Strategic Small Business Ramblings
I am the CEO and co-founder of 808 Interactive, LLC. Aside from serving the needs of my clients, partners and employees, I'm also a Producer (Video Games, Web, Business Development) and Investor (Stocks, Options, Real Estate), living in Hawaii and occasionally in Kawasaki Japan. I have worked for companies like Sun Microsystems, LucasArts, and Konami Digital Entertainment.
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Japan
Night in Akihabara
Its an interesting place in the day, but at night, it definitely puts on a light show.
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おこのみやき madness in Tokyo
We went to a district of Tokyo that is famous for おこのみやき (Okonomiyaki), and more specifically, もんじゃやき (Monjayaki). Literally the entire street is all Okonomiyaki shops. I dont know how they all compete with each other, seems hard to have any sort of differentiation strategy, and yet they survive. Of course with a population density like that of Tokyo, I guess there is enough to go around.
The ingredients are all brought to the table and you prepare it yourself. Surprisingly there is a sort of "technique" to it. I thought it would be difficult to mess up a pancake... apparently not, especially after a few Kirin's. After the meal you get ingredients to make a sort of Japanese Crepe. Again the technique is all you. However, like most food in Japan, its all pretty damn amazing and I can never stop eating...
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Maids of あきば
Possibly only in Japan does one get a glimpse of maids on the street promoting "Maid Cafes", where you can go eat, drink and be pampered by, maids...
This maid has a bag in the shape of an animal, and an furry pseudo animal tail protruding from her skirt. Fascinating...
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日本 pic of the day
Yes thats K1 Dynamite. ととろ is sitting next to the TV, and Bob Sapp is getting beat down by a tiny Pro Wrestler in a Lucha Libre mask. You can see from all the food that it is indeed New Years Eve in Japan...
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かわさき たのしいかた：hanging with ようすけ, かんけ, and たくん。
I caught the train to おもり station, and grabbed some Ramen. For anyone ever in this area, there is a really good ramen shop as you take the east exit and turn left once you get to the street. Walk down a bit and you will find a Yokohama Ramen. Order the "pork bone" ramen, its their specialty, and its excellent. The soup is thick and hearty, and there are ample amounts of noodles and veggies thrown in. Being from Hawaii, I tend to need to eat two of everything in Japan just to fill up. Not the case here, as a regular was all I needed- though they do offer a large as well. Also throw in some char siu rice, and of course, lots of Kirin. For the first time in all my trips to Japan, I gave Chuhai a try. Tasted like Zima with some lemon squeezed into it. I immediately returned to the ol Kirin standby.
After that we bounced over to a place called Bagus. Its like an upscale pool hall. There are many upscale places in Japan, as Japanese workers are the highest paid in the world (according to the Big Mac index: http://tinyurl.com/22eftw) the cash tends to make its way through the economy, although its far from the glory days of the late 80s...
The one thing that sets Bagus apart is the fact that they also have a golf simulator. I had never played one, nor have I ever played a complete 18 holes of real golf. But I have to say the simulator was pretty fun, although a little inaccurate. But its really fun if you want to slam some golf balls indoors on the cheap.
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ろっぽんぎ Konami Meet Up
I met up with some of the old Konami gang in Roppongi and had some Tofura (? I think thats right) It was great to see everyone which was the best part. The food was excellent, and interestingly for the area was not too expensive. The tofu dishes were interesting, I had not had tofu prepared that way before in Japan, it has a very soft texture almost like a cake or something. As usual in Japan, it was way too much beer, though I was able to avoid taking the last train home thanks to Andy...
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Branding in Japan
interesting article on Branding in the land of the rising sun: http://tinyurl.com/yg7fygg
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