Categories
TV

The BBC in JPN

This might be nice.

BBC Worldwide Ltd, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corp, and digital data broadcaster Japan MediArk Co, launched BBC Japan on Wednesday, the first BBC wholly owned entertainment channel especially developed for audiences in Japan.

BBC Japan offers TV viewers across the country a mix of comedy, drama, factual entertainment, children’s and learning programming, as well as talk shows and documentaries. Most of the programs are subtitled in Japanese. The 24-hour channel is offered at a monthly fee of 735 yen. It will be broadcast on channel 025 of Sky PerfecTV 110 on the CS 110 degree satellite. (Kyodo News)

I get the BBC WORLD news channel on Sky PerfecTV, but I think getting some non-news stuff from the UK might be nice. If there’s anything out there like THE OFFICE (probably the funniest series I’ve seen in years), then I’ll be quite happy.

Categories
Technology

The Cuddling Robot

See Japan doing whatever it can to cope with its aging population.

Business Design Laboratory Co, a Nagoya-based high-tech venture business, said Wednesday it has developed a 45-cm-tall “cuddling robot” for elderly people which is capable of conversing with them by using tens of thousands of input dialogue patterns.

If a person talks to the “ifbot” by saying, “Today, I’m in bad health,” it responds with, “Perhaps you are overtired. Why don’t you rest today?” The robot can put riddles to the elderly and play a quiz game, while always using respectful expressions in Japanese. It costs 604,800 yen. (Kyodo News)

The newsbit and image are from Japan Today.

Update (16/08/27): The image is no longer available.

Categories
Architecture Design

Haneda’s Terminal 2

041201-haneda

Tokyo’s domestic airport, Haneda, has just opened its second terminal. I must say that it’s looking quite nice. The above is a scan from TOKYO WALKER, and below is an image from Japan Today.

Update (16/08/27): The Japan Today image is no longer available.

Categories
Meta

Floating Comments

I just noticed that since installing Spam Karma, I wasn’t getting anymore comment notifications, so apologies for not answering stuff (I’m having a look now). I think I’ve fixed it.

Categories
Art Events

White Light Onsen Experimental

“Retro-futurist science fiction art bath?” Yeah, count me in.

Here comes an upgraded version of Complesso Plastico’s installation that only a very limited number of people were lucky enough to experience at this year’s CET event. The artists themselves speak of a “legendary work”, and that surely is what it deserves to be called! An old, wooden private house in Asakusabashi was turned into a space that’s bathed in brightly shining whiteness, and in the warm and dense fog that you may call “visual white noise” visitors totally loose their senses on distance and perspective. Title of the piece is “White Light Onsen Experimental”, or, to put it in my words, a “retro-futurist science fiction art bath”… Bring waterproof clothes, or use the dressing room to change to comfortable swimwear. (REALTOKYO)

Catch it December 3-17 — the installation is only active on the 3, 4, 10, 11, and 17, from 18:00 to 21:30 — at the following address:

WB Asakusabashi 1F
2-5-27 Bakuro-cho, Nihonbashi
Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Update: It seems like the event has been postponed.