Japan’s Coming of Age Day
Sometime in early January, Japan celebrates twenty-year-olds becoming adults. Coming of Age Day is time for them to dress up in kimonos, gather at the local city hall, and listen to bureaucrats tell them how important ‘adults’ are.
The new adults usually get drunk before, after, and sometimes during the ceremony since they’re now legal drinking age. They can also vote at the age of twenty, so in this clip we see some right-wing black busses shouting their opinions to the newly christened voters. The wing-nuts don’t like Communists, kissing in public, or parked cars in their way.
This Coming of Age Day is probably like any other; kimonos, rabbit suits, and big black busses..
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Kodak E-Revolution 2002: Mini OLED Screens
A short video clip of some mini OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens, apparently designed for cell phones.
Actually, at the dislplay booth, I thought I remembered reading these displays were prototype plasma screens, but my memory could be failing me; I couldn’t find anything online regarding plasma cell phone displays.. The crisp clarity of the video images on the tiny screens make it hard for me to believe they’re OLED..
This clip is from 2002, and it appears the Sanyo/Kodak OLED team has since been disbanded.. “Under a deal worked out between the two companies, Sanyo will first buy Kodak’s stake in the venture then shut it down.” - CDR Info
For the most thorough and cutting-edge news on Japan’s mobile scene, check out Wireless Watch Japan. Tell them TokyoDV sent you.. 
Vodafone Barcode Demo
Vadofone used to be called J-Phone in Japan; I believe Vadofone bought J-Phone in 2002.. Anyway, I stopped by one of their display booths in Shibuya and tested out their ‘barcode reader’. Actually, it looks more like a ‘mosaic’ code than bar code, but it works in the same way.
David Beckham was huge in Japan at the time, so at the booth you could take a picture of the barcode, send the photo to an email address, and receive a photo of Beckham on your phone.. Whoopee!
I think Vodafone was one of the first to successfully implement the barcode, which now can be found everywhere. Unfortunately, it didn’t help their business model in Japan as it seems they’re flopping like a football player in desperate need of a rest..
