Am delighted let you know that popular Japanese illustrator Iizuki Tasuku-sensei [唯々月たすく] has taken time out once again for us! Even though he is busy working on the next eroge title LOVELY X CATION2, he came up with a most wonderful illustration of Kanata Hoshikawa. I'm sure most of you know who she is but if you dont then check out her profile here.

As you may know, Iizuki Tasuku-sensei likes to draw big eyes which is why his interpretation of Kanata ended up being more well endowed than usual ^^;
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We've prepared some 2560px x 1600px wallpapers for you!
Mirai and Kanata in their Summer uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

If you are looking for the wallpapers of just Mirai then you can get them from here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Summer uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Kanata in her Summer uniform at school.
High-res wallpaper here.

Kanata in her Summer uniform at the Monoport.
High-res wallpaper here.

Kanata in her Winter uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Kanata in her Solar Marine uniform. The Docking Bay behind shows the older generation Retrograde Suits.
High-res wallpaper here.

Kanata in her bikini!
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Summer uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Summer uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Winter uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Winter uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Solar Marine uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their Solar Marine uniform.
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their bikini!
High-res wallpaper here.

Mirai and Kanata in their bikini!
High-res wallpaper here.

You can also get the raw psd file for all the variations of Kanata-chan illustrated by Iizuki-Tasuku-sensei complete with logos.
Inside the PSD file you will find layers for various facial expressions and all her uniforms. Feel free to use for non-commercial purposes (wallpaper/stickers etc).

Maybe you can make some wallpaper and upload to deviantart or pixiv!
Would be great if some folks can make some Android, iPhone, iPad and other wallpapers too! If you do then just provide a link to http://mirai.fm when uploading - then leave a link in the comments below to your work. Cookies available for folks who come up with exceptional designs!

And dont forget you can get the Iizuku Tasuku-sensei version of the Mirai PSD file here.

More detailed illustrations of Kanata can be found in her profile!

I've been living in Japan for about 13 years now - half of the time working for others - the other half working for myself. Since I started up my company back in 2007, I've gained many clients in the anime industry including Good Smile Company, Bushiroad, Production IG, Kotobukiya, Ascii Media Works, Kadokawa, Konami, Yuzu Soft and King Records. Non anime industry clients include Dentsu and the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry. Check out my profile to see what I've been doing with these companies.

If I told you that the key to gaining clients is the name card then I'd be lying. But! The name card is the first thing you exchange when meeting new potential clients and an essential part of doing business - not only in Japan but around the world too.

However, you do not need to be running a business to have your own card. Regardless of whether you are a student or a NEET, everybody needs a name card - especially if you are a NEET! People who you meet will enrich your life with opportunities, friendship and inspiration.

When I first started my company however, I had a plain card with only my company logo and a bunch of text - boring and uninspiring. After a while, I thought it made sense to have a design which reflected my company culture.

Since then, I've always had my mascot Mirai Suenaga on my card - it is *always* the first thing that the other party brings up - an easy way to break the ice and allows us to start business talks in a relaxed atmosphere. Much of my work is character development so having Mirai on my card also makes it easy for me to talk about who Mirai is leading to potential collaborations - for example Mirai in anime titles such as MayoChiki and Twin Angel.

Just imagine - you meet somebody who you feel could be a great friend or business partner. They give you a name card but you got nothing to give back - does not look too good does it? It gives the impression that you dont care about any form of career development in life - business or friendship wise. Even if you have their name card and email them later - what are the chances that they still remember you - or reply to you given the first impression you gave of yourself?

I came up with a modified template of my name card and put in illustrations of Mirai done by various illustrators - the template is in Illustrator format and lives here - please feel free to use it to print your own name cards!
The fonts are not outlined so all you have to do is to highlight the text and type over it. The font is Myriad Pro which comes with a Mac - if you are Windows user then I'm sure Google Sensei will tell you where you can download it for free.

If you are giving the template to a printer - make sure you delete all the layers that you dont need and outline the fonts. Start caring about your life career and carry around a name card now!

Download name card template (free ^^;) >>>

OK, now that you have decided to carry around a name card - just a couple of notes:-

• When handing over your name card - make sure it is facing the recipient and not yourself - you are handing it over for the recipient to read and not for you to read!
  
• Where possible, hand over your name card with one hand and accept your recipients name card with your other hand. Your middle hand should stay in its pocket.
  
• Never ever ever toss a name card over to a recipient - the meeting and relationship is over once you do that.
  
• If you got sweaty hands then make sure you wipe them before meeting somebody!
  
• Now that you carry around a name card, the next thing you must do for your career is write a resume - my resume template also for download.

A video below talks about how a Meishi (name card) should be exchanged properly. Happy networking!

All the above name card templates can be found in this file!

Going to take a lookie at some of the shenanigans that went on in the maid and butler cafe at AFA Indonesia - then we take a look at whats in store for AFA Singapore 12 which is just around the corner!
First photo with Kiyo-chan!

Starting off with photo outside cafe hours - the girls in their casual wear looking very sweet indeed!

Ringo-chan!

Momo-chan!

Tora-chan!

Mio-chan!

Yuna-chan!

The big boss who runs the cafe - Leang Dzai Jim.

A peek at the cafe in action in the video below!

Akatsuki-san!

And a look at where the lads work - in the butler cafe.

The big boss checks all food before his girls are allowed to eat.

The big boss makes sure to inspect all photos of his girls before we can upload to the burogu.

The lads!

The queues waiting to get into the butler and maid cafes were just incredible!

This year at AFA Singapore, the MoeMoekyun Experience Zone cafe is going to be a school theme! Bring a load of tissues!

Tissues to wipe nosebleeds I mean.

I'll be at the cafe from time to time - see you there!
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Updates on Japan Mode! I previously announced that I would be directing and producing this TV show back in July. A few things have changed since then. Panasonic wants more of a show aimed at the female population around the world. However, my directional skill set is mostly in the "pop culture" and "traditional Japan" field as you would have seen in 2 seasons of Culture Japan.

I called upon a comrade who is experienced in making a wide genre of TV shows and felt that he would be more suited to the task and have now left the direction and production to him. I am still however the main presenter of the show which has finally got a broadcast slot in December 2012 initially on Star World (owned by STAR TV and Fox International) across the whole of Asia.
This also means that I can focus on the immediate company goals and allows me to travel to the many anime events around the world without having to clone myself.

Japan Mode is a weekly 30 min show and will focus on bringing lifestyle topics mainly for women but produced in a way so that the lads can enjoy the content too. I also managed to sneak in some otaku related stuff in too ^^;
To help me on the show, we have called upon a few ladies to co-present with me. Its cheesy but just imagine that I'm charlie and that they are my angels ^^;;; I swear it was not my idea - but I like it because it meant I didn't have to go round getting my nails manicured, shaving my armpits or trying on ladies underwear - I only do that off camera.

Panasonic and now Toyota are sponsors of the show and I'm working with advertising agency Dentsu on this project.

Today we take a look at the studio filming that took place this week.

The Japan Mode set for season 1. Panasonic wanted something futuristic-ish. Very different from the Culture Japan set!

Our production team - camera, sound, lighting, art, producer and director.

In the changing and makeup room. This room is alo known as "Gakuya" [楽屋[がくや]].

Am not a fan of wearing makeup but am required to as my ugly mug has the potential to frighten viewers ><
But it looks like many men of late are wearing makeup...

A look at our filming equipment - all digital SLR's this time round. Also plan to film Culture Japan Season 3 on digital SLR's too.

Canon EOS 5D.

Some of our cameras are all rigged up like this.

No matter what time of year it is - its always boiling under those lights ><

This is a rental studio and comes with a variety of stuff for folks to use.

Yuki-chan joins me on the set and for two of the episodes. I end up calling her Mirai though ^^;

All changed and ready to shoot 3 episodes. Felt really odd as I dont usually wear a suit - the last time I wore one was when I was a salaryman. A while back however I did always wear a black jacket and T-shirt though.

This is Reisa-san - my 1st reporter.

Our cameraman is very well known in the Japanese TV industry and shoots for popular TV shows like Sekai Fushigi Hakken [世界不思議発見[せかいふしぎはっけん]]。

Hard work but lots of fun too!

This is Mami-san - my 2nd reporter.

This is Aya Vanessa - half Canadian and half British - speaks perfect Japanese. Speaking fluent Japanese opens many doors - so what are you waiting for?!

Japan Mode features some CG work too - images are beamed from my "tablet device"

I didn't take this dangerous shot! I has alibi!

Director going over the next episode.

Checking footage in Adobe Bridge.

My filming for the day is done - packing up the chair.

The art folks preparing for closeup filming of products used in the show.

A quick game of Moekana while waiting for dinner.

Dinner arrives for everybody - the traditional bento box.

Filming continues into the evening.

But I'm done and head back to base.

The world deepest train station is Roppongi on the Oedo line. Not incredibly fond of taking the Oedo line as you have to take a ton of escalators to get to the platforms. They dont have elevators going all the way down either - presume its because of an earthquake related reason.
But its best to think of it as good exercise!

There is a Psycho Pass on the subway.

X marks the spot - caption that image.

Kawaii is everywhere in Japan - even when fighting terrorism.

Filming finishes early for a change ^^;

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Culture Japan Night is the only event where *you* can network with the anime industry and the next one will be in Singapore November 12th!
Venue: Kallang Theatre, Orchid Room
Address: 1 Stadium Walk, Singapore 397688
Nearest Starport: STADIUM, Circle Line
Event Date: 12 November 2012 (Monday)
Event Time: 1500 ~ 2030
Entrance Fee: 10 SGD
Register Attendance here.

• Good Smile Company will be joining and setting up a figure display just for us - but whats so special is that the figures wont be surrounded in cases - meaning that you can get better photos while networking with GSC at the same time - they are also due to give a talk show too.
  
• The boss of Nitroplus (Fate/Zero, Steins Gate, Psycho Pass) Kosaka-san will be there too with a few surprises for us.
  
• Fukuoka Toshihiro of Ascii Media Works (Toradora, Railgun, Oreimo) will be there to talk about and show us developments in the latest Hatsune Miku project that we are working on to bring to the world.
  
• Popular Doujin circle Collateral Damage Studios will be there to showcase some of their latest work.
  
• Yukino Fujiwara will also be there with a huge doll display - feel free to bring your sons n daughters to join in!
  
• Asia's most popular blogger Mr Brown will be there to give a talk.
  
• Production IG will be joining to give a talk about their latest title 009 RE:CYBORG and the Singapore screening of Ghost in the Shell SAC.
  
• Official Moekana Tournaments will take place too!

If you would like to be part of all these shenanigans then all you have to do is register your attendance using this form. Just like last time, we need to charge 10 SGD at the door but this time you dont get food or water! Why and how can this be good?!

Well I need to pay for the venue space (they are even charging me per chair and table Singapore style!) but to make up for it this time round we have much more contents and opportunities for you to network with the Japanese anime industry - not something that happens often.
But before you network - you need a business card! Remember - all I do is provide the opportunity - the rest is up to you.

Whether you are a blogger and are looking for new partners to collaborate with - or skilled in Japanese language, graphical or creative skills and looking for new employment /part time opportunities - CJ Night is the place for you to be and the anime industry is always looking for strong partners around the world to help them - I alone cant them all so it makes sense for me to provide a venue so that they can meet you - and you meet them.

Partnerships are a win x win situation - you cant just go up to somebody and ask for advertising cash or a job - you have to be able to give something in return and you must be able to demonstrate what you can do. Bring a print out of your blog and share visitor stats, bring along a sample of your work. Something tangible or visual that you can show is much more effective then just words. A tablet device (or a phone with a large screen) with your work on it is fine too!

By the way - I hired somebody full time who I met at a previous CJ Night Singapore - he was following me around with a laptop showing me his work ^^; Will talk more about him later.

If you are not interested in networking and just want to have a good time with comrades then thats fine too! Does not matter if you are an employee, student or NEET - come and join the fun.

Just a few notes:-

• I will sign a handful of things and can have photos with a some folks but would rather you mix with fellow comrades instead of waiting in a line to speak to me ><
  I also need to attend to the guests and MC all the talk shows.
  
• Cosplay is welcome - toilets are provided and you can change in there.
  
• As with last time, undercover police will be in the room to make sure that we have a safe an enjoyable time.
  
• There will be a lot of people at the event - please keep an eye on your belongings. I cant accept responsibility when you loose your wallet that contains 2.5 million SGD.
  
• There is no food! But you can bring your own - just no durians please. Alternatively you can regurgitate like a cow and nom nom on last nights Poh Piah.
  
• You will be given a pass to get into the venue - which you can use to leave and get back in. There are some restaurants nearby I hear so if you want to go and grab a bite to eat then you can.
  
• The venue can probably fit about 500 so I'm going to lock down the registration form if/when we reach 500.
  
• The first talk show is Hatsune Miku by Ascii Media Works - if you want to see it then come at the beginning or you will miss it.
  
• Feel free to film the talk shows and take photos - if you do upload then add tag #CJNight
  
• You are free to talk to any of the industry guests - introduce yourself to them as I cant go round doing it for you.
  
• If you have any dolly sons or daughters then bring them along!

Register attendance for Culture Japan Night Singapore 2012!

The rest of these photos from last years CJ Night Singapore!
See you soooooon!

Located in the heart of Tokyo is a town called Shibuya - bustling with energy and filled with fashion, restaurants and home to the busiest crossing in the world. A must visit if you are in Tokyo. Get there by getting off at Shibuya station on the JR Yamanote line.

Today we take a look at what Shibuya is like during the Halloween season. Over the years, Halloween has been slowly becoming popular in Japan and you can see decorations in shops starting in early October. Then as soon as it hits the 1st of November, all the Halloween decorations are wiped out to be replaced by Christmas tinsel.

I hear that one day soon, the Tokyo Dance Trooper will make a return to the streets of Shibuya...

Check out more places to visit in Shibuya listed up below.

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The second product in the Culture Japan Japanese learning series after Moekana is Moekanji!! This absolutely adorable illustration of Mirai and Haruka ( illustrated by Ikkyuu-sensei) in their Halloween gear will be in the pack of 80 cards - can you guess which one of the First Grade Kanji this represents?

And this is last years Halloween illustration - so cute ><

Learn more about the Japanese learning product Moekana >>>

When I saw the first photo in this post over at figure.fm, judging from the name of that post, I actually thought that Nitroplus went and made a Super Sonico Museum ^^;

This room belongs to ULd-san from Japan who is also a figure sculptor too - you can check out his work at the end of this post.

My office is turning into a Mirai Suenaga museum - how about your room? Is it dedicated mostly to a particular character, anime, game or genre? Do share photos of your room!

And this is the figure that ULd-san is currently sculpting.

One of his previous works.

And for folks who are beknowist - Mirai and Sonico are good friends! Mirai appears in the Nitroplus game Sonicomi - I'm in it too!

Sonico appears on my TV show Culture Japan.

Sonico sometimes sneaks infront of the camera without me knowing!

She did it from time to time ^^;

Sonico logo in Culture Japan season 2 ^^;

And the poster that Nitroplus printed to promote Sonicomi.

I've always wanted to have my own Mirai Suenaga Carry Case and here they are! They will be first available to folks who are attending Anime Festival Asia Singapore! We will have a limited quantity at the Culture Japan booth so do try to nab some before they sell out! Pricing details further down the post!

Many folks would call this a Deck Case for playing cards but you can actually do so much more with them as I will go into detail below. This is the Iizuki Version as illustrated bu Iizuki Tasuku-sensei.

This is the back of the Iizuki Version - Mirai in her Solar Marine uniform.

Inside the case you get a separator is not only great for separating contents in the case - you can also use it to scrape snow from your car or if you throw it hard enough then you can use it as a shuriken substitute.

This is the Moekana Version of Mirai in her Cheerleader gear.

The back of the Moekana Version is Mirai in her Tora gear.

The separator is of Mirai listening to some cool tunes.

Each case comes folded and wrapped.

Each case should be folded before use.

Many cases like this come already made but we developed a template which allows the case to be folded. This means we can pack 50 of these into a 270mm × 200mm × 110mm x 1.5kg sized carton for logistic reasons.

The contents after you remove the packaging.

Fold along the edges before assembly.

Folds like so...

The edges of the case have little tabs...

Push the tabs into the slots like so..

Done!

Bung in the separator and you are done.

The lid has a little tuck like so...

Which can be tucked under the slot on the case to keep it closed.

I like it!

You can use the case to keep your Japanese learning cards Moekana in it.

If you have the Mirai card sleeves...

Then you will be able to fit a pack of 50 cards with their sleeves in the case like so.

I kept many of these cases for myself ^^; One use I have is to keep my business cards in - the separator helps keep cards that I receive seperate from my ones.

Figma's are delicate to carry around - protect them in the case!

A couple of Nendoroid Puchi will fit in the case too!

Standard sized Nendoroids however dont quite fit - unless you pull the front hair piece off. But you can use it to carry around your Nendoroid parts ^o^

All fit like so!

And for those of you (like me) who carry around gadgets like USB cables and wot not - then the case can be used for that purpose too.

Like so!

Do you have a few dolly daughters? If so then Mirai Carry Case is for you too!

Keep those hands under control with ease.

Sometimes your daughters will get hungry while you are out n about...

Keep their food clean with one of these cases!

You can even store a whole bowl of ramen in the case.

Speaking of food - you can also use the cases to store your daughters undies.

Your daughters like gadgets too?

Use the case to keep your girls gadgets organized.

Carry around a load of batteries?

Carry case should help keep your juice organised!
BTW, everybody in the Japanese TV industry labels even batteries as things go missing all the time!

Hide snacks in the case so that you can nibble on them during class or work.

Need to carry around a spare change of clothes for your girls?

Mirai Carry Case keeps em clean!

Food and shoes - a great combination.

Use the case to stash your cash too!

Each Mirai Carry Case comes with 1 set of Janken Cards (3 cards total) which are Rock [ぐう], Paper [ぱあ] and Scissors [ちょき].

If you have 2 sets then you can play Janken the new way with Moekana cards!

Choki!

Paa!

Guu!

Available first at AFA Singapore at my Culture Japan (Mirai) booth!
The Japanese retail price is 1000yen and we will be selling each case for 15 SGD at AFA Singapore.
Shortly after they will be made available for purchase at reputable online retailers - will update this post with details once I have them.

Time to tidy up after photos ><

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Had a meeting last night with Sato Dai - screenwriter who brought us titles like Cowboy Bebop, Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Samurai Champloo, Eureka Seven, Toward the Terra and Eden of the East.
Today we are meeting about something very obvious but I need to keep schtum about it until next March ^^;

I first met Sato-san back in December at the My Japan Conference - an event supported by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese tourism agency. We were both there to talk about the influence of our work around the world.

Sato-san has written various titles which have been rather popular outside of Japan to a wider audience - even reaching those who dont usually watch anime - particularly titles like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell SAC.

I love these tiles too which is why we are meeting. I want to create a title which stands the sands of time and not just be popular this year and then go the next like many titles out there.

Lately I've been trying to squeeze in some study on scriptwriting and how humans need stories. Are there any particular stories that you think I can learn a thing or two from?

After the meeting, I asked Sato-san if any photos of his office have ever been published - he said not but that I was welcome to be the first to do so ^^;

Only took a few as it was late but here we go starting with one of Sato-san's orange bags! He loves orange as you can see from the colors on his company's website Story Riders.

Like I do right now, Sato-san also works from his home office - all this by the kitchen. Does your house/apartment have anime goodies here and there too - and not just your room?

Sato-san has been around the world to talk at many anime events.

While most of the stuff on display is related to his work - some of it is just stuff that he likes ^^

Absolutely loved the first series of Eureka Seven - especially the music.

Something that animator and director Morimoto Koji-san drew for Sato-san.

Going over lots of stuff regarding light novels, games and anime production. So many variables including production committees, director, seiyuu, production studios, Bluray/DVD, merchandise, recouping costs and so on.

Ergo Proxy - another title that Sato-san worked on.

Sato-san worked on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and S.A.C too.

Another Sato title - Yuzuko Peppermint.

Cowboy Bebop! Who has not seen the series yet?!

Sato-san is a big Star Wars fan too.

Sato-san also writes the scenario for many games too - including the up n coming E.X.Troopers for the 3DS and PS3. Me got a PS3 but I think I want a 3DS just to play this game!
3DS version below.

Have no idea who she is but I like her already.

Jiji gets the Face Hugger treatment.

Sato-san worked on the latest Lupin TV series.

Did I mention Sato-san is a Star Wars fan?

E.X.Trooper POP goodies. POP is the common term in Japan to refer to Point Of Purchase display material. Is it called the same outside of Japan too?

「脳Rギュル ふかふかヘッドと少女ギゴク」 - what would that be called in English? ><

Has a Eureka Seven look and feel about it. Looking forward to the game!

Sato-sans bike - Orange and dark blue!

I'll be in regular meetings with Sato-sans team over the next few months - will update you soon!

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Photos taken by reader Meji at the Swedish anime and game event Narcon 2012 - I was supposed to post these photos back in August but didn't get round to it ><

Great photos which really capture the atmosphere and passion of the event goers - I'd love to grow Culture Japan night into something like this too!

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Was at Tokyo Kokusai Metropolitan High School [東京都立国際高等学校] the other day for more Culture Japan filming. Today we have a lookie at the Cultural Festival "Bunkasai" [文化祭] which takes place at most schools across Japan once a year in Autumn.

Tokyo Kokusai Metropolitan High School is not classed as an International High School but one where about 40% of students are either are a Japanese mix, foreigner or a student who has spent a lot of time overseas.

Many schools across Japan require you to remove you shoes before you go in. This is why the Figma K-ON! figures come with an extra set of shoes called "Uwabaki" [上履き] that are worn in class.
However Kokusai Metropolitan does not have the traditional custom and allows you to walk in as long as you have not trodden in poo - which is unlikely anyway because the streets are usually clear of K9 droppings.

Armor falling to pieces - looks like its going in for retirement soon? To be replaced with...?

Today's navigator is Arisa-chan - a half Filipino and Japanese student of Kokusai Metropolitan who has been working hard over the past few days with her classmates to prepare a load of fun and games for visitors.

You've seen these cultural festivals in many anime including K-ON! and Haruhi where the students prepare many events for the other students and visitors to the school.

Other than "Bunkasai" [文化祭], the cultural festivities are also known as "Gakuensai" [学園祭] which is actually part of the school curriculum where students have the chance to exhibit their learnings over the past year. They work with other students to get creative and prepare events/activities for the visitors.
The festival usually takes place over two days on a weekend and is open to the public for students/parents/guardians who are interested in attending/sending their kids to the school as they get to experience and see for themselves what the school is like.

We were filming for only a day at Kokusai Metropolitan. While it wasn't enough to cover all the activities that went on, we still managed to see and enjoy a load that went on.
Just like anime, we saw students dressed up as maids serving sweets and a hall where they played together in their bands and danced along to anisong. The food they served was like 50 yen! @.@

Arisa-chan's class prepared a few games which included "Falling Pipe" - you saw a glimpse in the School Girl's Fate post. The contestant stands in the cubicle thingy who gets asked many questions - the purpose is to distract their attention where a pipe would suddenly fall from the ceiling down one of the 4 poles which the player should try to catch.

It was truly incredible to see so many students of all races enjoying themselves and having so much fun. Had nothing like this back in my neck of the woods in the UK and would have certainly enjoyed school much much more with events like this.
My school life was absolutely terrible up until university - constantly bullied at school where I even had my stuff set on fire. Ugh. Me gets rather miffed when thinking about it.

I think the film footage of this Japanese High School is going to be broadcast on Culture Japan Episode 4 - I need to go back next week for more filming but this time dressed up as a (male) student to attend classes.

Took a load of photos so the coverage of the festivities will be separated into 2 parts. Previous Culture Japan High School coverage can be seen in the posts below with more to come. Its always like filming on the set of a movie - we see it in anime all the time and sometimes its hard to believe that folks over here attend these schools as part of their daily lives ^^;
-Fujisawa High School Photos 1
-Fujisawa High School Photos 2
-View of Japan from AR.Drone
-Japanese Archery
-School Girl's Fate
-Live Action K-ON!
-Keion

There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Part 2 from Kokusai Metropolitan soon!

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At the time of moving to Japan 13 years ago, we didn't have the need for a car at all - Tokyo Metropolis is extremely well connected with trains that run regularly and on time.

In 2005, we did decide to get a car after buying a house for a few reasons:-

• To own a car in Japan, you need to provide documents that prove you have a space to park the car. Most apartments and mansions dont usually come with parking so you would usually pay on average 30,000 yen per month for a parking space. Our house came with space to park a car so obviously we dont need to pay this extra cost.
  
• Getting around Tokyo is fine on the trains but there are times where my work involves me working late out filming or in a meeting etc. All public transport stops past midnight and to get home you neet to take a taxi which can charge up to 30% more in the early hours of the morning.
  
• While trains are convenient, sometimes to get from A > Z, you need to change at W > X and Y - even though Z is just around the corner by car.
  
• To shop at Ikea and Costco you really need a car.
  
• Its fun to drive around Japan by car - especially when its an Itasha ^^;

This is our first car - a Nissan March. We got it secondhand for about 800,000 yen. The roads are so narrow in Japan that we were not confident of driving around so got something at a reasonable price that we could practice in for a few years ^^;
in 2010, our Nissan March got the Itarization treatment and you can see the process here.

All cars in Japan must go through a safety inspection every 2 to 3 years. The inspection is called Shaken [車検[しゃけん]] and in our case cost about 90,000 yen. Many folks in Japan see Shaken time as a chance to change cars - they might as well use the money that they were going to pay for the inspection and put it towards a new car.
I loved our Nissan March but wifey really wanted to change it - she drives around more than I do and she's also our Finance Director so I cant argue with that ><

Our March was one grade above whats known as a "K Car" or Keijidousha [軽自動車] - these are cars which have to meet certain ecological standards meaning that they run on more environmental friendly gas, smaller in size but the engines are not that powerful. You can recognize a K Car from the yellow number plate.

We do drive around Japan a bit and our March did tend to rattle while on the highways at speed and wifey felt it was time to change it. Thus we go car hunting.

Our first stop is a Toyota showroom. There have been many ads on TV for the Aqua and I liked the look of it.

Cars are big business in Japan - its rare that you should not see any car ads when watching TV. Many folks like to change cars often - buying and then selling just a year or so after they got it so that they can get a new one.

Because of this trend, there are services like Imanori-kun which let you rent cars long term for very reasonable prices - for example 10,000 yen per month! Their selections even include a Nissan GTR.

This Aqua costs 1,850,000 yen brand new. Seems to be a popular car as the secondhand prices are not much different. What are prices of cars like in your neck of the woods?

This time round however, wifey wanted to get a new one which is going to be a company expense. It makes sense to put it down as an expense because its obviously used for marketing ^^

Yes they had orange too^^;

Toyota Alphard - huuuuge!

Big enough for a football team.

Its the battle between the car manufactures - lately they have been trying to make the showroom visiting experience a more comfortable one. They give you drinks, presents (character goods towels and snacks) and have an area to keep the children quiet - the showroom sales staff dont want children taking attention away from parents who are about to make a decision to spend loads of money ^^;

Wifey wants an SUV. We check out the Lexus - nice car!

But a new Lexus SUV costs about 6,000,000 yen which is way out of budget ^^;

Time to leave the Toyota showroom and head elsewhere - maybe the sales staff wasn't feeling too well that day but it looked like he didn't feel like helping anybody ><

Back into our March to head to...

...the Nissan showroom in Meguro.

Our first Itasha - ended up with Mirai in her Suku Mizu because I was in a rush to put the data together for the printers - from a branding perspective I should have chosen the Summer Uniform. As the image is reversed - the "d" turned into "b" and the hairpin is on the wrong side.
These days however, we make sure the pin is on the correct side even though the illustration has been flipped.

Nissan leave a note on our car to let the other members of staff know that we are customers and not just somebody who are using their grounds as a parking lot ^^;

The Nissan Leaf - runs completely on electricity.

Nice interior.

Electric cars are slowly getting popular in Japan - you can use sites like Cocoju to see where you can find electrical charging stations.

I really liked the design of the Nissan Juke - ideal for Itarization!

Wee bit pricey for the size though.

Can stick in a few warm bodies in the back.

Interior a bit on the plain side though.

Lookie around the showroom.

Took the Juke for a test drive too but it didn't feel much different than our March - even though the Juke is supposed to be a mini SUV.

Juke interior. Most cars in Japan are equipped with a large screen car navi - I have a feeling that our mobile smart phones will replace them one day though.

Then we took the Dualis for a whirl.

You know whats so special about the Dualis dont you? Its transforms into a mecha designed by Macross guy Kawamori Shoji-san!

Spacious boot.

Interior is way to bland though.

The Dualis is an SUV - seats are much higher than our Nissan March and feels responsive and comfortable to drive - looks like a decision is about to be made!

We drive it home to see if it would fit in our parking space - just about does ^^;

Then its back to the Meguro showroom to sign the papers!
There are many ways to pay for the car depending on your financial situation. We payed over half upfront and the rest is being payed in monthly instalments over the next 3 years at an interest rate of 5.4%.

They take about 2 weeks to prep the car depending on the optionals like car navigation, bumper style and wot not.

This is my dream car ^^; If I work hard enough for another 20 years then maybe I could afford a second hand one ^^;

As for our Nissan March - Nissan were offering 10,000 yen trade in ^^;
Instead we went to Bigmotor who sent a young chap who was a fan of Mirai Suenaga - he offered us 10 times more at 120,000 yen instead - and insisted that we kept the stickers on the car for him ^^;

Bigmotor resold our car for a certain amount to a certain who - we have no idea ^^; The great thing about Bigmotor is that they even provided a temporary car for us to drive around in (at no extra charge) before our new car was delivered - do second hand car dealers do that in your neck of the woods too?

Mirai-chan ;-;

The orange on green looked so good ><

Mirai-chaaaaaaaaaaan! Yes I did shed a tear ;-;

Our new trusty steed - the Nissan Dualis. While we did love our green March - the Dualis is a completely new experience for us. The bigger more powerful engine allows us to outrun burning bridges, the suspension provides a smoother ride over dead zombies and we can actually hear the music while driving on the highway as the car shell keeps out sound pretty well.

I wanted metallic orange but they didn't do it in that color so it was a choice between white, black and red. I hear that black and white cars are a pain to keep clean - red looked the best. However - we noticed much more bird poo on the car since we changed cars - Is red an easy target for birds? ><

In some regions, the Dualis is also known as the QASHQAI which I dont know how to pronounce ^^

Do you drive? Whats it like to buy a car where you live? I hear in Singapore you need to buy the rights to own a car which can cost the price of a house?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Ah - nearly forgot to take a look at the engine.

I could take a PC apart and put it back together - but when it comes to cars I havent got the foggiest.

Yuki-chan likes to take the car for a spin from time to time.

And this is what our Dualis looks like now - felt really horrible driving around in a sticker-less car at first ^^;
More photos here >>>

If you are a foreigner in Japan, you will need a Japanese drivers license - read what it takes to get one.

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Its that time of year again! Anime Festival Asia takes place this weekend in Singapore - there will be a load of stage and industry guests together with a humongous exhibition hall ready to leave your wallet with a huge gaping hole.

For the past few years attending and setting up booth at anime events, all I have done is showcase our mascot character Mirai Suenaga.
This time round however, I'll be selling stuff at our Mirai Culture Japan booth - also known as the Mirai Kopitiam. However, I dont think Mirai is that popular so I'm only bringing a small quantity of merchandise ><

First up are the Moekana T-shirts! Here is the Tora design.

And here is the Cheergirl version. We use the plastisol method to print on the shirts - this means we can have multiple colors without the print getting thick.
The reason you have seen me wearing the moekana T-shirts for so many moons is because I wanted to see how well they last by wearing and washing them multiple times over a long period of time.

The colors have not faded or cracked so far so I can finally unleash them on to the market. The reason why I wanted to produce my own T-shirts is because I cant control the quality of licensed products.

Last year at AFA, a licensed Akumakko moekana T-shirt was sold and the quality was terrible - I didn't find out until after I washed it. Please forgive me if you purchased that product. m(__)m

For each purchase of a T-shirt, you get a Moekana Couple Card Set (2 cards)! In the set is Mirai-chan and...

...Eiji-kun!
If you buy 2 T-shirts then you end up with 2 Couple Sets (4 cards).

Also at my booth are limited numbers of Mirai Carry Cases! We have the Iizuki version and Moekana version.

The cases come folded in packs so that you can put them in your underpants.

Each case comes with a Moekana Janken set (3 cards)!

We also have a selection of A2 sized glossy posters featuring the artwork of many popular illustrators in Japan.

Each poster comes with a Moekana Itasha card!
This means if you buy 10 posters, you will end up with 10 Itasha cards^^;

All purchases come with a free glossy Mirai-chan bag! One side is Moekana style Cheergirl...

And the other size is Mirai-chan illustrated by Iizuki Tasuku sensei.

And here is all our goodies! But remember - not bringing that many with me though. If you want to be sure to get hold of some, please come to our booth early!

While many other sellers dont let you know the prices until you get to the venue - we pull no punches - here are the prices!
The Mirai Carry Cases are 15 SGD each. Each case comes with the Moekana Janken set of 3 cards.

Moekana T-shirts are 40 SGD each. Each T-shirt comes with a Moekana Couple Set (2 cards).

Each Mirai poster is 15 SGD and comes with an Itasha card. Probably good idea to bring one of those art cases to protect you poster - all we have are rubber bands to keep your poster rolled up.

If your wallet got hole liao, you shall get discount lah.

Get both Mirai Carry Cases for 25 SGD (5 SGD off).
Get both Moekana T-shirt for 70 SGD (10 SGD off).
Get all 10 posters for 120 SGD (30 SGD off).

And here is the main menu.

Discount menu.

You can also get the Japanese learning product Moekana at the AFA shop!

This is where we are located at Singapore Expo hall 7! Its right next to the AFA shop.
I will be on stage for much of my time but when I am not I shall be at my booth - look forward to seeing you soon!

As for folks who cant attend AFA - will make these goodies available online at a later date TBA.

Read more about Mirai Suenaga >>>

I'm working with folks in the Singapore government to spread Japanese culture - starting with a talk at the largest public library in Singapore - the Jurong Regional Library. I will be sharing my experience on learning Japanese and seeking ways to help Singaporeans pick up the language quicker by organising events that involve Japanese locals too.

I'l also be talking about my Moekana and Moekanji Japanese learning series and whats in store for the future.

If you are learning or are interested in learning Japanese then pop along! I dont have much time to talk on stage at AFA so if you want to listen to me ramble then this would be a good venue to do so ^^; Please register your attendance using this form.

Venue: Jurong Regional Library, Level 1 Programme Zone
Address: 21 Jurong East Central 1, Singapore 609732
Nearest Starport: Jurong East
Event Date: 17 November 2012 (Saturday)
Event Time: 1600 ~ 1800
Entrance Fee: 0 SGD

The following are photos of the library - am looking forward to checking it out!

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Its 1.30AM in Singapore right now and I need to get up in a few hours to be on stage at Asia's biggest Anime Event - the Anime Festival Asia.

None of our team have slept to bring you the biggest Mirai-chan booth ever - this time we will be serving a load of Mirai-chan goodies - but we not got a lot so come early if you want some!

These photos all taken today at Singapore Expo - I was running back and forth to rehearsals while my team worked their butts off on the booth.
The hall is sooooo huuuuuuuge! Bring a good pair of walking shoes and all your money.

I'll be on stage this Sunday for my talk session but will be MC'ing a load of other segments on both days.
I better go and get some kip now - nighty and see you soon!

Oh - if you got a spare pair of boots then please help!

Had another incredible gathering at Culture Japan Night Singapore 2012 - over the course of 6 hours, 419 comrades came to network with the anime industry and local guests who included...

• Kamiyama Kenji (Director of 009 RE:CYBORG, Eden of the East, Ghost in the Shell SAC)
  
• Ishii Tomohiko (Producer of 009 RE:CYBORG, Eden of the East, Ghost in the Shell SAC, Howl's Moving Castle)
  
• Fukuoka Toshihiro of Ascii Media Works (Toradora, Railgun, Oreimo) and producer of Hatsune Miku hologram concerts
  
• Shawn Chin - the AFA Maker!
  
• CEO of Nitroplus Digitaro (Steins Gate, Fate Zero, Madoka Magica)
  
• CEO of Good Smile Company Takanori Aki
  
• Project Planning and Production Manager of Good Smile Company Mr Oda P
  
• Singapores most well known blogger Mr Brown
  
• Doujin circle Collateral Damage Studios
  
• Doll circle Yukino Fujiwara

This group photo taken with some of the comrades who stayed until the end - the full sized version now lives on Flickr.

Ah, quick note to mention that my next gathering will be at Jurong Regional Library on Saturday November 17th in Singapore - 444 people have already registered ^^;;

Also, apologies for lack of updates - not much sleep lately - the AFA2012 schedule was gruelling (but fun!) and I was on stage for most of the time. Those of you who keep an eye on my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram will have been keeping up with my updates though - most of it has been posted from my phone while on the move.
https://www.facebook.com/dannychoodotcom
https://twitter.com/dannychoo
http://instagram.com/dannychoo

Thanks to Reiji, Solomon and Donny for taking photos!

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I'm currently still in Singapore and will be here until the 21st - now that I've set up a company in Singapore, there is a lot to do to grow the business here. Anyway - stuff about the Singapore company comes in a different post. For the rest of this post however, we zoom back in time to last week just before I left Tokyo.

I love looking out the window on the plane and find it annoying when they ask you to close the shade in the middle of the day as they want you to sleep or something.

The evening before leaving Tokyo - it was our first time to have a booth to sell stuff which requires much more preparation - which also means much more stuff to carry to use at our booth.

Yuki-chan in Mami Mode.

My carry on all packed.

This time we had quite a bit to carry and my spinal hernia is kinda bad lately - we decide to take a Taxi to the airport - which end up costing 25,000 yen><
That was from Meguro to Narita.
Next time we will prepare a bit more better - we can hire an airport taxi which would have cost less than half or take a taxi to where we can get a limousine bus to Narita.

Passing by Tokyo Tower on the way to Narita.

Passing over Rainbow Bridge.

Arrival at Narita.

Heading to Singapore on ANA. I love their branding and the marketing collaborations that they participate in - for example the ANA Gundam.

We were originally going to take the train but the luggage ended up causing much pain for spinal hernia-kun hence the taxi. Arrived at the airport early so went up to the observation deck for a bit of a rest.

Walk past the smokers room and wonder what an "Adult Smoker" is - does that mean there are Juvenile Smokers too?

Our steed thats going to get us to Singapore.

Charging my Galaxy S3 in the lounge - battery life is not excellent.

Am always trying to clear a backlog of mails whenever I get the chance ><
How many emails do you get per day?

On the plane - ANA have upgraded their business class seats with a load of gadgets to play with - for starters they got USB ports to charge your devices.

Simplified buttons for reclining.

Displays are all 16:9 ratio - nice n bright screen.

Instruction manuals for the seats ^^;

Storage compartments and wot not.

Reminds me that I've not been back to the UK for ages - perhaps in 2013 for Hyper Japan?

"Welcome" and "Death" on the same card.

Malaysia Airlines! Will probably take MAS in a few weeks to Kuala Lumpur for Comic Fiesta.

Aircraft traffic jam.

"Ririku" [離陸[りりく]] = "Take Off!"

Narita Airport from above.

Not explored this part of the woods yet - looks really nice though.

Wish I could play my PS Vita for the whole flight but need to work ><

Speaking of Vita - Assassin's Creed III: Liberation any good?

Before tucking into work however - time to tuck into some lunch.

Was surprised when I first travelled business class to see that they give you table cloths and serve food on crockery.

Discovered Takachiho Gorge in the inflight magazine. Added to the to-visit list.

Work! Had no time to prep my presentation at all - managed to complete most of it in 5 hours on the flight (phew).

Can you name this spot on earth?

It really is lovely up there.

Looks awesome - I can only imagine what this would look like during a sunset.

A load of boats surround Singapore.

Hello Singapore!

Grabs baggage.

Thanks to everybody who came to the airport to welcome us!

Singapore has touch panel toilet rating systems. But as many men dont wash their hands after shaking their lil bro about, if you touch the screen then you are indirectly indulging in some yaoi.

Checking in at the hotel first - Capri by Fraser.

Snap with my Creative Director Linus.

Snap with my Associate Producer Solomon.

Has to be the nicest hotel I've stayed in - its like a serviced apartment.

Wish we could have stayed longer ><

Yuki-chan gets limelight this time at AFA.

Then we head to check out the venue for Culture Japan Night Singapore 2012.

Spend an hour setting up and configuring video and audio equipment...

...and then head to get some dinner.

Does this sign mean that shoplifting is common in Singapore? Often seen at the entrance.

Nice shopping center.

Food court time!

Laksa om nom!

Food is absolutely lovely.

Moekana T-shirts available for humans too.
But what color do you prefer?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Grabbing a few necessities from the convenience store before heading back to the hotel.

Time to set up battle stations.

A birthday gift from Solomon!

Touch sensor charging thingy for the Mighty Mouse.

Sample of the Moekana Hinomaru T-shirt is back - aiming to have this ready for Comic Fiesta in a few weeks - could not make it in time for Singapore AFA ><

Armed and fully operational battle station.

Brekkie the next morning at the hotel.

Going over the schedule with comrades at King Records.

Back at the hotel - only have a few hours left to tweak presentation and go over schedule for the next few days.

Yuki-chan enjoys the nice view from the window.

Hungry! Time to seek food.

Discover a food court nearby.

This looks goood!

Yong Tau Foo!

The area around the AFA venue (EXPO) looks cool and futuristic.

Then its time to rehearse for the rest of the day and set up booth - I knew that AFA 2012 was going to be awesome - but I didn't know it was going to be the best ever...

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Trying to squeeze in time to write stuff amidst the barrage of meetings that I have while still in Singapore so will do the wall-of-photos posts - starting with the Culture Japan/Mirai Suenaga booth at Asia's biggest anime event Anime Festival Asia 2012.

As this was the first time we had a booth where we sold our own stuff, we had no idea how much we would sell so was conservative on how much stuff we made.
We've made the decision to manufacture as many of our own products as possible for many reasons:-

• Licensed products do not really make a profit unless the volumes are very large.
  
• Difficult to control branding and quality of licensed products.
  
• Want to learn how to manufacture, price and distribute products on a global scale.

Nevertheless, this project was going to be a great learning experience even if we made a loss. We learned loads about logistics, international taxes, storage and wot not.

We ended up selling over 1000 Moekana T-shirts, several hundred posters and Mirai Carry Cases - it seems that Mirai-chan's popularity is growing! So much so that I noticed there were quite a few folks who knew who Mirai was but didn't know who I was - this is great because it enables me to be behind the lines instead of front line all the time.

We sold most of our goods on the first day - I was shocked to see a queue of folks going around the booth and zig-zagging back n forth a few times - please forgive us for keeping everybody waiting ><

Comrades at Nitroplus grew Super Sonico's popularity grew mainly through merchandise. I've never had enough revenue to manufacture products up until recently so I grew Mirai-chan's brand through collaborations. I've always wanted to own Mirai merchandise myself which is why after saving a load of cash from the TV production I started to do make some - but only products that I would personally use myself ^^

I would like to thank everybody who came along to our booth to visit and/or get some goodies - if you did, would love to see you share your loot on Facebook or Twitter, Instragram etc - it would help Mirai-chan in her mission to continue to spread Japanese culture worldwide!
If you do have some photos uploaded somewhere then paste the links in the comments below.

Also thanks to our team members who gathered from afar to help out! Also thanks to Yukino for the loan of her Itasha and Sticker no Tenchi for wrapping it. Did I nearly forget to mention thanks to Kodomut, Reiji and Solomon for taking these photos?

Going to leave you with the wall of photos while I go and prep more AFA posts!

And these are the goodies we had!

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Coverage of Asia's biggest anime event Anime Festival Asia continues! Next up is the cosplay - on stage and around the exhibition halls - photos taken over the 2 days at AFA12 Singapore.

The AFA Regional Cosplay Championship 2012 grand finals for singles and doubles took place and was just awesome - especially the Kaname bit on day 2 ^^;

Kaname gets a separate post later. Thanks to Reiji, Solomon and Kodomut for taking photos.

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