Thank you Anime Expo for a most bodacious time! The best part of attending Anime Expo is that not only do I get to meet old comrades but also meet a load of new ones too!
This group photo snapped at the end of my panel - thank you all for attending! I didn't think many would attend as they stuck my panel at Friday 8:30PM - which day and time slot would you prefer next year? Next year I'll ask for more time so that we can do more mingling.

The rest of the photos are split up so that you can actually see your face - please do annotate yourself so that we can connect with each other! If you are registering for the first time then make sure to leave your Twitter, Facebook or Blog in your profile/comment. The original sized version is on Flickr. The group photo that I took of you and voice actor Morikawa Toshiyuki and voice actress Sawashiro Miyuki will be uploaded later together with the rest of the Anime Expo coverage.

I love you America and see you again next year! But in the meantime, stay tuned on Mnet to watch Culture Japan Season 1 and 2 ^o^

Oh, and sorry some of you had your heads Mami'ed in the photo ><

Today we see Mirai-chan and Haruka-chan seeing the sights at Asakusa - make sure its on your places to visit list when you visit Tokyo as you can enjoy some of the more traditional Japan without traveling far away from the metropolis.

ち (chi) for "chochin"

Following on from the previous hiragana in this Moekana series which was た, today we learn "ち" (chi). Today's word is "ちょうちん” [提灯] (pronounced "chochin") which means "lantern".

The katakana equivalent of "ち" is "チ".

Example

You can use this in a sentence like:-
Ore no chochin wa omae no chochin yori ookii no sa
俺のちょうちんはお前の提灯より大きいのさ。
My lantern is bigger than your lantern.

Exercise

Write out "ち" 50 times on your face with a marker while saying "ち" 50 times with a mouth full of toothpaste.

All Hiragana in the Moekana series are tagged "hiragana"

Still in the US at the moment. Extended our stay to fit in as many meetings and filming as possible before heading back to Tokyo. Leaving Los Angeles tomorrow night on the 1AM flight into Haneda airport and will arrive Monday morning in Tokyo. Not got a lot of time to sit down in hotel to write hence the lack of updates ToT.

Have been meeting a load of industry folks which have lead to a few wheelings n dealings. Also spent much time with Good Smile boss Aki-san and Nitroplus boss Kosaka-san and learned that I need to be much more aggressive when it comes to growing my business.

Anyway here are some photos of Day 1 at Anime Expo 2011. Not many photos here from the exhibition hall as I was running around attending to panels and wot not. Only managed to finish my presentation between breaks until the last minute ^^; Some of my prezo is online at YouTube but if you recorded all of it then please do contact me and share.

My Day One schedule was the opening ceremony, Starchild panel MC, Miyuki Sawashiro panel MC, Miku Keynote opening, Miku Miku Dance panel opening and my panel at the end of the day. Thanks to everybody who came along to these panels. Will write up day 2, 3 and 4 on the plane back to Tokyo.
if you see yourself in any of these photos then do annotate yourself!

All AX related posts are tagged animeexpo and listed up below.

The Solar Marine uniform from the Mirai Millennium Universe is designed by Skan Srisuwan - lead designer at Square Enix for the Front Mission project. Kadokawa and Sega Sammy also decided to adopt the term Solar Marine and use it in the anime TV series Twin Angel that Mirai Suenaga will appear in - episode 4 is the one to look out for!

This most awesome Solar Marine outfit modeled by Ryomo is made by the most talented Arael.

Other doll related photo posts below with more at http://doll.fm

More design info and illustrations in the Mirai Millennium Design post.

「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©1998-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©2003-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
スーパードルフィー®、ドルフィードリーム® はボークス社の商標登録であり、その全ての権利を所有しています。

The Radio Kaikan in Akihabara is to be dismantled this year after being around since 1953. Its like a landmark in Akihabara that is packed with electronics, figures, doujinshi and all things otaku.

The reason the place is being dismantled is because its not built to today's earthquake resistant standards. These photos taken by Ken who kindly let me share here and on my Flickr has a couple of photos showing the cracks in the walls from previous quakes.

After dismantle which will take place this year, Radio Kaikan will be reborn as a 12 floor (10 above and 2 below ground level) fortress due to be complete in Spring 2014. For the time being, all tenants are relocating either to one of the 3 Radio Kaikan temporary buildings dotted around Akihabara or opening up new shop like Volks and Kotobukiya. This map has 3 areas marked in red where the new buildings are located.

Leaving you with the rest of the photos taken by Ken.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

And this photo taken at Akihabara many many moons ago! You can see the Radio Kaikan in the background and read about the History of Akihabara through photos.

Touched down in Tokyo today after being away for 3 weeks. First stop after Tokyo was France followed by Frankfurt with Los Angeles after that. Came back to Tokyo with a load of new comrades and wonderful experiences - it really has been an incredible 3 weeks which have given me more insight - especially into how I should be running the business.
Speaking at the Cannes Festival of Creativity and MC'ing for the Hatsune Miku concert were two biggies for me and am humbled that I was asked to fulfill the roles.

This photo taken this afternoon in my neck of the woods at Musashikoyama.

Zooming back in time - about 10pm-ish at Los Angeles International airport.

Didn't expect LAX to be so busy at night.

Checking in.

Time for some grub.

Sushi Boy! We make sure not to eat Japanese food while we are abroad as we eat it everyday over here anyway.

Our last meal in America is some burrito thingies.

Anybody been on the A380 yet? Whats it like?

Saying goodbye to some very good comrades. Jun is my Associate Producer for all things Culture Japan in the US and is also the man who made the US broadcast of Culture Japan on Mnet happen. Being able to meet so many folks from around the world is the best thing about this job.

Nice business lounge at LAX - free WiFi available unlike the lounges in Europe ToT

Managed to do a wee bit of work before boarding.

Flight was at 1AM-ish.

As it was late, the flight attendants just let us sleep instead of entertaining everybody with food for the first 3 hours. Unlike the lovely Swiss Air business class seats which lay completely flat, the ANA seats slant at an angle which is incredibly uncomfy! I tried to sleep on the floor instead for a while before an attendant asked me to return to my seat ^^;

Somehow did manage to get some sleep on the plane and woke up in time for brekkie.

Doing work on the iPad is much more convenient than lugging a laptop around back n forth about the cabin - it really saved my bacon for Anime Expo as I only had time to prepare my talk on the plane over from Germany to LA.

I think I only managed to fit in a total of 45 mins of Metal Gear Solid on the PSP over the 3 weeks of traveling ^^;

Land of the Rising Sun in sight. Original res here > http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5931807798_9d95b8c4f3_o.jpg

Mount Fuji towards the top left of the photo.

Tokyo Touchdown.

Today we arrive at Haneda International Airport.

Weather in LA was nice - got quite hot during the day but was cool at night. As soon as we landed in Tokyo we felt the humid heat hit us as soon as the plane door opened.

Got out in about 15 mins after landing - I love and missed Japanese service!

Sendai is right next to the most damaged areas after the quake. This year they decided to go ahead with the Tanabata Festival - an annual event that has been taking place since the early Edo period (1603).
Many folks thought that it was not appropriate to have such a festivity after the terrible disaster but it was thought necessary to continue the event to bring business into the area which will contribute to the recovery effort for the locals.

Unlike Narita, Haneda Airport is in Tokyo and is located near where we live so taking a taxi back home does not cost a few limbs.

Our taxi driver spent a year in California piloting helicopters and is now a part time taxi driver and detective.

Tis about 5AM as we head back to Meguro.

We has aubergines growing in our garden ^o^

Time to unpack and un-mami our Yuki-chan.

Daughters look so much better with their heads on.

Some snacks and a handkerchief which the illustrator gave me.

Various passes used over the past few weeks.

Picked these up from Rite Aid for my girls.

Didn't end up using this as I just walked off the stage to my seat ^^; How many of you attended the Miku concert?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Picked up this Kensington clicker for my talks. The USB receiver is also a 2GB drive which is rather useful. Had a Logitec one before but didn't work with a Mac - this one works out of the box with my MacBook Pro.

Unpacking my girls case of clothes.

Looks like I'll be collecting the 2012 AX staff badge too ^o^

Found these in Little Osaka - the shop next to the Bobba tea place in LA - nice fit for my girls.

A gift from the AX folks - orange Daruma!

All the girls back together again. Some of them nekkid after loaning their gear for the other girls at Anime Expo.

Managed to pick up some German beer mugs from nearby the Rhine. Hope they last long as I'll be using em everyday for tea ^^;

New pair of footwheels from Germany.

Saber sits in a gift from Greg Penny - perfect fit!

Absolutely gorgeous.

Picked up a 16GB PNY drive from an Apple Store in LA.

Also picked up a iPad HDMI cable from the Apple store which mirrors what ever is on the iPad.

Lovely quality output.

My new meeting bag - just needed something that can fit an iPad.

A load of gift artwork from comrades at AX.

Not sure when I'll get time to go through this pile of business cards - mostly from AX.

Eiji Seiun fanart? ^^;

Mirai in the AX brochure.

The Hatsune Miku official concert guide. How many of you picked on up? I heard many folks didn't even know there was one.

The concert guide comes with some papercraft Miku.

Culture Japan on Mnet.

Leaflet for my talk with Dentsu at Cannes.

Going through stuff that came in the post.

The 6 pack Mirai T-shirt is from J-List and the Mirai Millennium full color T-Shirt from Cospa which you should be able to pre-order from one of the following stores.
http://www.1999.co.jp/search.asp?Typ1_c=101&scope=0&scope2=0&itkey=%83%7E%83%8C%83j%83A%83%80
http://ow.ly/5BYqc (amiami)
http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?Word=mirai+millennium&x=0&y=0&Dae=All&Series=All&Dis=2
http://www.hobbystock.jp/item/view/hby-apr-00001709
http://www.toylet.net/
http://www.kidnemo.fm/

The Madoka bag is by Cospa from Toylet.

These huge banners that you saw at Anime Expo are available at Kid Nemo who ship worldwide.

After cleaning up in the morning, its time to go and grab some lunch. Its very very hot!

Ramen for lunch at Seiya.

Nommed.

Our local Palm shopping arcade. Summer festivity decorations are up.

Picking up some groceries.

This girl has something to tell you.

Catch of the day.

Still much to clean up. Too many banners in that corner make the room look smaller/darker.

The hole in the ceiling not yet fixed - a load of goodies fall through it ^^; Which of these tickle your fancy the most?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Office tidy and time to catch up on a load of mails and work.

Left two banners up in this corner. I had no idea I would be hanging them up here - if I knew then I would have designed lighter backgrounds instead ^^;

Ryomo is still rather nekkid after taking her clothes to AX.

Beer mug loaded with some PG Tips. Managed to get one for the girls too ^^

Reimu keeps the new chair warm.

I just love Nao-sensei's work! Banner available for purchase at Kid Nemo. Its made of a kind of coated cloth - you see them outside shops from time to time.

There were a few earthquakes while we were away but no damage on this end.

More from the Tokyo Arrival series listed up below.

Day 2 of the most awesome Anime Expo 2011. Done filming for Culture Japan and Mnet, opened a few Miku focus panels and done the MC for the Miku concert - which you may have missed if you came in late ><
Photos in this post document my day beginning with brekkie in the Green Room (Anime Expo operations) and ending with meetings ending at 3AM ToT

Also check out a load of other AX coverage over at Figure.fm - if your post is not there then it should be tagged "Anime Expo"

Cinnamon Toast Crunch - we don't have this in Japan ToT

Yuki joins me for brekkie.

The Green Room also just known as GR is the heart of the Anime Expo operations. Its usually located in the same hotel where all the guests stay. This time it was located on the 31st floor of the Westin.

Los Angeles Convention Center in the morning - a load of folks lining up for the first panels of the day.

There was a huge area at one end of the exhibition hall for tired souls to take a break and relax.

Cuuute!

Cute?

More tired souls.

Long cat is long.

Looks like somebody has been teaching their young ones well at an early age.

Filming for Mnet - Culture Japan is now broadcast across America.

The Pho King - never got round to going to his restaurant.

The green R2 is back!

AX staff comrades.

There was a bunker at AX for the guests to relax and recharge.

The exhibition hall at AX - I'll make sure to keep one day clear of MC'ing and Panels next year so I can spend more time here.

The Kid Nemo booth!

We sold out of all figma Mirai Suenaga! Thanks to everybody who picked her up!

The Mirai banners are available at Kid Nemo.

dannychoo.com readers start out young!

Meanwhile outside Nokia Theater, folks are lining up for the Miku Concert.

At the same time, after rehearsals, I'm nomming dindins with the rest of the Mikunopolis staff.

Fukuoka-san from Ascii Media Works - the man who made the concert happen. He and I are releasing a book later this year.

They are still sorting out the photos from the concert - will stick them in this post when I get em but for now here are the screencaps from Youtube. Just some of my bit below - if you recorded the whole thing including the "Camera Shy Miku" bit then please share!

Cant show you the nitty gritty behind the scenes of the Miku concert but here is just a peek at the equipment used.

Photo snapped just after I ran off stage and before Miku came on. I relax with a bottle of water for a while before taking a seat in the audience.

Concert done - back to hotel for work and meetings.

My partner in crime. For life.

Yuki is a cutie.

During all of this, there is a lot going on with the Mikunopolis website and a load of other project work with Kadokawa and Konami. Work is a load of fun but getting a breather from time to time is a toughie ^^;

At about 2AM, the boss of Good Smile Company Aki-san and Nitroplus boss Kosaka-san come up to the Green Room for a meeting to discuss their panel which is to take place on the last day of AX.

3AM - time to sleep!
All anime expo related posts listed up below.

Today we take a gander at Good Smile Company and what they have been up to of late in the United States of America. These photos taken on my recent trip to the US attending Anime Expo.

This is an aerial shot of the Good Smile Company warehouse/studios in Los Angeles which they share with artist David Choe.

Zooming back to the morning - meeting with Nitroplus boss Kosaka-san and Good Smile boss Aki Takanori in the lobby of the Westin hotel.

Trying to work out whats what - money in America is all the same color and size ><

Heading to the Good Smile warehouse.

Aki-san talks about how he used to be a part time teacher many moons ago.

Like the way you can stick a bicycle on the front of a bus.

The warehouse/studios are huuuge!

This whole place is basically a huge playhouse for David and his comrades to get creative.

They got a load of stuff to play with here.

Some artsome stuff.

The usual bucket O limbs.

Old school Robotech kits.

More artsome stuff. Dont ask what that pink thing is at the top right of the photo.

Trampoline! The first thing I do is give it a whirl - but its not very good for people like me who have spinal hernia - I get off after 2 bounces ^^;

I like these electric drum thingies!

Kosaka-san likes em too.

Lots to play with everywhere!

The second floor is filled with offices.

Aki-san gave this desk to Kosaka-san and I for our LA operations ^^;

Skulls were made by Good Smile!

Aki-san tries his dab hand at being the man of iron.

Nyan.

Retro transformers are retro. Whats your fave transformer?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Time to grab some noms before continuing meetings. Aki-san wanted some Farmer Boys before heading back to Japan.

Aki-san takes a liking to Glasses Companion Mirai-chan.

American food is gooood!

Another comrade likes Glasses Companion Mirai-chan.

These are just incredible - crispy Zucchini.

Back to the warehouse for more meetings.

Results of the meetings should be visible at the end of the year.

A few days earlier, we worked together on bringing the Good Smile Company X Nitro Plus panel to Anime Expo. The lady is Enna who helps out with GSC operations in the US.

We covered things like the history of both companies and projects that they are currently working on.

Time to give away some goodies!
Thanks to Kidnemo for preparing them!

The method of choosing winners is the traditional Junken.

Thought I'd throw these two photos here to keep the GSC related stuff in one place - meetings at the hotel before the panel.

All Anime Expo related posts listed up below.

Many folks think that my full time job is one where I sit at a computer waiting for mails to come in to be answered ^^;
After leaving corporate life at Amazon and Microsoft, I started a small company called Mirai. Based in Tokyo, we focus on spreading Japanese culture throughout the world through mediums such as web, TV and events.

Since 2007, we have accumulated clients like Good Smile Company, Bushiroad, Kadokawa, Konami, Ascii Media Works, Dentsu, King Records, Nitroplus, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Tokyo MX and the Japanese government. More details about what we get up to listed on my profile page.

Discovering Japanese culture has completely changed my life as you may have read and I feel an obligation to continue to share this wonderful culture with the world - I currently seek somebody who feels the same about Japanese culture and would like to help me.

Associate Producer / Project Manager (Part time > full time position)

I currently seek a part time member of staff and if all goes well then the position will turn into a full time one. As we are still a small company, I'll ask you to do a bunch of tasks - just like some of the stuff that I do including things like cleaning up, looking for hardware deals, using Photoshop and Illustrator to make graphics for print and web, work with all my clients and reflect their needs on the websites we run for them, use Final Cut Pro for editing our TV show Culture Japan, making sure that the camera, sound and lighting boys n girls are at the right place at the right time, working with the managers of the voice actors and actresses and making sure that they are also at the right place and time, organizing events and setting up booths at conventions, product, TV and anime planning, work with the various artists that illustrate Mirai-chan and more.

Qualifications/skills

If anyone from the disaster affected areas from Tohoku gets the job, I'll cover moving expenses to Tokyo and pay for a months rent.

Warning: With this position, folks wont be able to distinguish the difference between work and play anymore.

Apart from a full time position, I'm looking for the following freelance and remote staff. If you are interested then mail [jobs at mirai dot fm]

Video Camera Wo/men

Am looking for freelance video camera wo/men in the Tokyo/Osaka area. You need a good command of Japanese for this job. State which video camera equipment you regularly use and send links to examples of your work (YouTube etc).

Sound Wo/men

Am looking for sound engineers in the Tokyo/Osaka area. You need to have your own sound equipment/boom mics etc for this job. Little Japanese is required for this position.

Non Linear Editors

Am looking for Final Cut Pro 7 / Final Cut Pro X editors in the Tokyo/Osaka region who have a good command of Japanese. However we will be using Final Cut Pro X for the second season of Culture Japan.

Programmers

Am looking for a seasoned PHP, AJAX, MYSQL, HTML 5, CSS, UNIX guru for a long term contract which will turn into a full time position if all works out well. Please include in your mail links to web applications that you have worked on.

I think that's about it for now - am waiting for your mail!

Been having an interesting conversation with comrades and would like to extend the conversation with you - How do you choose which daughter to adopt? Is it the character or face sculpt or? For me its the face - I never use any of the characters default clothes and most of the bodies are the same - DD/DDY/Obitsu etc.
I also notice many folks paying premiums for the doll head alone - this Yuki Morikawa head only auction is not over yet but currently at 104,000 yen - for just the head and eyes - cost more than the original price of the whole shebang ^^;
This photo of Yuki-chan joining us for brekkie in France.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Previous related doll posts listed up below.

「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©1998-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
「創作造形©ボークス・造形村」©2003-2010 VOLKS INC. All rights are reserved.
スーパードルフィー®、ドルフィードリーム® はボークス社の商標登録であり、その全ての権利を所有しています。

I love this one! I look at it when things start to muck up - its kinda soothing so it keeps me calm ^^; Our Kanata Hoshikawa sits on the moon shining over the evening cityscape.

つ (tsu) for "tsuki"

Following on from the previous hiragana in this Moekana series which was ち, today we learn "つ" (tsu). Today's word is "つき” [月] which means "moon".

The katakana equivalent of "つ" is "ツ".

Example

You can use this in a sentence like:-
Sore wa tsuki de wa nai, uchu sute-shon da!
それはつきではない、宇宙ステーションだ！
That's no moon - its a space station!

Exercise

Type out "つ" 50 times (not copy paste) into a mail and send it to your teacher or boss while chanting "つ" 20 times.

Any other word that begins with "つ" that's otaku or Japan related that you can think of?

All Hiragana in the Moekana series are tagged "hiragana"

Unlike last year, this year we managed to get our own room inside Anime Expo for Los Angeles CGM Night. I thought that 4 hours was going to be enough but it turns out that Jacob and I only had less than an hour at the end to do some mingling ToT Will make sure we get much more time next year.
Also please forgive me for taking so long to get to you - not sure if there is a better way to do this. Maybe we could have an all day event so that you can come in when you want. We'll have some Street Fighter tournaments too and I'll ask some of the anime seiyuu to pop in from time to time to make it more fun.

We had a great turn out for the Fakku ( Feel Awesome Karma while Keeping it Up) and Culture Japan meetup - thank you everybody for coming along! I hope that all of you managed to meet new comrades and that you will stay in touch with each other.

If you see yourself in these photos then please annotate yourself!

The Mirai and Eiji cosplayers are Maridah, Hikaru Jan and Coolmikeol.

Jacob brought along some anime glasses from JList who seem to be running a giveaway. Folks who send in interesting poses/creative photos with the anime eye glasses will have a chance of getting their grubby mitts on 250 USD. The email to send photos to is [animeeyes at jlist dot com]. Any entries posted by Peter on their Facebook or their Tumblr will also win goodies. Folks can submit as many photos as they rike.

And the group photo with folks who stayed until the end. Original resolution here. See you all again next year!
Previous meetup photo posts listed up below.

Dollism (not Dhalsim spelled wrong) is a doll event that takes place in Hong Kong and the last one was a couple of days ago.
There were a zillion cutesome dolls who attended but my fave doll was Alodia!

A load of daughters at the Dollfie World booth! Thanks to comrades Natalie, Stepswalker, Anthony, David and Leon for letting me share these photos here and on Flickr.

A load more coverage below and in the Dollfie category over at Figure.fm.
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29653/DP6+PHOTO+SET.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29650/HKDP6+Pictures+part+2.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29649/HKDP6+photo.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29648/Jul17-2011+HK+Dollism+Plus6.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29646/DP6+loot.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29642/HKDP+6+Pictures.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29618/Event+Dollism+Plus+6+Hong+Kong+-+17+July+2011.html
http://www.figure.fm/post/en/29607/Hong+Kong+DP6.html
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150231354706747.312930.152138396746
Hope I haven't missed anybody! If you got some photos to share then stick links in the comments below.

Also while I'm at it, if your doll blog is not listed at http://doll.fm/ then lemme know in the comments too.

More doll related photo posts below.

The last time I wrote Desk Diary was in April - I think there is one missing since then but I cant find it ^^; These photos taken before I left for a trip around the world - first stop being France.

Since I got back from Los Angeles, I've been dealing with 3 weeks of work that piled up. Most of my time of late is taken up by Konami, Kadokawa and Culture Japan Season 2 production. Have just finished writing the scenario which has a nice balance of Japan and Pop Culture. Last time round I directed the show but this time round I'm directing, producing and will be doing more editing and filming too.

Shortly before leaving for France, it was time to gas the house again with some Earth Red. The common way to get rid of bugs in Japan is by using these canisters. You pour in some water and then run before the smoke gets you! You can see these in action below - different brand though.

The smoke from the canisters are designed to attack the nervous systems of bugs and should not be harmful to anything else around the house - but leaving my girls out with the smoke was something I just could not do! Here they are surrounded by a SSNS (Sonic Sheet Nebulus Shield) which looks like a plastic bag.

Finishing up work before leaving the house for a few hours - the house should be sealed with all windows closed and ideally you should be away for at least 3 hours. Plants are kept outside during the wipeout process.

Extra layer of protection for the girls ^^;

3rd floor wipeout initiated - evacuate to the second floor!

2nd floor wipeout initiated - evac to 1st floor!

1st floor wipeout initiated - ruuuuun!
For folks who are wondering what would happen if you stayed to watch - while the smoke is designed not to harm objects around the house other than bugs - staying to watch is generally a bad idea. Some folks however decided to give it a try...

Wifey and I go to Lalaport in Toyosu for dindins and come back after a few hours. Word of advice - don't get curious like I did and sniff the canister - or you will be choking for the rest of the evening ^^;;;;;

The wipeout process generally exterminates all insects around the house like this little fella. Cockroaches are my weak point - to me they are much more scarier than Predators or Aliens or Face Huggers.

Back from a meeting with Konami - they serve their own water during meetings.

iPad 2 get.

Picked up this Power Tube thingy to give my iPhone and PSP extra juice in case I ran out during outings abroad.

Charges via USB.

Lots of adapters to plug into holes in your body here and there.

iPhone charging in action.

Office always gets a wee bit messy before a trip abroad.

I got a few figma Mirai Suenaga's and some of them have very loose faces! I heard some of you have the same problem but you can do what I do and just plop on some blu-tac or putty.
The only good thing about this is that it reminds me how much I like Face Off.

Whenever I have meetings with King Records, stuff appears on my desk for some reason. Here we have the Bluray for Katteni Kaizo and Denpa Onna.

Gorgeous packaging. I've seen some packaging of officially licensed titles outside of Japan and they just seem to consist of a case, and disc. How important is DVD/Bluray packaging to you?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Afternoon tea and snacks.

Tidying up a few editions of Weekly Ascii - I loose track of which of these I appear in ^^;

Some of my entertainment of late.

Larger lettering for the Mirai Itasha bonnet.

Trooper will be back dancing on the streets of Tokyo soon.

Anime stamps are always cool - I love Chibi Maruko.

July is the month where we are supposed to transition fully to a digital broadcast signal - but am guessing that they will extend it a bit. Is your neck of the woods broadcasting digitally?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Will be making a selection of goods from the Moekana series. Got back some T-Shirt samples which still need work on.

This is my fave - Akumakko.

I love this one too! - the halo came out all odd because there was a glow on it - will remove it for the final run.

Taiko!

An up n coming Moekana - To (と) for Tokyo Tower - Mirai-chan in bus tour guide gear.

That hole in the ceiling is at it again - our new members of staff will be required to take some of these on a regular basis before I trip up over them ^^;
There is a poll embedded in this article.

The old office on the 3rd floor is now a guestroom / stockroom ^^; Need to make a couple of hours to clean up.

The girls cupboard is full!

When I forget to fix the white balance on the camera, photos come out yellow like this.

Got just a couple O figma Mirai for marketing purposes ^^; Will be giving most of these away soon.

Picked up Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for the PSP which I was supposed to play on the plane but only managed to fit in about 45 mins ^^; I've gotten lousy over the years - probably because I'd rather go in shooting than sneaking around ^^;

Charging up for the long trip.

Packing stuff for Yuki-chan.

A gander at some of the Sonicomi stuff. As you know, Mirai-chan is in the game but I only recently found out at the Good Smile X Nitroplus panel that I'm in the game too! ^^;

A load of Sonico stuff that the Nitroplus boss Kosaka-san sent over.

And the rest of the post are photos from this issue of Gemaga which features Sonico-chan on the cover.

I need to start practicing Street Fighter for the tournaments next year at Los Angeles CGM Night 2012.

The girls in Meruru are so cute! ><

I last about 5 seconds on the first round of Diva.

Looks like the reason to get the Nintendo 3DS - Senran Kaguya (閃乱カグラ) - another word for "Oppai Action"

Twin Angel PSP game. Speaking of which - Mirai-chan will be in Episode 4 of the Twin Angel anime next week!

The Nendoroid PSP game.

Previous Desk Diary photo posts listed up below.

Up for pre-order now are the girls from Madoka Magica in Nendoroid Puchi form from Good Smile Company.
Due out this December, each will cost 500 yen but retailers are selling a whole box which contains Madoka, Homura, Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko in their Puella Magi outfits and school uniforms. There is also one secret in the box too.

Pre-order on one of the recommended retailers below.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://kidnemo.fm
http://hobbystock.jp
http://jlist.com

There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

About to arrive at Makuhari. Will be at the Kotobukiya stage at 12 noon to give a talk.
Will post Wonfes coverage when I get back to base.

Snapped at the Wonder Festival 2011 Summer at the Good Smile Company booth Black Rock Beast in figma form looking very coolsome indeed.

All Wonfes coverage is being tagged "wonfes" and you can see previous posts listed up below.

And this is the original illustration by Huke (pronounced "Fu-keh") which you can see at his pixiv.

Continuing with the Wonfes coverage with goodies at the Good Smile Company booth. Was filming for most of the time so didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted and missed a load of figures - but you can probably find them at one of my comrades sites.
http://www.foobarbaz.jp/2011/07/wf2011summer_qr.html
http://akibahobby.net/tag/wf2011%E5%A4%8F
http://www.moeyo.com/cat106/wf2011s/
http://www113.sakura.ne.jp/~kotatsuga/cgi-bin/anews/ (right column links)
http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~rinou/
http://www.figure.fm/page/en/post/all/all/wonfes/all/all/all/1.html

The first photo was snapped at the end of Wonfes - the entire team of Good Smile Company and a few others who work with them.

I love cute Nendoroids but this has to be the cutest Miku figure I've seen ^o^

If you are looking for the name of a figure then just annotate it and somebody will usually jump into help.
Some of these figures are up for pre-order which you can do so at one of the following recommended figure retailers.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://kidnemo.fm
http://hobbystock.jp
http://jlist.com

This figure sculpted by a comrade from Shanghai.

Another figure sculpted by another comrade from Shanghai. It doesn't matter which country you are in - if you can sculpt please contact me with a sample of your work and I'll intro you to the right folks to get your work noticed.

Going to leave you with the rest of the photos for you to gander through while I go and prep more.
Thanks to Teddy who came along to help take a few of these photos. More can be seen later at his site.

There is a poll embedded in this article.

I attended the Good Smile Broadcast that they usually do after every Wonfes but this time they rented Tokyo Tower for the evening! Will post those photos separately.
All Wonfes coverage is being tagged "wonfes" and you can see previous posts listed up below.

Next of the Wonfes coverage are the enterprise booths. Spent most of my time filming so didn't get round to everything but you should be able to find all of it at the resources below.
http://www.foobarbaz.jp/2011/07/wf2011summer_qr.html
http://akibahobby.net/tag/wf2011%E5%A4%8F
http://www.moeyo.com/cat106/wf2011s/
http://www113.sakura.ne.jp/~kotatsuga/cgi-bin/anews/ (right column links)
http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~rinou/
http://www.figure.fm/page/en/post/all/all/wonfes/all/all/all/1.html

Thanks to the big bosses of AmiAmi and Nitroplus for taking care of Mirai at their booths. Also thanks again to Teddy for helping me take some of these pics.

If you are looking for the name of a figure then just annotate it and somebody will usually jump into help.
Some of these figures are up for pre-order which you can do so at one of the following recommended figure retailers.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://kidnemo.fm
http://hobbystock.jp
http://jlist.com

All Wonfes coverage is being tagged "wonfes" and you can see previous posts listed up below.

This photo post covers life in Tokyo since A Week in Tokyo 66. Spent a week in Shanghai before arriving back in Tokyo to prepare for a long trip abroad to France, Germany and Los Angeles.

Needed to do a load of prep work before the trip so I reduced the amount of external meetings down to a bare minimum - which is why this post is full of food pics taken around my local area ^^;

I was going to initially write A Week in Tokyo covering everything that's been happening since I got back from LA but didn't want to leave a gaping hole in my life - this series enables me make a record of what I've been doing in life throughout the years and helps me reflect on the past so that I can make the necessary changes for the future.

First photo - Roppongi station darker than usual. The sign with the smiley light bulb lets folks know that the station is running on reduced electricity consumption. The keyword here is "Setsuden" [節電] meaning "to conserve electricity." Ever since the Kanto Tohoku Earthquake, after the reactors went on the blink, folks in the East of Japan have been making efforts to reduce electricity consumption - most shops and restaurants will display a sign to this effect.

An evening at Lalaport toyosu while we wait for our house to be gassed. Lalaport also on Setsuden mode.

This is why I like to come to Lalaport - the Singaporean food is lovely! A bit too lovely because I ate two bowls of this ^^;

Their Hainan Chicken Lice is lovely too ^^

figma Mirai Suenaga looks after my wide angle lens so that it doesn't get stolen like the last one did ><

Planning to get our Mirai Itasha rewrapped soon.

Mirai Itasha cockpit.

Office back then.

Wifey's cooking is nomalicious.

Wifey's Singapore curry. We've run out of mixes so need to pick up a load more when in Singapore this November.

Somewhere on the back streets of Gotanda. Some old rubbing along with the new.

At the Sony Computer Science Labs. Been helping them come up with the official character for Kadecot illustrated by Shirahane Nao.

Curry lunch at Gotanda.

Taking a break from work with some afternoon tea and snacks.

Home made ramen ^o^

Dragonaut gets the Pachislot treatment.

Musashikoyama Palm - the longest indoor shopping arcade in Tokyo.

Musashikoyama Palm has a really nice Korean restaurant - this Bibimpap lunch set for 880 yen.

Started to get very warm in June.

My man Chris works at home in Saitama which is a 2 hour commute into the office. Does not make sense to make him commute 4 hours a day so he works at home and we communicate with Skype. He does come in from time to time when we need to go over plans of how we are going to take down the Death Star.

The top of those flight of steps has a great view.

The new Haruhi novel is out and takes the prime spot right outside the bookstore.

And joining Haruhi are the Moshidora novels. Anime culture is still strong in Japan despite what some may tell you.

Our small garden - wifey here in the middle of growing our cucumbers and aubergines.

I've changed my mind - my fave Japanese food is not Tempura - its Niku Jagga [肉じゃが] made by wifey ^o^

Workspace back then.

Final meeting at Dentsu to go over the nitty gritty for the talk that Akira Kagami and I are going to give at Cannes Lions.

The canteen at Dentsu has great food!

Leaving the huge Dentsu offices heading back to base.

Nichijou billboard to keep us entertained while waiting for a train at Shinbashi.

Sky on fire over Meguro.

Sushi for dindins.

Comrades around for dinner.

Working on the 2nd floor with Yuki.

At Lucy Pop for another fitting of the Mirai high school Summer uniform.

Switch to Softbank and get an Otousan fan to cool down in the Summer.

Lunch at Fujisoba - 400 yen.

The Yoshinoya at Palm goes overboard with Setsuden - its nearly pitch black in there ^^;

Chie from Native - very ecchi figure ^^; I like the way the top is like a box O tissue paper ^^;

Has to be the heaviest figure set ever - the tub is made of ceramic ^^

Trying to figure out how to take photos of an ecchi figure without being too ecchi.

Was just about to say that Kidnemo has her in stock but it looks like they just sold out ^^;

Not sure why they are called iCon chicken but Mc Dees has a load of them.

SNSD (Girls Generation) release their first album in Japan. My fave track is Gee - 48 million views below!

Musashikoyama Palm has a new Indian restaurant - tastes good!

Cute little fella - yours for only 339,986 yen. How much do dogs generally cost in your neck of the woods?

At Roppongi for more meetings with Konami.

Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi.

Konami reception - the lady staff have very nice uniforms ^^

Since coming back from Los Angeles, I've been spending pretty much all of my time on the Konami project which is why I haven't been able to write as much as I would like ><

Grabbing tickets at the vending machine for ramen.

Tsukemen [つけ麺] is a type of noodle dish where you dip the noodles in the soup.

100 years of transport exhibition at the Edo Tokyo Museum.

About to pass through the ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) before getting on the highway. It says 700 yen here but after you passed, the ETC unit installed in our car will tell us the actual amount deducted. There are usually discounts on weekends.

Rehearsing for the Los Angeles Hatsune Miku concert with Danceroid.

Filling up the Miraimobile.

Before filling up, one should touch the red hand to discharge any static electricity in your body or risk leaving a crater in the area.

Too wrinkly to call them pichi pichi oppai.

Regular routine of dropping off the recyclables.

Recently discovered that our sushi place do these Shirasu Gunkan which are rather yummy.

Tasty Sashimi Salad is tasty.

Who said oppai mousepads should be for folks over 18? My niece is about 8 and her mum said that she has a fetish for oppai - she couldn't keep her hands off the oppai mousepad ^^;

Lunch at Gusto - deep friend chicken on rice. 440 yen.

Brekkie is usually bread, fruits and cereal.

Am always playing with figma Mirai before dindins of late.

Spaghetti in soya milk at Popolamama's in Hatanodai.

Exploring the Hatanodai area.

There is so much to discover in Tokyo. We were cycling around for a while and came across many shopping districts like this one - but cant remember where it was ^^;

Wifey got a water dispenser for the kitchen which is rather handy. The dispenser is only on rental though and we subscribe to water which is delivered to our door.

Egg n tomatoes - love this dish.

Then it was off for a full circle around the globe. First leg of the journey in the Tokyo to France photo post.

Speaking at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes Lions France. Will post photos from the event separately. Was an honor to speak for Dentsu along other companies like Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Coke etc.

France was mostly work but did get to spend a little bit of time with my younger sister who was visiting Cannes with friends.

Then it was off to Germany where we had a few meetings in a little town called Mainz.

After Germany it was off to Los Angeles to work at Anime Expo as a member of staff and MC for a few of the guests. I gave my own panel too pictured here - thank you all for coming!

My TV show Culture Japan is now broadcast across America on the Mnet America network and I was at their studios talking about this n that.

Then its back to Tokyo after 3 weeks of being away - the journey back is photo documented in the Tokyo Arrival 4 post. Will catch up with whats been going on since I got back soon. In the meantime, previous A Week in Tokyo posts listed up below.