my last horoscope reading in 2009

Today's Full Moon Eclipse polarizes your 7th House of Relationships and you may need to explore how your feelings differ from those around you. In particular, you might be involved in a power struggle with your partner or a family member as you try to establish which one of you is calling the shots. Unfortunately, there will be no absolute winner because you both lose if either is disenfranchised. As challenging as it sounds, find common ground and move on from there.

Green tea-drinkers less likely to suffer depression

Elderly people who drink several cups of green tea a day were less likely to suffer from depression, probably due to a "feel good" chemical found in this type of tea, Japanese researchers said.

Several studies have linked drinking green tea to lessening psychological problems and Dr Kaijun Niu, of Tohoku University Graduate School, and colleagues found men and women aged 70 and older who drank four or more cups of green tea daily were 44 per cent less likely to have symptoms of depression.

Green tea is widely consumed in many Asian countries, including China and Japan.

Dr Niu and the team investigated 1058 relatively healthy elderly men and women.

About 34 per cent of the men and 39 per cent of the women had symptoms of depression, according to the study that was published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A total of 488 participants said they drank four or more cups of green tea a day, 284 said they downed two to three cups daily and the rest reported having one or fewer cups daily.

According to the researchers, the apparent effect of drinking more green tea on alleviating symptoms of depression did not fade after they factored in social and economic status, gender, diet, history of medical problems and use of antidepressants.

By contrast, there was no association between consumption of black or oolong tea, or coffee, and lower symptoms of depression.

A green tea component, the amino acid theanine, which is thought to have a tranquillising effect on the brain, may explain the "potentially beneficial effect" shown in the current study, Dr Niu noted.

However, further studies were needed to confirm whether greater green tea intake actually had antidepressant effects, the researchers said.

source: heraldsun.com.au

When I Grow Up I Wanna Work in Advertising

Truth in Advertising

Funny..

have you seen motorola droid?

iPhone 3G takes 24.6% of consumer smartphone market in Japan

Nearly half of all domestic smartphone users have turned to the iPhone in Japan, giving Apple a dominant position in the market, according to a new study.

New data released this week from Tokyo-based research company Impress R&D shows the iPhone 3G taking 24.6 percent of the consumer smartphone market.The iPhone 3GS, released this year, accounts for another 21.5 percent.

Most of those gains came at the expense of the Sharp WillCOM W-Zero 3 Advance, a phone with a 3-inch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. In 2008, the phone was the most popular in Japan with 26.8 percent of the smartphone market. This year, its share tumbled to 14.6 percent while the iPhone 3GS was introduced, and the iPhone 3G saw a slight gain of 0.9 percent.

The success story soundly disproves reports from earlier this year that the iPhone was "hated" in Japan. It also demonstrates that the iPhone 3GS had a tremendous debut, just like the iPhone 3G did in 2008. This despite the fact that the Japanese market is notoriously difficult to crack for newcomers.

According to MobileCrunch, the iPhone has been aggressively marketed by carrier SoftBank Mobile, the exclusive wireless provider of the iPhone in Japan. "TV commercials virtually around the clock, print ads in major media, super-competitive pricing etc. do have an effect, it seems," the report said.

http://community.livejournal.com/japan_now/362140.html

Crayon Shin Chan Movie Trailer?

hahaha...

The Best Blogging Phones

Blogging is no longer a matter of sitting down at a computer and hammering at the keyboard. Nowadays it is a matter of participation, of getting actively and enjoyably involved in the world around you. It is about interviews conducted via email, constant twitter updates, exploring the world with your digital camera and remembering to check your comments whilst on holiday. This new interactive and slightly daunting world means that we need new technology. I still survive (just) with my laptop alone for my blog? but now I am beginning the long and complicated search to find a blogging super phone that will help to expand my world.

This searching has made me realise just how many phones are out there ? and I thought that you guys could probably use a list of the best blogging phones out there, just like I could! So, in no particular order, here are the 4 best options on the blogging phone market.
The iPhone

Yup, it had to be first. I am afraid there is no doubt about it ? if this isn?t the best blogging phone out there, it is certainly the most well known! The email facilities and apps mean that this phone really does try to outstrip its enemies, with apps for most blogging system, not to mention for anything else you may ever need! The camera isn?t that great so you will need your faithful digital too, but the screen and usability are quite brilliant! Don?t immediately think that this is the best out there though ? if you need a camera and a cheap contract there are better options out there by far!
The Blackberry Bold

The king of emails, these phones made their name by the ability to receive and send emails quickly and effectively on your phone. The Bold is the most powerful option out there, and includes a QWERTY keyboard that isn?t on a touch screen, which is quite a relief. The screen is much smaller but still pretty user friendly, and I know that at least Wordpress are currently developing a specific blogging app for it, that is currently in beta. Given that this phone boasts soo many fabulous features, I am quite disappointed that the camera is a puny 2MP.
The HTC Touch Pro 2

What, you have never heard of HTC? Don?t worry; I hadn?t until earlier this month! They are, however, a real competitor for top blogging phone, giving us a great big touch screen that doesn?t need two hands to hold (hello massive iPhone!) and plenty of good usability. The touchscreen is as good as an Apple, the looks are really stylish, and this baby comes packed with a 5MP camera that is more than enough for everyday blogging needs. Be careful though ? this is often sold without an internet package meaning life can get very expensive, even though it has email capabilities and should be on internet contracts!
The Nokia N97

My personal favourite, this phone seems to happily combine all of the good points about the three phones above! I particularly admire the slide out keyboard which means you have enough space to type without difficulty ? something that is vital for bloggers. You get tons of storage along with all the things that Nokia lovers already love, as well as a stonking 5MP camera with the much loved lens feature! There are no blog platform specific apps (can we push the Wordpress people, please??!), but you can blog directly from your phone with generic apps as well as get email, surf the web and listen to music. It is a good looker too, but watch out ? the contracts on this beauty can be huge, although affordable ones are out there if you search!

Editor?s note: This post is not sponsored, nor has it been influenced by our sponsors Windows Phone. The content of the post is purely editorial as noted by Lauren Cooke.

a new discovery...

Sometimes MV by Masaki Okada

the rhythm of my heart today..just today..

Esquire's Augmented Reality Issue: A Tour

President Obama met Crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi at White House State Dinner

"wow!!"

Buying, Selling, and Twittering All the Way

Jerry DeFrancisco twitters to a Best Buy customer.

Retailers twitter to attract shoppers.

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM and KAREN ANN CULLOTTA

Once upon a time, people mailed their holiday wishes to the North Pole and hoped for a reply on Christmas Day. Nowadays they are sending their wishes into cyberspace and are apt to get a reply in minutes.

America’s first Twitter Christmas got under way in earnest on Friday. Across the land, retailers and their customers used the social networking site to talk to one another about bargains, problems, purchases and shopping strategies.

After buying a new navigation system at 6 a.m. on the most frenzied shopping day of the year, Laura S. Kern of Los Angeles could not figure out why it was not giving her traffic updates. She sent a message to Best Buy’s Twitter account and within five minutes not one, but two Best Buy employees responded with fix-it advice.

In Bloomington, Minn., Mall of America used its Twitter page to tell consumers two of its parking areas were at capacity and that their best bet was to park near Ikea.

Twitter permits public communication via short, to-the-point messages. Many people use it to send mundane updates to their friends, but increasingly, the nation’s retailers see it as a business tool.

It gives customers a practical way to cajole a retailer, complain about something or ask questions.

A Twitter post can in theory be seen by millions, and thus packs more punch than an e-mail message or a phone call to a store. The big retailers are all scrambling this Christmas to come up with Twitter plans. They are designating tech-savvy employees to respond to the posts, sometimes by providing up-to-minute inventory information from a sales floor, for example, or by offering help with some balky gadget.

“It’s one of the greatest emerging communication channels out there,” said Greg Ahearn, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Toys “R” Us. “This is a way people can stay connected with the brand in a way they’ve never been able to before.”

So far this shopping weekend, special deals have been posted on Twitter from stores as varied as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Toys “R“ Us, Staples, Gap, Bloomingdale’s, and Barneys. (Links to the retailing Twitter accounts mentioned in this article can be found in the Web version of the story on NYTimes.com.)

For the uninitiated, Twitter.com is a Web site where each member has a password-protected page. It has a blank box for typing in a message of 140 characters or fewer, an act known as tweeting.

To see a retailer’s messages, Twitter users “follow” the retailer, which means that the chain’s posts show up on their Twitter home page when they log in. And the system allows users to send messages in the other direction, so that a retailer’s employees will see them.

“I think in this economy you need to leverage every asset that you have,” said James Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide, who sends messages under the Twitter name, or handle, DisneyStorePrez.

On Friday morning, as consumers flooded Disney Stores around the country, Mr. Fielding messaged: “We have amazing ONE DAY ONLY deals previewing on our Facebook page — become a fan today and find out more!”

Retailers hope that if they send Twitter messages, consumers will come. About 47 percent of retailers said they would increase their use of social media this holiday season, according to a study by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, an industry group. And more than half of retailers said they added or improved their Facebook and Twitter pages. There are advantages for consumers too, like discounts. For instance, those who decided to follow Gap Outlet received an offer for 15 percent off purchases of $75 or more.

As shoppers jammed the aisles on Friday at a Best Buy store in Arlington Heights, Ill., an employee, Jerry DeFrancisco, went up to a computer kiosk and used his Twitter account to tell customers about Best Buy’s home theater deals. Then he resumed his in-store duties, helping a customer decipher a sales circular.

A few months ago, Best Buy began piloting a Twelpforce — a Twitter-inspired play on “help force” — of some 2,500 employees that answer consumers’ questions in real time.
“It’s 24-hour access to our employees,” said Brad Smith, director of interactive marketing and emerging media for Best Buy. The Twelpforce had fielded about 25,000 questions even before gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Ms. Kern in Los Angeles used the service on Friday. After she could not get her new navigation system to work, she tried Best Buy’s telephone support line, only to receive a warning that her wait would be an hour. So she posted on Twitter instead, and within minutes, Best Buy employees were sending her useful links and details about her gadget. “It’s amazing,” she said later in the day. (Her interaction with the employees ultimately helped her realize she would need to go back to the store for help.)

Many retailers will be posting to their Twitter pages throughout the weekend and the entire holiday season. Some chains have an official Twitter account. Others have many, like one for each store, or one for each employee who wants to post messages. There are Twitter pages for designers, like Nicole Miller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Retailers also use Facebook to interact with their customers. But Facebook, with its photo albums and various applications, does not have the same no-frills immediacy as Twitter — which is why Twitter is ideal for instantaneously announcing sales.

In addition to bargains, stores are also using Facebook and Twitter to promote contests and games that they hope will keep consumers engaged and coming back. Best Buy has an interactive Secret Santa application on its Facebook page. Gap is using Twitter to inform New York City residents and visitors where its “Gap Cheer” bus (filled with dancers and drummers) will be parked and giving away sweaters and jeans.

Of course, sometimes retailers simply use their Twitter posts to capture the spirit of the season. At 3:30 Thursday morning, an employee posted seven words on the Macy’s Twitter page, about a marching band that was practicing hours before the chain’s Thanksgiving day parade.

It said: “Is he really running with a tuba?”

IKEA Facebook Showroom

Does it remind you of the "burger king sacrifice your friend for a burger"campaign?

Awesome promo that let's users win stuff by tagging photos of IKEA rooms on Facebook.

muji lego.

how cool and cute..

can i have one?

Your doctor wants you to smoke

Doctor on Call
O.K., hindsight is 20/20, and when this ad was created in 1946, the link to lung cancer wasn't totally set in stone. But the curator of the exhibition, Dr. Robert Jackler, not incidentally the chair of the department of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, still thinks it egregious. "The ads were intended to reassure a worried public about a product even known back then as 'coughin' nails,' " he says. What's more reassuring than the small-town doctor? "The response of the organized medical community was to do nothing, because the ads showed doctors looking wise," adds Jackler. (Note the unintended irony in "Camels: Costlier Tobaccos.")Read more: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1848212_1777633,00.html#ixzz0Xhjb1EAO

[PV] LANDS (Akanishi Jin) - BANDAGE

Fat Fees and Smoker Surcharges: Tough-Love Health Incentives

Psychology Professor Anita Blanchard has a pretty sweet deal with her employer. Even if the 40-something mother of three leaves her job at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the state of North Carolina guarantees her premium-free health insurance that will cover 80% of her health care costs for life. But's there's a hitch: she can't gain too much weight or start smoking. If she does, she could be on the hook for an additional 10% of her health care tab.

Companies have long promoted healthier behavior by subsidizing gym memberships and smoking-cessation classes. But several private and public employers have started tying financial incentives to their health-insurance plans. North Carolina this year became the second state to approve an increase in out-of-pocket expenses for state workers who smoke and don't try to quit or who are morbidly obese and don't try to lose weight. Alabama was the first to pass what critics call a fat fee, in 2008, and several state insurance plans have started imposing a $25 monthly surcharge on smokers.

There's even a push in Congress to let employers further link lifestyles to insurance premiums. Right now companies that run their own insurance programs can reward employees with bonuses or premium reductions of up to 20% if they meet certain health guidelines. John Ensign, Republican Senator from Nevada, and Tom Carper, Democratic Senator from Delaware, co-sponsored an amendment to the current health care bill that would raise the limit to as high as 50%. The Senate Finance Committee gave it a thumbs-up in September.

Nationwide, employee insurance premiums have increased 131% over the past decade, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And it's well documented that smoking and obesity are associated with higher medical costs. That helps explain why 34% of respondents in a new Aon survey of more than 1,300 employers said they plan to introduce or increase financial incentives to encourage participation in wellness programs and why 17% plan to do the same for disease-management programs.

But there's a big difference between handing out gift cards and jacking up people's co-pays. The Tar Heel State in particular has been criticized for using a big-stick approach. Starting in July, state workers who smoke will be moved from the plan that covers 80% of health care costs to one that pays 70%, an out-of-pocket difference of approximately $480 a year, unless they agree to enroll in a smoking-cessation program.

In 2011, the state will turn its attention to the obese. Workers who have a body mass index (BMI) below 40--e.g., someone who is 5 ft. 6 in. and weighs 250 lb.--can remain in the 80% plan for the first year. But after that, they need to either have a BMI of 35 (5 ft. 6 in., 217 lb.) or enroll in a weight-loss program to qualify for the less expensive plan.

Alabama, rather than adopting penalties, is offering discounts on state workers' $70 monthly premiums. To get $30 off for not using tobacco, participants have to sign a form under penalty of perjury. (An audit of relevant medical records could result in back-billing and a recall of claims.) Since the plan started giving such a discount in 2005, it has seen a 4% decline in the number of smokers.

After Dec. 31, state employees in Alabama will be eligible for an additional $25 discount on their monthly premiums if screenings indicate that their blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol and weight are in the normal range or if they see a doctor to address any risk factors. People with a BMI of 35 or higher have to enroll in a weight-loss program to receive the discount.

"We're trying to get across to the population that they have to take responsibility for their well-being and engage in more healthy behavior," says Jack Walter, executive director of the North Carolina State Health Plan. The plan estimates that claims for chronic diseases related to obesity may top $108 million a year and claims for tobacco-related illnesses more than $137 million a year.

It's too early to know whether raising the cost of insurance will lead to behavioral changes. But dangling carrots seems to work. In 2005 the Safeway supermarket chain implemented a voluntary wellness plan. Employees who take and pass tests for such things as blood pressure and cholesterol levels can reduce their annual insurance premiums by nearly $800. The company credits the plan with keeping its insurance costs flat on a per capita basis for the past five years.

You might think organizations that focus on improving health and eradicating disease would be thrilled that employers are coming up with more incentives to lose weight and stop smoking. But in October the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and 61 other organizations sent a letter to Congress calling the Ensign-Carper amendment discriminatory and warning that it could make health insurance too expensive for the people who need it most. Says George Huntley of the American Diabetes Association: "This is not a wellness program. It's a penalty for failing to achieve a specific health status."

The University of North Carolina's Blanchard, a fit nonsmoker, is among those troubled by the changes to her state's health-insurance plan. "I understand the perspective that people who are carrying more risk should pay more, but it just doesn't seem fair," she says. "I don't think it's the best way to get people to lose weight and stop smoking." Then again, people who get caught speeding have to pay more for car insurance. Has that made us all safer drivers?

Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1940693,00.html

The rise of Japan girlie man generation

Forget the salarymen, Japan's new 'herbivore' generation of males believe that life is far more important than work
Young Japanese Man
Philip Delves Broughton

Yasuo Takeuchi makes an improbable radical. Skinny, wearing jeans, a striped sports shirt and a baby blue cardigan, he is fidgety and talks in a near whisper. He is 33, works for a major publisher in Tokyo and inspired a label now applied to a new generation of Japanese men. He is the archetypal soshokukei danshi, ?herbivorous male? or Ojo-man ?girlie man?.

Herbivores are shy and quiet. They seek the friendship of women and spurn aggressive dating. They are thrifty and abhor consumerism. They like quiet evenings in with friends rather than drinking till they vomit in the izakaya bars of Tokyo. They are the antithesis of the macho Japanese salarymen, on whose long-suffering shoulders modern Japan was built.

Early, non-Japanese descriptions of the herbivore put them in the category of freaky Japanese cultural sideshows. From the folks who brought you robot dogs and huge-bosomed manga heroines came a large group of men in their mid-twenties to early thirties who rejected the ?carnivorous? ways of older Japanese men. Bravo Japan. Challenged by a low birth rate, rising suicide numbers and an economy shrinking at the fastest rate in 60 years it had produced a generation of neutered geeks.

But go deeper and you find that these ?girlie men? represent something different: a quiet, social revolution for which many in Japan have been clamouring for years.

Change in Japan is glacial. But the recent general election swept away the dominant Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled Japan almost without interruption since the Second World War, and put in power the more liberal Democratic Party of Japan. The conservatism of the country, both political and social, is under threat. And the herbivores, reckoned to make up 30 to 40 per cent of men aged between 21 and 34, are staging a social revolt in which the sexes become more equal, the workplace less spiritually crushing and broken family ties are remade.

Two years ago, Megumi Ushikubo, the head of a market research firm in Tokyo, began receiving calls from panic-strickenclients in the beer and car industries. They were struggling to sell cars and beers to men in their twenties and thirties. It had once been so easy. Pitch them as a means to social status and the bars and showrooms were overrun. Not any more.

?In the 1980s, boys had to buy a car, otherwise girls would not look up to them,? says Ushikubo. ?We were leaders in consumption. Suddenly companies were asking why are guys no longer interested in cars? And why are girls telling us they aren?t interested in boys who waste their money on cars?? The trauma of Japan?s bursting economic bubble, Ushikubo found, had created a generation suspicious of the cavalier spending habits of those a few years older. They were also less willing to endure the humiliations an older generation had tolerated both at work and in relationships.

?In my generation, we had a show called 101st Proposal, in which a man proposed to 100 women and was eventually accepted the 101st time,? says Ushikubo, who was born in 1962. ?The important thing was that you tried and tried and showed endurance. Guys these days don?t want to go through that rejection. Instead they want to be acknowledged as people by girls. Being popular is a much lower priority.?

Yasuo Takeuchi epitomised the phenomenon. He grew up in Chiba, a dormitory town just outside Tokyo. All the fathers in town were salarymen, who took the train into Tokyo early in the morning and came home late. But his father never pressured his son to do as he did. ?All the fathers in town were quite radical like this. They let the children do what they wanted with their lives. In fact, they encouraged it.? Takeuchi went to Tokyo University to study physics, where he found friends who, like him, did not accept that their fate was to suffer silently in Japan?s vast corporations and bureaucracies. They envisioned work occupying a discreet rather than overwhelming place in their lives. And they believed that family friends mattered far more than shopping or travel.

It was a change from the generations that preceded them. The Japanese who survived the Second World War were stoic in turning their bombed-out country into the second greatest economic power in the world. Next were the baby boomers and then the ?bubble generation?, who came of age in the 1980s, when it seemed the Japanese were poised to take over the world. It was a time when the Japanese thronged Bond Street and bought the Rockefeller Centre and Van Gogh?s Irises for mind-blowing sums. There followed the lost decade when Japan entered a long slump and global attention shifted to growth economies such as China and India.

Takeuchi would hear constantly from older people how great Japan had been and how deprived he was to grow up in such austere times. The factors once seen as crucial to Japan?s success were now seen as failures: a rigid educational system that had produced generations of highly intelligent employees was now thwarting the individuality and creativity needed to rebuild the country; big corporations that had propelled Japanese industry to the top of the world were now ugly bureaucracies that suffocated their employees and stifled entrepreneurship; an ethnically homogenous people who had worked with a common purpose and set of values to build modern Japan were now insular and xenophobic.

?But I never bought that,? Takeuchi says. ?I never felt deprived.? Nor did he feel any obligation to be a corporate samurai, battling for Japan?s economic supremacy. At work he refused to dress or behave like older employees. He was considered sloppy, and his bosses thought he did not care for work. ?I just believed that at work and in life, doing OK is OK. There?s no need to show everyone how much effort you?re making.? He had no veneration for conventional models of success. ?All we want to feel is that our work has a sense of purpose.?

To hear Takeuchi talk is to hear echoes of what Westerners call Generation Y, a generation in their twenties and thirties who mystify older managers. They do not believe companies will look after them. They do not respect job titles or hierarchies, only those who control resources and produce obvious outputs. They abhor office politics and do not respond to traditional motivational tools such as promotion, pay rises and the promise of job security.

The herbivores? revolution may be one of shrugs and quiet refusals, but to take on Japan?s managerial hierarchy takes chutzpah. ?People often tell me, ?oh, you must be really confident to behave this way?,? Takeuchi says. ?But I never think of myself that way. Making a big effort to be something I?m not just isn?t me. I want to be natural, just to be myself.?

This desire to be individual may seem unremarkable in San Francisco or London but was novel enough in Japan to catch the eye of Maki Fukasawa, a marketing writer who shared an office with Takeuchi. When she talked about him with friends and older managers, she found that they were horrified, that here was the future of Japan.

The herbivores, managers complained, did not regard work as the centre of their lives. When it came to the drinking sessions essential to Japanese corporate culture, the herbivores passed. They refused to debase themselves to please a boss.

?Once I recognised the phenomenon, I noticed it everywhere,? says Fukasawa. ?Looking at the IT CEOS in Japan, I realised that they didn?t seem competitive in the same way as an older generation of Japanese CEOs. They didn?t need some trophy wife standing beside them or the expensive car or watch. They weren?t desperate to spend time in New York, London or Paris. Instead they wanted to be at home. They had lived their entire lives in an era when Japan was an established economic power, despite its troubles. They felt completely confident being Japanese.?

Fukasawa dubbed this new generation ?herbivores?, a term she says has been poorly understood in the West. ?I keep being asked if they are like the the nerdy computer game fans, or the men who buy girls? high school costumes. They?re not. We are Buddhists and the idea of being ?grass eating? is that you?re more spiritual. It?s not just the opposite of carnivorous. It means they aren?t so interested in physical things or physical relationships.?

?The more you study them, the more you think that they?re actually the ones who are consistent with traditional, pre-war Japan,? says Fukasawa. ?It was the generation of the rising economy who were ultra-competitive who were maybe the strange ones.?

In every Japanese convenience store are special sections devoted to men?s cosmetics, eyebrow shapers, packets of disposable wipes for dealing with sweat and body odor, skin whitener. The herbivores may not buy beer and cars but they spend on keeping themselves odourless, hairless and pale. Their clothes come from cheap, fashionable chains such as Uniqlo. This week, Shinya Yamaguchi, 23, a fashion designer, launches his latest collection of skirts and lacy tops ? all aimed at men. Many of Japan?s younger male celebrities, bands such as Arashi and actors like Eita, Teppei Koike and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, project an effeminate, herbivorous look.

?It?s non-man, non-woman at the same time,? says Fukasawa. ?Sexually neutral.? This neutrality, both Fukasawa and Ushikubo believe, is a response to the changing nature of Japanese marriage. During the 30 years up to 2005, the percentage of unmarried men between 30 and 34 rose from 14 per cent to 47 per cent and the number of unmarried women from 8 to 32 per cent.

Financial insecurity among men and the social expectations imposed on married women, to have children and forego work, have made marriage less attractive. Traditional matchmaking by families and employers has also dwindled. The hunt for partners became less aggressive on both sides, to the point where businesses saw an opportunity in organising ?konkatsu? or marriage activity, social activities designed to bring singles together.

When herbivores do marry, it is with little hoopla and low expectations. Yasuo Takeuchi recently married in a small, private ceremony, and he is saving for a honeymoon in the future.

The herbivores? views, style and choices can be seen as a very positive story, about a generation of young Japanese discovering their individuality. But they also say a lot about the tensions within Japan.

?After the Second World War, we were all told that Western education was best and that Asian culture and philosophy was bad,? says Fukasawa. ?The herbivores are finding their own solution to the problem of resolving Western and Confucian values. They are a function of their time. They are dealing with the change in the economy and I think they are closer to the original Japanese character of being non-competitive, of not trying to win other people over. And as a silent majority, they have the power to change the culture.?

japan_now: Japanese Children's depression&suicide a worsening problem

japan_now: Japanese Children's depression&suicide a worsening problem

Here is an excerpt, presented by Shukan Asahi (Nov 27), from the suicide note left by an 11-year-old boy: “All I can think of is death. I realize that once you die it’s all over; still, if there is a next life I’d like to come back as an animal like [my pet dog], who doesn’t cause anyone any trouble and even when he does weird things, nobody pays any attention. I’m sorry I couldn’t be better than I was. Goodbye.”

Japan’s suicide rate is notoriously high. For the past decade it’s been above 30,000 a year. Overwhelmingly, suicide is an adult phenomenon—but not exclusively, and the clinical depression that generally underlies it, Shukan Asahi finds, is steadily trickling down the age scale. Hokkaido University professor Kenzo Denda, author of a book on children’s depression, has published research showing that one elementary school child in 12 suffers from the condition. Among junior high school students the rate is one in four.

To psychologist Rie Ueki, that sounds like an understatement. The problem is worse, she says, than a standardized survey can show.

Ueki had treated “A-kun,” the 11-year-old suicide, and knew his family. Both his parents were lawyers, the very personifications of success. Dinner-table talk was of “winners” and “losers.” A-kun, listening quietly, knew what was expected of him. Measured against such standards, how could he help doubting himself? He feigned strength and happiness, but often his defenses broke down. Trivial slights would overwhelm him. A friend refusing to share his gum with him could plunge him into a sulk that lasted a day and a half.

The parents at last sought medical help, and Ueki diagnosed clinical depression. To her, A-kun would confess the inner turmoil he tried to keep hidden from his parents. “I’ve been suffering since grade one,” he said. “Why was I born?”

National Police Agency statistics cited by Shukan Asahi show nine children committed suicide in Japan last year. It’s not a shockingly high number, but, says Ueki, “I meet children in hospitals who, even if they haven’t actually killed themselves, seem on the very brink of it—if they kill themselves tomorrow, it wouldn’t surprise me. A-kun was not a special case.”

The obvious question is, what drives such young children to such extremes of despair? There’s no easy answer, Shukan Asahi hears from specialists. Children, unlike adults, can’t articulate their deeper feelings. Sometimes they express themselves through violence, deviant sexual behavior, shoplifting—but these acts don’t “look like” depression, and even doctors don’t always get the message.

Ueki’s hypothesis is that a child’s depression invariably indicates something seriously off kilter in the family. There are various signs—the obsession with “winning” and “losing” in the case of A-kun’s family, for instance. Children aware of parents’ extramarital affairs are also at risk, as are, of course, children of parents suffering from depression and stress themselves.“

What children need above all,” says Ueki, “is their parents’ unconditional love. A child who is loved does not become depressed. But nowadays many parents complain of being unable to love their children, to take pleasure in them. These days, it seems more difficult than ever to give children a normal upbringing.”

source; japantoday

BANDAGE Jin Akanishi MS

Japanese design firm creating unique barcodes to enliven packaging

Japanese design firm creating unique barcodes to enliven packaging

ever wonder what people do during earthquake evacuation?

precious one on the ground?

pass on cigarettes

Blackberry messenger...

presenting or impressing?

say cheese-ing

bonding with client

continue presentation to client on the sidewalk

say cheese-ing with the boss and his bodyguard

never ending say cheese!

checking out cute girls you've never seen before

and ever existed in the building!!

heaven and hell

traffic today looks beautiful from the 13th floor..just like christmas lights.

but imagine being in one of the cars down there, scary!

Cannes Lions Winners KitKat Mail

i have loved.

If tonight

I would lose you

I wont forget because

I still love you

After the short kisses

feeling the soft moonlight

the feelings spill

I've seen so many laughter or sad faces

and the first time i saw them

i was confused

I locked up in my heart

Even "thank you's"and was never received to your heart

In the endless road

what would you wish/think

Don't forget that feeling

And let me be next to you

The sad emotions hiding in the dark

the days we played around

the plans were to bea dull adult but

Open the locked heart softly

the words "thank you"would be received to your heart now

In the endless road

what would you wish/think

Don't forget that feeling

And let me be next to you

Looking back at the distance between you and me

you taught me that

i am not alone

When you are feeling sad i decided to be right behind you

so don't forget that i love you

If tonight

I would lose you

I wont forget because I still love you

So dont forget that I still love you

heart, mind, prediction, capricorn.

You may feel as if you don't want to fight anymore to stay on top, but surprisingly you don't sink once you convince yourself to relax. The most challenging aspect of your weekend is believing that things really could get easier from this point on. But whether or not the hardest part is truly over, affirming your positive future will help to spin your life in the right direction.

懐かしSMAP 「セロリ」

cool..

SMAP-Dear WOMAN～ＰＶ～

love this song..

三日月 絢香 - mikazuki

We were always together
The two of us walked down a straight road
Separating into two,
we walked off in our separate ways

I hold to this chest that overflowed in loneliness
Even now, I look up at a sky that seems about to cry
I thought of you…

*Even in the nights without you
like that, no more cry
I won’t cry anymore
Because I’m trying my best
Because I’ll become strong
You must be watching too
This crescent moon that seems like it’ll disappear
Because we’re connecting
Because I love you

The days when I warmed my completely chilled hands by myself
I so, so yearned for your warmth

No matter how much I was told “I love you” on the phone
I couldn’t ever rely on you
I wiped my tears…

Even in the nights without you
like that, no more cry
I won’t cry anymore
Because I’m trying my best
Because I’ll become strong

Next time, when will we be able to meet, I wonder?
While embracing the batteries up until then
I said the one word that you love

*repeat*

I stretched out my hand toward the crescent mooon
Let these feelings reach you

RED RIBBON for AIDS - Japan

This single was released November 28, 2007 and debuted at number four on the Oricon Chart with sales of 34,628. This single was written for charity, so that all proceeds would go to the AIDS Prevention Foundation. The song was written and composed by Kazumasa Oda and produced by Yanagiman. The song also features a vareity of artists, including Takuro and Teru from GLAY, ayaka, Ryo from Ketsumeishi, and Hitoto Yo. The song is a reggae inspired track that has recently gained popularity in Japan.


生まれ来る子供たちのためにーーRED RIBBON
ARTISTS Oda Kazumasa, ayaka, Kato Miliyah, TERU (GLAY), TAKE (Skoop on Somebody), Hitoto Yo, Ryo (Ketsumeishi), Shonannokaze
SINGLE RED RIBBON Spiritual Song

japan_now: Google Japan animated short video on how street view works

japan_now: Google Japan animated short video on how street view works: "Google Japan animated short video on how street view works
Google Japan: Animation that shows how Google Maps Street View works."

japan_now: East Japan Railway installs anti-suicide lighting on platforms

japan_now: East Japan Railway installs anti-suicide lighting on platforms: "East Japan Railway installs anti-suicide lighting on platforms"

the ad that made me wanna go home

Garuda Indonesia Ad - 1992

I still remember it clearly..we were on holiday in europe when i saw this ad on TV..straight away i wanted to fly back home.

It was during my dad's time, i think, when he was Garuda's executive vice president of commerce.

well, it is one of the most memorable ad for me and i don't think i'm being biased! hahaha..

the faces of earthquake 7.3

the team during the earthquake evacuation..under the hot sun..

everybody ok!

Smile by Josh Groban

a smile can make a difference..
a smile can give us hope..
a smile can give us courage..
a smile on your face, is a smile on others heart..
smile, as it is peace
smile, as it is love.
smile, as it is happiness.
smile.

News from Y&R!

News from Y&R!

Michael Jackson Tribute by Shaheen Jafargholi

Shaheen was chosen by Michael Jackson to perform with him in London..

"Smile" by Jermaine Jackson

at Michael Jackson"s memorial..beautiful song..

[PV] Arashi - Everything

Arashi's latest single..

decision, sacrifice.

Today may be like sailing on calm waters yet you could be expecting another storm any day now. Fortunately, you have a day or two before the next round of cosmic stress blows in. Even if your life appears to be going along smoothly, you intuitively know that this will not last and by next week you'll be back in the thick of things. Be creative and go out of your way to maintain the stability before you're back in the midst of the next round of change

a great concert..

嵐 ARASHI ◇ASIA 2008◇Re（mark）able

this is soooo cool...

Arashi no Matsujun "Yabai-Yabai-Yabai" live

嵐 ARASHI ♢ASIA 2008♢One Love

嵐 ARASHI ♢AROUND ASIA♢Blue

Niji by Ninomiya Kazunari of Arashi

【嵐】二宮和也ソロ「虹」【Arashi Around Asia 2008】

嵐 arashi - Everything HQ full版 歌詞付

Arashi - Subarashiki Sekai (lyrics ENG SUB)

staying zen.

You are not a stranger to having an approach-avoidance conflict as you vacillate between fully engaging with someone you love and withdrawing into your own world. But today you can successfully do both. You want to open your heart and yet you're also mindful of necessary boundaries. Keep bringing your mind back to that point where comfort and discomfort meet. It's here, at these metaphysical borders that real magic happens.

ego for go.

Following your desire to have fun can also improve your self-esteem today. And when you feel better about yourself, you'll become more productive in all that you do. It begins with giving yourself permission to seek pleasure. This act of apparent selfishness replenishes your energy and enables you to give more to others in return.

decision, decide, decided.

You are usually quite capable of keeping your ideas and projects in a healthy perspective. Typically, you have a knack for knowing whether or not something will work before you decide the level of your involvement. Now, however, your reality filter may be a bit wonky. Avoiding significant decisions is smart for a couple of days. It won't be too late to announce your choices once your common sense returns.

beyond norm

You want to rely on your common sense above all else today, as the Moon is back in your practical sign. But you seem to have temporarily lost your ability to filter out extraneous threads that are being woven in your imagination. Normally you can easily keep fact and fiction distinct, yet now the fabric of reality contains both. Stop overanalyzing and just appreciate the complex beauty of what you can now create.

an answer to a confusion?

The ambitious Capricorn Moon conjoins relentless Pluto today in your 1st House of Physicality. It's not likely that you'll be sweet-talked into giving up your position, yet you could perform a bit of gentle persuasion yourself. You may be overly stubborn now, even narrowly rigid in your actions, but it's because you feel like you have so much to lose. Instead of trying to protect yourself, go out and do something creative in order to mix up the energy.

Eco week in Japan! - song "Green" by Arashi

Eco week song "Green" by Arashi, currently one of Japan's top and best selling artist in which one of its member, Sakurai Sho, who is also a news caster for News Zero Japan, is designated as the maincaster for NTV's special program "Touch! eco 2009

Great campaign, great support!

if you love grahic design, check this out!

http://www.crypto-meria.com/pkg/motiongraphic/

Eco week in Japan!

Eco week song "Green" by Arashi, one of Japan's top and best selling artist in which one of its member, Sakurai Sho, who is also a news caster for News Zero Japan, is designated as the maincaster for NTV's special program "Touch! eco 2009.

Manusia Bodoh

Donny (ADA Band) feat. Dave Koz

"i miss it sometimes.."

You may be a bit panic-struck today, for you know that time is running out and you want to tie up loose ends as quickly as you can. But some things must be left undone. You may prefer to set your priorities early in the day and then stick to your plan. Changing your schedule isn't something you do lightly, yet adaptability can be your secret weapon now. Don't hold on to anything that isn't useful in the long run. Be willing to let go of an old pattern or a strategy that just doesn't work for you anymore.

by Rick Levine

rick is amazing..almost weird..

Decisions in the workplace are difficult to make, for you can see both sides of most issues now. But just because you can hold multiple points of view doesn't mean that all choices are equally good. Continue weighing your options, but put off your final answer until the Moon enters transformative Scorpio this evening. By then you should know which way you want to go.
By Rick Levine

me today, said rick.

You would like to be able to teach people how to overcome their own fears now, yet you might have to face a few of your own first. You prefer it when stability is high and when the veils of illusion are not interfering with your work. Now, however, don't be afraid of dreaming the impossible dream; you have the power to make it come true. Lead by example today and your ambitious nature will inspire others without you having to say a word.
By Rick Levine

bad or good = good.

A fantastic movie indeed..totally deserve an oscar, too bad the actors did not win anything despite their excellent performance. well, then again, i'm not a film critic!

What i can tell you is basically my take out of the movie. It's simple...no matter how bad or good a person or an incident to you, they will play an important part in your life. It will be part of who you are and what you will become. "Everything happends for a reason" is a true saying. God will never allow things to happen without having a positive impact in our life. Like in the movie, every bad incident that had happened to the boy during his course of life played an important role in him winning the 20million rupee. All the bad people are people who helped him achieve his dream. Honesty and earnest also plays a big role. But the most imporatant lesson i learned from the movie directly and indirectly is that when things are meant to be, it is meant to be. No one can take it away from us. No matter how hard ones try.

Therefore, with every happiness and sadness, we have to thanked God for blessing it for us to learn and become a better person to ourself and people around us.

Accept. Appreciate. Work hard.

Your dream will come true.