Smile Though Your Day Is Crumbling...

Admittedly, it's not really easy to flash a smile when you're in the middle of a chaos, like working inside a train station. But for people in Japan, not smiling is almost a crime! And because of that (coupled with classic Japanese ingenuity), they created the Smile Scanner. I am betting it has the same principle/technology behind the Smile Shutter function of the newer Sony Ericsson mobile phones and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras, wherein it actually looks for your smile. Only then will you be able to click.

So why is smiling a prerequisite in the Japanese train system?

The Freakonomics section of New York Times Online tells readers:

Japan’s Keihin Express Railway Co. has set up “smile scanners” at 15 of its stations, where railway employees have their smiles assessed by software in the hopes of perfecting a customer-friendly look.

However, BBC reports that it's not really a compulsory thing:

Some of the busiest train stations in the world have installed computerised 'smile scanners' to help employees deliver a better service.'

Well, forcing people to smile is really something. But if it's for the sake of achieving satisfactory customer feedback, then let's all hold a peace sign, smile, and say "kawaii!!!"

*Image aggregated from Destination360.

**Parts of news article courtesy of BBC and NYTimes.

Ultimate Gundam Replica

I may not know the whole deal about Gundam, but I do collect the toys. However they all fall short of expectations against this gigantic Gundam replica that Japan has just completed. Geekologie has some info to share:

"To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the mecha anime/manga/toy/video game franchise, this 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) RX-78 has been erected.

Fifty points on the Gundam statue will emit light, and mist will shoot out of 14 different points on the statue. The 1/1 scale Gundam boasts a moveable head and a continuous stream of oh-man-this-is-so-damn-cool."

Wow...just like how we used to see it on TV--Gundam standing as tall as the city's buildings, zapping in on bad bad nemesis. :) Too bad if you're a die hard Gundam fan, you just can't take the statue home to add to your collection. :D

Image and parts of the text aggregated from Geekologie. To read the rest of the stuff, click here. Please contact the authors for permission to use the images commercially.

Japan In Danny's Eyes

Danny Choo has been around the web since forever, but I still could not resist featuring him here. He's got a very comprehensive, up-to-date account of life lived in Japan in an expat's point of view. As he tells visitors of his site:

"Over 2 million unique users per month visit this site for the exclusive figure coverage direct from the manufacturers, photos and guides on living in Japan, Japanese subculture and the occasional stormtrooper dancing around in Tokyo. If you are interested in these topics and are also interested in joining a community of folks who also like the same stuff then this is the place for you - but don't take my word for it read the readers definition of this site ;-)" (sic)

So there. If you want to find out more about the land of the rising sun, his site is for you. Click here to read more of his website.

Danny Choo also writes for Boing Boing.

Info aggregated from Dannychoo.com