Socko in Japan

My family and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2007! We wish everyone the best for a healthy and peaceful year. To all our friends and family around the world we are thinking of you! Take care and good luck in the new year!

Happy New Year!

Feel free to give us a call on Skype. We’ll be up awhile.

Pictures added at 12:21 am on January 1, 2007.

From Mainichi Daily News.

This man (Naoki Suzuki) is on the run after stabbing his mother at their Yokohama home. The police believe that his 59-year old mother, Yoko, was stabbed sometime on December 23, 2006. Naoki Suzuki, 27, is believed to be the killer after his finger prints were found on the kitchen knife that was left in his mother’s neck. Also, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police have stated that Naoki has not shown up for work over the past week and did not notify his employer of his absence. If you spot Naoki, please dial 1-1-o to contact police within Japan.

After stopping by Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera, I was talked out of the Nikon S8 (even after all the favorable reviews I read on U.S. websites). Both sales guys said that the Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) was worthless on Nikon’s point and shoot cameras. Also, the guy at Yodobashi Camera said the Nikon is loosing a lot of respect in Japan (even though the U.S. still seems to love Nikon products) and that all of Nikon products have lost a lot of quality due to cut backs and re-organizing in their camera engineering departments. I also asked both sales guys about what they thought of Nikon’s new D40 (entry level DSLR) and both strongly said that they could not recommend it because of the poor lens that comes standard with the D40 and that the D40 uses Nikkor’s new lenses with the motor built into the lens instead of the body. The D4o will still use the other lenses, but the auto-focus (AF) will not work. So, the D4o body is a lot cheaper without the built-in motor because all the the cost goes into every single lens that Nikon recommends to use with the camera. After taking what I learned and heading back home to do more research and check prices on Kakaku.com, I decided on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2. The LX2 has a Lecia lens and a ton of features for the intermediate shooter. I will play with the LX2 for awhile, until I find the right DSLR (I have second thoughts on the D80, now). Feel free to post any of your comments on your favorite DSLR.

Merry Christmas!
It is already Christmas morning in Japan. It is different in Japan. Christmas in Japan is basically a commercial holiday. It makes sense, since it is a Christian holiday and the Japan culture is based on Shinto and Buddhism beliefs. But after having a big family gathering for the past 28 years every Christmas Eve, it feels strange. New Years is the big holiday here. So, I am working today on Christmas and the rest of the week. It is the first time that I have worked on Christmas since I delivered The Detroit News everyday, back in high school. So, we pushed everything ahead a day early and had a big dinner on Saturday for our “early” Christmas Eve meal and opened presents on Sunday morning. Mayumi made a great western meal with everything that I am used to (for New Years we will have a traditional Japanese meal). We even cooked a whole turkey that we ordered from The Foreign Buyers’ Club (link is in side bar under “Japan Related Sites”).
It was a beautiful sunny weekend. A little chilly on Sunday with the breeze off the ocean, but nothing like Detroit. Winter has been off to a really mild start so far. The coldest it has been at night was 6 C (43 F) and that was only once or twice. Normally it was been getting down to 8-10 C (46 – 50 F) and a high of 10-14 C (50 – 57 F). When I was here in the past it would get to 0 C or below all the time through out the winter months in Yokohama and Tokyo.
I am looking forward to the first week of the New Year as that is when we get our time off in Japan. We don’t have any travel plans. We will stay around the Minato Mirai area and take a look at some different areas around Yokohama to start planning for our next place to live. We won’t be moving anytime soon, but want to highlight and cross off some possibilities on our list. We will also be picking up a new digital camera. Our Nikon 4300 is now 5 years old, that is like 100 years old in the digital world. Time for an upgrade. It served us well, but it is extremely slow between shots compared to all the new point and shoot models and relatively large for taking it around everywhere to capture pictures of Arisa running around. I am leaning to the Nikon S7 (not sold in the US, but the same as the S7c without wi-fi) or the S8 for daily use and the Nikon D80, if I can get a good deal with the lens kit, to start my new passion to replace the motorcycle cruising world that I gave up (put on hold) when we moved to Japan. That’s all for now…
Merry Christmas everyone!!!

“F1 teams began testing after a brief break in action since the season ended on October 22nd. All cars ran at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on hard-compound Bridgestone tires, and it appears that Ferrari might have a handy advantage over its opposition as it begins preparations for 2007. “ (from Autoweek.com) Tune into the Speed Channel for the 2007 season to see who will win. I am planning to be at the Suzuka circuit for my first F1 experience in Japan. It should be pretty different compared to F1 races at Indianapolis that I have attended. Those were good times with my little brother.

Japan is called Nihon or Nippon by the Japanese or Nihon-jin.

Size: 145,898 square miles (377,872 square kilometers) – 62nd largest country by land mass and is made up of over 3,000 islands.
Population: 128 million people – 10th largest
Capital: Tokyo – the greater Tokyo area has over 35 million residents in a 5,200 square mile area (13,500 square kilometers). Tokyo is the World’s most populous metropolitan area. New York has more residents, but over a larger area.
Geography: 70%-80% is mountainous and heavily forested. Much of this land is not habitable due to earthquakes and landslides caused by heavy rainfall and tsunamis. Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire where three tectonic plates meet, Japan is shook by many tremors and occasional volcanic activity.
Transportation: Japan has 1,177,278 km of paved roadways, 173 airports, and 23,577 km of railways as of 2004. Transportation is highly developed with the use of trains, subways, street cars, and buses used in urban areas. Air transport is mostly operated by All Nippon Airlines (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL). Railways are operated by Japan Railways (JR) among several over companies and municipal governments. There are extensive international flights from many cities and countries to and from Japan.
Shinkansen: Known as the bullet train in the western world. In normal operation they travel at speeds up to 186mph (300kph) and have been tested at speeds 275 mph (443 kph). Maglev trains are continuously studied for use in Japan, but the current cost outweighs the benefits of traveling at speeds up to 360 mph (580 kph) in a train that floats above the tracks.

This is a pretty strange story from today’s Mainichi Daily News.

Mitsubishi.co.uk has started a study to bring the “i” to the U.K. Currently the 4 passenger “i” is only sold in Japan with a 660cc engine to meet the standards for the kei-car (pronounced K-car) class. The “i” has won many awards for safety and style in Japan. The engine is located under the rear seat (know as rear-mid ship at Mitsubishi) which gives superior front and rear crash results compared to all the other cars in it’s class. The “i” can be bought as a 2WD or 4WD model. Either can be equipped with an optional turbo charger.

The Mitsubishi Japanese “i” page can be viewed here.

I am sad. James Kim’s body was found on Wednesday, December 6. After his family was found safe, I had so much hope that he would he found in good condition, also. James was a Senior Editor for CNET.com and loved technology and loved his family even more. If you have followed the Kim’s ordeal than you know that he was a great man trying to save his family. If you want to learn more about James, please visit CNET (or http://www.cnet.com/), they have a great tribute to him. I love everything that has to do with computers and new technology and will miss James and the work he did for the community. I will pray for his wife and 2 daughters and wish that you will too.

James, thank you! You are missed by us all!