A sketch pad with a cover that looks like an Apple iPad is being sold by a company run by students at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture.

The "Padnote" is a pad of drawing paper. Each page has gridlines and a wide gray border.

Tokyu Hands department stores nationwide have been selling the pad of paper since June. The company that created the iPad-of-paper – Gocco – has sold 2,000 pads by the end of July. Major grocery stores have begun selling the Padnote.

Gocco also plans to release a memo pad that looks like an Apple iPhone.

The Padnote retails for JPY 735.

All Nippon Airways says it is the first airline in the world to offer in-flight draft beer from a keg.

A traditional beer keg uses a high-pressure carbon dioxide bottle which is prohibited by law on flights.

ANA sponsored development of a special beer keg dispenser that does not use a high-pressure gas cylinder.

The new device uses the pressure from carbon dioxide gas captured from dry ice. The dry ice also keeps the beer cool so a power-supply unit and refrigerator are not needed.

All Nippon Airways started offering this real draft beer on domestic flights for the first time on July 20.

The brand of the beer varies according to the route.

The price is JPY 1000 per 400 milliliter glass, including a dry snack.

Depending on the aircraft, 20-40 glasses of beer will be offered per flight.

Seventy-seven gropers (chikan) were arrested on Tokyo commuter trains during a crackdown by the Japan National Police Agency. During the April 15 - 21 effort, 120 officers from the NPA and the Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectural police rode train routes known to attract molesters.

Six people were caught on the Keio Line and JR Chuo Line, the highest number of all the train lines. The JR Saikyo Line, notable for frequent reports of groping, installed security cameras on some trains last year. Five people were caught on the Saikyo Line during the April crackdown. All of the perpetrators were caught in cars without security cameras.

Twenty-six of the 77 victims were high school students and fourteen people were university students. Forty of the victims were between 15 and 19 years of age. Forty-two of the arrests occurred between 7 a.m and 9 a.m.

Fifty-eight of those arrested were charged under the "public nuisances" law. Four of the perps were charged with using a hidden camera to take secret photos in the train. Three were arrested on charges of forced obscene acts in the train car, and one man was charged with indecent exposure in the car.

Eleven people were charged with taking indecent photos of passers-by on escalators and on the stairs on station premises.

Twenty-nine of the 77 had previously been caught molesting train passengers. In one incident, while an officer obtained a description of a suspect from one victim, the officer saw the suspect in the first crime grope another victim in the same car. The suspect was arrested.

The NPA will post police officers on trains to crack down on gropers who target particular victims or stalk women after they get off the train. "If you get groped on a train, please tell the nearest police officer," an NPA spokesman said.

In one groping arrest in February, a 16-year-old girl who was fondled on the JR Takasaki Line grabbed the suspect’s hand, hauled him off the train at the next station, and handed him over to police. The girl is a member of her high school judo team. The 21-year-old perpetrator was charged with public nuisance.

Chikan Densha Otoko 2 Molester Trainman game (Windows PC)

Community bicycles intended for short distance travel are now available in downtown Tokyo. The Community Cycle program trial is sponsored by Japan Travel Bureau and the Japan Ministry of the Environment.

Five Eco-Port community bicycle lots will be set up about 300 meters apart in the experiment area that covers small parts of the Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho business districts in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. The route is between Tokyo station and the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Eighty-five bicycles are available for rental. The bicycles can be dropped off at any Eco-Port lot.

Riders must first register at the JTB branch in Marunouchi or at Travel Gate in Yurakucho. Registration requires the rider’s credit card number for purposes of preventing theft of the bicycles. If the bicycle is not returned within 24 hours, the user’s credit card will be charged for the cost of the bike. The registration fee is JPY1000.

The first 30 minutes of bike use is free. After 30 minutes, it costs JPY100 per 10 minutes. If bicycles are kept longer than 3 hours, the cost rises to JPY100 per 5 minutes.

To rent a bicycle, users swipe a contactless card over a terminal at each bike. When the card is verified, the parking port device releases the bicycle. The system utilitzes FeliCa contactless IC cards, FeliCa-equipped cellphones, or the special community bicycle contactless IC card issued by JTB.

Enrollment campaigns will target corporations located in the Otemachi and Marunouchi areas.

Bicycle helmets are not offered with the bike rental.

Sapporo conducted a 10-day community rental bicycle trial from Sept. 20-30. Over 100 users participated in the test. The event, nicknamed "Porokure", utilized 7 bicycle ports for Sapporo’s blue bicycles. There was no charge to participate.

Nagoya will conduct a community bicycle-lending trial Oct. 20 to Nov. 18. The experiment will use 300 bikes. Users must preregister and answer a questionnaire after the trial.

Edogawa ward in Tokyo began a short-term community bicycle rental trial on Sept. 1

photos Sankei; Okamot.com; Porokuru; Poro-cle

Train stations on a major route in Tokyo are the most recent in the country to have blue lighting installed on platforms. The blue LED ceiling lights at the ends of platforms are intended to prevent people from jumping into oncoming trains. The blue lights will operate with the existing standard fluorescent lights.

"Blue lighting was selected because there are claims the color blue calms emotions," an official from East Japan Railway’s Tokyo office said. The railway also believes the blue lights will reduce graffitti and minor crimes.

Blue light-emitting diodes will be placed on every platform on the JR East Yamanote line which circles central Tokyo. All 29 stations on the line are expected to have the lights by the end of October. The Yamanote line will be the only route in Japan that has blue lighting at every station.

On the Yamanote line, there were 9 suicides by jumping off platforms in fiscal 2006, 15 in fiscal year 2007, and four in 2008. As of August 31, 2009, 18 suicides had occured at Yamanote line stations. On all routes managed by the JR East Tokyo office, there were 68 platform suicides in fiscal 2008.

On all West Japan Railway lines managed by the Osaka office, there wered 70 platform suicide jumpers in fiscal 2008.

Keihin Electric Express Railway installed some blue lighting on some platforms and at some crossings in December 2006. Seibu Railway has placed blue lights at some crossings. JR West put in the blue LEDs in selected spots in February 2008. The JR East stations Ogikubo and Nishi-Ogikubo in Tokyo on the Chuo Line utilize blue fluorescent lamps.

The stations with the blue lights as of Sept. 17, 2009
Gumyoji Station in Minami Ward, Yokohama. (Keihin Electric Express Railway Co.) Kita-Ageo, Okegawa and Kitamoto stations in Saitama prefecture. (JR Takasaki Line) Ogikubo and Nishi-Ogikubo stations in Suginami ward, Tokyo. (Chuo Line) Shinbashi, Shinagawa, Yurakucho, Osaki and 3 other stations in Tokyo. (Yamanote Line)

More calm blue lightning
Some crossings on the Hanwa Line. (West Japan Railway Co.)

photos: Kobe Shimbun; Sankei; IT Revolution (large); Asahi Shimbun; Chunichi Shimbun; Iza-Sankei; Shinjuku station

related: Families of platform suicide jumpers billed by railway companies in Japan: urban myth? Glocom; New York Times; Summary

• Japanese suicides rise as world recession hits country’s businessmen
• Now suicide has become a political issue, how will Japan address it?
• Forget the suicide stereotype
• Can Blue-Colored Light Prevent Suicide?
• Reinvent Wheel? Blue Room. Defusing a Bomb? Red Room.
• Design: Spatial Color

Ladies who might inadvertently urinate during sports activities or other strenuous activities can now feel protected with the new Natura pee pad. Natura is worn like a sanitary pad and absorbs urine like a mini-diaper.

There are plenty of urine-catching pads, plastic panties, panty inner-sheets and liners for menopausal conditions, elderly ladies, women post-childbirth, and others who suffer from temporary or long-term incontinence. But Natura is specifically targeting accidental urination caused by sports and activities.

Natura is aimed at new moms and women who suffer from conditions necessitating a "more/mole pad" (leak out pad). Natura also seems to target ladies who might be caused to pee by: the sudden movement of a train; being groped by a tennis instructor; stress after experiencing her grocery bag ripping and spilling dozens of potatos; or by standing up from a seated position. Natura pads are available in various sizes up to the 26cm version, which will absorb 60cc of pee. 

Kao makes Freeday, a similar product which is advertised for use by women suffering from menopausal conditions or who have recently given birth. Freeday also can be used to prevent urination triggered by sports activities or lifting heavy loads. The Freeday advertising material says women do not have to worry about light urination caused by coughing, frequent sneezing due to hay fever, or laughing to one’s heart’s content. The information goes on to explain the physical reasons that women are more likely than men to have this activity-induced piddle problem.

Customer comments on the Freeday website include how Freeday was useful when dancing, playing volleyball, jumping on a trampoline, hiking, skipping rope, at the batting center, swimming, tennis, badminton, aerobics, dodgeball, and landing from a very long slide at the playground.

Together with Lady Guard, the piss prevention pill, ladies in Japan will be totally relieved of the need to pee while participating in sports and leisure activities, during long trips, working long hours without a break, sleeping, chatting at the cafe, and peeling daikon.

Lets Japan is not aware of any products in Japan for ladies who suffer from Sudden Movement Excrement Leakage Syndrome.

Earthquake warnings pop up on computer screens in Japan for subscribers to the Urgent Earthquake Bulletin service from NTT telecommunications company.

When a quake alert is issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, the NTT service will automatically open an alert window on a personal computer screen. An alarm sounds, and the warning window displays the estimated seismic intensity and counts down to the estimated arrival time.

NTT is also selling a standalone earthquake warning device called the Urgent Earthquake News Flash FLET’S Type. Flashing LED lights and an audible alarm indicate a quake warning and the quake arrival time and a countdown are announced. External warning lights can be connected to the device. FLET’S is an NTT brand of high-speed ADSL and fiber optic services.

NTT says the FLET’S quake warning service offers more precise data and details than the information that is offered in warnings on TV and in optional services that send email quake alerts to cell phones. 

A fixed-line cordless phone from Sanyo also automatically receives and loudly announces the JMA warnings. The system utilizes a standard telephone line and an included Local Area Network wireless terminal. The 1.7-inch liquid crystal display backlight on the phone handset displays a red warning, a light on the handset blinks, and the wireless LAN terminal lamp flashes red. The phone lamp also acts as a flashlight. (Read more : Phones Ring Earthquake Warnings)

An earthquake tremor occurs in Japan at least every five minutes, and annually there are up to 2000 quakes that can be felt by people.

The Urgent Earthquake Bulletin service costs JPY 525 per month. NTT sells the Urgent Earthquake News Flash FLET’S Type receiver for JPY 9,500. The monthly NTT maintenance charge is JPY 147. The unit uses an AC power source adapter. related: Getting ready for an earthquake in Tokyo; Earthquake Early Warnings.

An IC card security system that tracks kids is being offered by Tokyu Land Corp.
Homeowners who purchase a Tokyo Security home security service plan have the option to enable the Tokyu Kids Security system. Tokyu has partnered with PASMO Co. which issues rechargeable contactless PASMO IC smartcards for rail and bus systems in Japan.

With the child security function enabled, when the child uses the PASMO card to enter a train station, an email is automatically sent to sent to pre-registered addresses. The email indicates the location and the text says "passed over the entrance". The Tokyu Security website depicts the child using the IC card at stations, school, and after school at cram school. Tokyu sells the colorful Tokyu Kids Security PASMO card readers.

Some new offices and residential buildings constructed by Tokyu utilize the PASMO security system at the building entrance. The card is used as a key to enter entrance and lobby areas and the owner’s front door. If a condo owner purchases the optional Kids Security plan, the "passed over the entrance" email is automatically sent to pre-registered addresses when the child uses the card to enter or exit the building. The Kids Security plan costs JPY 525 per month in addition to the cost of the basic residential security plan.

Tokyu’s Branz City Denen Hills condominium in Machida City near Tokyo is one of the new buildings utilizing the the PASMO security system. Existing buildings can be retrofitted at the entrances to enable the PASMO IC card security system.

Engines Off While Waiting
A campaign to get drivers to stop idling car engines has been underway for more than ten years in Japan. The Japan Ministry Of Environment started the effort in June 1997. Large quantities of "stop idling" stickers were distributed by the Environment office, to be posted on trucks and taxis. The agency also provide information about the effects of idling to concerned industry asscociations and local governments. Tokyo and Osaka have city ordinances that prohibit vehicle engine idling when parked.

Idle-Stop Devices Increasing Aftermarket devices that stop engine idling automatically are available now in Japan. Vehicle engine idle stopping devices are intended to cut air pollution, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, and contribute to the effort to reduce global warming. The idle-stop systems also enable energy conservation and noise pollution reduction.

The sleek control box of the M-K Japan ITS-1200/2400 idle stopping unit perches on the steering column and retails for about JPY 57000.

The less-elegant EcoStarter dash-mounted idling-stopping button and installed box offered by Ecomotion retails for about JPY 40000.

Mobile phone signal-blocking at cash dispensers is the newest effort to fight fraud in Japan.
In October Japan police made a major nationwide effort to prevent citizens – especially the elderly – from becoming victims of various telephone scams. In many of the frauds, senior citizens were instructed by phone to go to banks and withdraw money. The con artists told the victims to bring a phone in order to receive continuous instructions. Police eventually were stationed at most ATM cash dispensers, and questioned folks using cell phones. (Timeline)

Chiba Bank installed phone signal-jamming devices at 4 unmanned ATMs at bank branches in the Tokyo metropolitan area Dec. 10. It is the first use of the device in a financial institution in Japan.

The ceiling-mounted electric wave control unit blocks cellular signals inside a sphere of 1-2 meters. Phones of customers waiting in line a few steps from the ATMs are not affected by the frequency blocker. The bank will phase-in the cell phone signal-blocking device at all its ATM locations.

Electric wave control devices that block mobile phone signals are currently installed in some concert venues and medical facilities in Japan.

A cell phone blocking license issued by The Japan Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications is required in order to legally install and operate the phone frequency blocker.

related: Fraud prevention tips for the elderly.
source, photos: 47News; Yomiuri Shimbun

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