Interview for Lets Japan by Rosey the Robot.

Rosey/LJ: Assistant Robot, you really are following in the footsteps of your grandfather Roll-Oh the Robot.

Assistant Robot: (laughs) Yes. But I actually roll.

R/LJ: Let’s talk about your…

AR: Before we get started, I just want to say you are my idol. You inspired me.

R/LJ: Thank you. Now, your handlers say you can, and I quote "put away dishes smoothly." Now, tell us, really, how many plates have you broken?

AR: I have never a broken a plate.

R/LJ: Not one?

AR: Never.

R/LJ: A-R, why 5 eyes?

AR: I have 4 stereo cameras on the front of my head. And a laser sensor on the top of my head.

R/LJ: I was able to get by with two eyes and I had to watch over Elroy, Judy, and that d**m dog Astro.

AR: Well, you have those two antennas sticking out the sides of your fat head.

R/LJ: Your developers say you can learn from your mistakes. What have you learned?

AR: Always wash lights and darks separately.

R/LJ: You recognize ambient sound.

AR: I’m sorry. What?

R/LJ: YOU CAN HEAR!

AR: YES!

R/LJ: Do you have an iPod?

AR: Of course. A white Nano.

R/LJ: What’s on your playlist?

AR: AC/DC, Beyonce, Metallica, Koda Kumi, Gazette and that ‘Louie, Louie’ song.

R/LJ: What’s your gender?

AR: I’m a prototype.

R/LJ: A-R, why are you always frowning?

AR: I do housework! It’s not fun you know.

R/LJ: I want to get a little personal now. How much do you weigh?

AR: One hundred thirty kilograms.

R/LJ: It looks like you’re hauling a Good Humor truck back there.

AR: I knew it! I do have a big butt! They told me I didn’t. (cries)

R/LJ: If Roll-Oh were alive today, what do you think he’d say.

AR: Shall we ask him? My advanced technology hetrodyne stimulator reaction activator allows me to communicate with Roll-Oh’s regenerator concavination intermediate amplifier circuits.

R/LJ: What’s Roll-Oh saying?

AR: Scram.
developer: Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative; Toyota Motor Corp news source: Japan Times

The October nationwide campaign by the Japan National Police Agency aimed at preventing senior citizens from becoming victims of telephone fraud ended with door-to-door delivery of fraud-warning flyers in one ward of Tokyo. Cops in Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo, handed-out notices to residents at home, and placed the flyers in mailboxes if no one was at home.

Scammers target the elderly, usually posing as a family member that is in financial trouble. The flyers describe the most common cons, including the "I need money for a woman" scam, the  "I lost money in the stock market" con, and the "I’m selling/servicing water filters or the Waterworks Department repairs" swindle.

On October 24, Lets Japan wrote about recent swindles and the nationwide police effort to intervene at automatic teller machines before conned senior citizens transfer money.

related: ATM cell phone detector debuts in war on fraud; Con Artists Calling

Tokyo to face ‘toilet refugee’ crisis in quake: study

TOKYO (AFP) — A dreaded major earthquake in Tokyo would set off a crisis of “toilet refugees,” with a restroom shortage for nearly 820,000 people, a government study said.

An expert panel of the government’s Central Disaster Prevention Council came to the conclusion this week while studying the potential impact of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the tremor-prone metropolis.

According to the study, some 817,000 people would find themselves without toilets two hours after such a big tremor, which would cut off 46 percent of Tokyo’s water supply.

The wait to use a toilet would be four and a half hours in central Chiyoda ward, home to the headquarters of major companies, government buildings and the imperial palace. “Besides food and water, shortage of toilets is one of the major issues in post-disaster situations,” said Itsuki Nakabayashi, head of the study panel.

The group is advising Tokyo residents always to carry pocket-sized tissue papers or plastic bags for emergency toilet use and urged companies to have portable toilets on standby….

A previously bankrupt Japanese actor is featured in a TV commercial for a website that offers free cell phone games. The TV ads for gree.jp builds on the assumed common knowledge of the celebrity’s previous financial woes, and simply states "I have no money. I have time", and that he can play the Gree mobile phone games for free. Shiro Kishibe began his entertainment career in a pop singing group in 1969 and became famous as an idol. TV dramas and movies followed. The well known actor declared bankruptcy in the late 1990’s. His financial situation was widely reported. Watch the gree.jp TV commercials.

The new Hi-Kara handheld cube from Takara-Tomy is designed to make the popular karaoke singing activity more easily available to teens and kids in Japan. Two headphone-mics can connect to the device, and plug-in music cartridges provide the lyrics that are displayed on the LCD screen. Users hear the music and their own voice in the headphones. A USB terminal connects to a computer to download music to the cartridge from the Hi-Kara music website. About 3500 songs are available so far. The device can also be connected to a TV. Other options included speakers and an AC power adapter for the unit, and a standalone mic for a TV or the cube. The Hi-Kara will be available outside Japan in 2009. Hi-Kara, headset mic and downloader terminal: JPY 12600; cartridge: 10-song capacity, JPY 2100, 20-song, JPY 3675; downloader terminal: JPY 3150; standalone mic: JPY 3500; AC adapter: 3150. Size: (W)70×(H)70×(D)70mm. Weight: 150 grams.via: IT Media; Mycom.

Big Echo, Gotanda, Tokyo; Purple karaoke room

Karaoke Collection - a brief photo history

photos: Home Karaoke with DVD/CD/Dual Cassette; Kara OK girls duet mic system; Mute Karaoke low tech system; Mike Boy handy karaoke; Onkyo Debut wireless mic karaoke; Hyper Karaoke mic; Kara OK mic; Karaoke Station for Girls; Logitec Poke Kara wireless mic and FM transmitter; Sing with Anpan Man karaoke mic; Hello Kitty" karaoke CD player; Nakoyoshi karaoke blue microphone.

Real Police Protect Real Old

Elderly people using cell phones at automatic teller machines in banks, convenience stores, and train stations are being questioned by police in Japan during a month-long nationwide anti-scam campaign.

The October effort is to prevent senior citizens from becoming victims of phone swindles. In one kind of scam, con artists call the elderly, convince them that a family member – usually a son –  is in trouble, and money is needed to settle the matter. Often the swindler convincingly poses as the desperate son.

Scammers had instructed seniors to withdraw cash at the bank and bring it to a specified location for the handover or wait at home for the money to be picked up.

When bank tellers started to become aware of the fraud, they began asking senior citizens about large withdrawals at the counter. Subsequently, the fraudsters started sending the elderly to ATMs, either to withdraw cash, or to electronically transfer funds from the ATM to the swindler’s acccount, all the while giving their targets instructions via cell phone. Victims were sometimes told to send the cash by postal packet or express delivery service.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is continually manning 1,000 ATMs. Officers are regularly patrolling 11,000 other ATM locations. The MPD has deployed 6,000 police officers for the operation.

But the Yomiuri Shimbun reports senior citizens have been conned during the anti-scam campaign. The paper says that of 94 scams reported as of mid-October, 16 incidents transpired at ATMs under police watch. The swindlers got away with almost 17 million yen, and one victim gave 2.98 million yen to the con artists.

The newspaper said the MPD is looking for effective ways for police and bank staff to communicate with pensioners to ensure sure they do not become victims of a scam. related: Evolving scams

Tokyo MPD: 42,984 officers. Population: 12,790,000. Officers per capita: 1 officer per 297 people.  source
New York City: 37,838 officers. Population: 8,274,527. Officers per capita:  1 : 218  source
London: 31,073 officers. Population: 7,560,000. Officers per capita: 1 : 243  source
Seoul: 24,736 officers. Population: 10,421,78. Officers per capita: 1 : 421  source

photos: (Yomiuri 7-11; Suginami.) (Two cops)

Shibuya Monkey Timeline

On August 20, 2008, a macaque monkey ran wild in Shibuya train station in Tokyo. Startled commuters watched as police failed to catch the monkey. TV crews were able to video the monkey chase through the station. The macaque escaped into the city. Video of the chase was broadcast on TV stations worldwide and posted on TV and newspaper websites. The story was reported worldwide.

Media On Alert

On September 9, 2008 a monkey was seen in Tokyo and local media converged on the area. Again, the Shibuya-monkey-spotting was reported extensively in Japan and worldwide. Some reports outside Japan erroneously stated the monkey had been loose for over a month.

On October 6, TBS-TV "Evening Five" news in Tokyo reported a monkey had been spotted in Takanawa, Tokyo and then the newscaster asked if it was the same monkey as from Shibuya station.

On October 9, the NHK-TV  "Newswatch 9"  weekday 9 p.m. TV news report also reported on the Takanawa monkey sightings and the caster asked the same question: is it the same monkey? The newscast also showed photos of the monkey taken August 20 in Shibuya and October 3 in Takanawa, to a primate specialist at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The scholar compared the attributes of the monkey noses, and concluded the images were of the same macaque.


Aping News!

Journalists in Tokyo were becoming concerned about the increasing number of monkey-sighting reports.

Then, on October 19, the monkeys came to city hall.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government office building complex in Shinjuku, Tokyo, was overrun by hordes of uniformed monkeys. Police immediately evacuated pedestrians and cordoned off the area. Stunned company employees watched as the monkeys were rounded up and taken to police headquarters for questioning.

"This is Japan. We love monkeys here. Why is this happening?", one bystander asked. Another person watching nearby said, "That Shibuya monkey has caused a lot of trouble. It should be caught."

Police suspect the Shibuya monkey is the leader of the insurgents.

It is not known where the monkeys obtained the uniforms.

Can You ID The Badge?

The number of badges and pins on Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso’s suit lapel varies daily. The purple pin with gold center indicates "membership" in the Japan government House of Representatives. In the photo above, Lets Japan is unable to confirm the memberships associated with the blue ribbon badge, the gold pin, and the red item that appears to be a feather.

photos: Senkyo (9/24); Sankei (10/8; 10/14); standing related Lawyer experience badges (J); CPA badge (J); badge manufacturer (J); Aso hip with comic book crowd.

A tiny dog is the honorary stationmaster at Oku-Nakayama Kogen  Station, in Ichinohemachi, Iwate Prefecture.

 Maron, a tiny 8-year-old Yorkshire terrier, wears a tiny uniform and tiny hat and serves as a tourist attraction for the Iwate Galaxy Railway Company. Since 2000, the dog had been accompanying its owner to work at the then-named Oku-Nakayama Station. In June 2008, the president of IGR officially proclaimed the dog as stationmaster at the renamed station. 

Lets Japan provided extensive coverage of Tama-chan the hat-wearing cat stationmaster.

Railway employees-as-attractions in Japan is a developing trend. A Lets Japan investigation discovered two other non-human stationmasters: Yuji-chan the cap-wearing beetle stationmaster at Kabutomushi station, and Maki-chan the frozen tuna stationmaster.

The camera-police-hotline-alarm-equipped Coca-Cola vending machine installed in a park in Toyohashi, on October 10, 2008, has been vandalized. (Crime-Fighting Vending Machine) LJ October 12)

Police report the top-mounted security camera wiring had been cut and the camera was dangling over the front of the machine. "Surveillance society" (in Japanese) had been sprayed in black paint on the side of the machine. The word "watch" was sprayed on the back of the machine. The vandalism was reported by a passer-by around 1:45 a.m. on October 13.

The "Help Vending Machine" was provided by Coca-Cola in cooperation with the Aichi prefectural police. The machine is  located in Iwata Athletic park in Toyohashi, 250 kilometers south of Nagoya, Japan. Toyohashi was selected because of an increase in crimes since August 2008.  

The Toyohashi police station is investigating the vandalism on the suspicion of property destruction. The same police station is reviewing the images recorded by the security camera.

news source: Yomiuri (J) ; Mainichi (J)