Hasta La Gadget!

Popular J-Pop band DREAMS COME TRUE is hoping to contribute to the earthquake relief efforts through their music and not “only” through cash.

Several prominent singers, bands and celebrities have already made sizable donations, and DREAMS COME TRUE likewise contributed 10 million yen (about $120,000) themselves. But there are artistic donations that will do something money can’t necessarily provide.

[Pics via Barks.jp and AiKoudo.com.]

The duo have just released a free chaku-uta ringtone of their 2005 hit “Nando demo” (”Time After Time”) in the hope that it will inspire and soothe the hearts of victims and relief workers when it plays on their mobile phones. Available for a full month, the song is a sentimental classic of contemporary J-Pop that originally sold over 200,000 copies. It’s now being re-released on a full truetone ringtone system, allowing you to download the entire song, not just a sample.

I’m not a particular fan of local pop music, it must be said, but that aside, if downloading a ringtone or song cheers people up and gets the country moving again, then I say let’s go for it.

Last year the multi-member female group AKB48 broke out of the Akihabara subculture and become mainstream bonafide stars (even if only about two of the members seem to ever be mentioned by name). Now they can put that success to good use and harness the wallet power of the otaku for raising yen to go up north. Having accumulated over 6 billion yen ($73.5 million!) so far, they will also be releasing a full ringtone download of their song “Dareka no tame” from April, with all proceeds going to relief causes.

And it’s not just Japanese musicians using ringtones and downloads to help the relief efforts. Taylor Swift is taking part too: if you download her new single “Speak Now” then she will donate a part of the sales to the Japanese Red Cross.

In the midst of a nuclear crisis in Fukushima, somehow TEPCO has managed to make the situation even more surreal. As nuclear engineers rotate on and off of their shifts trying to prevent meltdown, they are faced with the reality that there isn’t anywhere warm and comfortable in the area to get themselves together. Below is the ship, the Kaiwo Maru II, docked in Onahama Port in Fukushima, where the engineers go to get cleaned up and relax. We had the opportunity to board the ship a few days ago and interact (briefly) with the workers coming back from their shifts at the severely damaged reactor.

Driving up, it was shocking at the complete lack of people around. Simply a massive 4-mast ship sitting in the harbor. We were the only people outside of those on board.

It was hard to get a nice shot of the ship since the size of it far exceeded what my camera lens could take in. I took some film shots on my Horizon panoramic, but haven’t developed the negs yet. As you see, the road around the ship is quite damaged, as it most of the little town after being pummeled by the tsunami. However, the damage here would be quite shocking were it not for the infinitely larger devastation further up North.

Before boarding the ship, everyone is check for radiation by the crew. The two engineers below had their bodies, as well as their plastic bags full of belongings, scanned up and down. I also got the scan treatment along with my plastic Holga. As we questioned them, they gave the standard reply of “We’re doing our best” as an unidentified TEPCO staffer stood watch. When I asked him what his job was, he declined to comment and drove off.

While on board, the beauty of the day and the sheer complexity of the ropes and pulleys on the ship put me in a good mood. We were unable to see inside the living quarters where the workers spend their relaxation time, but I can assume that it’s not exactly a fun place to be. Peace and quiet is probably in high demand though.

The Kaiwo Maru II sits in a relatively serene (but windy!) spot on the far end of the port, but not far from it you find the chaos that came two weeks ago.

All around town are smashed shops, flipped cars, downed power lines, and enormous ships and barges sitting on dry land. Were it not so terrible in reality, there would be a kind of beauty in it, much like how ancient ruins feel to walk through.

Below, a family works to clean up their damaged seaside home. It was pretty incredible how people still sort their garbage into “burnable” and “recyclable” even in this situation.

One of innumerable sunken boats is pulled out of the water by a massive crane, with locals somewhat hesitant to look inside each one as it’s brought up.

A fire truck that probably would have been useful, had it not been sitting in the direct path of a tsunami.

A residential street on the coast at the beginning of a long cleaning process.

As for the engineers on the boat, we can only wish them luck.

Was interesting watching NHK News tonight with Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son featured as a panelist. Usually when people on Japanese television use props to communicate graphs and other information, they do it with very analog paper cards with colorful graphics. Son ditched the paper for his trusty iPad, and did all of his explaining through this medium. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to snap a picture until he finally set it down, but he was constantly fiddling with it like he just wanted to bust it out and show his favorite YouTube videos of cute cats.

I’ve never seen the iPad used like this on Japanese television before, especially on public broadcaster NHK. It just so happens that Softbank is the exclusive carrier for 3G iPads and all iPhones, so Son managed to turn legally commercial-free NHK into a 30-minute iPad commercial. Nice work.

…we order it on Rakuten and have it delivered.

Stay calm people. You can still get supplies.

Since the earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11th many Japanese companies and organisations have been quick to develop new and innovative ways for the public to donate funds such as the Tsuytaya point scheme. One such company NicoNico Douga, a popular video sharing website in Japan, has found a unique way of harnessing its points system from its large user base.

The system works by allowing pre purchased points, normally used to view videos or buy games, to “like” a video through their Niko Niko Koukoku system, simply translated as “advertising system”. Each point is the equivalent of ¥1 and users may spend a minimum of 100 points in “liking” their chosen piece. Once “liked” those who donated can add their name and personal message to the video which becomes more prominently featured on the website . Popular Avex J-Pop artists and Japanese celebrities have also uploaded original messages accompanying many videos directly praising fans who have donated, and appealing to others to use their points.

Already, within just 48 hours of being launched the system has generated a staggering ¥89,354,200 from 97,721 users ($1.1 million) and is increasing rapidly each hour. With around 50% of Japanese males in their 20’s registered with Nico Nico Douga the potential for raising significant sums to help those affected in the North of Japan is tremendous. The CEO of Dwango, NicoNico Douga’s parent company Nobuo Kawakami personally commented on Twitter urging the sites users to log on and use their left over points to contribute to the cause.

At present all donations are being collected for Japan Red Cross, however as more charities begin to set up designated Earthquake appeals users will soon get the choice of which charity their donation actually goes to.