,museum has been devoted to honoring his life’s work.

Famous for its tradition of superior sake production, even early morning arrivals are welcome to pull up a stool at the tasting bar inside the historic Masuichi brewery. Stepping back out into the sunshine, curious visitors who meander into the courtyard will be rewarded by the sight of a towering pomegranate tree that appears to have been pulled straight from the pages of a storybook.

Since several sips are usually all it takes to whet an appetite, the next order of the day would be lunch. Delicious, high quality fare abounds all over town, though a meal at the brewery’s excellent Kurabu restaurant is not to be missed. When in season, the meaty kuri, or chestnut, will be the star of any set menu.

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Before heading home, consider popping into Pâtisserie Rond-to, an adorable French pastry shop not far from the Hokusai-kan. A slow cup of coffee accompanied by one of their gorgeous sweets would be the perfect ending to a perfect day.