Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 9, 2012, 11:28 pm
Toshiba have attempted to make battery charging sexy and attractive in their latest campaign “15 Minutes Of Love“, which lets any man experience what it is like to have not one but five attractive girls vying for your attention. A microsite set up for the campaign lets users exchange emails with...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 8, 2012, 10:26 pm
Ever forgotten where you were when you met someone, or the name of someone you met at a party? A new app called “remembAR” uses facial recognition software making it now possible to capture the name and location of the people you meet simply by snapping their picture on your phone. Reminiscen...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 8, 2012, 3:04 am
Looking like something out of Tron, design company Znug have come up with a completely amazing looking electric motorbike. Called the ZecOO, the new bike is a sleek, agressive and completely unconventional design. The bike is designed by former Toyota designer Kota Nezu and assembled and built in a...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 7, 2012, 4:11 am
Toyota just recently launched their latest sports car the “86″, and to promote the new vehicle before it hits the market in Spring time they have released an app, that in their words, turns your own body into the sports car. The “I am 86″ app doesn’t let you imagine life as an octogenarian...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 6, 2012, 3:18 am
Ad agency Hakuhodo’s Future Technology Works department have come up with a new app that controls your dreams. The Yumemiru (translated as see the dream) app lets users select different scenarios to dream about and then through sound influences your thoughts while you snooze. The free app has 8 ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 3, 2012, 12:10 am
Sony have been struggling as of late with its reputation severely damaged due to the hacking scandals, plummeting sales, and last weeks CEO change it is in major need of a bit of a PR bost. One area it does seem to be pushing forward in however is the company’s sustainable innovation, the company ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Feb 1, 2012, 12:17 am
Tokyo department store Takashimiya has teamed up with Dr Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University to install a new visual merchandising concept using a lifelike android mannequin that has shoppers stopping in their tracks. Used as a Valentines Day promotion, the female android mannequin smiles, nods and...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 30, 2012, 10:38 pm
Came across this ad today for Suntory’s Black Oolong Tea in Shinagawa Station featuring the popular manga ... character watching you wherever you go. Interesting and eye-catching stuff. The ad is part of the campaign running at the moment for the ... both parties avatars appear as characters...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 29, 2012, 8:53 pm
Japanese graphic designer Bunpei Yorifuji of Bunpei Ginza has produced an awesome series of illustrations outlining the complete history of Tokyo from the birth of life through to modern day. In just 10 plates Yorifuji manages to capture the most defining moments building up to the making of modern ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 25, 2012, 9:22 pm
We have been talking about the Japanese “super creative” firm Party a lot recently and the team seem to be a non-stop creative machine. One of their newest projects takes on the world of music videos and spins it off into a commercial venture. Party created the promotional video for the latest s...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 18, 2012, 2:16 am
... aim of “Giving photos- and not- Taking photos”. “Many of us know ... and importance of photographs in our lives: they bring us back to ... help them start their photographic lives over. Thus “Photohoku” was born.” ... a ‘digital nation’ like Japan, where taking pictures beca...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 16, 2012, 10:14 pm
What happens when a car manufacturer puts its technological innovation to use in the mobile market? The answer is the world’s first “self healing” iPhone case from Nissan. Named the Nissan Scratch Shield Case, the iPhone cover uses Nissan’s paint technology which is capable of repairing scra...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 16, 2012, 2:50 am
We have been covering the Cool Japan project over the last few weeks and have been rather critical of the way the government have handled the whole campaign. The latest idea from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry however actually looks like a unique and really interesting move in exactly t...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 13, 2012, 3:53 am
A new restaurant concept opened up this week in Tokyo for the rapidly increasing number of health conscious Japanese public. Run by health device manufacturer Tanita Corp. the replica Japanese office style canteen space, Tanita Shokudo, acts not only as a healthy food outlet but a place where diners...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Jan 12, 2012, 12:05 am
Ever been so distracted by a colleague or friends wayward protruding nasal hairs that you can’t take it anymore?! Neither had I, but a new web service in Japan now lets you anonymously notify anyone of their distracting rogue olfactory hairs just in case. The service named Chololi lets anyone se...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 31, 2011, 11:43 pm
mixi launches counter-offensive In the last round-up we brought you some immediate data from survey research on Japanese corporate use of social media, rapidly on the increase in Japan. Some of it takes a highly Japanese form (virtually hosted J-pop concerts) and some of it is via imported platform...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 27, 2011, 11:29 pm
A week of girls shopping activities at Shibuya Parco opened last night with a party that surprised passers by. Shoppers and those on the street were treated to the talents of girl dance group Tokyo DOLORES. A temporary stage on the street outside the venue became an impromptu pole dancing stage as t...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 27, 2011, 1:28 am
... food and supplements, exercise advices, and suggestions for stress relief, although just how much stress ... branches, also offers a medical clinic, custody hotel and a discipline study room that ... here owners can let their dogs experience swimming therapy, hotel, dog run yard, and very e...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 26, 2011, 6:40 am
The following is an exerpt from CScout’s global blog the Trendpool. Between the economic troubles, company scandals and natural disasters “Brand Japan” has taken a pretty serious hit. Unfortunately however the response has been less than impressive, the newest logo and slogan “Japan Next”...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 25, 2011, 9:34 pm
The immense city scape of Tokyo has inspired many a photographer and video artist, with it’s vast sprawl broken up only by high rises jutting out of the swarm of movement on the ground. One such inspired photographer is French video artist Samuel Cockedey whose time lapse piece, Android Dreams is ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 24, 2011, 12:17 am
We have previously talked about the number of innovative projects that have sprung up in the wake of the events in North Japan. Another fantastic project that caught our eye at the recent Tokyo Fashion Week, and is already harvesting results, aims at turning damaged lands in the Sendai area into fer...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 21, 2011, 6:21 am
While it’s certainly not pleasant to think about future disasters in Japan (or anywhere else), they do happen, and with them come instant problems with displaced people, broken infrastructure, and sanitation needs. Since we cannot prevent most of these problems, we can only do our best to alleviat...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 20, 2011, 5:04 am
Renowned for bringing together not only the best in design but also those that are functionally outstanding, the 2011 Good Design Awards Exhibition is currently displaying the finalists for this years coveted prize. From children’s play things to industrial tools, vending machines to fireworks the...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 16, 2011, 11:11 pm
Global affairs magazine Monocle continued it’s expansion into new sectors over the weekend, opening up it’s first ever Monocle Cafe. Friday saw the opening party of the new Mens Hankyu department store in Tokyo which houses the new Monocle Cafe along with 8 floors of luxury mens brands. The spa...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 14, 2011, 2:57 am
109 Men’s department store in Shibuya has gone hi-tec with it’s shopping experience by introducing digital interactive clothes hangers to one of it’s shops. The hangers, from Japanese company Team Lab, interact with digital displays above the products, triggering certain images and videos to b...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 13, 2011, 4:14 am
You can tell a lot about a lady from the contents of her handbag, or so Japanese mobile provider NTT DoCoMo think. They have teamed up with fashion and lifestyle magazine “Tokyo Graffiti” for a new campaign, “Handbag Interview“, emptying out the private contents of girls handbags for all to...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 12, 2011, 12:19 am
In the months since the disasters hit up in the North of Japan a number of innovative movements have sprung up to try and offer assistance and relief to the hardest hit areas. We came across one such project this weekend, the “Ehon Project” (Picture Book Project), a mobile kids picture book libr...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 6, 2011, 5:38 am
Japanese mobile users have long had all manner of health apps and functions on their phones. From pedometers to services tracking their sleeping patterns, diet, calories and more, the keitai has been a trusted and personal device for analyzing and counseling on wellness anxieties. It is natural to b...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 4, 2011, 9:40 pm
A major focus of this years Ceatec Exhibition looked at new solutions in energy management with a number of brands displaying their latest innovative and leading edge “green” technologies. One product that caught our attention from Toshiba was their new “Eco Chip” displayed in their popular ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 4, 2011, 6:23 am
Starting from today and lasting a month passengers riding a singe train on Tokyo’s Yamanote line will be able to access a special information service called Train Net through smartphones via an on-board Wi-Fi network. JR (Japan Rail) have partnered with Mitsubishi to roll out the service as a tria...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 3, 2011, 8:01 am
Starbucks Japan is now celebrating its 15th anniversary in Japan, and has put out a special limited edition double latte available in convenience stores nationwide. In fact, To treat their convenience store customers who buy the popular RTD iced coffees, Starbucks is promoting a campaign called “...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Oct 3, 2011, 6:32 am
In the UK it’s the Queens head but in Japan it could be yours! Japan Post is running a nice campaign that lets the public design their own stamps using their own photos, that can then be used to send personilazed letters to your nearest and dearest. Users can upload any image they like using the ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 28, 2011, 9:35 am
Yahoo! Sponsored Search Results for 2011 (January to June) Yahoo! has released information about the search terms most common in the first half of 2011 for its Sponsored Search partners. Unsurprisingly they include many phrases not seen in previous years, such as “TEPCO”, which was outside the ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 26, 2011, 9:51 am
It’s not often that fabric softener is made to appeal specifically to single women who want romance, but here we are. “Which Romeo would you want to fall in love with?” is the latest advertisement slogan for a new Aroma Rich Juliette campaign that, quite frankly, made us fall out of our chai...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 21, 2011, 10:40 pm
To promote the new Star Wars “The Complete Saga” Blu-ray DVD boxset release that went on sale from Sept 16th in Japan, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan are running a very cool campaign on Tokyo’s trains. For a period the train’s railings have been transformed into life size lightsab...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 21, 2011, 12:57 am
Recently, we came across an interesting interactive promotional display of new shoe technology by Asahi Corporate, at one of the train platforms in the center of Tokyo. An apparent first in the world, “SHM (Scre Home Mechanism) shoe technology” is supposed to “keep knees healthy and the walk ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 15, 2011, 11:11 am
The popular Japanese social commerce recycle shop and website Pass The Baton has come up with another great concept of turning the old and used into design desirables. The new idea will see the staff uniforms from Tokyo’s popular cafe Soup Stock, recycled as new t-shirts featuring exclusive design...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 14, 2011, 7:08 am
Ever wanted to feature on your very own baseball players card? The new campaign from popular canned coffee brand Roots now lets you do just that. Attempting to appeal to the rugged, male audience, JT have produced the new campaign featuring a baseball team made up of what they consider “real men�...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 13, 2011, 2:03 am
Smartphone Ad Networks The growth of smartphones in Japan is of course great for local consumers who want more interesting interfaces on their devices. But what does it mean for mobile advertising? Who is providing the needs for advertisers? INterRIDE has done a round-up of the main players in the ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 12, 2011, 5:44 am
Last week we posted about the short film which looks at a parallel world in a “post nuclear Tokyo”, and over the weekend we came across another amazing film here called “Tokyo Rising”. The 30 minute documentary features Pharrell Williams, the American music producer and musician behind N.E....
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 9, 2011, 2:35 am
With the six month mark of the disasters in Japan coming up there is some renewed talk about the situation here. Mostly things are back to normal, with energy saving measures over for now, earthquakes a lot less frequent and people’s conversations no longer centered on the “problems”. We did s...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Sep 8, 2011, 5:50 am
... come up with a number of different “emergency situation kits” complete with everything you ... . For example the clear plastic briefcase emergency kit designed to be placed on ... so you can look good post emergency too! There are plastic file box ... extra space left purposefully in t...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 29, 2011, 3:11 am
At the recent Good Design Expo 2011 we had a chance to play with the AirSketcher, a robotic electric fan designed by Keita Watanabe. In the center of the fan is a camera that can read different patterns printed on cards. In order to keep the target person constantly cool as they move about the room...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 23, 2011, 2:25 pm
A new web service has sprung up in Japan that describes itself not as a search engine but a “recommend engine”. A new Japanese startup, Media Jump, is behind the service that was launched last week called “Kita Kore” meaning “just what I wanted” in Japanese slang. The site can be describ...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 19, 2011, 5:09 am
I somehow doubt any country bests Japan in having lots of company presidents with hobbies unrelated to their companies that somehow manifest into quality lifestyle products. We see this often, from ear-cleaning endoscopes from Coden to ice-ball makers from Taisin. This time a web and digital cont...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 19, 2011, 4:40 am
After being used for years as CScout’s internal database for sharing information across our global network of offices and scouts, the Trendpool is finally being opened up for all. With new technologies and services to save and share information with one another, we’re slowly opening up most of o...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 16, 2011, 11:30 pm
Smart Girls Choose Smartphones A lot has been made of the popularity of smartphones among local female consumers but what’s the reality? According to data quoted by INterRIDE and drawn from multiple sources, smartphones are actually preferred by gadget-loving men, not women. Some 26.3% of men ha...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 16, 2011, 11:09 am
Japanese breakbeat band Hifana have teamed up with the digital contents label of Wieden and Kennedy Tokyo, W+K Tokyo Lab, to produce a very cool sound sampler, sequencer and game free iPhone App. After running a similar game on the Hifana website in the past, the app is a revival that similarly lets...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 12, 2011, 5:38 am
We recently attended the Disaster Relief Charity Talk Session held at Mori Art Museum titled, “Designing Japan for Tomorrow”. Amongst the panel who shared their visions on how they see Japan can rebuild itself out of the disaster were some of Japan’s most noticeable architectural names. In t...
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Michael Keferl posted an article on CScout Japan - Aug 12, 2011, 1:55 am
At Design Tokyo 2011 held earlier this year we came across an interesting piece on display from a team from Osaka University working under Dr Kazuo Kawasaki, the illustrious Japanese designer well known amongst other things as the designer of the glasses chosen by Sarah Palin. The “Vaccine Refrig...
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