SONY’s so-called “new” Twil N Take [sic] battery-less digital camera is a rehash/relaunch of the ‘Twirl N Take‘ that we covered exactly one year ago. A botched press release with the product name misspelled shows that SONY deserves its continued death spiral to bankruptcy.
Dec. 11, 2008 – A FP—Daylife…Sony displays a new battery-less digital camera “Twil N Take” [sic] in Tokyo … environmentally friendly products at the annual Eco Style Fair.
Sony unveiled this first—a digital camera without batteries and which charges by rolling its green wheel for about 40 seconds on a flat surface to take a picture with its 3 megapixel CMOS element.
Read the rest of the description of the ‘Twirl N Take’ here in a mega-funky machine translation of the Japanese news story.
Yeah, yeah, the headline has a semicolon not a comma between “recession” and “cheer”. However, it still sounds like the G20 nations should cheer and rejoice that Japan is joining in the recession but failed to (because they were too depressed or something).
This is Japan’s first “official” recession in seven years, but life here in Tokyo goes on. The Prada and LV stores on Omotesando in Tokyo’s Harajuku were packed last Sunday and lines in front of the new H&M was more than three hours long.
The world economy is entering a new great depression, but all of these diamond-encrusted bling phones were sold out in only three days to Japanese willing to spend 13 million yen ($134,000 USD) after the phones were put on sale November 1.
Diamond mobile phones sell out in three days in Japan Fri Nov 7, 2008 Yahoo! News–Japanese actress Aya Ueto displays… Softbank’s “Tiffany mobile phone”, studded with 537-piece, a total of 18.34 carats diamonds…more…
I just saw on the noontime TV news that Softbank Mobile will release in collaboration with Tiffany and Co. a blinged-out, diamond-encrusted phone with a charming price of more than 10 million yen ($93,751 USD)! According to their press release, the phone will be covered with 400 diamonds totaling more than 20 carats.
The markets are better today but there still is street diving to Marunouchi-Otemachi financial district of Tokyo Japan since job cuts in Tokyo finance have been huge (and unreported).
4:28 a.m. ET, 10/12/08 – msnbc.com…performs on the trampoline during the Tokyo Marunouchi Street Stadium event at Marunouchi business district…
…within the next 18 months, the generation that built Japanese industry from the ashes of the Second World War will be hitting that magical age of 79.1. Given what is out there in terms of value and industrial strength, it is a fairly short wait for what could be the greatest private equity bonanza of all time.
——–—Age cannot wither them: Leo Lewis on Asia – Online – September 5, 2008
In case you were wondering why Japanese burglars only take cash during break-ins and why Tokyo’s home burglary rate is one of highest in the developed world….
Home cash savings hit 30 trillion yen, says Bank of Japan August 23, 2008 / Mainichi Japan ….An expert attributes the increase in cash savings to the instability of the financial market. “It’s difficult to invest money in shares because of recent confusion in the financial market. I think people feel secured when they keep their assets in their own hands,” said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute...more…
Japan’s 50 million households divided by 30 trillion yen = 1,666,666 yen per household; that’s piles of cash stuffed in their futon bed of more than $15,000 USD per household.
Because of Japan’s rapidly aging society and negative population growth, the charmingly-euphemistically-named Soapland* industry is going limp so to speak.
New Yoshiwara soapland targets lusty middles The Tokyo Reporter – August 6, 2008
…more businesses springing up which appeal to men in their 50s and over. (Who have their own bulges with which to contend, both above and below the belt.)
Sure enough, Shukan Taishu (Aug. 18) reports, a “soapland” in Tokyo’s Yoshiwara red-light district recently opened to cater specifically to the postwar baby-boom generation…
…The standard rate for a two-hour session with a masseuse in her 20s costs 25,000 yen — quite reasonable … presumably include a sudsy full-nude washdown on an air mattress and the usual foreplay, play and …more...
As I mentioned before, I’ve seen estimates that the sex industry in Japan made up at least 12% of the GNP. That was probably an underestimate in the “Bubble Years” before 1992, but now that figure may be accurate. Important for the the older crowd is that Japanese “Soapland” is good for the heart .
*Note that Soapland (ソープランド, pronounced sopurando) is the term for a type of brothel where male clients are bathed by female “companions” (prostitutes). However, the Japanese definition of prostitution does not extend to a “private agreement” reached between a woman and a man. Also legal as long as there is no genital penetration that results in the client reaching “happy-finish” (orgasm). [See Wikipedia.]
I see strange coincidences on the headline services all the time. Today for example, in the rather iPhone-hostile climate of Japan (see MSN Japan: You can probably find an iPhone there), I spotted the following back-to-back bad news for Japan’s exclusive iPhone provider, Softbank.
Kyodo News Headlines
Aug. 05 18:26 Softbank Mobile to cut minimum monthly fee on iPhone to 2,990 yen ——-and on the same page—
Softbank reports 22.9% fall in group net profit for April-June
Odd-elicious iPhone UPDATE: Apple’s iPhone—Buy The $1000 App That Does Nothing
….Behold: “I Am Rich,” a $999.99 app from Armin Heinrich, which just displays a red gem on the phone’s screen — nothing else.
“The red icon on your iPhone or iPod touch always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were rich enough to afford this,” the app’s information page…more…
Mo’ betta title to this Reuters story….Citi to stop DICing with Japan
Citigroup to Close Japan Moneylending Outlets June 6, 2008 6:24 a.m. ET, TOKYO (Reuters) — Citigroup (C.N) will shut down its remaining Japanese consumer lending outlets and automated loan machines, as the subprime-hit bank continues its retreat from Japan’s troubled moneylending industry. Citigroup, which operates a consumer lender under the brand name Dic, said on Friday it would close its last 32 outlets and 540 unmanned loan machines and suspend marketing the brand…more…
With DIC’s consumer finance loans running 17.880％ when the average car loan in Japan is only 2% is truly getting DICed.
For many years, the so-called “hemline theory” holds that short hemlines predict a rising economy and higher stock prices while longer hemlines mean the economy is in the dumps. Now Japan has come up the “Hair Cut Indicator”–That is, the current fashion trend toward short and messy hair styles for women bodes badly for the Japanese economy.
Japanese women hairstyles track economy ups and downs Reuters – Feb. 17, 2008—Women tend to wear their hair long when Japan’s economy is doing well and short when there is a slump, the Nikkei business daily reported, citing a survey .conducted by Japanese cosmetics company Kao Corp. As for Japan’s future economic performance, the Nikkei pointed to expectations for a trend towards shorter hairstyles....more…
For more about the “hemline indicator”, here is a three minute video clip showing the connection between short skirts, fashion trends and the economy’s financial health.
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In case you were wondering why Japanese burglars only take cash during break-ins and why Tokyo’s 
For many years, the so-called “hemline theory” holds that short hemlines predict a rising economy and higher stock prices while longer hemlines mean the economy is in the dumps. 
Now Japan has come up the “Hair Cut Indicator”–That is, the current fashion trend toward short and messy hair styles for women bodes badly for the Japanese economy.
