Shiotsu Autotrade - President’s Blog

This month when I travelled to China on a business trip, one of my friends who is in the exports business, presented me with a Marlboro cigarette box.  As Marloboro is not one of my favorite brands of cigarette, I refused it politely.  But he insisted that I open it and have a look.  When I opened it, I was surprised to find that it was a fantastic cigarette box which can hold cigarettes and it also had a functional mobile phone.

This Marlboro cigarette box has GSM dual band mobile phone, and it also features a 1.8 inch LCD which offers a display of 260,000 colors with 176 x 220 pixel resolution.

In Japan, I have not seen mobile phones like this; and I can not use this one in Japan, as GSM mobile phones are not supported in Japan.  But this product would be a hit in countries such as the United States, Australia, or England.

This Marlboro phone costs only around US$120. If any of you are interested in importing this phone on a large scale, please get in touch with me. I will introduce my friend to you.

Technorati Tags: China, exports, Marlboro, mobile phone, Japan, import

We had a long holiday in Japan this week because of the Obon festival. Most Japanese people go to their ancestral places to pay respects to their ancestors during this period. All the used car and truck auctions in Japan were closed this week. I took this opportunity to visit Thailand and India on a business cum pleasure trip.

India is a colorful country and trucks are no exception.  During my visit to Mumbai, I could see many typical Indian truck designs - often decorated in a colorful way.  The body of the trucks is often built in private workshops, and it is constructed specifically to be decorated.  The workshops employ skilled craftsmen who specialise in truck design and decoration. I personally feel that the decoration is a way to show respect for the vehicle.  In Japan too, we have decorated trucks commonly known as ‘dekotora‘. I will introduce ‘dekotora’ in my next post.

I could also see many old designs of  trucks in India - still in running condition.  It may not be possible for us to see such trucks in Japan, except in a museum.   I have nothing but the greatest admiration for the people around the world who can keep old cars and trucks running forever.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese, used car, truck, auction, India, decoration, dekotora