6 weeks after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, NHK online news announced that 27,931 people are dead or missing, and over 136,000 people are still living in evacuation in extreme hardship at Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. As the rest of Japan slowly but steadily recover from the earthquake, recovery is still far away for… Continue reading Social Media Balance Out Traditional Media, And Japanese Responsibility Starts at The Bottom
Tag: Project Kobo
Robot EVERYBODY Appreciates
At the InnoRobo I attended in March, we talked a lot about how the robots will be integrated into our lives. Here is a concrete case. Robot that everybody appreciates. Robot that was vital to diagnosing the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant. The 2011/04/17 Yomiuri Online article reads: On the 17th, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) succeeded… Continue reading Robot EVERYBODY Appreciates
In a nutshell: How innovations happen, how businesses grow
If you would search on the web with "Apple innovation" or "Sony demise", you would find plenty of interesting reads. Talk is easy. I do it all the time, and I often get paid for doing it. But to actually make a product or service that people actually pays for, and sell them in quantity,… Continue reading In a nutshell: How innovations happen, how businesses grow
Love of leather, paper
Designers with capability to create and has in reality created things that are truly wonderful to those designers who can talk about design are like real plants to fake plants. Mike Abelson is one of those real designer. He often talks about about his love of working with leather, and recently, he was telling me… Continue reading Love of leather, paper
Eating Plum Blossom Off The Tree Branch
"Eat it, eat it!" my husband said. So I think for the first time in my life, I ate (or at least acted like I did) a plum blossom off a tree branch. We were having a long walk today along Hayase River. We passed by small factories, vegetable gardens, houses big and small, elementary… Continue reading Eating Plum Blossom Off The Tree Branch
Longing for beautiful, long life, things that fulfills human needs
People who live long lives begin to yearn for things at some point in their lives, things that fulfill the human needs. For us, the aging population in Japan, who had good active lives, the desire for such things grow. We no longer want to clutter our lives with objects that titillate our senses, perhaps… Continue reading Longing for beautiful, long life, things that fulfills human needs
Contemplating Robots: Embedded parts that evoke emotion in humans
It was a happy accident that I found this video. I was looking up Shopsins that made my latest favorite stuff, 5 Year Diary, but ended up at Shopsins that is about food!  I was not expecting for robotics information useful to my research, but here it was! Robots are looking more like embedded… Continue reading Contemplating Robots: Embedded parts that evoke emotion in humans
Creating best fit workplace
Mike Abelson and Yuri Shimizu's Research is inspiring. Their ability to capture the spirit of things is amazing. I am stingy when it comes to spending my own money, but they make things so well, I end up buying them despite their price. I was inspired by their booklet , AT Work. I have found… Continue reading Creating best fit workplace
The Residence Inn, Starbucks, McDonald’s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectkobo/5262526291/in/photostream/ This was the longest stay for me and my family at a hotel. For 15 nights, 16 days, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Campbell, California. In the past, for this length of stay away from home, I would seek out short term rental of a furnished apartment, but taking past lessons about… Continue reading The Residence Inn, Starbucks, McDonald’s
Sandwich generation
Gretchen Addi and I both have older children and aging parents to take care. She said we are of sandwich generation. Our parents did not have to think much of how to die. Living long was good thing. Living long, and enjoying the fruits of life. Like most of things in our lives, things do… Continue reading Sandwich generation
Researching the aging market in Japan
Japan has had more elderly people aged over 65 than younger people aged 15 and younger since 1997. Above graph shows other countries are following the same trend as in Japan. What does this mean to me? As a 50-year old, it is about ME. And as a researcher, I am tremendously interested in what… Continue reading Researching the aging market in Japan
Things reveal themselves if we become interested
For about 7 years, I had firsthand experience in taking part in crunching numbers at a business unit. Before doing that, all the education I had was taking a course in accounting in college and all the actual experience I had in accounting and finance was managing my own young, small family finance. It was… Continue reading Things reveal themselves if we become interested
Reading on paper vs. online
It's been 5 days since I returned from the US, but I still have a jet lag. I woke up and got out of bed at 3:50 am. Before starting to work, I read online for nearly an hour about psychokinesis, para-psychology, Dean Radin, Amazon customer reviews on Dean Radin's books, University of Pennsylvania. At… Continue reading Reading on paper vs. online
FUJIKO SUDA 