Navigating in Tokyo is very different from North America. In Japanese addressing system, an address is based on block (CHO,町) rather than street. For example, the address of the Sony Building at Ginza is 5-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Sony Building. Here the 5-3-1 means the District #5, Block #3, Building #1. Since the allocation of block number does not often follow any rules, it is essential to consult a map before getting out of a train station. e-NAVITA (http://www.navita.co.jp) is a private company that provides map service and local business directory for mobile devices. Now with growing usage of [...]
Category Archives: Experience
Touch-download City Guide Map
Navigating in Tokyo is very different from North America. In Japanese addressing system, an address is based on block (CHO,町) rather than street. For example, the address of the Sony Building at Ginza is 5-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Sony Building. Here the 5-3-1 means the District #5, Block #3, Building #1. Since the allocation of block number does not often follow any rules, it is essential to consult a map before getting out of a train station. e-NAVITA (http://www.navita.co.jp) is a private company that provides map service and local business directory for mobile devices. Now with growing usage of [...]
Toilet Paper Horror Novel
You are sitting alone in this confined space. Except occasional distant noise from late night trains, the house is simply dead silent. The bathroom door next to your elbow is loosely shut, you can hear your breath echoing inside this space. The dim light above your head can barely light up the room, as well as the paper you are holding. But it casts an annoying shadow of you head onto the paper, making it even hard to read the small print. You move the paper closer and closer to your nose, tracing every line of the horror novel, and your heart [...]
Local Map in Train Station with Mobile Phone “Touch Download”
I am seeing a lot of local map in train stations that has a “touch download” feature, which allows mobile phone users to download local business information simply by taping their FeliCa-powered mobile phone to the sensor. FeliCa is a RFID technology offered by Sony that allows touchless money and data transaction. The technology is currently being widely used by Japanese public transit and electronic payment systems. Unlike QR-code, this touchless RFID is supposed to be much quicker in response time. Theoretically the user can conveniently and instantly get the information on their phone without touching any button on the [...]
McDonalds QRcode Shows Nutrition Information
McDonalds Japan uses a lot of QR-code technology as marketing tool. In a purchase of drink and snack, I could find 4 codes on the placemat and the potato bacon pie package. I particularly like the code on the pie package, which leads you to McDonald’s nutrition site. The interaction flow is like this: A customer purchases a pie and happily sits down to enjoy it. Being a health conscious individual, the customer is quite concerned about how much nutrition and calories the pie has. The customer pulls out his/her mobile phone, snaps the code and immediately sees the nutrition [...]
My name is Calvin Chun-yu Chan, also known as カルビー or Jeepu. I'm a web app developer by trade, with curious and enthusiastic eyes on design, usability, culture and creativity.
QR-code Coupon in Restaurant Guide