Big in Japan: Meet-me is Japan’s G-rated Answer to Second Life

by Matthew Firestone on

Kunimasa Hamaoka, who oversees a digital marketing company called Transcosmos, is not a fan of Second Life, the online digital world that is rapidly sweeping across the globe and changing the way we view the internet.

“Japanese aren’t going to take to the culture of Second Life. It’s the kind of place where you can get shot in the back as soon as you log on. There’s total freedom to act in Second Life, which is very American.”

“Almost everything is OK, including evil, he adds.”

Although avatars can’t die in Second Life, they majority of them do carry guns, which is about as authentically Japanese as a Big Mac and large French Fries.

As a result of these distinct cultural differences, Hamaoka was proud to announce the release of Meet-me, Japan’s G-rated answer to Second Life, which will be “orderly, pornography-free and safe for children.”

“This will be a place where people can enjoy themselves with a sense of safety — like Disneyland” said Hamaoka.

In a demonstration to the press, a female avatar wondered around Tokyo’s famous Shibuya district, though the streets were surprisingly empty since Meet-me doesn’t go online until December. Of course, Meet-me is expected to launch in time for Christmas, so the designers are hoping that this year’s popular X-mas gifts will be virtual land, apartments, furniture and clothing.

The visual difference between Meet-me and Second Life were immediately apparent. For instance, the hyper-real avatars of Second Life were revamped to fulfill the Japanese need to be cute – almost Pokemon-esque in appearance, characters in Meet-me have soft childlike faces and anime style haircuts.

As with Second Life, users will be able to fully customize their avatar in a seemingly endless variety of styles. However, the similarities between Second Life and Meet-me stop there.

The day to day operation of Meet-me will be controlled by Transcosmos, who will apply strict law and order to prevent disturbances, profanity and other maladjusted behavior – much like normal Japanese society. Considering that little to none policing and filtering happens in the Second Life world (gambling was only just banned), Meet-me will cater to the Japanese desire for regulated stability and order at the societal level.

Transcosmos will also run Meet-me on Tokyo time, which means that avatars will be on the same time schedule as the Land of the Rising Sun. And unlike Second Life, where avatars and can whisk themselves around at the click of a button, avatars in Meet-me are dependent on public transportation including subways, trains and taxis.

In spite of everyone’s lofty expectations for Meet-me, Linden Labs, the brainchild behind Second Life, is not ready to walk away just yet from the world’s second largest economy. In fact, they recently added increased Japanese-language services to Second Life, and have been trying to target their advertising to the staggering number of computer savvy Japanese.

Truth be told, I’ve never logged on to Second Life as I’m too much of a fan of my first life, though I’ve been told on a number of occasions that I’m missing out. But, seeing as all of my Japanese friends are already pre-ordering Meet-me, perhaps it’s time to finally get onboard.

Which begs the question, “Do you think blue hair and purple eyes is too boring?” Afterall, this is Japan.

Big in Japan: In Japan, Vending Machine Vends You

by Matthew Firestone on

When I first moved to Japan a few years back, I remember reading some crazy statistic that that there was something like one vending machine in Japan for every three people. I might not have been a math major, but in a country numbering 120 million, I figured that there must be around 40 million vending machines strewn about.

However, having lived in Japan for several years now, I wouldn’t be surprised if 40 million vending machines was something of an underestimate. Truth be told, I’ve been hiking in the middle of the jungles of Okinawa, only to find a vending machine in the absolute middle of nowhere that was seemingly powered by nothing more than a diesel generator.

Indeed, spending hundreds of your hard-earned yen every day in the vending machine is something of a national obsession here in Japan. Not surprisingly, vending machine technology is light years ahead of the States, and there’s no shortage of cool products for sale ranging from the convenient and the refreshing to the astonishing and the all-together perverted.

For starters, you have your normal variety of drink and food vending machines, though I can assure that they’re nothing like those you find in North America. On a warm summer’s day, vending machines here will dispense ice cold beverages (normal enough). In the wintertime however, you can actually get a hot can of coffee, a steaming cup of ramen noodles or even a lukewarm soda to get the blood flowing.

It gets better.

Short of cash? Don’t want to break a big bill? Most vending machines in Japan are equipped with a sensor that can read your subway pass, so you can just swipe your wallet and not have to deal with change. This is of course great on a winter’s day when you taking off your gloves to dig for change in your pockets is a real nuisance.

It gets even better.

Now that most cell phones in Japan can store spending money on a digital chip, you can simply swipe your phone in front of the vending machine, and find yourself one step closer to liquid refreshment.

Now it gets weirder.

The internet is full of stories describing all the weird, wacky and wonderful things you can get in vending machines. Most are in fact true, though suffice it to say, things have gotten a bit more conservative here in recent years.

Yes, you can still buy cigarettes on the street, and cans of beer at any hour of the day or night.

And yes, strangely enough, you can actually buy a new outfit, complete with a button-down shirt, dress pants, T-shirt, underwear and socks.

Sadly no, you can no longer buy magic mushrooms in vending machines as the government closed this bizarre loophole a few years back. With that said, resident foreigners here in Japan still fondly recall the days when you could walk outside the clubs in Osaka, slip $20 into the vending machine, and detour your night in a matter of moments.

And no, you can’t buy used school girls’ panties in the vending machines in the Red Light District, though whether or not this actually ever happened is debatable.

Although I myself have never actually seen these for sale, the rumors continue to circulate about their supposed existence, so please do comment and correct me if I’m wrong.

(Of course, I’m not interested in buying them or anything, but it’d be nice to put this internet rumor to rest!)

Big in Japan: Today’s Crazy Racist Photo from Japan

by Matthew Firestone on

While walking home from work the other night, I stumbled across this sign outside a rather posh Mexican restaurant around the corner from my apartment. Mind you, I live in the very snooty (albeit classy) neighborhood of Nakameguro, which is one of the most fashionable addresses you can have in Tokyo.

(Hey Mom – I’m moving up in the world!)

With that said, you can imagine my shock at discovering this crazy racist sign. Although it pretty much speaks for itself, I’ll ere on the side of caution and add a bit of commentary.

Take a moment and draw your eyes to the caricature of the wildly drunken Mexican sporting a Looney Tunes-esque mustache and a bandito costume. Also note the fact that he swigging from a tequila bottle while firing his pistol madly into the air.

I guess political correctness never really caught on over here in Japan.

Anyway, I guess one of the funniest thing about this sign is that the absurd Mexican stereotype actually draws your eyes away from the terrible Eng(r)ish. I mean, who could pass up ’80 KINDS OF MENU, from standard to rare..’

I know I couldn’t, and I must admit that the banana taquitos and the lychee margarita were spot on. On the other hand, the mackerel quesadilla with the white raddish dipping sauce was definitely something of an acquired taste.

And yes, I do realize that all of these menu items are definitely not authentic Mexican dishes, so I wouldn’t waste too much time looking for them at a Taco Bell near you.

To preface what I’m getting at in today’s post, I think it’s important to realize a few fundamental facts about Japan. And of course, although I’m not defending their ignorance towards other races in any way, I do think it’s important to put things in perspective.

For starters, this island nation floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is one of the world’s most homogonous countries. In fact, prior to Commodore Perry sailing his Black Ships into Yokohama in the 19th century, Japan’s doors were essentially closed to the world.

As a result, the Japanese have always been a bit obsessed with the idea of preserving their national identity. Anyone who’s ever studied this country is familiar with the concept of ‘Japaneseness,’ namely that there are unique cultural traits that separate the Japanese from everyone else.

Anyway, the point is that the Japan is anything but a multi-cultural society, which is why they tend to kind of miss the point a lot of times in regards to their understanding other races. In fairness to them however, I’ve always marveled that their racism is more the product of nativity than it is of bigotry.

Still, racism is racism, and signs like this make me stop and think that Japan still has a long way to go. Fortunately, as the younger generations of Japanese become increasingly more outward-looking, there is hope that a little more cultural sensitivity will make its way to the Far East.

In the meantime however, I’ll try to make a point of teaching my students that Mexican culture doesn’t start and stop with Speedy Gonzalez.

Big in Japan: Everything You Wanted to Know About Maid Cafes

by Matthew Firestone on

“Have you guys checked out that new café on the corner? You know the one I’m talking about. Yeah, the one where the hot girls dress up in maid costumes, bow to your every request and constantly demean themselves for your pleasure.”

Although this snippet of conversation might be out of place in America, it would fit right at home here in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. The official otaku (?????????) or geek capital of Japan, Akihabara is where the world’s first maid cafes appeared back in 2000.

What’s a maid café you ask? Good question.

A maid café or meido-kafe (??????????????????) is a theme restaurant or bar where the staff dresses up in French maid costumes and treats the customers as masters in their own homes. While sipping your café and relaxing with your friends, a beautiful woman in an elegant costume will personally attend to each and every one of your needs.

It gets better.

The standard uniform is an elegant French maid costume, but in Akihabara it’s possible to find several variations on this traditional garb. From elegant silk and lace lingerie to maid outfits augmented with anime-style bunny or cat ears, Akihabara’s maid cafes cater to every conceivable fantasy.

Although exemplary customer service is typical of Japan, maid cafés take special care to pamper patrons beyond belief. When a customer enters the café, the maids typically greet them by saying okaerinasaimasen goshujinsama (お帰りなさいませ、ご主人様), which roughly translates to ‘Welcome home my exalted master!“

It gets even better.

The maids continue to play the role of a house servant, and will do such deferential tasks as kneeling while taking orders, complimenting customers on their drink selections and bowing their head to the floor upon request. In fact, at some of the more upscale maid cafes, you can even have your ears cleaned, your glasses adjusted and your hands and feet massaged for a small fee.

In the last year or so, even more bizarre variations on the maid cafe concept have sprung up in Akihabara. For instance, it’s now possible to find younger sister cafes, where the staff greet customers upon arrival by saying okaeri oniichan (お帰りお兄ちゃん), which roughly translates to ‘Welcome home older brother!”

Although this may sound bizarre to Western ears, relaxing in maid cafes has become something of a staple for the legions of geeks that call Akihabara their home. In fact, in the past few years, maid café culture has spread to other cities in Japan, and a few have even popped up in neighboring Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Sure, maid cafes are a bit fetishistic, but truth be told, they’re a lot of fun!

I mean hey, everyone needs a little pampering once in awhile, right?

** Special thanks to Flickr users Oimax and Wirbelwind **

Big in Japan: All Heil The New Japanese Prime Minister-san

by Matthew Firestone on

Being that it’s Friday, I wanted to send all of my readers into the weekend with some bit of random Japanese fun. With that said, it’s actually Saturday here in Japan, but time zones aside, you get where I’m going with this.

So, how will I wrap up this week’s installment of Big in Japan? From bizarre local news stories and crazy Japanese TV shows to the world’s oldest man and a look at the robots of the future, it’s definitely been an interesting week here in the Far East.

Unfortunately however, we interrupt our regularly scheduled light-heartedness to bring you the latest from the Japanese political scene. As the designated Japan correspondent for Gadling, I feel it is my patriotic duty to update everyone about the new Japanese Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda.

At 71 years of age, Mr. Fukuda, the son of a former prime minister, became this week both the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the new prime minister of the nation of Japan.

Mr. Fukuda, a former oil magnet, is the oldest Japanese prime minister to take office since 1991. Coincidently, he replaced Japan’s youngest leader in recent history, Shinzo Abe, who was just 53 years old when he stepped down earlier this week.

Largely vilified by the Japanese public, Mr Abe’s short-lived administration was dogged by mistakes and scandals which many said were largely the result of his inexperience.

According to political analyst Tsuneo Watanabe from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, “[Yasuo Fukuda] is often described as being boring. But, the other way of looking at that is that he represents stability.”

On the other hand, as Professor Koichi Nakano from Tokyo’s Sophia University, points out, he has only held one cabinet post previously. “He is old but not that experienced.”

So what will that agenda be?

According to an article on the BBC, Mr. Fukuda has already made clear that he wants to try to improve relations with North Korea. Not surprisingly, he is seen as more of a dove on foreign policy than the hawkish Mr Abe.

He will be keen to try to improve relations with Japan’s neighbors, namely China and South Korea. He will also push for an extension of Japan’s naval mission in support of US-led forces in Afghanistan.

However, this will not be easy since the opposition which controls the country’s Upper House of Parliament has promised to block the legislation necessary to extend the mission.

At home he needs to try to reconnect the LDP with its traditional supporters, particularly those in rural areas who punished the government in the Upper House elections in July.

Many in the countryside complain they have suffered as a result of the country’s economic reforms. As a result, Mr Fukuda will have to decide whether to increase public spending in those areas, difficult when the country’s huge public debt is the equivalent of one and a half times Japan’s GDP.

Anyway, forgive my foray into politics, but the TV over here is buzzing with the face of the new prime minister, and I really couldn’t think of anything else more important to report on today.