Today Reuters reported that Walt Disney Co. (the #2 U.S. entertainment company followed by Time Warner who is #1) is getting into mobile phone business in Japan in the spring of 2008. Disney plans on using the network of Japan’s #3 cell phone company, Softbank. The two companies will develop cell phones together and Disney aims to get about 1 million users by targeting families with an offer of handsets and downloads featuring Disney characters. I’m sure it’ll be a hit with the kids. Launching cell phone services in Japan requires a huge initial investment and can cost around one trillion yen (or 8.7 billion U.S. dollars) to build a network of base stations according to TopNews.
Monthly Archive for November, 2007
I’m the luckiest man in the world! Why? Well my fiancee was going to be gone all day today and she probably new I’d be all caught up in playing my Xbox (with Lulu) and forget to do normal things… like eat lunch. She mentioned she was going to make some lunch for me and I was thinking it would be a sandwich or something. Then she said “Chinese food” and my mind went “Whaaaaaaaa….. huuuuuh…?” This morning she woke up around 7:30am while I was still sleeping and busted out her amazing cooking skills in the kitchen. Her cooking and food presentation puts all restaurants to shame!
When I got up she said to microwave the box for 1 minute and I’ll be good to go. And she was right! Not only did she create the most delicious Chinese food ever but she even took the time to put it in a ‘to go box’! Who does that? It’s so awesome, check out this picture from my phone… it was a great meal and this picture does not do it justice.
I was checking out MSN today and this article caught my eye: StartupNation Home-Based 100: 10 top home businesses in 10 categories. I’m always interested in hearing success stories and I know stories like this fuel other entrepreneurs by letting them know that a dream can become a reality. I know this talks about Americans but anybody can be a successful entrepreneur when living in another country. If that other country isn’t your home land, you might have a few minor setbacks but that shouldn’t stop you.
There are 100 people listed on MSN. Here are a few I find really interesting.
From The Top Ten Yummiest
Ciao Laura, Smyrna, Tenn.
Ciao Laura, as Laura Faust likes to be called, knows how to cook, and she knows how to stir up the votes. Her company takes people to Italy on cooking adventures, hopping from local restaurants to 15th-century villas to once-upon-a-time culinary hot spots like Pompeii. She must have a lot of happy customers willing to support her.
From The Top Ten Most Innovative
The Organizing Wiz, New York
As a professional organizer, Ilene Drexler can change your life. In the confines of Manhattan’s smallish apartments, we can’t imagine a greater luxury than having things tucked away neatly to clear some space and let the light in again. In a personalized, one-on-one consultation, she’ll assess your situation, decide on the right prescription and, with your green light, start sorting, weeding, categorizing, labeling and storing items. She currently focuses on residences, but this also sounds like a great service for rushed small-business owners.
From the MSN article:
Millions of Americans dream of starting their own businesses at home, but these entrepreneurs have made it work. The StartupNation Home-Based 100 represents the best of the best — the most successful, the most innovative, the most adventurous, the downright wacky and more.
If you found this post interesting, here are a few links you might enjoy
History’s 10 greatest entrepreneurs
5 hottest UK entrepreneurs
You’ve probably heard that things in Japan are small. Cars, clothes, roads, houses, and apartments. I wouldn’t call Japanese apartments small, but I would say they’re cozy. Do you really need a huge place to live anyway? As long as it has what you need and you spend your free time out on the town or cuddling with a hot chick (or whoever) to watch a movie. Now there’s a lot to renting an apartment but I’ll talk more about that sometime For now I’ll give you a few pros and cons of Japanese apartments as well as some youtube vids so you can tour a few places. Here are some things I’ve discovered in the last two weeks.
The Good:
- Sliding doors are cool
- You usually get a balcony
- Washing machines fit nicely in the bathroom area
- Shower room is huge
- You don’t need a car where I live, so you save money on the car, gas, parking, and you get free exercise.
- If your apartment is capable, you can get hooked up with fiber optic internet.
- Mirrors in the bathroom area have an anti fog button. That is totally kick ass.
- The “tankless water heater” is great for showers. You turn it on when you need it and you never run out of hot water.
The bad:
- If you’re getting no help from your job or friends in Japan you’ll need about $5,000 USD to rent an apartment. You’ll be paying the landlord some stupid fees you won’t get back + first months rent + some other things to furnish your apartment. If you factor the landlord fees into your average monthly rent then it becomes affordable I guess. If your monthly rent is $800 USD you can expect to have a down payment around $4,000 for rent + fees. Then you’ll need to furnish your place and it can cost $1,000+. That part is lame when you compare it to the US.
- You can easily hear your neighbors
- Small closets + small rooms = not enough place for your clothes
- Small bathroom area + washing machine = not enough space for bathroom stuff.
- No hot water unless you turn on the hot water heater and then waste water waiting for it to become warm. This means washing your face in cold water because you’ll get lazy.
- If you have a car, parking space can be expensive depending on where you live. I’ve seen it range from 0 to 20,000 yen per month.
- If you mark the wall or dent a door you’re going to lose your ass when you move out. You’ll be charged 500-1,000 Yen per pin tack hole you put in the wall.
- They don’t come with a refrigerator, washing machine, oven range, or light fixtures (that’s something new to me)
People are still talking about Nova and what’s to come but there’s no solid solution for foreigners who worked for Nova besides returning to their home country… and who really wants to do that? Japan kicks ass! Today there is an interesting article over at Japan Today regarding people who used to work for Nova. “EF invites Nova instructors to teach in China for Olympics” which could be interesting. I wonder what the pay would be.
A Switzerland-based English language institute on Wednesday invited instructors who lost jobs because of the failure of Nova Corp to teach English in China where demand for English learning is expected to shoot up ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. EF Education First Ltd, which has been chosen as an official language partner of the Olympics, is seeking about 1,000 English instructors who can teach English in such major Chinese cities as Beijing and Shanghai, Molly Fitzpatrick from the institute said at a press conference in Tokyo.
In other news, 12 companies apply for sponsorship to rebuild Nova. Continue reading ‘Teaching English in China (Nova)?’
I thought this was funny: “It says here that you should not dress for the job you have, but for the job you want.” - theWarehouse
Part 1 of 3 - Dying in Japan: I’ve been feeling sick since the middle of September (when we got our dog) and I’ve been thinking I was allergic to her. Anyway after we moved to our new place I’ve had a few days where I feel like I’m dying even when I wasn’t around the dog. I’d have a stuffy nose, a runny nose, sneezing, nasal drip, hot flashes, cold chills. It was insane. So last week I went to the allergist (I’ll talk about that later) and yesterday I got the diagnosis. I’m not allergic to dogs or pollen in the area but I’m allergic to house dust and dust mites. Naaaaasty.
Part 2 of 3 - The Doctors Visit: I had an appointment scheduled at the allergist. When we went there was a HUGE crowd of people outside and all of the traffic stopped. We found out that the Emperor was driving through (Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Genkai Island to encourage residents who have suffered in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake that hit the island.) We stood around for about 15 minutes and they slowed their roll and waved while they passed by. That was pretty cool because we were about 5 meters away. After we experienced this we headed to the allergist to party it up. First we sat in the regular waiting area. When my name was called we were upgraded to some other seats that I’ll call ‘business class’ and 10 minutes later we were upgraded to ‘first class’ which was right next to the doctor. It was strange. 3 minutes later I was upgraded to VIP! That’s right, the patient chair that reminded me of the dentist. He spoke to my finacee to get information and talk about allergy things while randomly sticking things in my ears and nose without warning. It was a crazy experience. After he decided to take blood tests I was sent to the “after party” which is this chair where I stuck two tubes up my nose and breathed in some mist for about 5 minutes. After that I went to ‘detox’ where they drew my blood and then we were on our way with a prescription for some antihistamine. Continue reading ‘Going to the Doctor’
Can you imagine just walking around and then getting hit by a falling person? Maybe you just ate some ramen or breakfast, maybe you just got back from a week of beer baths, maybe you just picked up a newspaper… and when you’re almost to your apartment complex there’s another tenant plunging 11 stories to her death… and the worst part is she’s going to land on you! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A week ago I read about this tragedy over at Japan Today.
A woman leapt from an 11-story apartment in Tokyo on Wednesday evening, striking and seriously injuring a 47-year-old man who was walking along a nearby sidewalk, police said.
That’s insanity. And what is up with so many people committing suicide over here in Japan? Life’s not that tough, really.
Some people use a futon in the bedroom laying on tatami and then they put it away during the day. Others have a couch that converts to a bed. But I have found the ultimate solution today! Seems pretty cool and very uncomfortable which is the Japanese way (futon = not comfortable, small cards = not comfortable for tall people, etc) Check this out.
It’s a 2+1 [Chairs + Table]
The young singles ratio is getting increase in the society. These people live alone in small apartment in the city. They would like to have multipurpose furniture for using small room efficiently. There are two chairs and on table. Ordinary these are two chairs and table. But When they watch TV. It can be Sofa. And when they go to sleep. It is going to be a single bed.
If you leave it unattended in a place (the inside of car) becoming a high temperature and might transform it when it can get closer to fire. Please dry printed matter such as a magic, a copy, fax well, and enter.
Good times good times! I think this was on some small note cards or adhesive paper we bought. Get ready for some more crazy stuff in the future!
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