This is one of the pamphlets of the Japanese Embassy in Spain sent to Japanese people living in Spain.
The instructions here could be considered of common sense in almost any country except Japan. Fortunately Japan has a so huge security level in the streets that people is not used to worry about their belongs.
Since I started to live in Tokyo I never listened to any people to have any problems related to robbers. Read the rest of this entry »

Some stuff I found at home. I remember that when I was a child I played with this lens of the Linhof Technika. I didn’t know what it was.

This is an old photometer, maybe from 60’s of Sekonic.

This is an Universalsucher of the Linhof Technika. I think it is used to measure the crop factor.

Synchro Compur lens of the Linhof Technika.

Old Canon 70-200mm

Modern 14mm digital Canon.

Finally some family food!

The second day I went to Mijas. It’s a nice and small town near Malaga.
One of the things that I found interesting there were the “Burro Taxi” (Donkey Taxi) and the amazing number of Japanese people visiting it. In fact many restaurants and shops wrote everything in Japanese, English and Spanish.

Some pictures

There were a lot of Japanese people there. I talk to some of them and of course the last thing they will think during their travel is to find a gaijin tokyoite tourist over there :)

A double head gozilla.

Local child

This is a really nice chapel inside the rock. I’m not religious so I don’t know so much about it but it is pretty important there.

Donkey Taxi! I didn’t use it.

It’s already 5 days since I came to Malaga.
I spent many years in this city but now it’s almost 3 years that I didn’t get out from Japan so the shock is pretty hard. I realize that I have a lot of Japanese habits that I use everyday at Tokyo that are total nonsense in this environment.
These are some of the Japanese things I’m doing these days:

1. Try to make a reverence every time I say thank you or I apologize.

2. Apologize for actions that here, do not deserve any.

3. Miss the “irasshaimase” every time I enter in a restaurant. Stop at the entrance of the restaurant waiting for the waiter to guide me to my table. I just forgot that it’s the client the one that have to look for a table.

4. Explain to the waiter that I don’t smoke and see his face of “Ok fine, may I do something about that?”

5. When time to pay comes, I tried to go to the cash corner to pay. I just forgot that I have to pay in the table.

6. At 23:00 I wish to eat something and the idea was “let’s go to the cobini and buy something…” there are no conbini at all.

7. Mix Japanese words in daily conversation like: sumimasen, chotto, eeto, deshou?, daijoubu, so so, …ne?, sugoi!, hai, hai, hai….

8. I forgot that I have to bring a bottle of water because there are no “jidouhanbaiki” (drink spending machines) at every corner.

9. Remember that robber exist and that I can not go on the street with my wallet in the back pocket or the camera pending from my neck walking on every street.

10. Realize that the bus is not the train at Tokyo and I can enter slowly without the typical rush of everyday.

I still have a couple of weeks to spend around here.

Some pictures of this week

First we had to stop one night at Copenhagen. I found this fanta at a conbini seven eleven at Copenhagen in front the main train station.

Some tourism.

Dawn and ready to go to Malaga.

Bye bye Copenhagen

First day at Málaga.

A turn around in the downtown to see what changed in these years.

This guy tried to ask me 1 euro because I took a pic of him.

The city protector.

I think the port grown up since the last time.

No comment…

Arabian dancer.

Deep look.

Constitution square.

Some days ago I went to take the International Driver License. The process was really simple. My only difficulty was that I had no idea of what was the procedure exactly about. Anyway, the efficiency and organization of the Japanese organisms was excellent.
I have a Japanese driving license, like other Europeans I made the conversion from the European License to the Japanese one.

To those who wish to do the same, here you have the necessary information:

You have to go to the Tochou, at Minami Tower, second floor. You have information about this building here and here. You can ask for the Unten Menkyo (運転免許) for guidance if you want to.

You need a photo, 4×5cm.

You also need to provide your home whereabouts. Your actual home address has to be the same as shown into your Alien Card (外国人登録カード) and your Japanese driving License.

You need to show your passport, up to date.

Things to take care about:

If you want to take the photo there, don’t go to the shop situated under the Tochou, it’s really expensive, 1500 yen for 2 pictures. Just in the entrance of the traffic agency you have a wonderful machine that only costs 500 yen. Don’t try to take the photo in other machines in the area, or in Shinjuku’s station… I did not find any machine which could make 4×5cm photos. Finally I was trapped into the 1500 yen shop trap. Be careful!

If you have moved recently and the address written onto the driving license does not coincide with the alien card, you won’t be able to take the international driving license. To be able to change the address and take the international driving license, you have to go to the police first. You have one next to the Tochou. There, in less than 5 minutes, the change is made. I simply wrote a document, they will confirm your data. They printed the address in the driving license with a small printing machine.

If you have all these things, the process to take the international driving license will take no more than 10minutes and it will cost for the stamps 2450yen, more or less..
I actually lose more time searching for a photo machine which made 4×5cm photos, and searching for the police station.

The efficiency, organization and speed are incredible. Couldn’t we copy just a bit of these in Europe?

Some pics during the week.

During this month you can enjoy some exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka organized by Nikon

If you are in Tokyo area you can enjoy this three ones:

From Eimu Arino　“Japanese Landscapes: Hot Spring River” The Map

Yomiuri Photo Club East Japan Association, the Map

And the third one, I don’t have the post card:

KAZUO ISHIDA “Back and Forth” The Map

Internet was born as a free means of communication. And is still being so.
Almost all Constitutions of the so called civilized countries, that believe themselves to be free and even criticize other “undeveloped” countries, have, into their constitutions, a clause, a law, a reference, an article or a mention to freedom of speech and the right of being able to express what we wish in an anonymous way.

Before Internet turned to be the net we know nowadays, to publish our ideas was really complicated. We only had paper to do so and we needed a printing machine. Distribution was manual, slow and visible. Only few people could enjoy this privilege. To provide, at the same time, images, audio and video was unthinkable. It was even science fiction to think about means like the radio, the cinema or the television. We are only talking about 15 years ago, no more.

While we had all these limitations to be able to provide knowledge and ideas worldwide, Governments could have the “we-protect-freedom-of-speech” medal. It is clear that it was impossible to arrive to the mass and that the few ones that could were part of the same select club that had access to the plebs. This type of system has survived during centuries and now the system sees itself threatened, for the first time, by a new type of “innovation” that would enable the diversification and spreading of those who can benefit from the system.

Today, not a select group is a creator, nor can only a few lucky ones have a mecenas (sponsor). Today all of us can be creators of contents and a diffuser of knowledge, ideas and opinions. In this very moment is when new policies are made by several governments, which are put pressure on by companies and private groups which the objective of limiting the capacity of action of the anonymous spreading creators.

For example, in Korea they just made a law, according to which if your web site has a certain number of visits you have to specify your data clearly.
As well as enacting another “inquisitorial” law, the law of the three strikes idea “made in Sarkozy”

How does this sound to your ears? Weird? Nope. It sounds to “inquisition”, it sounds to “witch trials”. Time ago, Machiavelli said, into his book “the Prince”, that “innovation” finds its enemies among those who had success within the system that the “innovation” wants to renovate. Innovation will be sponsored by those that would be able to prosper with it. Once that “innovation” turns to be a “new system”, the circle rounds again.

The Inquisition was no other thing that a way to prevent “innovation” into the ancient system, so that it could enlarge its existence, keeping the interests of a few who wanted to maintain its power within that system. In our days we are living the same thing: they want to leave us naked from all creativity, allowing fear and silly norms to spread. Luckily, we have evolved and we do not do blood baths. Now we do not have a Mr. Torquemada cutting off our hands or pulling off our eyes, but we do have walls to break, in all ambits, so that the “new innovation” would not impose a “supposed new system”, allowing new people to benefit from that. “Do not sin, my son”, “follow the rules”, “fear the system”.

The key is not to create new system to smash the old ones under the sacred name of Liberty. The key is not to transform what can be a new way of understanding the world into a puppeteer theatre, where the strings are moved by the old same people. The key is to maintain “innovation” in motion, without any barriers so that all us can benefit from it, without letting it transform into another “old system” which, in a future, will become another “Inquisition”.

Between our hands there is the power to leave behind the mediocrity and the greed.

Today I went for the first time at the Tokyo 2.0 web community event. It was a really funny, interesting and productive night. I meet many new faces and many friends there. If you are in the Tokyo area don’t loose the opportunity to assist.

Some pictures of the event:

You will find more pictures of the event here at Jim’s blog