Hasta La Gadget!

While the big companies got to show off their new products and inventions at CEATEC 2013, the 3rd and 4th of October were reserved for Japan’s innovative D.I.Y and maker enthusiasts.

The Maker movement itself originated and gained traction in the U.S., and 2006 saw the creation of a now annual event that describes itself as the “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth”. A combination of D.I.Y, technology and family-friendly fun, the festival has become a space where everyone from tinkerers, hobbyists, artists, students and educators can come to both display their creativity as well as learn from others. In 2008, Tokyo-based makers created a local meetup called Make Tokyo: meeting, and were able to launch the first Tokyo Maker Faire in 2012 with the support of popular Maker magazine Makezine. This year’s Faire was held in both the Miraikan and the Time Building 24, and brought together 311 makers in total.

The event was split up into several areas, with the largest space holding a marketplace for people’s creations and the other areas offering both workshops, presentations and showcase spaces. The workshops available were mainly targeted towards kids, and included activities such as robot building with lego and musical instrument building.

Technology was heavily represented at the event. Several small hardware sellers presented various components and microcontrollers, such as the PocketDuino by Physicaloid, a small Arduino clone that you plug into your smartphone and enables you to program your Arduino from a distance, as well as save your work in a cloud library.

There were also displays that showcased hobbyist electronic projects, such as Saibaiman by Illmatic industries. Named after a Dragon Ball character, Saibaiman is a plant monitoring device dependent on social networks that uses the Raspberry Pi. Liking the plant’s page on Facebook, tweeting about it, or adding it as a friend will induce actions that help the to plant survive, such as watering the plant or turning on colored LEDs above it.

 GR Sakura board, a Japanese-made competitor of the Raspberry Pi, was also used in a number of projects. Kurumin 2 by Kubota P  for example, is an instrument that uses a motion censor and a GR sakura board, to modify the tone of notes.

The board was also used to create a cute luminous headband that changed colours according to the notes played on a smartphone based piano app.

Several other devices were based on sound or light such as ANIPOV’s luminous bycicle wheel or designer-engineer Taikan Hoshino and Ibi Hideki‘s drawing light script, “Spur of Words”. Spur of Words combines a phosphorescent paint, wireless light pen made with Arduino, and a program to change the written script.

Robots were also a big part of the show for example, Kougakuinndaigaku‘s Kinect sensor operated robot that replicates human movements.

BlockServo by @OTL created a very affordable motor made to build lego robots and compete with Lego’s own Mind Storm device.

Robi the Robot, is a kit produced by DeAGOSTINI that launched this year in February and enables you to build your very own robot friend.

Finally, several other interesting projects included the Tanuki’s swaying tail, which combined fashion and technology, Fab-Decchi’s Toaster Printer which prints simple shapes and characters onto bread, Looking Glass Factory‘s 3D block printing and Malt Factory’s unique take on the usage of receipt printers to create an interactive game.

We’ve talked about the growing number of Maker spaces being established, and the presence of a pretty well established culture of DIY in Japan in the past, and the diverse crowd at Maker Faire 2013 attests to the maker movement’s wide appeal here. From families, to young students and couples of all ages, there was definitely some evidence to suggest that the culture of making, tinkering and hacking with electronics and craft material is something that is being welcomed with open arms.

A couple of months ago, we blogged about a really interesting exhibition called “Materializing”, that showcased art made with the help of various innovative devices such as laser cutter and 3D printers.

Many of the devices used to produce the artwork for “Materializing” are machines that you might expect in labs or factories. But fellow hobbyists behold, they have finally been liberated and are now available to the public, though their prices remain rather prohibitive: at approximately 7,000 USD a piece for the desktop version, the laser cutter will not yet decorate our garages, though the slightly more affordable 3D printer from Cubify might.

This fact has spurred on a new type of business in Japan: Providing space and machines to the creative people out there who won’t or can’t get them for themselves. Here is why:

First, Japan is known for having issues with space. Japanese houses and apartments are quite small compared to their European or American counterparts and more often than not do not have garage space. And if space wasn’t enough of an issue already, the obligation to return any space you rent in the exact condition you got it is another: just setting up an easel in your apartment is not recommended. So providing people with space to make, to create and let them know about it is already a good business idea. Japan is also a rental society much more than other countries (bands jam together in rental studios not home basements).

Second, thanks to the effort of the Japan DIY association that was founded in 1977 and incorporated in the METI in 1980, the “Do-It-Yourself” culture in Japan is developing. From the traditional scrap-booking or knitting to more heavy DIY such as ceramics or woodwork, you can make about anything in Japan….as long as you have the space for it.

And now creative people do with no less than four different maker spaces being born in Tokyo alone from 2009 up to today. Ranging from the hipster Fab Cafe in Shibuya, where you can sip a glass of ice-tea as you 3D print or laser cut, to the full blown recently opened, Maker Base in Meguro with wood-work and metal-work machines and several laser cutters and 3D printers, through the techy Hacker Space in were you can learn about and make everything from robots to your very own small computer with a raspberry pie or the Fablab, Tokyo based DIY lovers and hobbyist can create to their hearts content.

But the most important part is that not only can they create, but they can also find help and new ideas thanks to a growing community and helpful staff members. It can be courses to get the hang of a machine like in Maker Base or a technology like Hacker Space, or it can be offering a retail platform for your product like Fab Cafe and Maker Base. It can just be a place to connect people that need something and people who can make and help the sparks fly and it can create beautiful stories….like the man that came to Maker Base to train and make an engraved engagement ring for his fiancee or this author who made a personalized 3D printed pen for a friend’s birthday, at Shibuya’s Fab Cafe.

And to top it all of, the 22nd of September, the last piece of the puzzle came into existence with the opening in Meguro of Rainbow Soko operated by T-plaster an interior remodeling company, that uses and converted an old under-ground factory space into creative space. It offers up for rent small office like rooms, where people can set up anything they want, from a drawing/ painting space to a music room.

Finally it is important to point out that not only these spaces have become very popular, featuring frequently in the Japanese and Foreign press as well as on television and participating in interesting event such as the up coming Maker’s fair, but they also provide a competing presence on the online D.I.Y market places field by not only providing the platform but also a physical outlet to make products in, giving them an advantage over competitors such as Etsy.

If one thing stands out particularly clearly in the streets of Japan, it is the endless number of sweet shops. From trendy tea or coffee houses offering a little something sweet with your beverage, through the numerous French-styled bakeries, to the traditional Japanese sweet shops, Japanese people have many delicious options to satiate their sweet tooth.

And as for their sweet tooth, Japanese people have a big one with over 90% of people admitting to liking sugary treats in My Voice’s 2013 March survey on sweets. But not only do they have a sweet tooth, they actually indulge it and quite often at that, with most people admitting to eating sweets from once to three times a week.

Following that, an online sweet specialty store asked its clients in August to deliberate on this fall’s favourite sweets, and in ad-equation with Japaneses preference for seasonal products, chestnut based Mont-Blanc was voted number one. The French cake ranked first (40%) out of 20 different types of sweets and cakes, followed by the Apple pie (31%) and the Cheesecake (27%).

However the most interesting part of the august survey is the overview of how sweets in Japan are bought, and online orders of sweets seems a growing trend (increasing from 31.2% in 2011 to 48.7% in 2013), as well as sweet consumption in general, as reported in “Tokyo retail foods” report.

Surprisingly they are not bought as gifts that you send to others (only 15%) but more as treats that you eat yourself (44%). In a country such as Japan where the culture of gift making is very entrenched in mentalities and has achieved the status of institution according to anthropologist Harumi Befu, this switch from sweets as gifts to sweets as personal consumption is quite note worthy.

Even more interesting is the fact that many of the cakes and sweets suggested for the survey, need to be eaten fresh and that is not stopping people from ordering them online. This is thanks to services such as ”宅急便ヤマト黒猫” (Yamato Black Cat rapid delivery service) that made delivering raw/ fresh / frozen goods common and trustworthy enough in Japan, that nobody would bat an eyelid at receiving ice-cream or cheese cake through the mail.

Not only is Yamato rapid delivery service capable of offering same-day delivery for the frozen products they convey with no damage (thanks to excellent packaging and careful handling), but they are also reasonably priced (between 1050 JPY (~10 USD) to 2080 JPY (~20 USD) ) and when you are not available to receive your package at home, it is kept in a refrigerated space at the closest storage facility, cost free.

Several well known Patisserie in Tokyo have, by using this rapid delivery service, set up online shops where you can order anything from the shop, from chocolates to ice creams. Others have joined online food retailers, the biggest of which being Amazon.jp, and offer approximately the same services, including the high quality packaging Japanese shops are well known for.

And for those of you gasping over the possible drop in service quality, if shrimp can make it alive and well, so can your cake in all its pristine packaging glory.

While the image of Japan as a nation resolutely faithful to its tradition of tea is a mainstay in most popular perceptions of the country, there is another beverage which occupies a large part of everyday urban life and culture. In addition to being the third largest importer of coffee beans worldwide after the United States and Germany, the consumption of both instant and roasted coffee in Japan is about double that of green tea according to research from the All Japan Coffee Association.

Coffee in Japan is an interesting beast. It comes in all different shapes, sizes and flavours – cold and in a can, embellished with latte art, made with a syphon, packaged and sold in a convenience store – the list goes on. More broadly, the marketing of coffee in all its forms as well as the experience of how it is consumed in Japan is also strikingly varied. The sheer diversity of the coffee experience in Japan can be a little bewildering, but through it all one thing is obvious: coffee is serious business here. We’ve decided to look a little deeper  by starting a series centred on coffee in all of its manifestations, and to start off with we have the timeless ‘kissaten‘.

A cursory Google search on what differentiates a ‘kissaten’ (喫茶店）from the multitude of other names that are used to describe establishments that serve coffee (including cafe and coffee house) reveals that there is a bit of confusion over any concrete distinguishing characteristics. Legally the word is used to designate shops that focus on the serving of coffee and drinks, but calling a shop a ‘kissaten’ in general conversation implies a particular kind of establishment.

There is a kind of retro image associated with the kissaten, and this old-fashioned feel is reflected in the interior of a store, which may be furnished with leather seats, sturdy, varnished wood tables, and Bauhaus-style furniture. Lighting is often dim and slightly moody, and there is an old-world feel that is reminiscent of the Showa or Taisho period. A kissaten does not necessarily have to have history or even have to be “old” in age, but they do stir up a sense of nostalgia.

The atmosphere and ambience of a kissaten tends to be more formal than chain store coffee joints and cafes, and unlike these places there is table service. Mood-wise, a kissaten tends to be a little more subdued and calm, a pocket of nostalgia where a typically older set of people go to collect their thoughts or catch up with each other while lingering over a cup of coffee.

The coffee itself is often served strong and black with a small pot of milk and sugar syrup at the side – a far cry from the cups of steamed milk and espresso that dominate the menus of “younger” cafes. This dark blend is presented in vintage looking cups and saucers, whose non-uniformity is a gentle reminder that the kissaten is often a more independent and local enterprise. It is not unusual for a shop to have a daily stream of well-known regular customers who have been patrons for years.

The main focus of a kissaten is generally on the atmosphere and the leisurely style of drinking coffee in these places, and in the  past kissaten’s did not typically offer much variety in terms of food apart from sandwiches, pasta, curry rice and other simple items. The morning breakfast set menu is a common feature of a lot of kissaten – a piece of toast or two with coffee and an egg or fruit.

Although the number of kissaten is being overtaken by chain store coffee shops and they aren’t quite as “trendy” as the growing number of cafes, they occupy a very special place in the Japanese coffee scene. They serve a particular kind of coffee, and with it, a particular kind of nostalgic experience that definitely has its aficionados.

If knitting is the domain of needles, yarn and sewing machines, then a digital fabrication project based in Tokyo wants to add ‘data glitches’ to that list. Fusing fashion with technology, Glitch Knit uses a method called “Glitch Embroidery’ to “sew” custom fabrics and knitted items like scarves with a slight difference.

Instead of neat rows of carefully knitted stitches, Glitch Embroidery is based on the idea of using intentionally damaged data to cause errant needle movements. What results are fabrics that visually and physically represent otherwise intangible glitches in data. Created by fashion designer Nukeme , Glitch Knit is inspired by a growing number of experiments that are fusing traditional crafts with computing and was one of the Jury Selections at the 2013 Media Arts festival in Tokyo.

A Brother KH-930e knitting machine is “hacked” using an Arduino Duo so that it can be connected to a computer. This process enables the knitting machine to turn any digital image or pattern, even those created in graphics programs like Photoshop or Paint, into a knitted fabric.

Nukeme then uses a hex editor to open up the raw binary data of an image and purposely damages the image by rewriting the data.

The image is then opened in a program which allows the user to resize their glitched image and send it to the knitting machine to be turned into fabric.

The bottom half of the image below is glitch, the top half is the original image.

The glitch fabric being knitted.

Glitch Knit is an interesting way of physically exploring and representing errors in data that we usually only encounter as malfunctioning software or frustrating experiences. By purposely centering the design of the fabric around glitches, Glitch Knit playfully subverts the way we respond to errors that occur in the data-saturated world around us.

Glitch Knit is a project supported by Shibuya Fab Lab and was created by Nukeme, Tomofumi Yoshida and uses software made with Processing by So Kanno,