Archive for December, 2009

GREE vs. Mobage Town: You stole our fishing game!

A short FTV news report about a lawsuit filed by Japanese mobile gaming service Gree against its main rival, Mobage Town (DeNA):

GREE says a fishing game they developed has been copied by DeNA for their mobile social gaming platform Mobage-town, which has the largest user base among any mobile-only social network in Japan (14.5 million at the end of June 2009 vs. GREE’s 12.6 million at the same time). Specifically, DeNA is accused of having copied elements like the game’s top page or the fish-catching game mechanics.

GREE seeks an injunction and damages, saying DeNA is violating copyright and unfair-competition laws. Japanese media are reporting that both companies have been negotiating over this issue for months now until GREE finally decided to take the rival to court today.

As you can see from the demonstration in the video, the fishing games are very similar. The Mobage version looks like it is a bit more complex. It would be hard to imagine that the Mobage developers were not at least “inspired” by the GREE game.

(Disclaimer: FTV aired a commercial for GREE less than 5 minutes after this news report. )

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Johnny Depp interview on Japanese TV

Johnny Depp appearing on “Mezamashi TV” to give an interview about a movie he hasn’t seen:

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• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Road to Hajj – Japan

An interesting Al Jazeera feature report from November about members of Japan’s Muslim community traveling to Mecca for the Hajj (with particular focus on ethnic Japanese who have converted to Islam):

Part 1

Part 2

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• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Adult diaper commercial

A commercial for “Rehabilitation underwear” reminds Japanese TV viewers that they are living in a country near the top of the life expectancy rankings:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Ichiro Ozawa hugs American children

DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa (the shadow shogun) meets some American children and gives them hugs:

The American elementary and middle schoolers were invited to Japan so they could experience Japanese culture. As you can see from the video, their cultural experience includes eating a fine meal of hamburgers and Coca Cola before they travel to Tokyo Disneyland. For some reason, Ozawa feels the need to give a hug to each child.

Note: This video clip was from last week. Ozawa is visitng China with a huge freakin’ delegation of DPJ lackeys.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Mos Burger to sell tuna burgers

Japanese fast food chain Mos Burger has announced that it will be selling special tuna burgers for one month starting on January 6th:

The burger will sell for 320 yen and come in two flavors: bouillabaisse sauce and ginger soy sauce.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)