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Archive for the ‘Musings’ CategoryI just did the paperwork to apply for a student loan. I had to tell them how much money I make but they only listed a space for one company. Hmmm. How are they going to give me a loan for about the same as I make at one job? Looks like a few more papers will have to filled out. I have to sign everything in romaji, katakana and hankos…in duplicate triplet and a blood sample in order to tell what blood type I am. They really take this loan business seriously. I’m kind of wondering why they need to know how much I drink? I answered, “nashi.” The Good Design Award is sponsored by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization The “Good Design Award” is Japan’s only comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system. This system itself has its origins in the “Good Design Selection System” (generally known as the “G-Mark System”) instituted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1957. Among the winners were Wii, Honda’s Jet, and Second Life but the one that caught my eye was KidZania Tokyo.
KidZania Tokyo was “founded” in 2006 as a place where children play the leading roles. Built at a scale two-thirds as large as a real town, this kid-sized pretend city features some 50 pavilions sponsored by real-world corporations, including a fire department, bakery, newspaper office, and television station. Children don realistic uniforms to try one of about 70 occupations to see what the work is like for themselves. As payment, they earn “Kidzos”, the local currency, which can be spent on goods and services here. In this way, KidZania offers children early social and occupational experiences. Jury Comment People’s attitudes toward work and social systems are changing tremendously. Early exposure to situations on the job and in society, even if simulated, can be deeply significant for children growing up in Japanese society today. The fact that KidZania is constantly booked for several months in advance attests to the popularity of this wonderful opportunity for children to have fun while noticing all kinds of things about this world. It is far more than a one-way educational experience. This is probably due to the careful design of this “edutainment” (educational entertainment), down to the actual activities kids do here. It is also unique as a new business model in these fields, a model supported by more than 50 real-world sponsors. Meticulously designed pavilions and tools, reproduced at two-thirds scale just for children, also help make this a realistic and immersive experience for them. [Kazufumi Nagai, C01 unit leader]
I would have called this event Open House Carnival. It’s basically a time for all the clubs to show off their talents; soooo many clubs. Every building had rooms and rooms of them: from Kanji to flower arranging, kimono to tea ceremony. There were performances in the big halls and small halls, outside and in the forum halls. Good bands and even popular entertainers. I saw a rendition of Phantom of the Opera performed in Japanese in the music building’s underground recital hall (nice place). The hall was perfectly acoustically designed for sound recording (not so for a musical performance, actually horrible). The performance was what is to be expected from second year Japanese university students. A couple of the most interesting things were them using fans during the masquerade sequence and the fact that nobody applauded at the end of the songs. Silence. It was torture for me. Speaking of applauding, I spent most of the time in the main hall watching the performance because I didn’t want to walk around outside; the clubs had booths everywhere barking and selling food for 100 yen (microwaved hash browns with partially melted cheese and ketchup was one of the most interesting ones). But I digress. Their were a few great performances from the mandolin club, a singer, and the band but all of them had the same annoying problem–nobody clapped between songs. I couldn’t believe it. I thought maybe they thought the songs were part of an overture in which you don’t clap between pieces. Why didn’t they clap? What was really funny was when I started to clap suddenly 500 people started clapping. hmmm. All in all a very interesting experience. I’ll be hading back next year to continue my “research ABOVE IMAGE from the Fashion Show
—————– Best HIPS? This is a new one. Anyone have an idea why they choose to do hips instead of …ahem…glutious maximus? Listen to the audio clip and tell me how many pigs. Please answer in Japanese. It’s better when you know someone who is Japanese who can listen, unless you’re a stud Japanese speaker. |
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Kaho Watanabe poses after winning the “best hips” competition sponsored by lingerie maker Triumph International in Tokyo on Tuesday. Watanabe, 18, beat 112 rivals for the title and will represent Japan at Triumph International’s world finals. - 
Peace.
so uhm yeah, greetings from an half irish half arabic guy that lives in germany! ah and start making more podcasts, like 3 a week 
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