Technology

So, since it's been about two days since we last had our finger on the pulse of the latest technology products, it's about time we went for a little walk to see if we have missed any of the most cutting-edge trends out there.

And the first thing we come across is Madu Tea Letter, which is, essentially, a teabag in a letter.  

Fairly old school technology, but it does solve an age old problem - you know, the one when you buy some tea, and you want to post it to someone, but you don't have a letter on you etc.  Ok, it is fairly dispensible, but that is part of what gives it its novelty.  
Fortunately, it comes in a variety of flavours, Darjeeling, Caramel, and Apple.  Postage paid only within Japan though - so be careful.

Next item is mini-bonzai.  Technologically speaking, this is fairly well-known.  However, it does have an immaculate bed of moss as a lawn.
  
Or how about an umbrella with a cat, cow, or duck, head attached to the handle via a spring?  

Really usefull for ... well, actualy not much, but it's still fairly cool anyway.

And this reminds me a little bit of the market.  It's not necessary to have the latest technology if you get the basics right.

Chemical Analysis

On the Oukawa (big river), on of the most prominent buildings is the Japanese School of Chemical Analysis. Attractively lit up in neon, it does look like a nightclub in the evening. The website is here, and contains a well-designed and informative (but Japanese-only) interactive animation, giving you entertaining chemistry-related facts. Did you know that behind every successful sportsman lies analytical chemistry (because it results in better wires used in tennis rackets), so don't you want to aim for the top together with world-record setting athletes?

Also, both informative and entertaining are the steps up to the building, which form a periodic table of the elements. Each one contains a little cartoon telling you what the element does for you.

Thallium banishes rats.

Radon is found in onsen.

Magnesium is used for spaceships.

Neon is used for night time drinking.

And my favourite one, Polonium, comes from Poland.

Outside there is a helpful display case telling us all the different things chemical analysis helps us with.

This poster poses the question "What 'Analysis' do you do at the Japanese school of chemical analysis?". The answer is given in the form of a bowl of fruit. We learn the answers to questions such as: What is an apple? Where is it? In the basket? Is it fresh? Through 'Analysis' we can learn the answers to all these questions.

Inside, there is a display case showing a range of chemistry-related items, such as CDs, pharmaceuticals, dyes, and...

...Pocari Sweat - one of my favourite isotonic drinks!

Its fine to walk around the lobby and photograph things, the receptionists will purposefully ignore you.

And back outside, don't forget to take one of these. This a robustly-designed flyer-holder, inside which are immaculately-wrapped (what did you expect?) packets of Chemical Analysis school information. I felt guilty taking one, not least because each packet has a sticker with "For High School Students" carefully hand-written on it, and two hand-drawn flowers.

But before I could do that, I had to figure out how to open it. The envelope is made from a appropriately clever self-sealing heavy plastic, and you have to carefully spot the flap:

The front page says "Lets become a white-coat wearing superstar!"

It contains an application form, a propaganda leaflet entitled "college news", in which former students praise the fun they had learning organic, inorganic, and environmental chemical analysis. However, the true story can be read from the incredibly-titled leaflet Labo-Freak:

Apart from the "tree of chemical analysis knowledge", students posing in safety glasses with colourful vials of chemicals, presumably for analysis.

But, importantly, there are small photos in which students are falling asleep in the classroom. No wonder they have to put a cartoon period table on the stairs - in order to attract sleepy students.

And this is rather like the market - you need to read between the lines if you're ever going to find out the truth.

At the Heart of It

Ok, so today we're going to go somewhere good.

It's in Ginza, the poshest part of Tokyo:


　 But its on the other end of Ginza, so we need to walk past...

A giant woman stuck inside a box:


　 A massive Chanel store with teams of bowing women sales assistants.


　 A big "Bvlgari" (is it me, or has anyone else spotted the typo?)


Audi trying to sell cars into the Japnese market (good luck - so far I haven't seen a single non-Japanese car anywhere):　


　 Alfred:


And a gold-plated Cartier store:


　 Ok, we're nearly there. Just wait at the junction while checking out the dog in the pram:


　 Here we are - the Sony building !

If Ginza is the heart of Tokyo, then surely the Sony showroom is the very pulsating heart of Japan.


　 Now, with three floors of showroom, you are almost guaranteed something good.

When I was here some four years ago, the Playstation Portable (PSP) had just been released (months ahead of America, with Europeans just left to drool from afar). They had several rooms where you could play on one.

This time there seems to be a lot of slightly wider, slightly more energy efficient TVs (including one which displays of how many Watts its doing relative to a non energy efficient model - turns out that the colour of the picture displayed significantly affects the power use).

There also were several rooms of incrementally better cameras, recording equipment, music players.

Robodog (or whatever his name was) was a notable absentee.

However, there was a Rolly, which is a dancing audio egg. Difficult to explain - just look at the link to the youtube video.

Also, a mobile-phone sized picture-perfect tv and radio:



　 $380. Local Japanese say this is "ordinary" (boring).

So, how about a Bravia (TV), which you can put in the shower?

　 Unfortunately, this isn't cutting-edge (anymore) either:

　 They also had this:
　



A shaker table with two video cameras on it. One of them is the latest anti-shaking camera. On the split-screen, you can see the difference, but I was kind of left wondering how much I need it. Still, if it catches on, it will absolutely kill the market for tripods.

However, in terms of genuine slap-in-the-face/stop-and-gawp factor, there really only was one condenter:

Does this look like a flat tv to you?


　
How about now?

If it wasn't for the fact that they are $2,000 apiece, I would seriously consider buying one, at least to shave with. However, it seems that you need the hands of a museam curator, or an average Japanese electronics fan, in order to not break it by the time you take it out of the box.