Barcoded Gravestones

I think the obvious response to this is: Japan is crazy. But again, notice that the whole story is that some company is selling the product, rather than consumers actually reaching into their wallets and paying for their loved ones be buried in a keitai-friendly manner. So yes, Japanese companies sometimes come up with crazy products that get them a lot of attention, but I am not sure why we treat these gimmicks so seriously, as if consumers ever demanded such things. Wake me up when QR codes cover the entire Fuji Reien.

If I worked at a Japanese pharmaceutical company, I would send out press releases that we are selling “Strawberry Flavored Birth Control Pills,” and suddenly the English language blog world would explode into rapture upon discovering this latest proof that Japan is insane in a futuristic way.

Escalator Records Interview

If not the first, one of the longest interviews in English with legendary Japanese indie label Escalator Records. Interesting to see the arc of founder Naka: first he hates Japanese music and only listens to foreign indies, then he gets deeply involved with his batch of Japanese indie artists, and now he hates Japanese music and only listens to foreign indies. Everyone hates on my ’90s lust, but I’m telling you, it was an amazing decade for Japanese pop cultural self-confidence.