Japan – Page 147 – Mutantfrog Travelogue

Tech Workers of Japan, Unite and Come to America!

This is a story I came across during my recent trip to Japan:

Nichia Corp, the Japanese manufacturer of the blue light emitting diode (LED), this month agreed to pay 840 million yen ($8 million) to a former employee in compensation for his invention of the technology to make the blue LED, which has turned a once minor chemical company in rural Japan into a virtual world monopoly in the production of the blue LED.

The court-mediated settlement of the dispute over the inventor’s demand for a huge amount of compensation drew wide public attention not just as industrial news but as an event of major social impact prompting a rethinking of individuals’ position in organizations in Japan in general, and engineers’ in business corporations in particular.

It also has prompted businesses to consider a system to adequately compensate for employee inventions, something that has been left in the dark in the past but has assumed crucial importance in this age of growing importance attached to intellectual property rights.

At the time of his invention, Nakamura was given a mere 10,000 yen bonus. What I saw on TV was a livid man holding a press conference and saying, “It’s as if the court is telling me to go to America. America is a society which actually rewards creativity.” There were also interviews on the street where people said he didn’t receive enough. Any thoughts?

Earthquake Resistant Desk

The Yomiuri reports that Kokuyo is about to release a new earthquake resistant desk designed to withstand twice the weight of a ordinary school furniture. I imagine with it’s ‘protection panels’ and ‘catching bars’ it can protect from all sorts of calamities.

Available in sizes from 105 to 180 centimeters and avaliable in maple or cherry, the price ranges from ¥25,200 to ¥31,500.

I checked the Kokuyo web site for more information and on a cursory inspection didn’t find a listing for this item, but they did have this wonderful diagram of all the things in an ordinary office environment that can fall on you in the event of an earthquake.

いろんな迷惑メール　Spam I get in Japanese

日本語のインターネットにハマってる僕の受信箱にはいろんな迷惑メールが入ってきます。掲示板などに自分のアドレスを何も考えずに書き込む僕にも非があるとは思いますが、こんな謎めいたメールはいったい何を商売してるのでしょうか。

件名 : あの～？

メールくれましたよね？最初は迷惑メールかと思ってたんだけどよく見たらそんな変なア
ドレスじゃないのでメール返してみたんですが、
以前どちらかのチャットか何かでお話したかたですか？？

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, here’s the English translation.

I get a lot of spam in Japanese these days. Here’s one example:

You e-mailed me, didn’t you? I thought it might be spam, but since it’s not a weird address I decided to reply. Did we chat somewhere before?

And that’s it. Not trying to sell anything. I’m scared.

Mechanical Pencils

I have a fantastic mechanical pencil that I got in Japan, which I guard carefully because I don’t know where and when I might be able to get more. Since the label had completely rubbed off I had no idea who the maker or what the model number is so I was just looking around on the web to find out. It turned out to be a discontinued Staedtler 925.

Although a German manufacturer, I haven’t been able to find a single English language store online that seems to sell this model. Although discontinued, it has been replaced by a slightly different model of the same number.

Hopefully I can find an art/drafting specialty store that carries these, because I haven’t been able to find any other mechanical pencil with the same kind of comfortable, solid feel and reliable mechanical performance of this one. Most mechanical pencils, even those from a reputable manufacturer like Pentel, tend to be made of plastic, which wears down to slipperiness and lacks the proper heft to really write comfortable.

Now, pencils may seem like an awfully mundane topic in a world of wireless internet, robot dogs, and digital cameras, but it is also worth appreciating the hundreds of years of evolution it takes to perfect such a commonplace device. My borderline obsessive quest for a particular pencil illustrates well how important little variations of material or ergonomics can be in such a daily use device. Realizing how rare it is to find even a mechanical pencil that truly lives up to one’s expectations of quality makes even more remarkable the intricate high tech devices all around us.

Anyone with even the slightest interest in engineering, ergonomics or the history of technology is strongly encourage to read Henry Petroski’s book The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, a book which is far more interesting than you would expect.

From Abeno Seimei and Onmyodo

The Yomiuri newspaper has a short article on an interesting religious ceremony conducted at the ancient Kamigamo Shinto shrine in Kyoto. I’ve translated it below and due to the obscurity of the material included some additional notes.

From Abeno Seimei and Onmyodo

At the Kurabeuma horse race which has been conducted at the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto for 910 years, the Norijiri(riders) conduct certain rituals before the race. The ceremonies of self-harai(ritual Shinto purification) by onymyokuji(yin-yang divination by lots) and harai by onmyo-daiyuudai (some kind of obscure onmyodo ceremony) are known as the norikiji houhei [houhei are the hemp rope and folded paper decorations seen at Shinto shrines). In the houhei ceremony the norijiri waves the houhei and offers a prayer to the kami (gods) by taking a special step. Reseachers on religious ceremony have concluded that these rituals include rites that can be traced back to onmyodo harai..

For those who can read Japanese, more information on the Kurabeuma is avaliable here.

Onmyodo: Literally ‘the way of yin and yang.’ An ancient form of Japanese magical practice, combining imported Taoist philosophy and practices (such as ying and yang and the 5 elements) with native Japanese Shinto beliefs and rituals. Practicioners of onmyodo were known as Onmyoji.

Abeno Seimei: The most famous of all Onmyoji. There is a popular novel and manga series by the author Baku Yumemakura, which has not been translated into English. There is however a film version and sequel, which you can get as a package here. The budget may not approach Lord of the Rings, but they are recommended for anyone who wants to see what Heian era Japan actually looked like.

Kami-gamo Shrine: One of the oldest shrines in Kyoto, it actually existed long before the city was built. Named after the Kamo clan that ruled the area before the Imperial family moved the capital, Kami-gamo (upper Kamo) and Shimo-gamo (lower Kamo) shrines are a pair. The Kamo river which flows past downtown Kyoto also takes its name from this source. In Heian times, the Abe and Kamo family’s were the two preeminent onmyoji families.

Crazy Teddy Bears

SHELBURNE, Vt., Jan. 20 –

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company believed it had a winner of a Valentine gift: its “Crazy for You” teddy bear, a cuddly bundle of fur – with paws restrained by a straitjacket and the outfit accompanied by commitment papers.

Continue Article

While the straightjacket bear may be tacky, it could be worse- they could be selling this Bae Yong Jun (Yong-Sama) bear.

Hanshin Tigers Taxis to debut in front of Koshien

“The stripes on the uniform are actually vertical”

The Hanshin Train Group Co.’s Hanshin Taxi (Located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref.) is set to debut taxis embossed with Japanese Pro Baseball’s Hanshin Tigers logo and uniform design on the body of the car.

Using 7 of its 280 vehicles, it plans to run them for a period of 1 year. The Hanshin Group has run buses decked out with Hanshin logos before, but this is a first for their taxis.

They will kick off the taxis’ first day of operation with a ceremony in front of Koshien stadium, where the Tigers play.

My Comment: I hope I get to see those taxis in real life 😀

とんでもないヨン様グッズがヤフオクで多発　Yong-sama merchandise

21世紀スタンピードさんが、さまざまなヨン様グッズ（ハンドクリーム、かつら、ペンなどなど）がヤフオクで掘り出したのを転載します。

Check out 21st Century Stampede and click the Yahoo! Auctions links to see crazy Yong-sama merchandise (hand moisturizer, wigs, pens, etc).

Here’s what the “Korean X-File” has to say about him: “Yon Sama : Big difference in looks between his pictures and reality? Thinks to hard and makes decisions slowly? Young females find him disgustingly greasy looking???”

Bae Yong Jun for example is known to have assulted 30 of his managers and coordinators. That’s a lot of people to slap around – and kinda goes against his image.

和訳：韓国の芸能報道がヨン様についてこう書いてるらしい－ナマで見ると顔が写真とぜんぜん違う。物事を難しく考えすぎて行動が遅い性格。若い女性に「顔が脂っこくていや」と嫌われている。

ぺ･ヨンジュン氏は自分のマネージャーやコーディネーターを３０人ほど殴ったことあるという。

〚オススメ〛日経動画ニュース

たまたま日経新聞のホームページを開いてみると、なんと動画ニュース（ＭＳＩＥ専用らしい）が流れてた！と昨日驚いた。しかも、無料で日本のテレビで見れるような普通のニュース番組です（少し短めだけど）。

さらに驚いたのは、他の動画ニュースと違ってスムーズに流れること。ｇｏｏニュースなど、マイクロソフトメディアプレイヤーやＲｅａｌを使ったニュースサイトでは途中でとまったり、遅くなったりするが、ここは違う！

ヘッドライン・東京マーケット・解説・特集の４つのセクションに分けて、映像の横に字幕も出るので、日本語の勉強のためにもオススメ。

ミュータントフロッグ日本語版へようこそ（ミッションステートメント（使命声明）

ミュータントフロッグトラベロッグは、日本やアジア諸国の文化・政治情勢・技術を英語で紹介するためのブログとして誕生しました。タイトルを日本語に訳すと「変異体蛙の旅行日記」になりますが、意味はないので気にしないでください（詳しくはミュータントフロッグ君に聞いてください）。旅行中で撮った写真や、日本語のニュースから選ばれたオモシロ記事の英訳を主に掲載しています。

編集者は私（アダム）とミュータントフロッグ君、アメリカ人二人です。二人とも日本に２年住んだこともあり、日本やアジアに興味深いです。このブログは、あくまで暇つぶしに過ぎないかもしれませんが、基本的にアジアに対する理解を深めるのが私たちの目的です。

そこで、このブログに日本語コーナーを設けることにしました。 Continue reading ミュータントフロッグ日本語版へようこそ（ミッションステートメント（使命声明）