“Tetsujin 28-gō, is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created Giant Robo. The series centred on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who controlled a giant robot named Tetsujin 28, built by his late father. The manga was later adapted into four anime TV series, the first in 1963. It was the first Japanese series to feature a giant robot. The 1963 series was later released in America as Gigantor. A live action motion picture with heavy use of computer generated graphics was produced in Japan in 2005.” (Wikipedia, accessed March ‘10)

Then there is the 1980 and 1992 Tv anime serieses. My favorite, and the favorite of most of the arab fans, is the 1980’s (Shin Tetsujin 28-gō) as it was dubbed into arabic. The dub was really good performed by mostly lebanese voice actors/actresses خالد السيد from جونكر  and وفاء طربيه from رانزي المدهشة, and many others. Their arabic pronounciation is perfect besides it’s relevant to the plot and storyline unlike other recent dubs that I don’t want to btother in bringing it up here for now…Tetsujin the 80’s Tv series is my age, I’ve watched it in 80’s and I’m watching it again now, liked neither the 60’s nor the 00’s versions of it, 70s-80s are always my favourite in anime.

           Now there is a 1:1 (18 m) Tetsujin 28-gō statue in Kobe, where Mitsuteru Yokoyama was born. Unfortunately, it’s from the 50’s manga/60’s anime, not the 80’s shin Tetsujin 28-gō, but it’s still good. Hope to see Astroganga (アストロガンガー جونكر) and (الثور الأسود) somewhere in  Honshū soon!

  

       ”Walkman is a Sony brand originally used for portable audio cassette, and now used to market Sony’s portable audio and video players as well as a line of its mobile phones. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits by allowing people to carry music with them.

The device was built in 1978 by audio-division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent trans-Pacific plane trips. The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan, the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK. Morita hated the name “Walkman” and asked that it be changed, but relented after being told by junior executives that a promotion campaign had already begun using the brand name and that it would be too expensive to change.” (Wikipedia, accessed 03/’10)

Now this is nothing with the tv documentary that I’ve watched on NHK in ’09. It was an interview with the designer on how and why the first two designs of Sony walkman were created. Sony = Legacy and whatever I’ve seen/watched/read/heard about it  really showed me why Sony Walkman was copied by the fruit co.!  I’m not defending Sony ‘cos it’s Japanese, again, I’m not Japanese, but the quality, the features, colors, materials..etc. of the Japanese products are always unbeatable, just see how cool the 80s’ WM-2 walkman is!

I don’t wanna discuss the lack of MDs and LDs in our market here, that most probably will need an entire post to be expressed well…

      

        PC-FX  is a video game console from NEC that was released in Japan in ‘94 with a 32-bit CPU. It plays CD-ROMs, it comes with a keypad and a mouse, there is a memory expansion too! I’ve first knew about it in ‘94 from Japanese videogame magazines and I was attracted mostly by its anime-style video games. No 3D  games were developed for PC-FX though ‘cos they have just rushed into releasing it early as 3DO was already in market. It was only sold in Japan and almost no one knew about it ‘cos it was knocked out by 3DO and Playstation1 besides most of its games are based on Japanese dialogues. When I was in Japan in ‘03 I’ve found it in Akihabara “electric town” but its games are very hard to find so I didn’t get it, now I’m reconsidering buying it again! Oh by the way, there are around 3 or 4 PC emulators for it! but still I wanna get the console it self, I like electronish-antiques!

City Hunter (シティーハンター), the 80’s shonen jump manga and the anime. I’ve always wanted to watch it but for some reason didn’t like the art. But now after giving up on whatever anime/manga is being produced, since early 20s ’til  now, I’m going back on anime archives to see if I can watch something that I’ve left behind. So yes, now I’m more interested in City Hunter!

Excuse me fans for saying this, but I’m gonna watch it for two reasons, first, I liked the live action movie City Hunter (Jackie Chan) and the other reason is that I liked the generation that City Hunter was produced in… and yeah, its OSTs are good too! No offense…at least ’til I watch it!!

No, I’m neither Japanese nor majoring in Japanese language, but yes, I’m a member! I liked how this organization is related to the school in which I study, so their events are scheduled and organized according to the academic year. Conveniently it’s filling our spare time. Since I’ve joined them in late September nothing really special happened but I can tell they are active and for most of the Japanese major students at OSU, Japan is beyond the classroom and this surprised me. For those who are interested, you can register/follow JSO on

http://jso.org.ohio-state.edu/

Now, my second step is to attend the main Japanese events in Athens in Ohio which is around a couple of hours away from where I live, Gnbaremasu…..!

        

                    ”ASIMO (アシモ) (Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches) and weighing 54 kilograms (114 pounds), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h (4.3 mph), matching EMIEW. ASIMO was created at Honda’s Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. It is the current model in a line of eleven that began in 1986 with E0.” (Wikipedia)

Now, some would ask WHY ASIMO?! many other labs developed more useful robots, and if not better than ASIMO mayabe something equivalent in terms of functionalities, like dancing, walking or even playing soccer! Yeah, Toyota, Hitachi, SONY, TOSHIBA and many other leading electronics electronish companies have developed such robots. However, ASIMO still represents for me and for many others the ideal appearance, color, size, movement and functions of a ROBOT, the robot that we all have dreamed of in childhood! now there are around 100 ASIMOs, each costs around $1 million! 

Talking about the automobile co. HONDA, I’m usually impressed of whatever it manufactures from Robots to Motorcycles and anything in between! Always efficient, economic, environment-friendly, quiet, new, nice and powerful. Although this is valid for most of the Japanese companies, but HONDA got it all. Here in Ohio there is a HONDA Automobile factory where Japanese-HONDA powered vehicles are made! I shall visit and see the genuine assembly line of HONDA…

I will take a bottom-up approach in this post ‘cos I’m more interested in Electronic Electronish things!

“FeliCa is a technology developed by Sony in which a microchip, embedded in a card or electronic device, combines processing, storage, and communications functions. The name derives from the word “felicity,” suggesting convenience. The data on the chip is nonvolatile and can be overwritten indefinitely. The FeliCa chip can be used in portable digital devices such as cell phone sets.” (techtarget.com)

Now, what’s about the title?!

Wallet Mobile – おサイフケータイ- الهاتف المحفظة, is a technology that was introduced in Japan since 2004 by NTT DoCoMo, in which mobiles are equipped with FeliCa chip that enables users to make payments as if they’re using credit cards and even faster, all what you need is to scan your mobile, and yeah you can recharge it with the exact amount that you would like to limit your payments with, security issues. Moreover, with this technology, mobile handsets in Japan can also be used as a train-pass (Suica), can’t you see how convenient is this?  When I was in Japan I felt shy to use my piece of junk (mobile) within that sophisticated market of mobile. Now this sounds pathetic but 6 years later and still no significant approach in the middle east to improve the hardware infrastructure of mobiles telecommunication industry/market, all what they are doing now is expanding the speed and consequently the cost, and we blindly compliment on how good our telecommunication companies are (Z and W) while NTT DoCoMo is generations leaping ahead, hmm!                                                                                                                                                                         Check this out:

Even Taxis…!

“Igano Kabamaru (伊賀野カバ丸, Igano Kabamaru) is a Japanese manga created by Yu Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young ninja from the Iga province called Kagemaro (absolute shadow), nicknamed Kabamaru (hippo’s mouth) for his insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja sensei, Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather’s acquaintances. The plot deals mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an urban lifestyle after spending a childhood in the mountains and how he finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two private schools.” (Wikipedia)

Kabamaru or نينجا المغامر   as how it’s titled in arabic, is one of the big anime hits in the 80s in the middle east, it was dubbed into Arabic by a Lebanese dubbing Inc. شريف وحيد, where وحيد جلال then وليم عتيق as Kabamaru and الفيرا يونس as Mai.

In 2003 , I’ve ,by chance, found that there is a new manga series of the story which I didn’t really like in terms of art and the very extended story of it, but it’s good to continue watching/reading it though. Furthermore, there is a movie (life action) titled ” The Ninja Boy Igano Kabamaru” and it is based on the original manga! I guess they’ve done a great casting on that as shown in the preview (opening credit). Now, Igano Kabamaru, the movie, has been already added on my to-watch list!!

” The Sumida River (隅田川, Sumida-gawa) is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. What is now known as the “Sumida River” was previously the path of the Arakawa, however towards the end of the Meiji era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Arakawa to prevent flooding. It passes through Kita, Adachi, Arakawa, Sumida, Taito, Koto and Chuo” (Wikipedia).

When some friends of mine and I first visited Tokyo in 2003,  I’ve tried to convince them to visit the Sumida River as it’s one of the land marks in Tokyo, they were partially convinced about it. Then, the next day, we’ve arrived in Asakusa train station which is just next to Sumida River, I didn’t know how far it’s located away from the train station, so once we went out the station we kept walking ‘n’ walking for ages! Nothing appeared on the horizon yet, as I’ve mentioned earlier, they were just partially convinced about visiting it, so suddenly we’ve they’ve decided to forget about it and go back to whatever is left to visit/see in Tokyo. FOUR years later, in 2007, a friend of mine and I, have made it at the Sumida River at the right time and the right place, the station this time was just a couple of minutes away from the river, and the timing was just perfect for it, it was late March, you know what I mean! Cherry blossom, Sakura trees, were covering the streets of Sumida. It was crowded with public enjoying the weather, the scenery and the river at that delightful moment. What’s so special about Sumida River in addition to the Sakura trees, the bridges, it has many bridges passing over it and some are dedicated for trains, it’s wide and relaxing for sight. I remember how people there were so happy and joyful! Sumia River now means a beautiful moment for me!

“ZARD (ザード) was a Japanese pop group. Originally a group of five members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as group leader. However, Sakai was the only member who stayed on the group while others joined and left regularly. As such, Zard and Sakai may be referred interchangeably. Zard’s work was sold under record label B-Gram Records Inc. Sakai was also a very prolific lyricist. She wrote 150 songs during her 17-year career (numerous songs for other artists as well as all of the Zard songs except for two, Koionna no Yūutsu (恋女の憂鬱) and Onna de Itai (女でいたい) from their first album, Good-bye My Loneliness, which was written by Dariya Kawashima) and released several books of poetry as well.”(Wikipedia).

ZARD, Izumi Sakai, is one of my favorite singers. I’ve first knew her in 1998 when I got her first album from Asahi Bookstore in Colindale, London. Her voice and performance is very different comparing with the same generation of Japanese singers, when I listen to her songs I almost don’t skip any track! My favorites of her are Nostalgia, Good-bye My Loneliness, Believe In Love, and What a Beautiful Memory.  Izumi Sakai had cervical cancer so she was admitted to the Keio University Hospital where she accidentally fell down the stairs and died in 2008 at age of 40. Zard fans will no more listen to any new of her, but her past will never always playback!

P.S.: Posted song is “Nostalgia”.