Opposite Directions

Decreasing auto sales in Japan, combined with new laws targeting elderly drivers and other efforts to prevent pensioners from driving, are making it more difficult for auto manufacturers facing a different demographic future.

Newsweek reports automobile sales in Japan have been declining steadily over time. It says aside from minicars and luxury foreign brands, sales of all other types of vehicles are decreasing. Newsweek details a number of factors for the developing disinterest in car ownership.

A 2007 report by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association includes data about the vehicle preferences of people aged 50 years or older. According to the report, “a large number of respondents in this category said they wanted to curb car-purchasing and other car-related expenditures. However, among goods and services they wished to purchase with their retirement benefits, ‘automobiles’ ranked fourth among a total of 19 items.” The research also showed people are keeping their cars longer.

To counter the continuing sales decline in Japan, car makers have been improving marketing strategies. Toyota’s Gazoo website features “Drive Dates” hosted by cute female “idols”. Toyota also developed, built and operates the Tressa Automall near Yokohama.

Nissan’s Cube compact car brand has it’s own artists and music label. Nissan has a whole website of entertainment, including Kid’s Nissan and Nissan origami. Honda is targeting the youngsters with games online at Honda’s ToyTown, which includes popup paper-craft instructions.

License To Shop

Meanwhile, Tokyo city government has been working to get senior citizens to stop driving. Tocho is so concerned about the increasing number of automobile accidents caused by elderly drivers, it is offering incentives to persuade golden agers to quit driving. …continued » » » »

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One man. One beautiful woman. One Vulcan, a demon and a peon.

This is a two-part story by the creators of Shin Angyo Onshi: Youn In-Wan and Yang Kyung-Il. Vulcan Markovic lives in a small fishing village in Croatia. He has only two things on his mind–designer goods and losing his virginity. When an indescribably beautiful girl shows up asking for directions to Heaven’s Gate, Vulcan takes his first step into "thrilling world-salvation action!!" Synopsis from MyAnimeList:

Let’s Bible forum discussion: ChristianComics.net. Two chapters can be downloaded here Let’s Bible-part1[ETC].zip and here Let’s Bible-part2[ETC].zip. Download links via: Anizeen.com

Experiment Confirms Transparent Swimsuit Concern

Swimsuits that can be "Photoshopped" see-through may distract Japanese Olympic swimmers at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The Shukan Post quotes a spokesperson for the Japan Swimming Federation. The spokesperson says that following the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, official swimsuit manufacturers were asked by the JSF to "ensure their products would not become see-through when filmed in infra-red." Asics, Descente, and Mizuno are the official suppliers to Japan’s swim team. Speedo’s high tech LZR bodysuit, which the team may be allowed to wear, is also susceptible to digital manipulation. Descente developer Toshiharu Tsubouchi told The Shukan Post the Descente swimsuit utilizes polyurethane for adhesiveness, and adds "depending on the way light shines on it, the color can brown a bit. That may make it look a little bit transparent." He points out a tight fit is essential for athletes, thus some body parts will bulge out more than others. Shukan Post Via Daily Mainichi: Faustian swimsuit gives Japanese swimmers the edge while revealing the points more: Japanese denied ‘high-tech doping’ Speedos Japanese swimmers could do U-turn on bodysuits

The Wine Advisor reads the bar code on the bottle label and offers food recommendations to match the wine. The electronic scanner terminal is installed over wine racks at the 10 newest Peacock supermarkets in Japan.

Newsweek International reports the machine recommended roast beef, Maribo and Samsoe cheese and pain de campagne to go with a Bordeaux. This digital sommelier is also available in Queen’s Isetan.
source: When The Sommelier’s A Machine

Track Your Meat

A computer terminal in many AEON supermarkets offers domestic meat traceability, and tells you the animal’s birthday, where it was born, its birth weight, what it grazed on, and maybe even its favorite TV program.

Too Technical

Let Asimo shop for you.