ETC-Global-JP Gets a Visit from Ira Fay, Game Designer, Electronic Arts

September 15, 2008... On Monday, September 15th, ETC-JP welcomed Ira Fay, a major supporter of the ETC and an alum, (class of 2004). Ira was on his way back from Shanghai where he was working with a team on the newest casual game for the Pogo Division of Electronic Arts where he works as a Game Designer.

Ira, on holiday for a few days in Japan, made it a priority to stop at ETC’s newest campus in Osaka, Japan. He came to meet and give a seminar lecture to the SHARP student team...imparting his wisdom gained from his experiences working at Electronic Arts. His focus was on casual games in general and more specifically as they pertain to his current position as Game Designer in the Pogo Division.

Present were Kunjel Chawda (via SKYPE from Seattle), Sean Kelly, Heejun Kim, Benjamin Taylor and faculty advisors, Dr. James Kuffner and Michelle Macau.

- Michelle Macau

Danjiri Matsuri

Masako Terahara, Heejun Kim, Benjamin Taylor, Sean Kelly, Michelle Macau

September 14, 2008... The ETC-JP team made its way to Kishiwada, a city south of Osaka and joined thousands of spectators from all over Japan who came to view the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri Festival.

Described as the “running of the bulls” except with portable shrines (danjiri), the 300 year-old festival began as a spiritual time to pray for an abundant harvest. The 34 shrines or floats, from individual neighborhood guilds, are hand carved by local carpenters, and weigh upwards of 4 tons. They are paraded through the town of Kishiwada for two full days in mid-September.



Not motorized in any way, each shrine is pulled by long ropes by 500 to 1000 citizens of Kishiwada. Men, women and children of all ages join in this celebration. Working both front and rear levers in unison, the danjiri teams literally skid their heavy floats around each street corner…done quickly to the beat of drums and shouts of the pulling team, corner turning is one of the most dramatic elements of the festival.

The excitement was made all too clear when in the late afternoon, one of the floats turned a corner and, right before us, several people stumbled. Quickly, the danjiri team working together pulled on the ropes and was able to slow down and control the heavy shrine. Meanwhile, those who stumbled were assisted by other team members and the tragedy was happily avoided.



The ETC'ers, escorted by Japanese language sensei, Masako Terahara, also had the opportunity to visit the Kishiwada castle and try on happi coats at a nearby second hand kimono shop.

- Michelle Macau

Nintendo museum Arashiyama

We took a trip on Sunday to Arashiyama to see the Nintendo history museum. It was great. Just to the right of the entrance they were selling DS systems and a game I haven't seen anywhere else. Just to the left of the entrance were lockers in which to check your shoes, bags, and expectations. The history of Nintendo, you must remember, is about 30 years of video games preceded by a long and rich era of traditional Japanese poetry playing cards.


That isn't to say the influence of modern Nintendo wasn't present. The first 20 minutes of the museum is an interactive room with a floor full of HDTVs. Specialized Nintendo DS units provide 2 interactive exercises- navigating a bird's-eye map of the area and locating specific cards from Nintendo's original game, as well as location-sensitive detail on each card on a wall display that spans the periiter of the room.

The next room has another pair of interactive experiences- a 2-screen immersive session of a simplified version of the actual card game, and round standing consoles with a series of minigames based around the cards and poets, in a peaceful virtual koi pond.

The second floor of the museum is a card showcase, with multiple decks from various eras and a giant tatami room containing a series of manequins representing poets featured on the cards from various eras in Japan's history.


The DS software for sale includes the 2-screen card game and a version of the map exercise. I bought a copy for myself if anyone wants to see it when I get back. Michelle could be convinced to buy a copy for the ETC if anyone expresses an interest. Unfortunately, it's only available in Japanese, and thanks to Nintendo's recent push to include more educational incentives in software, it includes a fair bit of kanji and requires a significant knowledge of classical Japanese poetry to play well.

Games

A couple weeks ago, I died and went to heaven. It turns out there are a lot of classic video games in heaven, which is more or less what I expected.A lot of classic games. No, really. A lot.

As in walls completely full of things that haven't been seen in the US in decades, if ever. All for quite reasonable prices.
I'm not entirely sure what happened, the details get kinda fuzzy around the time I found Star Ocean: Blue Sphere mint in shrink-wrap, but I woke up $90 poorer with an entirely too cute PC Engine, half a dozen games, and some nice pics. I hope to find my way back some time.

Danjiri Matsuri

A couple weekends ago we attended a local festival called Danjiri Matsuri. A Danjiri is a giant wooden shrine on wheels. Matsuri apparently refers to "over a hundred people from the particular town hauling something all over creation and taking the corners at ridiculous speed." In addition to the danjiri themselves, there were plenty of vendors and festival food to try- roasted squid tentacle, grilled whole fish on a stick, fried Pikachu, you name it. We also spent entirely too much time with a wonderful if potentially crazy kimono shop owner. He gave us all discounts, which was nice, and he loaned Ben a pair of real-looking katana to have him stand in front of the shop and do publicity stunts... I'm still not sure how to assemble a slide show here (the whole back-end is in Japanese), but I'll try to transfer our pics from the trip onto Randon in the near future.

Towels

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels...

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough."

quotation from The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams www.douglasadams.com

Unsurprisingly, the same holds true for getting around Japan. A towel is one of the more useful things you can have in your possession at most times. It is useful for, among other things, fashioning an impromptu gaijin twist-headband or turban, placing in your lap as a substitute for the traditional western napkin (Japanese napkins are tiny rectangles of nonabsorbant tissue paper measuring perhaps 6"x8" unfolded), mopping the sweat off your face after a few hours running around one city or another in the hot muggy pseudo-summer months, sheltering from the rain when you accidentally leave your umbrella at the office/apartment, or simply drying your hands (the bathrooms near the ETC office are strictly bring-your-own-towel). Traditional Japanese towels are not incredibly absorbant by western standards, so bring your own bath and beach towels if you want them. A small Japanese hand-towel, however, will suffice for day-to-day keeping-with-you, and should run no more than $3 (300 Yen) at a local convenience or souvenir store.

Surviving ETCJP 02 - The Spaces

- Slide Show of ETC Spaces -

ETC Japan located in Osaka's harbor area of Suminoe may be bigger than you realize. Despite only having a handful of students these past two semesters, ETCJP has the housing capabilities for several teams with as many as 4 individual project rooms and 2 teams could easily share a single space as they equate to the size of roughly 2 ETC Pittsburgh lounges. It's my hope that in the future we can fill such a large space. It's really big!

The ETC provided apartments are quite large as well and have the amenities needed to survive in Japan. Here is a breakdown of some of things (not including objects left by previous students) that are in the apartments:
[Apartments]
Rooms:
- Western Style room
- Tatami (Japanese style) room
- Toilet closet
- Bathroom area with separate bathing space
- Living area with attached smaller dining area
- Kitchen
- Hallway
- Patio
Bathroom:
- Washing Machine
- Shower
- Ofuro (Japanese Bathtub)
Kitchen:
- Pots and Pans
- Silverware
- Chopsticks
- Refrigerator
- Gas Stove
- Tiny Oven in the stove about 6 inches wide, a foot deep and shallow
- Sharp kitchen knife
- Chopping board
Living Area:
- Table
- 4 Chairs
- Tiny, legless (doggy) couch
Sleeping Areas x 2:
- Japanese Futon
- Comforter
- Thin Blanket
- Pillow
General:
- 2 Space Heaters
- 2 Fans
- Lights for each room

Things to Remember to bring:
- Towels
- Deodorant (hard to find stick kind in Japan)

Some of the Apartments may include extra:
- Rice Cooker
- Blinds
- Water Heater or Hotpot
- Drawers, Tables or Shelves

It's also good to bring creature comforts of your own. I for one brought a body pillow and a PS2 with me and so have other students in the past. A couple of us, including myself, brought monitors as well so we can enjoy digital media as well. I also find it nice to appreciate something from time to time from my hometown. Luckily I can buy Heinz ketchup here, which satisfies me. Previous students have had things like hot sauce, Hershey's chocolate and books brought from home. Photos are always nice too.

The office is comfortable and has a lot of space to move around. There is a Wii, a small lounge area (for now), an area with bean bag chairs and fold out furniture to crash on. There's also a refrigerator, microwave oven/toaster, water heater and tea set. If space is available, we'll also set up an individual Skype room for private calls to the states. The ATC, in which the campus is located, and the attached WTC have huge shopping areas with tons of choices for food. There's also several convenience stores inside. If this campus has one serious edge, it's that you really REALLY don't need a car. You can get anywhere in the country by trains and subways and a wide variety of food and snacks are right down the hall. It should also be mentioned that there is a wide range of professional video compositing and sound resources available on the floor above us in the iMedio offices. All in all, it's a good campus with a lot of space and the appropriate software to work. We're in the process of getting a computer hardware upgrade as well.

Come see for yourself!

Surviving ETCJP 01 - Language

Some people may tell you otherwise, but it can be very hard to get around Japan only using English. Even a handful of Japanese can be very helpful for finding where you're going, getting food, asking for help, etc. I can't teach you Japanese (I barely know much myself), but I can introduce you to a few things that have come to my aid.

Japanese consists of three alphabets: hiragana for native words, katakana for foreign/borrow words and kanji, a complex yet meaningful series of thousands of characters borrowed and adapted from Chinese. Though there are some signs that will use Roman characters (romanji) to spell out things phonetically, in order to read most things in Japan, you need to have some grasp of these characters. Here is an online resource with charts that can explain things in more detail:

http://www.japanesein20weeks.com/basics-hiragana.shtml

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Even Japanese people sometimes have difficulty with their own complex language and you'll notice that a lot of them often carry an electronic pocket dictionary. These dictionaries can run anywhere from 50 to 1500 dollars based on the sophistication of the software. Instead of buying one of these stand alone dictionaries, a lot of the previous ETCJP students bought a specific piece of dictionary software for the Nintendo DS:

DS Writable Kanji Dictionary is very useful because you can find the meaning of characters simply by writing them into your DS. Useful!

I found the software for sale online here, but I paid half that when I bought it in Japan: (Can you hold off?) http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Dictionary-Sonomama-Rakubiki-Jiten/dp/B000O2S9VQ/ref=pd_sim_b_68

A free game created by Michael Herring, one of my fellow ETCJP pioneers, can help you drill kanji and Japanese words in a fun way!: Kanji Invaders

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Knowledge of basic Japanese grammar can help you decoded bits and pieces of what is being said to you. A standard Japanese sentence generally starts with the Subject followed by the Predicate and then ending with the Verb, but even that can change. All in all, the Japanese make sense of it using things called Particles. Wa, Ga, Wo, Ni, He, Ka, Yo, etc. These single character place markers establish everything from what it is you're talking about to whether you're asking a question or not. I have yet to find a good web resources for Japanese grammar, but I can recommend the following books:

Japanese - The Spoken Language

Japanese in MangaLand 2

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Finally, a handful of commonly-used, idiomatic expressions can be very useful. "Toire wa doko desu ka" or "Where is the bathroom?", could you imagine getting by without that? I found a couple sites here that have a few, but honestly you can find resources like this anywhere. Be prepared!

Conversational Japanese Survival Phrases

Japanese Phrases for Travelers

- Bennosuke

Kyoto!!!

I'm supposed to be working on design documents right now, but I'm going to take a moment to update the world at large on what's kickin' here in Osaka. Picture, if you will: a palm tree. Past it you can see an industrial harbor, with a large smokestack puffing white clouds straight up into the air - blue water, blue sky. To my right, a hiragana/katakana chart, photos of friends and family. To my left, a Skype brainstorming session. Through the open window, you can hear music drifting up from today's motorcycle expo taking place on the outdoor patio of the Asian Trade Center.

Yesterday, we went to Kyoto. Before I ever arrived in Japan, this was the city I most wanted to visit. Turns out, it's only an hour or so by train. I intend to be there as many Sundays as possible. I can't imagine there are many places on earth that are better for going to "church." :)

(Sorry, Dad.)

Kyoto is totally different from Osaka. My Japanese history's pretty shaky, but I do know that it was the capital of Japan for a long time - Tokyo's role as capital is surprisingly recent. So many temples. So many high-quality souvenir shops. If my budget can possibly allow it, I want to rent a kimono and get all dolled up geisha/maiko style and wander around Kyoto in little wooden shoes. Which means, of course, I'll need to buy a fan... maybe some hair doo-dads.... these things are essential, you understand. Not frivolous at all.

Pictures and other team members' takes on Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, and Kobe may (or may not) be coming soon.

Also, the weather's warming up to something like springish; life is good.

新しい自転車！！！

Hey all, just got into the office today. Michelle, Jason and I went to コーナン (Conan's is a large department store like K-mart) to buy some things for around the house. While we were there, the ETC gave us a 10,000 yen allowance on bicycles, so we all got one we liked. Thanks Don! I bought a 20 inch tall folding bike, with a light and lock, while Jason and Michelle got larger basket bikes. I want to see if there is anyway I can fold up my bike and sneak it onto a train, then when I get to my destination, ride it around and explore. We're still not entirely sure where we can lock the bikes up legally, so we left them at the apartment today.

Last night I stayed in the office pretty late putting together some lanyard designs for Michelle and ETC Japan branding. You have to be careful here at night because the last train leaves at about 11:52 PM! We don't have any place to crash here at the ATC yet, so getting stuck could be very uncomfortable. Not to mention all of the tentacle monsters wandering around... Getting to the office from our apartment takes almost the entirety of a tram line (the New Tram line; ニュートラム), so walking or even taking a bike is a non-option. In the near future, our office will have partitions in the lounge area and some comfortable furniture which should allow us to sleep here if the need arises. There are also showers on the upper floors.



I'd like to take a moment and thank Yoshi (Josh Seaver) and Laura Pliskin for helping us get this campus under way. ETC Osaka and all of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for these guys, so ありがとうございます! (v_v)

Despite the cold weather--It snowed again today!--things are going well here. Michael just got our printers working, love is in the air after Valentines Day, and we're making some good progress with our project. Pretty soon Ross, Ray Ray and Senator Wiksy will be coming here to visit. That'll be a fun time, but things'll be quiet here with just Julie, Jason and myself while the others are at GDC. Warm weather and a full team are on the way. I can't wait.

- Bennosuke

In Japan Again!

I visited Japan as a student during the during the fall semester, of 2004, of my undergraduate degree. I studied at Kansai Gaidai and lived with a host family. Though the experience was most definitely invaluable, I always wanted another chance to revisit Japan. And, three and a half years later, here I am again! This time, I live in an apartment with Bennosuke, and the commute to school is much shorter than my previous time.

Waves of nostalgia washed over me during the past two weeks. Readjusting to living in a very tight and cramped space, having no central heating, riding the trains, and dealing with most businesses closing at 8pm hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be. I'm still ecstatic to be back in the land of the rising sun, though!

During our first week, Mike, Ben and I had a chance to visit Nipponbashi. This is the home of Den Den Town, the shopping district where I spent most of my money and time during my previous visit to Japan. I showed them to my favorite stores that sold video game and animé paraphernalia. I hope to be able to manage my money better this time around, which means fewer trips to this little chunk of my personal paradise.

I look forward to many fun and exciting adventures with my fellow students!

Tezuka Museum Video Tour

To follow up Julie's post, here is a video tour of the Tezuka Museum. I took these videos to document how awesome and cute the place was, because you can find Tezuka's work in books or on the internet but this place itself deserves it's own recognition. Check out the ETC-Osaka Picasa page for more photos by clicking the slideshow to the right.

The Third Floor of the Museum


Kimba Mural outside on the way to the Toilet


The Bottom Floor of the Museum


Close up of Timestamped Tezuka Works on the 1st floor


Video from Inside the Tezuka Animation Studio

- Bennosuke

Julie checking in

Thanks, Ben, for setting up this blog! I feel so official, and all cutting-edge-like.

Seems like I might as well tell an Osaka story while I'm here.... Yesterday was a holiday in Japan, and we spent the day soaking in some culture as part of our elective class. First we took the train out to Takarazuka, where we visited the Tezuka Manga museum. Apparently, he's sort of the Walt Disney of Japanese cartoons. I am now a BlackJack fangirl. He's soooo dreamy. They had a lot of original art and old comic books, and a very cool software lab where you could draw and animate your own characters, or play around with a coloring book animation program sort of like the Children's Hospital kiosks that an ETC team made a few years ago.


























Next, we went to a Takarazuka show. It was amazing. The first part was a play, the second part more like a crazy Vegas-style singing and dancing extravaganza. The really unique thing is that all the parts, male and female, are played by women.

Lastly, we shared some excellent Sichuan food for dinner. Oh, and watched the end of Clone High. All in all, a good holiday.

First Post!

Welcome to the blog for Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center Global - Osaka, Japan campus! The posts on this blog are usually made by and for students currently studying in Japan. The current, and first, class in Osaka is comprised of five people: Jason Glatz, Julie Charles, Chris Crone, Michael Herring and myself Benjamin Taylor. The current director of our program is Professor Michelle Macau. This location is, as of now, only for projects and not yet for BVW Boot Camps (a keystone of our graduate program). There is only one project currently going on here called SHARP Japan. More details on this project will be revealed in the future, but until then, there are a lot of other things for us to talk about our lives in Japan.

We'll be taking the time this semester to relay events of our travels to this website, so people can get a sense of what this place is. If you have any questions or if there is anything you'd like to know or see about ETC Osaka, please feel free to leave a comment and ask. Take care!

- Bennosuke