Everyone knows Ninjas are awesome – indeed, after Godzilla, they’re Japan’s number #2 cause of unexpected, unexplained death – but they take skill to deploy. You can’t just plonk them down anywhere, so all the more kudos to Microsoft and its well written ad campaign for Forefont (click the image to see it full size).Continue reading ““Fighting off Ninjas is easy” – Microsoft does have a sense of humour”
Category Archives: Japanorama
Inbox of awesomeness +1: 5 Emails You Should Be Getting
Lots of people these days are down on email – my friend (the “internet famous tech writer”) Wil Harris and Stan Schroeder at the nifty Frantic Industries blog are two of its most recent critics, and both have good points: Wil’s bogged under with spam and Frantic Industries complains about email’s slow, relatively inflexible natureContinue reading “Inbox of awesomeness +1: 5 Emails You Should Be Getting”
Lost In Translation: Translator Etiquette
Pretty much all the IT hardware I see at work comes from outside the UK, and while some of it is designed in the US, a good deal comes from Taiwan. Despite the fact that I’ve met plenty of Taiwanese through work, and the fact that my Chinese doesn’t really go beyond ‘ni hao’ (andContinue reading “Lost In Translation: Translator Etiquette”
Japanese Reading
Koishikawa Korakuen Originally uploaded by Sifter. Regular readers will know I have quite an interest in Japanese things – stemming probably from my love of Nintendo when I was a child (well, a much younger child than I am now). However, as well as the bright lights and blinking sounds of Mario, I’ve also enjoyedContinue reading “Japanese Reading”
PSP Games Aren’t All Dull Ports
My first column for the excellent website Bit-Tech is now up, and it looks at two original PSP games, the Japan-only Beit Hell 2000 and Exit. "Although it is a mini-game compilation, it’s a lot stranger than that: having played it for the past couple of months, you could perhaps describe Beit Hell as aContinue reading “PSP Games Aren’t All Dull Ports”
How To Become A Sushi Master
Sent to me by a friend, an excellent – if slightly fanatical "How to eat sushi" guide: "If four or more of the [warning] conditions above are met, leave the place immediately and head to a different restaurant." It’s an entertaining and insightful read – it mentions the wonderful "kohada" which I enjoyed last ChristmasContinue reading “How To Become A Sushi Master”
A New Year Message: “Contemplation, Loveful”
A pinch and a punch for the first of the month! Same to your modem, as my bandwidth counter has now reset, and I can update properly again. Working on another new post about Japan, but in lieu of that, a photo I snapped after doing the washing when we got back home, and it’sContinue reading “A New Year Message: “Contemplation, Loveful””
To enjoy afterwards
A pause in updating, for the prosaic reason that I keep using up my bandwidth quota by the middle of the month, which limits what I can do, especially regarding photos. Still, nearly the end of January, so I can chance it… Tokyo is not the easiest place to see traditional Japan. The damage TokyoContinue reading “To enjoy afterwards”
Coming and going
I was back in England late last Wednesday evening, and at work again the following morning. Hiding in bed is the usual thing to do after a long haul flight; taking cups of tea gingerly, dozing off every half an hour. Plunging into the normal routine, doing my usual morning commute was interesting because itContinue reading “Coming and going”
I’m back
I am now safely back in England, and my body clock is following a little more slowly behind me. Lots to write about – whilst I do like the web, the white screen isn’t quite as nice as this, picture below. It’s a shot of rolls of Washi, traditional, hand-made Japanese paper, in a shopContinue reading “I’m back”
