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I'm gonna be in NY next week finishing up my Studio360 piece and checking out the Wired Store and Gizmodo Gallery.
Gizmodo Gallery is going to have crazy Japanese USB gadgets and maybe even some cool cell phones. You should stop by!
This is Kana Satomi. She's a 16-year old high school student who just won the national title for best female shogi player in the world. She beat out 39-year old defending champ Ichiyo Shimizu in the Okayama tournament on Sunday. The youngest girl ever to win this title was Naoko Hayashiba, who was 14 when she kicked everyone's butt in 1982.
Previously, I blogged about Beni Takeyama, an expert shogi player who is only eight years old! She is probably still making her way up the ranks of Japanese chess. Or maybe she's way too young to compete.
Magibon is an American You Tube idol taking her obsession with Japan to the extreme. The Florida-born 22-year old who used to be a supermarket cashier now spends a bulk of her time making YouTube videos of herself staring blankly into the camera, babbling elementary Japanese, and striking cutesy poses. Her popularity in Japan catapulted when Japanese online publication JCast wrote an article about her in January of this year. In April, a Japanese broadcasting company called Gyao invited her to be a guest on one of their shows. Here's one of her famous stare-down videos. What do you think? Cute? (by Emily Co)
It's not easy to always be on your cell phone when it's freezing cold outside. Fingers get frostbitten, sometimes your entire arm gets chills. This cute little omelet-shaped cell phone strap has small hand-warmers inside that keep your bare parts warm while you chat away. Also comes in a baked potato and a taiyaki.
Buy it here.
Hiroshi Nohara is a mini-celebrity in Mexico City. Why? The Japanese traveler visited Mexico City, and then, on September 2, headed to the airport to fly home but never flew home. He's been living in Terminal 1 of Benito Juarez airport ever since, surviving off of fast-food donations. Apparently, neither Mexican nor Japanese authorities can make him leave until his visa expires in March. He's been there for nearly three months now—the media caught on, and now he's regularly asked for autographs and has even been on Mexican TV. When asked why he's doing this, he said:
"I don't understand why I'm here. I don't have a reason."
Apparently, airport vendors have been giving him clothes and mugs to carry when he's on TV to promote their brands. An interesting twist on the concept of free promo swag!
Link (Thanks, Mark!)
In 2008, Chronicle published my book: Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan.
I am also the founder of The Tofu Project, a boutique program that helps Japanese entrepreneurs and creators think deeper, tell better stories, and go out into the world in a much bigger way. We work with companies like Mixi, Japan Airlines, and Salesforce.com.
Sometimes I try to explain Japanese culture on CNN, BBC, CBC, WSJ, ABC (so many acronyms!) or in person at places like the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, ETech, and Ignite!
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Send tips to mango [at] tokyomango [dot] com
