MMW-107 -- Japanese Music File Sharing: a 2007 Update

Over the past few years, I've often been asked if file sharing - especially music file sharing - is as widespread in Japan as in the US and Europe. My answer has generally been something along the lines of 'it certainly exists here, but...

JIN-398 -- Japan's Year-End Blue Lights

Over the past several years more and more Japanese have been lighting up their homes at the end of the year. In my Yokohama neighborhood stars twinkle in windows, glowing Santa Clauses climb rope ladders up the sides of houses, snowmen illuminate paths to homes...

FW-99 -- The Holidays: How to Survive the Last Minute Crush

Yet, at the same time, I couldn't let another week go by without commenting on the year end holidays of Christmas and Japanese New Year's - a bank buster if I ever saw one. What with presents, cards, shipping expenses, holiday meals, decorations, parties, and events, it can be an expensive time of year. Especially now that there are only a few weeks left!
So, below please enjoy my Top Three Frugal Holiday Tips - guaranteed to save you a few minutes (or yen) this season...

JIN-397 -- The Education Debate: Reaching for a Classic

Speaking in defense of the revision of Clause 2 of the Basic Education Law, which calls for "Respect for tradition and culture, and love for the nation and land that nurtured them," at a meeting of the House of Councilors' Select Committee on Education on November 22, Bunmei Ibuki, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said...

TT-404 -- 2006 in Review, ebiz news from Japan

2006 has been an eventful and productive year for business in Japan. This was the year that we marked the longest period of business expansion since War II, longer even, than the Izanagi boom in the mid-1960's. Being immersed in the noise and bustle which is Tokyo...

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WW-158 -- Dramatic Start of Mobile Number Portability

Misleading advertisements, a complaining CEO on television, a crashing customer registration system - it all happened within 72 hours after the mobile number portability scheme was introduced on October 24. What has been the impact so far on the mobile subscriber base of the three large carriers?

GW-264 -- Kenwood KSC-SS10, Kenwood HD10GB7, Seagrand XR003 X-REX

The Gist: For car audio fans this week comes Kenwood's "KSC-SS10" satellite speakers. They're already available in Japan for around 25,000 yen per pair.

TT-403 -- Mobage phenomenon, ebiz news from Japan

According to Tom Sato, what's hot right now is the cell phone site Mobage Town, from mobile content developer Dena. "Moba-ge" is a contraction of mobile games, and is a cross between a Social Network System (SNS) and a games portal. Essentially it serves up loads of games and provides rewards that the players can collect and trade. The kicker is that because it is SNS based, it has experienced a humungous word-of-mouth growth over the last 9 months...

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JIN-396 -- Hearing the Soul of Language

One day 30 years ago I hopped into a cab in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, and uttered a single word: "station." "You speak good Japanese," said the driver. The moral: Japanese have low, if any, expectations, for the mother tongue as rendered by non-native speakers. Which is to say they have a peculiar regard for the national language...

MMW-106 -- FEATURE: KDDI Set To Launch Digital Radio Service

For the last four years now, KDDI/au has been setting the pace in Japan for mobile music services, launching the first mastertone service on its in 2002 and the first full-song download service two years later. The company has recorded a total of over 38 billion mastertone downloads and 78 million full-song over-the-air downloads. They have also achieved impressive handset sales, with more than 22.8 million mastertone-capable and 10.4 million full-song-capable KDDI mobile phones sold in Japan...

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