I recently attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center and observed a disturbing yet interesting marketing ploy. THQ Games teamed up with “Pyongyang Express” (a mobile Korean/Mexican fusion kitchen that cruises around LA) in order to promote the new game “Homefront,” which envisions a fictitious not so distant future in which a unified Korea controls most of the world. As I made my way to the Convention Hall I began to notice signs that read “check point ahead” and North Korean flags on vehicles in …

The Mainichi Daily News reports: “Products from computer and electronics maker Apple Inc., the company behind the hit iPod, iPhone and new iPad devices, were pulled from the Internet shopping sites of Japan’s major electronics retailers as of Tuesday.
The reasons for the move were not made clear, though one employee of electronics chain Kojima Denki revealed that the products were pulled at Apple’s request, while industry insiders say the U.S. company is attempting to protect its image as a premium brand and did not like the discounts being offered on …

In transportation news, JR East announced Tuesday that they have appointed their very first female bullet train operator to the Tohoku Shinkansen line. Sakai is now a member of a group of 400 male bullet train operators and began her first solo operation on April 9 of this year. I do not have exact number but JR Tokai and JR West have already had women actively operating bullet trains.

Hey BT’ers!  Check out  May’s First Friday’s at the  Apple Store Ginza.

Event Description:
Note:  Due to Golden Week Holidays next month’s First Friday’s will be held on the 2nd Friday.

However, the Black Professionals in Tokyo have a special event for this belated get-together: The Apple Store Ginza has invited the Black Professionals in Tokyo to a seminar on how small businesses can use Apple Mobile Technologies such as the  iPhone, iPad and iTouch, etc. to reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage in the market. This seminar is exclusively for Black Professionals Tokyo and our friends …

Asiajin has discovered a new website, Manga no Shimbun (Manga Newspaper) by KaBa Net, which offers news in Japanese comic style. He reports that Manga no Shimbun covers four categories, Politics/Economy, International,Society and Entertainment/Sports. Asiajin also reports that IT lovers can get their fix via Nihon IT Manga Shimbun (Japan IT Manga Newspaper). Click here to read more!

[Joshua Zimmerman] via the Wide Island View blog writes: “There is a very easy, and free, way to get a Japanese iTunes account without using a credit card. (You can also use this to get access to music, movies, and TV shows in the Japanese iTunes Store as well.) Just follow these easy steps.”
Click here for more!

Here is a report (with video) from tech entrepreneur and Dream and Hustle blogger, Ed Dunn. Ed visited Tokyo to network, attend Hacker Space Tokyo and discuss life and business in Japan with Terri MacMillan of Modern Media Japan.

[Dream and Hustle]You best believe when I was in Tokyo, I’m going to talk to people and make connects. When I was planning this trip, I got in touch with plenty of people off Facebook and other resources who I can meet when I touchdown in Tokyo. I have to get a quick …

Via U.S. Embassy News: Registration for Bilateral Investment Seminar Closes This Friday, 23 Oct 09
[JETRO] “This seminar is part of a series of annual events held under the US-Japan Investment Initiative to promote two-way investment between the countries. The program was established in June 2001 by the leaders of the U.S. and Japan within the framework of the US-Japan Economic Partnership for Growth.
Companies and individuals seeking new business opportunities are cordially invited to attend.
Date: October 28 (Wed), 2009 14:30-18:00 (Registration opens at 14:00)
Organizers: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of …

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Here is an interesting film that offers a different glimpse of Hiroshima.
[Via the Mainichi Shimbun] “A short film by a young American director, featuring a group of Japanese atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima, is starting to attract attention in the United States after receiving acclaim at a film festival in Los Angeles early this month.
The 15-minute documentary film, titled “Traces of a City,” was shot in Hiroshima by Paul Shepherd, a 28-year-old American, who studied image technology at the University of Southern California.”
Click here to read more.

Okay you Tweeters, here is some news that you can use from Asiajin. I’m waiting to see how this works with the iPhone.
[Asiajin] Twitvideo, a new video tweeting service co-working with Twitter, was released by DG Mobile Inc., a subsidiary of Digital Garage Inc., a Twitter’s Japanese partner which invested Twitter and has been running Twitter Japan’s localization and promotion since January 2008, on October 5th 2009. Click here for more!