Now that new maps for France and New Zealand are in final public testing and almost certainly to be mentioned at WWDC22, there is speculation that Japan is next in line for Apple’s “built from the ground up” new map. In my opinion, we must not forget Japan. Moreover, I […]
Buddhism Q&A
Buddhism Q&A: The Power of Written Odaimoku
It is said that one of the reasons Toki Jonin went to so much trouble traveling all over Japan to collect Nichiren Shonin’s writings and letters was not only to preserve them, but preserve them from being eaten. Much like Nichiren Shonin writing the Odaimoku on the rough sea waters […]
Japan Now
Merry Cashless Christmas 2020 Style
A young co-worker tested positive for COVID yesterday so today is PCR test day for the entire office. The office pays but everybody has to find a testing place on their own. Fortunately a PCR test place opened up at Shinjuku Kabukicho yesterday and accepts all major cashless payments including […]
Apple - Culture Wars - Kumihan Typography
Power and Responsibility and Cultural Respect
It took me a while to fully appreciate the issue that Twitter user Yoshimasa Niwa was describing. At first glance I and many others assumed that setting Japanese over English would solve his app library sorting issue. Then I realized that wasn’t his point at all. The software app in […]
Apple - Apple Music - Cool Japan - Culture Wars
Yumi Matsutoya Arrives on Apple Music
Talk about finally. Yumi Matsutoya, one of the biggest Japanese artists and J-Pop stars of the last 50 years, and one of the longest holdouts, landed with her complete catalog on Apple Music Japan this Friday. Her profile is listed on the Apple Music US site (Yumi Matsutouya). The catalog isn’t […]