Shiotsu Autotrade Japan - President’s Blog

Last weekend  I was lucky to find time for my family to take them out for cherry blossoms viewing.  Kyoto is undoubtedly the best place in Japan for viewing cherry blossoms and it is just 30 minutes drive from my home in Osaka.  Former capital of Japan, Kyoto is very famous for its scenic beauty – and it is a pleasure for eyes to watch its enhanced beauty during the Cherry Blossoms season. 

Cherry blossom are special highlights of spring in Japan. Very few countries have the pink cherry trees which get covered wholly by flowers.  Though Cherry blossom can be seen only for week or so around April first week, those few days are the most glowing days of kyoto.  Many tourists visit Japan specially to experience the beautiful cherry blossoms also known as Sakura in Japanese language.

Japanese people love to sit under the cherry trees with their friends and families and watch the beautiful blossoms while eating and drinking - this style of flower viewing is also called as Hanami. In Kyoto,  the main attraction is “Cherry Blossom” festivals which take place everywhere in Kyoto during this time. Apart from this, “Cherry Blossom Dance” is another attraction of this season.  Different places in Kyoto experience different types of cherry blossom viewing.  Heian Shrine experiences   ‘weeping cherry-blossom” trees while in Path of Philosophy one can leisurely walk through the shelter of  blossoms. 

The short lived beauty of cherry blossoms has inspired many poets and philosophers in Japan. The Philosopher’s path  or ‘Tetsugaku no Michi’ in Kyoto is the special street lined by cherry trees, where many poets and philosophers indulged in their creative pursuits.

If you are coming to Osaka for buying Japanese cars from the used car auctions, you must have a visit to Kyoto in your itinerary. It is here you can get to know the real old Japanese culture.  Kyoto’s beauty also attracts many film makers to carry out shooting in its beautiful locations. Kyoto’s cuisines are equally famous for their taste. In Kyoto  can also get numerous types of delicacies which can be Buddhist due to its great influence in Kyoto and also different varieties of vegetarian food.

Technorati Tags: cherry blossoms, Kyoto, Japan, Sakura, Japanese, Hanami, Philosopher’s path, Japanese cars, used car auctions

When I was watching Japan TV news this week, I was amazed to see a humanoid female robot which could not only walk and talk but also express emotions such as smiles, anger, and surprise!

This robot named HRP-4C is developed by scientists at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology, in Tsukuba city, near Tokyo.  And this very robot will make a special appearance in Tokyo fashion show, next week. So models like Kate Moss and Agyness Deyn are going to have an ageless competitor now as they do the catwalk!

This robot has been created for the entertainment industry, and will go on sale for about 20 million yen (US$200,000).  I wonder who will buy this robot at such a high price in this time of economic downturn.

The female robot has a feminine Japanese face, large doe-like eyes, a small nose and shoulder length straight hair.   It is 5′2″ tall, about the average height of Japanese women, and has 42 motion motors programmed to mimic the human like movements.

You can watch a preview of the video of this robot taken at Tsukuba city.

Technorati Tags: Japan, female robot, HRP-4C, Tokyo fashion show, Japanese

We wish all our customers and well-wishers a Very Happy New Year. Hope this new year will bring joy, prosperity and happiness to you.  And please don’t forget to enjoy safe driving.

In Japan, New Year (shogatsu) is an important holiday season. Most businesses are closed in the first week of January.  Japanese people would typically be with their families to welcome the new year together.

January 1 is considered a very auspicious day in Japan.  It is best to start the new year by going to temple or shrine to offer prayers and watching the first sunrise (hatsu-hinode).  People clean their houses, shops and offices before the commencement of the new year. The new year day is supposed be full of joy and free of stress and anger and people prefer not to work on this day. However, many young people take this opportunity of a long holiday to visit nearby countries for vacation.

For those who can not visit Japan to welcome the new year in Japanese style, I am posting here a picture of sunrise at the Itsukushima shrine in Miyajima island, near Hiroshima. It is considered as one of the three most scenic places in Japan.

Technorati Tags: Japan, New Year, Japanese, Miyajima

Sega Toys, a Japanese firm has created a 15 inch tall  girlfriend robot that will go on sale in September for around $170 (18,000 yen), and will target a market of lonely adult men in Japan.  

The robot girlfriend may not be tall and blonde, but she doesn’t complain about dirty socks ! She is big-busted, petite, very friendly, and she runs on batteries. She can sing, dance and - should the occasion require it - hand out business cards. She could prove to be a good companion for lonely-hearted men everywhere; she can even kiss on command. The friendly robot is named “Ema”  standing for Eternal Maiden Actualization.

Sega Toys says they want to break the stereotyoe image of robots where the robots are associated with strong, tough and battle-ready, and want to provide a robot which is friendly and interactive.

There will be a big demand for this friendly robot when it will be released.  If any of you would like to own this robot, I can arrange to get one for you.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, girlfriend, robot, Japan

Kinokawa is a small town in Wakayama prefecture of western Japan. There is nothing special about this town, but a cat named Tama has made the town very famous in Japan.  

Tama, a 9 year old calico cat is appointed as stationmaster of Kishi Station in Kinokawa. She has been officially working for last two years. Two other cats were named deputy stationmasters at the same Kishi Station. Stationmaster Tama, wearing a formal railway uniform cap, and two other cats often welcome passengers at the unmanned Kishi Station. The railway company feeds her in lieu of salary.

In Japan, you will often see small sculptures of lucky cat called Maneki Neko. These cats are supposed to bring luck.  Tama is also bringing luck to Kinokawa town. The station went unmanned in April 2006 as the railway line was losing money. But since Tama was appointed as the stationmaster, number of passengers using the line increased dramatically. The Wakayama railway company  expressed its appreciation of the cat’s role in boosting business by promoting her to super stationmaster and also by giving her a spacious stationmaster’s office equipped with a ventilation fan and a toilet.

The operator of the grocery shop at the station has been keeping the three cats. Tama became a national star when she appeared in books and documentaries.  She is also set to appear in a French documentary film about wonder cats around the world.

Technorati Tags: Kinokawa, Japan, Tama, cat, Station, stationmasters, Maneki Neko

Golden week is over now and people are getting back to busy work life once again in Japan. To those who may not know what is ‘Golden Week’, it is a group of national holidays in Japan, beginning with April 29 and ending with May 6. It is not only one of the longest holidays in Japan, but also one of the most popular holidays. Many businesses close for about a week to 10 days depending on the calender. So, if you are going to Japan on business, you should never go during the Golden Week. However, if you are looking for a lovely time of the year and get a first hand experience of Japanese culture, by all means, you should visit during this period.

Many Japanese take this holiday as an opportunity to travel overseas as well as inside Japan. So, many sightseeing and amusement places are very crowded at this time. Also, airports and train stations in Japan are overflowing with people. It is extremely hard to get reservations for accommodations and transportation around this time.

Apparently the origin of Golden Week comes from the movie industry. They thought it would be a “golden opportunity” for people to have the time to go to the movies. Major holidays in the Golden week are birthday of the former emperor Shouwa, Constitutional memorial day, and Children’s day.

Technorati Tags: Golden week, Japan, Japanese, culture, holiday

Japanese Mini-Trucks also known as Kei-trucks are normally used as work trucks in Japan. But these days some Drift enthusiasts are modifying these truks for Drifting. So do not be surprised if you see a Japanese Minitruck competing with Nissan Skyline sports car in a Drift Event.

Well, there is always some excitement for those who want to try something different. And if you watch this video, you will definitely agree that it is indeed fun to watch these trucks doing challenging course at top speed in drifting events.

Though we do not deal with modified mini-trucks for Drifting, we can definitely supply new or used mini-trucks for other purposes.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, Mini-Trucks, Kei-trucks, Japan, Drift, Drifting, Nissan, Skyline

In my earlier post about Nissan’s Diversity Drive for its female workforce, I had mentioned about the limited role women in Japanese Car Industry and how Nissan is planning to change its corporate culture to include more women.

I recently came across the book Why Women Mean Business which gave a similar message looking at the global corporate culture. This book suggests that gender equality in the labour force could increase GDP by as much as 9 per cent in the US, 13 per cent in Europe and 16 per cent in Japan.

I agree with this view. Women have become probably the greatest neglected resource in business, both in their productive potential as employees and their market potential as buyers.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of  Nissan,  recently mentioned that women directly made or influenced two-thirds of car purchases in Japan. So women definitely play a big role as buyer in Japan. As per Nissan’s surveys, 80 per cent of women buyers and half of men would prefer to see women sales executives in car showrooms. Yet only one out of ten salespeople in the Japanese car industry are women.

Companies are learning that they need to change how they market to women. And to start with, I have included my wife and one more female staff member to give more attention to our women buyers.

Technorati Tags: women, Japanese, Car, Nissan, Japan