A Guilt-Free Phone

My cell phone is beeping to its demise and I can’t recharge it! I usually don’t keep my charger on me, so when I’m low on batteries I pray to the cellular gods to keep my phone running ’til at least sundown.

Wish I was in Japan. Then I’d get a Solar Phone SH002 by Sharp. It’s the first of its kind, recharging the battery under the sun so that you can wander for days in the desert and keep in touch with your BFF.

For every 10 minutes of golden rays, you get one minute of talk-time or 2 hours on standby, which isn’t bad if you’re the type who spends lots of time outdoors. Vampires be warned.

In true Japanese fashion, you get a nice array of colors to choose from: sky blue, prism white, and sparkling red. And as an added bonus, the phone is also waterproof (!?) — though water-boarding isn’t encouraged.

Compared to the iPhone, it doesn’t come with many apps but the ones that it does have will come in handy for sporty types: a pedometer and a tool to measure your golfing performance. I love the iPhone for its limitless vault of apps, but I also love this phone for its sheer ecological value. Maybe one of these days, the two will have offspring! \(^o^)/

Himawari

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more

The REAL Eco-Bottle

I didn’t take Arrowhead seriously when they introduced their eco-shaped water bottle a couple years back. Its ‘new and improved’ shape seemed to have more to do with a curvy woman than with saving the environment. It touted “30% less plastic!” but also looked like it had 30% less water, too. Boo~ I was not impressed.

But now there’s one by Coca-Cola Japan, ILOHAS, a water bottle that practically disppears before your eyes:

The half-liter bottle weighs just 12 grams when empty and uses 40% less material than most other water bottles. In a year, that amounts to 3,000 tons less in the landfills. But the real eye-catcher is just how quickly and effortlessly it shrinks in size. It’s like a work of art! With a little imagination, I bet you can twist it into a flower, a robot, or even a person. If only it were biodegradable.

One other drawback is that it sells at about 20 cents more than other water bottles ($1.30). But I think many people will find that at least 20 cents of satisfaction comes when they get to twist the bottle into a measly piece of wire. Pretty amazing, if you ask me. (^.<)V

Himawari

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more

FCX Clarity, Honda’s Zero-Emission Car, Arrives from Japan

This ties in with my post a few weeks ago about Japan’s potential as a Green leader. Last November, Honda unveiled its new zero-emission car at the Los Angeles Motor Show. On Monday, June 16th, the first wave of vehicles arrived in Southern California to a celebrity welcome reception. There are only a handful of lucky owners so far, including Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind),
but they’re doing their best to spread the word.

The Honda FCX Clarity runs on synthesized energy from hydrogen, gas and oxygen from the air. It also contains a back-up lithium battery. According to Honda, “the car is two times more energy-efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a traditional, gasoline-powered car.”

Why are the cars only available to a select few in California? Because in most U.S. cities, refueling is not an option. Here in L.A. there are several hydrogen filling stations (okay, Torrance and Irvine aren’t exactly the greatest places on earth, but you’ve gotta start somewhere). Japanese customers will begin receiving the cars this fall.

You’d think the FCX would resemble a fantasy car of the future, but actually it doesn’t look all that different from a Civic.

With the price of gas skyrocketing, Honda isn’t the only manufacturer looking to ramp up exploration and production of alternative-fuel cars. Japan’s #1 car company, Toyota, is not about to relinquish its hold on consumers and announced plans for a plug-in hybrid in 2010, as well as their own version of the hydrogen fuel cell by the end of 2008.

May the best car win!

Sarah S.

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
JPBizDirect, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————