Japan

Here's a robot video that I found interesting: Wolverine makes a voyage to modern-day Japan, where he encounters an enemy from his past that will impact on his future. Get more new movie trailers - Subscribe to VISO Trailers! http://ow.ly/3UVvY Share what you think! Join us on Facebook - http://ow.ly/3UVxn Do you like this trailer? [...]

The Motley Fool's readers have spoken, and I have heeded your cries. After months of pointing out CEO gaffes and faux pas, I've decided to make it a weekly tradition to also point out corporate leaders who are putting the interests of shareholders and the public first and are generally deserving of praise from investors. For reference, here's my previous selection. This week, we'll "step" into the retail sector and examine why Foot Locker CEO, Ken Hicks, is truly a class act. Kudos to you, Mr. Hicks Ken Hicks took the reins at Foot Locker during one of the toughest times in recent retail history. Since becoming CEO on Aug. 17, 2009, Foot Locker's dividend-adjusted share price has catapulted by 268%, or an average of about 2.9% per month! However, the retail industry certainly isn't a walk in the park -- even for Foot Locker. Shoe retailers and footwear companies have all struggled to some extent as higher payroll taxes and delayed tax refunds have weighed on consumer spending habits domestically. Overseas, slower GDP growth in China has drastically slowed down Nike's plans of dominating the region. In Nike's most recent quarterly report, it grew its sales in all regions, except for China and Japan, where it was forced to step up discounting to move higher-than-expected inventories. Constantly changing fashion styles also require continued innovation to keep customers loyal. Deckers Outdoor , the company behind the Ugg brand, has struggled in recent quarters as sheepskin costs have risen and its styles haven't clicked with younger consumers as well as they had in the past. Even the stores themselves haven't fared too well. Finish Line's fourth-quarter results pointed to domestic weakness in its previously high-growth running business, which is a serious cause for concern. Source: commons.wikimedia.org.  And then there's Foot Locker, which increased its net sales last year by 11.4% on a 9.4% rise in same-store sales in spite of all these concerns. Foot Locker's success has come about because of a number of growth and cost-cutting initiatives. First, Ken Hicks has kept a tight lid on expenses and worked on closing underperforming locations over the previous couple of years. Even the nation's biggest companies have stores that struggle, and recognizing which stores are unsuccessful and not allowing them to remain a drag are one of the keys to great leadership. Hicks has also re-emphasized his company's focus on running shoes. Although Finish Line is seeing weakness with this category, Foot Locker has capitalized by rapidly expanding its direct-to-consumer offerings, targeting a younger generation of consumers, and giving consumers an unparalleled selection of name-brand footwear to choose from. A step above his peers The interesting aspect about Foot Locker is that's is so much more than just its bottom-line results. Ken Hicks has completely transformed the culture at Foot Locker for shareholders, employees, and its surrounding communities. On top of the huge 268% surge in Foot Locker's share price since Hicks took over, shareholders have also seen a gigantic boost in their quarterly payout. Source: Nasdaq.com. *Assumes payout of $0.20 per quarter for remainder of 2013 and 2014. Since 2003, Foot Locker's quarterly payout has risen 567%, from just $0.03 to what is now a $0.20 quarterly payout. With the yield currently at 2.2%, you'll struggle to find better dividend growth in the retail sector. Foot Locker also does a good job of taking care of its employees. In addition to offering comprehensive health and dental packages to employees, Foot Locker will reimburse up to $5,200 worth of qualified tuition annually, provide wellness benefits like flu shot vaccinations and fitness membership discounts in some locations, and, of course, offer a hefty 30% discount off regularly priced merchandise. If you love shoes, you're bound to enjoy working for Foot Locker. Ken Hicks also believes strongly in giving back to the communities that i

La Cittadella [? ??????] - a slice of Italy in the heart of Kawasaki. Stylised to look like a small town in Italy, La Cittadella contains a cinema complex, concert hall, shops and a load of restaurants - especially Italian ones. La Cittadella is also home to the annual Hallowen parade too. Today wifey and I go for walkies around the area. You can see a bit of what the area is like by day in the video below. To get to La Cittadella, get of at Kawasaki Station and head to the following location on the map. [gmap=35.528299, 139.697878]We start off our evening by parking at Kawasaki Lazona and then walk towards La Cittadella. Building in the background is the MUZA concert hall.Latest news in Japan is that they want to raise the initial fare of Tokyo taxi's to 730 yen which would last for the first 2 kilometers before you need to start paying more. How does that compare to your neck of the woods? Tis better than some of the taxi's I tried to take in Malaysia at least - when I ask "How much to Blah" the drivers would answer "How much you got?"Walking through Kawasaki Station.Starting to explore more of Kawasaki.Discover a street filled with a ton of restaurants.Due to the lack of space in Japan, each building more often than not contains many restaurants or shops so always make sure to always look up at the signs or you may miss some gems.Many restaurants have some really nice exterior designs."Kawasaki Blender" It says that a cosplay girl with give you a wash.You already know the word Oppai (meaning mammies) but another useful daily word you should know is "Kyonyu" [??[?????]] (pronounced kyo-nyuu) which means "BIG OPPAI." "?" means "huge" or "gigantic" and is the same kanji used in "?????" (Shingeki no Kyojin).When you reach the end of this post make sure to shout out "Kyonyu" 50 times to memorize the word.Check out more plastic food and find out where to buy in Japan."Aroma Beauty Salon" - photo annotate the one who you want to attend to your beauty needs.Many of these "DVD rooms" allow you to "watch DVD's" in the privacy of your own small room. I know many gaijin folks who are travelling cheap use these places to stay in instead of a hotel as the rates are really cheap in the early hours of the morning. For example its 3,000 yen for 12 hours.Can you read that katakana? If not then I'll need to bring out a Katakana learning product in addition to Moekana.I always stop by a Gatcha to see if there is anything 1/3 cale for my daughters - and when I find something I usually get it but ends up in the cupboard most of the times >The gate you see across the road is the entrance to La Cittadella.This place looks like an Izakaya - its like a Japanese pub.This is the main square at La Cittadella - kinda looks like a set to some movie.A list of some of the restaurants at La Cittadella.Moo.Nice place to take a stroll in the evening.And after walking for a bit, once you see things turn back to normal then you know you have left La Cittadella ^^La Cittadella have a fountain show that takes place at certain times throughout the evenings.The seeing-eye dog will open your mind and show you the future.Occasionally you will see the head of some sea monster placed in a bucket of ice outside a restaurant to entice you to go in. There is a poll embedded in this article.Heading back to Lazona.Exploring the shotengai in the area.Remember to always take the stairs if you dont get the chance to exercise much!Back at Lazona.Got to meet comrades from many corners of the world who I went to see Iron Man 3 with.Then its a quick look around Lazona. Would love to go camping but probably very unlikely that I'll ever get to relax in this lifetime to be able to do so >I've only seen bicycles like these in Japan where the child seat is at the front. Bicycles like these are usually called Mamachari [?????] which is a short form of Mama Chariot. "Chariot" [???] is a term used to refer to a bicycle.Looking for some magic potion to keep water off the car.Mor

You is being familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh! If so then you will probably be familair with this little lady - Dark Magician Girl which has been given the Cu-Poche treatment by Kotobukiya. I managed to nab one from the Kotobukiya offices before she's out this July. Dark Magician Girl will retail for 3,990 yen and if she tickles your fancy then you can check out one of the following online retailers who may have her up for pre-order. http://1999.co.jp/eng/ http://amiami.com http://hlj.com http://jlist.com http://kidnemo.com http://toylet.netAs with the other Cu-Poche figures, this little lady comes with a load of accessories and face plates.How many of you have consumed Yu-Gi-Oh! contents (anime, card games) in your lifetime? Many people I speak to say they used to when they were younger. There is a poll embedded in this article. More figure photo reviews listed up below. Dark Magician Girl Kaiyodo Office Tour Volks Mirai Suenaga Doll Asuka Shikinami Langley Kotobukiya Dollpa 29 Part 2 Dollpa 29 Yui Takamura Figure Cu-poche Madoka Iron Man Nendoroid View more... Find out more about the Culture Japan girls >>>

The third film in the series has redneck teen Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) being sent to Tokyo to live with his father. Once there he gets mixed up with another high school punk who just happens to be the nephew of a powerful gangster (Sonny Chiba). The first film in this series was good and the follow-up wasn’t too bad when you considered everything that it was. This third film, however, is a complete disaster from the word go and it’s rather shocking that this here didn’t put an end to the entire series. Even more predictably Sean’s forbidden romance puts him in the middle of rival Yakuza drift racing gangs. Moving the story to Japan is reasonable because it will change many aspects of the previous films, but sadly isn’t enough to make the movie good. Too bad the only things that I really enjoyed about this experimentation project are the soundtrack and the racing scenes, since the cheesy dialogs and the campy characters ruined many minutes of this movie. The most important part of The Fast and the Furious is inarguably the racing sequences and their overall effectiveness. I will admit that the sequences themselves are well-filmed and eye catching, highlighting the cars, as they should. However, except in a few fleeting moments, they are not as enthralling as they should be and this is one of the most disappointing aspects of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. The final confrontation, for me, is pretty good to watch, but only arouses the senses once in a while. The fact that you see confident Asian characters portrayed by talented Asian American actors, while smoothly giving the audience the feel of what it is like for an outsider to visit Japan. I would also like to add that it was actually Lin himself who volunteered to take on this project when he realized that it was the only major Hollywood theatrical film to predominantly feature an Asian American cast in 2006. Lin read the script, realized it was riddled with stereotypes. Lin just could not bare to see the fact that a film with this much exposure around the world was going to misrepresent Asians and Asian Americans, so he bit the bullet and took one for the team, and decided to take this on as his next Hollywood directorial assignment. Although Lin could not get his way in casting Sung Kang as the lead for “Tokyo Drift,” because the studio specifically wanted a white actor for the lead role, Kang was still given a prominent role as the non-stereotypical Asian American mentor for the male lead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-EheX9m-dE Also, the big “final race” occurs, and the hero’s dad has the body of a classic 60s Mustang in his garage (a somewhat unlikely situation in Japan — not just the car, but the idea that he has a entire garage for this purpose in one of the world’s most expensive and crowded cities). So Sean and his friends take the engine out of one of the Japanese cars he has wrecked earlier in the film, and in a few hours they manage to install this into the 60s muscle car. I admit I am not a mechanic or specialist, but it does not seem logical that you could retrofit a Japanese front wheel drive engine into a vintage 60s American rear wheel drive car….if it could be done AT ALL, it seems to me that it would take a long time and involve a lot of custom parts. That’s not even considering that they drive on the opposite side of the road in Japan, or that a 60s era car would be much heavier than a current model Japanese car. There are too many other absurdities to list, along with the inclusion of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). I wish I could say that “Toyko Drift” was campy, or that you could have a good time just laughing at the many absurdities, but actually its fatal flaw is that it is extremely dull.

Altered Beast is about to wise fwom its gwave on 3DS. Sega has announced that Altered Beast 3D will arrive on the eShop next week in Japan, bringing with it several new features, according to Tiny Cartridge. Like the Japanese eShop re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast 3D will include both the Japanese and western versions of the game, button remapping and an optional mode that emulates CRT monitors. None of Sega's 3DS re-releases have been confirmed for a North American release, including Space Harrier, Super Hang-On, Sonic the Hedgehog and, now, Altered Beast. Tiny Cartridge does note, however, that Space Harrier was recently confirmed for Europe, so there may be hope the game will be added to North America's growing Sega eShop library.Altered Beast 3D coming to eShop in Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

” The fortune-teller, long since dead, had said I was born with the gift of rain . . . Like the rain, I had brought tragedy into many people’s lives but, more often than not, rain also brings relief, clarity, and renewal. It washes away our pain and prepares us for another day, and even another life. Now that I am old I find that rains follow me and give me comfort, like the spirits of all the people I have ever known and loved. ” (Book Two, Ch.23, p.431) Malaysia was at once colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. The Gift of Rain is set against the period of British Malacca, toward the end of the country’s colonization, when Japanese soldiers cut through impenetrable rainforest of Penang and took over the government. The story is told by Philip Khoo-Hutton, the son of an English father and Chinese mother who grew on the Malay island and lived through the Japanese occupation during World War II. The novel opens about 50 years after the Japanese surrender, when Philip is an old man, still living in his childhood home redolent of painful memories—memories that are brought into sharp focus by an impromptu visitor from Japan. Michiko was the former lover of Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat and master of aikido that Philip befriended in the late 1930s. Endo-san became the most formative influence on Hutton’s life on the eve of war. Gradually Hutton warms to his visitor who teases out story of Hutton’s life with Endo-san. I had gone back to many of those places in the days after the war, when in the silences of my life I missed him. I had gone hoping the places would still retain an echo of his presence, and of his passage, but I had only met with emptiness. (Book One, Ch.15, p.168) An Eurasian, Hutton (his step-siblings were pure British from his father’s first marriage) was never fully accepted by either the Chinese or the English in Penang. Over time and since an early age he has hardened himself against the insults and whispered comments. Alienated from his community and family, the 17-year-old at last discovers a sense of belonging through an unexpected friendship with Endo, who becomes his mentor and master of martial art. The story Hutton tells is meandering, but engaging, leading from his infatuation with the sensei (teacher) to a more mature knowledge that friendship with this man with an insidious purpose on the island is a burden as well as a privilege. He has accepted the bargain: Endo’s protection for his native knowledge. The problem is, some mistakes can be so great, so grievous, that we end up paying for them again and again, until eventually all our lives forget why we began paying in the first place. (Book One, Ch.13, p.154) The Gift of Rain, framing its story on a little-heard-of Malaysian island with a diverse people and culture, delves into the moral ambiguity that its protagonist faces when war erupts. Hutton finds himself torn between love for his family and loyalty to his Japanese teacher and friend. Tan is not afraid to deal with such grey areas into which he puts Hutton. Both Hutton and Endo are well-etched. They are both shouldered with the duty to protect their families and have to act within the constraint of obligations. Tan’s treatment of their dilemma and emotional complexities is both nuanced and realistically ambiguous. They are capable of nobility, but also failures of the spirit and most importantly, they have to bear responsibility for evil as well as the good they do. The only drawback of this debut (nominated for Booker Prize 2007) was the excessive aikido element that sometimes teeters over into daftness. Tan’s evocative and thoughtful prose also evokes the work of Kazuo Ishiguro and Somerset Maugham. 432 pp. Weinstein Books. Paper. [Read/Skim/Toss] [Buy/Borrow]

Executive is replacing Peter Glusker who will rejoin Gilt in the United States and become vice chairman of Gilt Japan. Continue reading...Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Japan keen to bolster N-ties with India

The annual BoA Merrill Lynch Car Wars research report has been released, and contains some specific details on Lexus future product plans — from Motor Trend: From Japan, notable future product includes a coupe and convertible version for the 2014 Lexus IS; a source told us that the coupe has gotten the green light, but a revival of the convertible has yet to be approved. Lexus will also receive a long-awaited three-row crossover, which should bear the CX name. A coupe based on the LF-CC concept has been the topic of much discussion, and is currently rumored to arrive in 2015. The big news is the idea of a three-row crossover — this possibility was first mentioned in an interview with Lexus USA VP of marketing Brian Smith earlier this year: Smith says one of the brand’s two large body-on-frame SUVs, the GX and LX, could be converted to unibody platforms as the auto maker works to meet looming government-imposed fuel-economy regulations. “In the future, if we could do a 3-row unibody (utility vehicle), I think that’s what consumers would want to see,” he says. Also rumored is a compact crossover, which is expected to debut this year as a concept at the Tokyo Motor Show — adding these two SUVs would be a huge boost to the Lexus lineup, especially if they can capitalize on the success of the RX. [Source: Car Wars Report via Motor Trend]