Our latest Trends in Japan piece for Japan Inc. is a quick run-through of some of the latest fun toys and gadgets for the kids in us.
Also in the issue is a comprehensive look at the intellectual property debate in Japan, and a technology piece by CScout comrade Robert Sanzalone.
What would Tokyo look like if the pavement were suddenly replaced with grass? A simple and inviting, yet laughable, prospect but one that the creators of the Green Island project are taking seriously.
The project is a collaborative effort between creative director Tag (Ryo Taguchi), photo retoucher IMKW (Imakawa), and contemporary artist cum coder Immr (Yuichiro Imamura). The initial result is a series of photographs that cleverly turn Tokyo streets into fields of green. Here is an example of the instantly recognizable Shinjuku.
While new development projects in Tokyo are increasingly prioritizing green space (Tokyo Midtown Shopping Complex is an oft-cited example), existing developed space is notoriously grey—something which is taken as matter of fact. The Green Island project aims to encourage the reconsideration of these existing places and remind us of the potential that these already developed areas still offer.
The Green Island project participated in the recent Japan Media Arts Festival held February 4-15 at the National Art Center Tokyo. The well-attended 12th edition of the annual event included juried entries in the divisions of art, animation, manga, and entertainment. Excellence prizes were picked up by Marcio Ambrosio for “Oups!” (art), Kunio Kato for “The House of Small Cubes” (animation), Makoto Isshiki for “Piano no Mori” (manga), and the Tenori-On development team for the popular Tenori-on game (entertainment).
Trend Potential
Ecology was a major theme at the Media Arts Festival, and has been a growing consumer and production trend in Japan for several years now. For more information on Eco trends in Japan in products, branding, marketing, and behavior, check out our Trendpool innovation database.
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Not just a mobile phone, these new models are being marketed as lifestyle accessories to fit users’ specific lifestyle priorities.
KDDI has announced their new AU handset line-up for spring—a product range that indicates an increasing divergence from the idea of an “all-around good phone” into a wide-range collection of phones that are really advanced in one particular function from touchscreens to fashion design.
To that effect, KDDI is offering the Walkman Phone Premium3 from manufacturer Sony Ericsson that promises the best sound quality to date for those who are fans of AU’s Lismo music download service. Then there is the Wooo H001 (created by Hitachi), the world’s first mobile with a 3D image supported 3.1 inch liquid crystal screen, for those who prefer high-tech visuals.
Meanwhile the SH001 is a Sharp phone that excels at photography, with an 8 mega pixel camera loaded on board. And from Kyocera, AU is offering the K001, a phone with a colorful band and customized skin that allows the phone to function like a clutch purse—for the fashion conscious, or perhaps those who are tired of missing important phone calls trying to dig their mobiles out from the bottoms of their massive handbags.
Trend Potential
Hardware has come a long way, but not everyone needs what their phones can do, and prefer them to act as they want them to. From external design to interface and hardware functionality, there are endless ways to create phones to fit very niche markets. Find out how this can help your business by exploring this trend and more in our Trendpool database.
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