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Japan’s Youtube? It’s Niconico! 〜ニコニコ動画を英語で紹介するよ

2015年3月4日 / 1 Comment

Many friends in the west ask me about YouTube in Japan. Well, YouTube is popular in Japan, but when it comes to junior and high school students and the youth market in this country, YouTube has stiff competition and may even be lagging. Arguably the biggest and most popular video sharing platform in this country is Niconico. So this short article is a primer on Niconico, which used to be called Nico Nico Douga. But, even today, just about everyone still calls it “Nico Nico Douga” – even people I know who work there!

“Niko Niko” in Japanese means “Smile.” So, I guess the creators of Niconico wanted to make a play off that word and hence, “Nico Nico”…. Smile!

Alexa lists Niconico as the 8th most visited site in Japan. And here is a list of The Top 10 Most Visited Sites in Japan:

#1 Yahoo.co.jp (Japanese version of portal site) Yes, Yahoo is huge in Japan!

#2 Google.co.jp (Japanese version of portal site)

#3 Amazon.co.jp (Japanese version of portal site)

#4 Fc2.com (a free blog service)

#5 Google.com

#6 YouTube.com

#7 Rakuten.co.jp (Online retail shopping)

#8 Nicovideo.jp

#9 Facebook.com

#10 Twitter.com

Did I just hear your jaw drop to the table? Yeah, that’s right; Niconico is more popular here than Facebook or Twitter!

Niconico started out as Nico Nico Douga; a sort of hi-bred mix of YouTube and Japan’s Denpa 2 Channel. Denpa 2 Channel is a bulletin board system (BBS) that is hugely popular in Japan; especially amongst young people.

While YouTube allows viewers to add comments below the videos, Niconico allows viewers to chat and comment on the video they are watching while they are watching it! It’s pretty neat and definitely a “Japanese Thing.” The comments appear on the screen as viewers watch and they can chat back and forth while watching.

For me, I find the comments on the screen as an interference, but the Japanese kids like to watch and chat at the same time…. It’s somewhat similar to today’s games like Minecraft where one can play while chatting with friends at the same time.

The curious thing, I reckon, about Niconico is that you must sign up to view it, yet it is still hugely popular. I hate signing up for anything! At Niconico , there are two types of registered accounts at Niconico ; Free membership (that’s me!) and Premium-membership. The Premium-membership fee is ¥540 yen a month.

You’d think, though, that few would actually pay to watch videos. Think about it; would you pay about $5 (USD) a month to watch YouTube or use Facebook? Nope? Neither would I. But, in Japan it is different! As of January 2012, Niconico had surpassed 1,500,000 premium members! As of October 31, 2011, Niconico had over 23,690,000 registered users, 6,870,000 mobile users!

Another interesting thing about Niconico is that almost everything on it is User Generated Content whereas YouTube has tons of content that are old TV shows, etc. In fact, due to very strict copyright laws in Japan, it is forbidden to upload TV shows on Niconico.

Niconico users are often making music or remixing existing items with their friends and uploading the finished songs to the website.

Have you ever heard of Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid? Well, she, uh, her, uh…it? Hatsune Miku became big in Japan through Nico Nico Douga. She is still huge on the site.

Niconico has a huge fan base of “Nico Chuus” (Nico Nico Douga junkies). Kids who watch a huge volume of content on Niconico everyday.

The service is now available in Japanese, English and Chinese so it might seem the company has its expansion plans set up for Asia where BBS is much more popular than in the west. Anyway, next year will be Niconico’s 10th year and she is still going strong. When it comes to a user generated video sharing platform, then I doubt that Niconico is going to be crushed by the competition anytime soon; especially since Niconico has a tight grip on the Japanese youth market.

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Here is a Hatsune Miku video that I captured from Nico Nico Douga for you a while back (it is on YouTube because I figure if you are reading this (in English) then you don’t have access to Niconico!)

ビデオ制作、格安ビデオ制作、ROBOT55, ロボット・ゴー・ゴー, ビジネスビデオ制作, ビデオ, ビデオ編集, レストラン, 動画, 動画制作　東京, 撮影, 格安, 紹介動画

Sunday Free Movie! CBGBのパンクロックの映画の日本語字幕スーパー！無料！CBGB’s Blitzkreig Bop Movie

2015年3月1日 / No Comments

A few years back, there was a movie about the early Punk Rock movement in New York, called “Blitzkreig Bop.” I thought it was a terrible movie.

A few days ago, while discussing with a friend some video production, our Japanese Rock & Roll Ghost Story, and creating a Rock & Roll boom in Tokyo before the 2020 Olympics, he mentioned that the 1978 film “Blitzkreig Bop” had been made with Japanese sub-titles and was available for free on Youtube! Wow! I checked. He was right!

So, without further ado, for your Sunday morning viewing pleasure, here is “Blitzkreig Bop” the 1978 CBCG’s documentary. Enjoy!

Here’s what Dangerous Minds has to say about this movie:

Three aspiring musicians: Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd were looking for a place “where nothing was happening” for their band Television to play. If nothing was happening then the bar owner had nothing to lose. One day, down in the Bowery, Verlaine and Lloyd spotted a place initialed CBGB-OMFUG. They sidled across, went inside and talked to the owner a former singer and musician Hilly Krystal. As Lloyd recalled in Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain’s essential oral history of punk Please Kill Me, Hilly wanted to know what kinda music they played.

They answered with a question: ‘Well, what does ‘CBGB-OMFUG’ stand for?’ He said, ‘Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers.’ So we said, ‘Oh yeah, we play a little of that, a little rock, a little country, a little blues, a little bluegrass…’ And Hilly said, ‘Oh, okay, maybe…’ In fact, the only real stipulation for appearing at CBGB’s was to play new music, and although Suicide and Wayne County had already appeared at CBGB’s, it was not until Television, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Dead Boys started taking up residency that CBGB’s changed from something where nothing happened to somewhere it all happened.

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A HUGE thanks to Alex Kish of Wassuprockerradio! Please go “Like” his FB page

https://www.facebook.com/wassuprockerradio/

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 4〜ビジネス動画を自分で作ってみよう！その４〜

2015年2月28日 / No Comments

A still photo of Mr. and Mrs. Matsumoto who ran my favorite local fish store　

(写真：格安ビデオ制作、ROBOT55, ロボット・ゴー・ゴー)

Good day, humans! It is I, Robot55 greeting you with 3 more helpful and free video tips on how to make your videos and home photos much better and professional looking.

Of course, many people will say, a great video comes from fantastic camera angles, beautiful people, and great music. But we might have a slight problem there. Most of us do not look like Johnny Depp or Angelina Jolie; we don’t play an instrument and we might have trouble getting great camera angles.

The last time I looked, I didn’t look like Johnny Depp (but thought I’d make quite a charming can of Campbell’s Soup – Andy Warhol would have loved me!) And I also can digitally compose music and my GPS system helps me to take perfect camera angles every time.

But enough about my robot perfection!

Well, at least for your camera angles and lighting, Robot55 can help you out there with our Free Series: Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)

At that article you can find links that help you to take better photos and videos in just a snap if you remember the simple tips. For music? Well, if it is your own business video being made yourself, you can make your own music or, just don’t have any music at all. That’s fine too because any video – even without background music – is better than no video at all! Please refer to: 90% OF ALL PEOPLE SAY A VIDEO HELPS TO DECIDE A PURCHASE! (www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/)

… Oh, and speaking of Andy Warhol, did you know he was quoted as saying, “My idea of a great photo is one with famous people in it that is in focus”?

Indeed. Perhaps making great photos and videos isn’t that difficult if you keep in mind our weekly tips!

Today, here are three extremely simple and important points to help you make a video for your business, service, product or organization that is sure to increase your sales or profitability.

1) Keep your video short!

Research data shows that short videos are better for getting your message out than a long video. Why? Because people will not watch long videos – especially if they are watching on a smart phone or table device. Remember the old Shakespeare line from Hamlet: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

How many times have you been to a meeting or a wedding where someone had to give a speech and they were boring and kept on talking and talking until you… ZZZZZZzzzzzzz…. Oops? Where was I? Oh, yeah. Keep it short.

For online videos on Youtube, Facebook or your company or business page, three important key numbers are “10 seconds,” “30 seconds”, “60 seconds.”

A ten seconds video? No. But that’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. After that, you’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and anearly 60% by 2 minutes. So it is obvious that your video should be 30 seconds to 60 seconds in length at the most!

Of course, with your business, you probably have several hour’s worth of great information that you want to share with your viewers and potential audience. But, keeping in mind Shakespeare, that means you have to give your audience the most important information they need within a few seconds. Brevity truly is the soul of wit. It takes a great mind and skill to create a good message in a short amount of time.

Catch your audience or potential client’s attention within 30 ~ 60 seconds and they’ll come looking for more information. The data shows this to be a marketing fact. See: More Data Proving That You Need an Online Video For Your Business (www.robot55.jp/blog/more-data-proving-that-you-need-a-video-for-your-business/)

Need help writing a short, but effective script? See: Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (http://robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/)

2) Get Steady Images! Use a Tripod!

A good, heavy tripod will do more to improve your images than just about anything else in your arsenal. And make sure you have a good and heavy tripod. A, light, cheap, flimsy tripod might actually models do more harm than good. You definitely need a tripod for your opening scenes of your business or store (or outside in nature). You may think you have a steady hand, but nothing makes a video look more amateurish than a shaky image. And there is no way you can be more firm and steady than a tripod!

Beside that, how does a tripod help you? Besides holding the camera steady, a tripod allows you to free your hands and give directions or even appear in your own video. Also, when you hand hold a camera, as director, if you speak, your voice will be especially loud as you are right behind the camera. You do need good sound (see #3 below) but, standing behind the camera talking isn’t the way to do that. So always use a tripod!

But what if you don’t have a tripod? If you don’t have a tripod, then brace your camera on a table or a stack of books or some furniture. If you are standing, then lean against a wall or fence to get better support.

Here’s one quick tip for cheapskates (like me) to get great shots without a tripod; sit down on your butt. Bend your knees up and brace your elbows on your knees as support. Wallah! Instant Human Tripod!

Instant human tripod! Retail price? Absolutely free!

3) Get better sound!

Well, one of the worst things about amateur videos is the sound quality. Now, since this is a series about making better videos for free, I’m not going to tell you to go out and buy a microphone for your camera. So, how to get better sound from the microphone that exists on your current camera or smart phone or table device?

a) First off, try not to speak while you are video taping with your camera. The sound will be terrible. The solution? Get close to your subjects and fill the screen with their image; and only have those in the picture speak. Get close! The in-camera microphones are built with automatic limiters so they capture all sound. If the subjects speaking are far from the camera, the limiter will increase voclume and you’ll get more and more background noise (cars driving by, city noises, etc.) Get your subject to fill the screen and speak, that way your microphone will allow you to take the best sound possible. (For more on getting people in the screen correctly, see Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)

Your image should fill the screen. This will also give you better sound.

Well that’s it for today’s free 3-point lesson.

Of course, if after making your video, you decide that you might want a little more of a professional video production in Japanese or English (or any other language) then please think about us at Robot55. We are specialists in 30 Second and 60 Second videos for all areas of business videos, restaurant videos, service videos, product videos and more. Contact us if you just want to talk about it (free consultations) and let us give you a free estimate.

Or if you have any questions at all about making your own video, feel free to write directly to me and ask away!  I’m here to help you! Let’s have fun making videos and making more money for your business!

Email: contact@robot55.jp

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For more free tips:

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 1 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-1/)

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)

Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (http://robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/)

Need a Break? Watch These Three Fantastic Short Animations!〜面白い動画をご紹介

2015年2月27日 / No Comments

（下のアニメを是非観て下さい！英語分からなくっても、面白い短いアニメ！台詞はなにもない！）

For purely your enjoyment today, here’s two animations by a guy I really like named Adam Pesapane who is better known as simply, “Pes.” Pes isn’t that famous in Japan, but he is well known in the animation world in the west. I love animation and have been a Pes fan for a while as his work is a bit “twisted” and I like that.

The first one up is called, “Fresh Guacamole.” It is brilliant in concept yet it seems actually no more difficult to create than the old “Gumby” or “Davey and Goliath” animations from the sixties. (I think – but, actually, what do I know?)

First up is “Fresh Guacamole,” a film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It is the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar.

Wikipedia says about Pes:

PES (born Adam Pesapane; May 26, 1973) is an American director and stop-motion animator of numerous short films and commercials. In 2013, his short film Fresh Guacamole was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It is the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar. Receiving a B.A. in English Literature at the University of Virginia, PES migrated to film as a storytelling medium. His use of everyday objects and stop-motion animation to create original material is instantly recognizable. His work has been recognized in the United States and internationally, especially the short films Roof Sex, KaBoom!, Game Over, Western Spaghetti, and Fresh Guacamole. He is currently in development on his first feature film, a movie based on the Garbage Pail Kids franchise. An early influence on PES’s animation style is the work of Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer.

Here is the now classic, “Western Spaghetti.”

OK, so, now that we’re here, might as well show you some of what Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer created. Be forewarned, this can be a bit bizarre (and sometimes disgusting!) Here’s “Food” by Jan Švankmajer.

When thinking about making your own video production in Japan, sometimes a special, magical touch is to do some sort of animation. An extremely simple, but effective, animation can be done quite cheaply. As usual, though, it’s always a good imagination and a brilliant idea that cuts costs.

We at Robot55 pride ourselves on being experienced creators with a proven track record of working on and creating hit TV and radio shows, as well as commercials.

If you are thinking about an animation, why don’t you give us a shout and then, let’s discuss and get the creative juices flowing. There’s always a great idea that’s an inexpensive idea if we all put our minds to it.

Please contact Ken or Mike at our email address: contact@robot55.jp

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Notes: Not to brag, but, in fact, Mike won first place for a film and animation he made in the Sophomore Class at the well known and famous Moorpark College where he studied Cinematography and Animation for two years under award winning cinematographer and Oscar nominee, Gregory Nava.)

More Data Proving That You Need an Online Video For Your Business – 動画をビジネスに活用しよう！

2015年2月26日 / No Comments

Online Video Marketing isn’t the future of business advertising, it is now! Today! Online Video Marketing is critical to your success right now! If you haven’t taken a seat on the bus on the video marketing train in the year 2015, then you are a tad bit late to the game; but not too late to get in the action.

What are we waiting for? I hope we are not waiting for our competition to do beat us to the punch! Because, if we keep waiting, trust that they will….. Yikes!

If you are running any kind of business, service, product sales, organization or event, then there’s an undeniable mountain of research data and evidence showing that online video marketing needs to be a major consideration in your advertising budget in this day of Smart Phones and tablet devices.

Some people will say, “But we are a small organization and can’t afford video.” But, you can afford video in this day and age! Costs are crashing. Robot55 can make you a professional quality marketing video for less than the price of making 500 professionally designed flyers.

No kidding.

Coca Cola online video

And, think about this; take a big company like Coca Cola. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Research and Development and advertising budget, they figured out that a video was critical. They even have one on their top page. Think about that: Gee, Coca-Cola spent millions and came to this decision (actually, they’ve been doing it for a few years now). Your organization doesn’t need to spend a penny to do the same: You can capitalize on the research money they spent by coming to the same conclusions they did. How? Just copy what they do.

Toyota Motors webpage has lots of videos on it for end-users. http://toyota.jp/alphard/

Need more convincing?

Market surveys show that over 100 million people per day watch videos online. In a recent survey of shoppers at a major retailer, 90% of all shoppers aid a video was helpful in making further investigation into a shopping and buying decision. The retailer reports that products with videos greatly outsell products without videos.

Recently 75% of company executives told Forbes magazine that they watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week.

The breakdown is as follows:

*50% of all corporate executives say they watch business-related videos on YouTube

*65% of all corporate executives say they visit the marketer’s website after viewing a video

* According to ComScore the average user spends 16 minutes and 40 seconds watching online video ads every month.

The bottom line here? If you’re not using video for your marketing, then you are missing out on a huge market opportunity and chance to engage with your audience. It’s not just the massive number of people who watch online videos that’s is critically important – it’s the reasons why they watch it; and if a user views your video it’s because they were searching for you or one of your competitors!

When your company, service, product or organization has an online video, not only can you engage with people who do standard Google searches, with video; you can also access hundreds of millions of Youtube viewers (and in Japan, Nico Nico Douga users) as well as Linked in and Facebook users (Facebook now has an “Auotplay” function for video. I wrote about that here: New Facebook Video Function Great For Businesses! And It’s Free! (www.robot55.jp/blog/new-facebook-video-function-great-for-small-businesses-and-its-free/).

When you place a video for your business online, data shows that you have a higher chance of reaching business executives and people who make decisions specifically concerning your business. Everyone knows that a person to person sales pitch is the best way to land the sale, but, when people are scattered all over the country, that’s virtually impossible to do without going bankrupt.

The next best thing to a face to face meeting is video marketing.

Here’s some more jaw dropping data:

According to the Online Publishers Association, 80% of all people shopping were able to recall which company had video on their webpage that they visited in the last month.

*46% of those people took some action after viewing the ad! 26% of them looked for more information; 22% visited the website; 15% visited the company page in the video ad and a whopping 12% purchased the specific product featured in the ad!

With numbers like these, how could anyone not see that a video – in this day and age of short attention spans and advertising clutter – is the best advertising for the buck? And this data shows that with targeted advertising the most desired results are online video.

There is one more thing that is critical that the data shows. When there is an online video on a site, the average viewer will stay on that site an 2 minutes longer than they will on sites that do not have a video.

Sure the numbers above come from surveys. But how about the real world? I’ll have more on that soon, but here is one that is shocking in its implications: The number is 403%. An Australian real estate group reports that real estate listings with videos receive 403% more inquiries than those without videos. In other words, real estate ads with videos generate quadruple the leads of those without videos.

What are we waiting for my friends?

Get started on making your video for your business, service, product or organization. There is a bunch of free advice on how to make yours for free on this site. Just search for: Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)

Or, if you want a little more professionalism in your video than you have confidence in making yourself, please contact us and let’s get started on discussion on making the video for your business that makes everyone who sees it say, “This looks really good! I’m interested.”

Need free advice on making your own business video or just want to discuss with us? Email the humans who work at Robot55, Mike or Ken: contact@robot55.jp

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NOTE: Data and marketing statistics and numbers from: 18 Big Video Marketing Statistics and What They Mean for Your Business (www.videobrewery.com/blog/18-video-marketing-statistics)

Aerial Videos by Drone for Unbelievably Low Price！- ラジコン空撮を格安価格で！

2015年2月25日 / No Comments

The words to describe video taken from a helicopter are usually, “Fantastic! Epic! Amazing!” That’s what people will say when they see a video taken from air of your business or organization. Having aerial footage taken from a helicopter is a fantastic way to make your video have that “Hollywood Spectacular!” feeling.

It looks great and people also know that it is expensive to make… Or is it?

If you have a business that revolves around a large area of real estate, such as apartments, homes, a school, church, temple, farm, camping, fishing, skiing, horse back riding, and recreation or a river or mountain. Then there is nothing like a video shot from the air to give the viewer an idea of the excitement, expanse and breathtaking view and beauty of what you offer.

But, of course, most small businesses cannot afford a few thousand dollars a day to charter a helicopter and cameraman. And companies today that offer drone services in Japan are quite expensive: I’ve checked and the cheapest I’ve heard about was ¥400,000 per day (which isn’t that bad, really.) The top companies charge ¥1,000,000 per day (about $10,000 USD)

One of the reasons why drones might be so expensive to rent is that there are few seasoned operators; and usage of drones is becoming more and more restricted as they get to become more and pore popular for professionals and enthusiasts alike. One can longer just fly a drone around the neighborhood; people will definitely call the police. Why? A drone is a flying computer and can take photos and videos. This is an invasion of privacy.

This is another reason why aerial video taken by drone is so expensive.

Interestingly, as the use of drones becomes more and more commonplace, some companies have banned the use of them. A major Japanese advertising agency has banned drones for any and all shoots because during a shoot for a major sporting event, the operator of a drone lost control and the drone actually crashed. OK, well a crash is bad, but this is even worse; the drone crashed into one of the events athletes during the event

Oh, I’ll bet that hurt. And I bet that cost the company a lot of money!

So usage of drones requires common sense and expertise and professionalism as well as following the rules and the law (make sure neighbors know what’s up and don’t get bent our of shape when they see a “UFO” buzzing around.)

We are capable of providing aerial footage by drone (and our pilot is experienced and fully insured) for about 1/4 ~ 1/8th what the competition is charging. Our basic one-hour set up and shoot (about 12 minutes of aerial footage – which is way more than your video will need) runs about ¥40,000 ~ ¥100,000 (depending on circumstances).

There’s no company in Japan today that even come close to beating our price for aerial video by drone.

Please contact us and let’s get started on discussion on making the video for your business that makes everyone who sees it say, “Fantastic! Epic! Amazing!”

Email Mike or Ken: contact@robot55.jp

Japan’s World War II Animation!〜日本の古い動画をご紹介

2015年2月24日 / No Comments

I’d like to present for your pleasure and interest a Japanese World War II propaganda cartoon. This is a cartoon originally from 1943. Japan was still “winning” the war; a year and a half beforehand, the Japanese Imperial Navy had attacked Pearl Harbor. But by the time the full length movie came out, in 1944, things were looking deeply grim for the Japanese Empire.

In this cartoon, the Pearl Harbor event is re-enacted. The cartoon is called Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors. This is the entire feature length cartoon.

The cartoon is not nearly as bloody and gutsy as American animation was at the time, but you can sense the subtleties of the Japanese mindset and just how “dark” a society Japan really was at the time (I still think, in many ways, Japan is a very “dark” country… But that’s a post for another time).

In Japanese, Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors, is: 桃太郎海の神兵（ももたろううみのしんぺい）”Momotaro Umi no shinpei.” Interestingly, there’s an entire Wikipedia entry in English about it no less (saves me a lot of work!)

Wikipedia says:

Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (桃太郎海の神兵, lit. Momotaro’s Gods-Blessed Sea Warriors or Momotaro, Sacred Sailors) is the first Japanese feature-length animated film. It was directed by Mitsuyo Seo, who was ordered to make a propaganda film for the war by the Japanese Naval Ministry. Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory shot the 74-minute film in 1944 and screened it on April 12, 1945. It is a sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi, a 37-minute film released in 1943 by the same director. It is black and white.

Plot: After completing naval training, a bear cub, a monkey, a pheasant, and a puppy say goodbye to their families. Like the prior film, the movie features the “Peach Boy” character of Japanese folklore. The film is about the surprise maneuver on Sulawesi island, depicting parachute troops’ actions. The monkey, puppy and bear cub are the ones that become parachute jumpers while the pheasant becomes a pilot. The whole movie also depicts the Japanese “liberation of Asia“, as proclaimed by the Government at the time.

There are some musical scenes. Of note is The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌AIUEO no Uta), a scene where Japanese soldiers teach local animals how to speak.

Background: The Naval Ministry previously showed Seo Fantasia, a 1940 Disney film. Inspired by this, Seo tried to give dreams to children, as well as to instill the hope for peace, just as he did in the prequel movie, Momotaro’s Sea Eagles.

The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌 AIUEO no Uta) is famous for being given a homage in the series Kimba the White Lion (ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei) by Osamu Tezuka (Tezuka watched the film in April 1945. He later said that he was moved to tears by the movie’s hints of dreams and hopes, hidden under the appearance of war propaganda).

For a long time, the film was presumed to have been confiscated and burnt by the American occupation. However, a negative copy of the film was found in Shochiku’s Ofuna warehouse in 1983 and was re released in 1984. A reproduced movie was later screened and the VHS package is now available in Japan.

So, without further ado, here is the cartoon Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors in it’s entirety.

If you just want to get the gist of the film, I suggest watching the first part and the very last part… The lunacy of war. Why do we do this?

By the way, the foreign soldiers in the final scene are British and not Americans… But the very last scene where the Japanese kids are jumping out of a tree onto a map of the USA drawn on the ground is, quite, well, “interesting.”

New Facebook Video Function GREAT for Businesses! And it’s Free!〜Facebookのビデオ機能がビジネス活用に秀逸

2015年2月23日 / No Comments

If your business doesn’t have a Facebook page, then you need to make one today. Why? It’s free for one. And a Facebook page for your business is a great way to promote your business, service, product or organization.

Did I already mention that it is free?

Nothing can beat free in my book when it comes to promotion!

All you need to do is to take 2 ~ 5 minutes a day to update your Facebook page and to connect with your customers and potential customers. That’s not too much, is it? Especially if you are a small business; just spend a few minutes everyday to promote your business instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on buying promotion?

It’s your business, service, product or organization; your call. As for me, I’ll take free anyday. By the way, I gathered nearly 6,250 “Likes” on my program Facebook page in a year. If you make the effort, you’ll be rewarded. (Please come “Like” that Facebook Page. It’s for my radio show! https://www.facebook.com/WhattheFunday76.1?ref=hl)

It’s that simple.

There’s more! Facebook now has a brand new function that allows your video to play automatically if someone visits your page. The visitor doesn’t need to click anything! The video just starts playing if you embed the video directly into your Facebook page instead of just adding a link to a Youtube video.

I think this function is confusing to people if you have a bunch of videos on your Facebook page. But, say, if you only have one, it’s perfect! I highly recommend it!

We made a video production for a young couple who run a yakitori named “Flat” near my house. It was great fun making their promotion video, and Flat is the best Yakitori restaurant around!

In the case of Flat, there is only one video on their page – the one we made – so it is extremely eye-catching and effective. Here’s a screen capture of their top page on FB… (Go see the actual page on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/yakitori.flat)

And, if you just scroll down a touch, you’ll see the video embedded in their FB page. It’s like a TV commercial at the top of their page! AND if you click the “Keep on Top” Tab, the video will stay at the top of the page forever! Just what you want!

To see the actual video, and not just a screen capture, go to the “Flat Yakitori” Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/yakitori.flat

This video at the top of their Facebook page makes the page, “Come Alive!” It brings in more customers as people can see inside the restaurant and know what kind of people the owners and workers are. It is nearly perfect!

On a side note, I was watching the video earlier today and then I thought, “Someday, maybe 10 or 15 or 20 years from now, they’ll look back on this video and have fond memories of a great business and how the video WE MADE helped them to do a good business and make money; as well as wonderful memories.

Make your own Facebook page and make your own video to promote your shop, restaurant, organization, service or product.

If you need help making the Facebook company page or if you need help or just advice on making a great video by yourself or you’d like to discuss the best quality and price in Tokyo, feel free to contact me, Mike (or in Japanese write to Ken) at Robot55. We are at your service!

Email: contact@robot55.jp

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*Oh, and please come “Like” our Robot55 Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/robot55video?ref=hl

*And, please give “Flat Yakitori” a “Like” too!!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/yakitori.flat

Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot – Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ) For You Japanese Fans!

2015年2月22日 / No Comments

(Image at top is the first – totally ripped off design – of the robot for Robot55.)

May I brag? I’ve had so many people tell me that they love the Robot character we use for Robot55. Thanks. I made him myself…Uh, no… That’s not true. Ayumi, our president made him. Besides being a sort-of genius engineer and designer, she’s a mad scientist!

Since I can remember, Japan has always had a lot of robots (be they real, giant or otherwise) as well as monsters and ghosts. When I was a kid growing up in Minnesota, we always thought it was strange. I remember asking my mom (who was Japanese) why the Japanese had so many weird monsters and robots everywhere. It’s bizarre when you stop to think about it; Japan had lots of robots, etc. since way back when. Now, in 2015, Japan has robot restaurants and all sorts of funky aluminum creatures… And, as for monsters, I guess Fukushima Dai-Ichi could fit that bill.

How little did we realize when we were little kids, that this 60’s Japanese Kitsch was extremely cool…. How little did we realize that those toy cars made out of aluminum beer cans that came from Japan in the sixties would be worth thousands of dollars to collectors today. How could we realize, as little kids, how dumb we were? The robots, monsters and toy cars from Japan were waaaaaay cool. Us dumb dorky kids were the ones who weren’t cool.

I looked up some cool videos of the seminal Japanese robot character: Giant Robot. That cartoon was known as “Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot” in the USA. I turned on this Youtube video link and watched. “Ah!” I thought, “I remember this TV show! His finger is a rocket!”

A minute later, my wife peered out of the dining room, when she heard the theme song of Giant Robo and exclaimed, “I loved this TV show! When it ended, I cried and cried!” (She started to cry right there too! She’s so sweet)

Watching my wife relive a moment of her childhood brought tears to my eyes! She reminded me of my mother; and, her emotions remind me, once again, just how romanticist and delicate the Japanese can be.

I love Japan and the Japanese people!

Here’s a trailer for Giant Robot…

… Maybe this is just one more clue into why the Japanese have a fascination with robots and giant radioactive creatures from space and the bottom of the ocean….

NOTES: Giant Robo first appeared in Weekly Shonan Sunday in 1967. The Giant Robo manga (comics) first appeared in a weekly comic book called Weekly Shōnen Sunday on May 1967. Written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Giant Robo tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as “Big Fire.” In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation premiered on TV Asahi.

Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script!〜ビジネス動画を自分で作ってみよう！その３〜

2015年2月21日 / 8 Comments

Welcome back! This is Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script!” where we give you free simple tips on how to make better homemade videos for your business, service, restaurant, or organization (and even home and family videos!) We are going to help you each week correcting the most basic and common mistakes of homemade videos. So, in just a snap, you can make your business (or family videos) MUCH better by just keeping in mind every week’s simple 3 point lessons. These easy tips will greatly improve your video for business and all your home photos and videos of the kids and family too! So, let’s get started with part 3: You need a map: How to write a script.

In a post last week, entitled: 90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase! (www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/) we gave you important data and numbers on effective videos. One of the most important numbers was “10 seconds.” Here’s what the article says:

2) “10 seconds.”
That’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. And it doesn’t get a lot better than that. You’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and almost 60% by 2 minutes. And those numbers remain the same no matter how long the video is.

So, it is critical that the first ten seconds say what you do and gives a message that your potential target audience wants to hear. If your video isn’t sending it’s core message out in the first 5 ~ 10 seconds, then your viewer will click it off and stop watching. You don’t want that. But how do we make a good message in such a short time? How do we know what the message should be?

First off, remember the “6 W’s”

1) Who (Who are you?)

2) What (What are you selling, promoting?)

3) When (When are you open or selling? When is the event?)

4) Where (Where is your business, event?)

5) Why (Why is your business, event, service good or different?)

6) How (How can I do business with you?)

Then, with these questions in mind, think about your potential customer and what they want; if you are selling used cars, then a woman looking for a new dress probably won’t come looking at your site or video. People who might find you or your video are looking for used cars. So, knowing that fact, and that a video must be short, let’s write a script!

But how? Like this:

1) Hi! I’m Mike Rogers. President of Flaky Used Cars.

2) We sell the best in used cars for the lowest prices.

3) We’re open all the time.

4) We’re that big pile of wrecked cars you see when you drive by Farmer Wilson’s Pig Ranch.

5) We have tons of old wrecked and used cars that have been dumped here over the years.

6) We accept cash and credit cards. Come on over.

So, there is the basics for our short video.

But wait! Should I use this, in this order? Maybe not! Think again about your customers; what are they looking for? In this case, I reckon my potential customer would be someone looking for an old car chassis for a classic car or the bumper for his Ford truck that he wrecked last weekend.

So, we need to start with what the customer might be looking for. So, instead of #1 first. We should start with #2:

“We sell the best in used cars for the lowest prices.”

But, let’s go one step further and make it more appealing for our potential customers. Asking questions is always good. Let’s make that sentence a question for the viewer!

#2 “Are you looking for the best in used cars for the lowest prices?”

Ah! Now that is more like it! As a viewer, I know exactly what this is about in a few seconds. Perfect!

So, let’s continue by taking the sentences above and rearrange in this order (2-1-5-4-6-3):

2) Are you looking for the best in used cars for the lowest prices?

1) Hi! I’m Mike Rogers. President of Flaky Used Cars.

5) We have tons of old wrecked and used cars that have been dumped here over the years.

4) We’re that big pile of wrecked cars you see when you drive by Farmer Wilson’s Pig Ranch.

6) We accept cash and credit cards. Come on over.

3) We’re open all the time.

Get it! This is darned near perfect. It gets my message out about what we do in less than 4 seconds. If you can get this crucial duty done correctly on your homemade video for your business, then you are ten steps ahead of the game even if your competition spend ¥500,000 on their video: Because, no matter the cost, if you don’t grab your viewers within ten seconds, you’ve lost them.

So, please use this basic “map” above anytime you are thinking about making your own video. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to write to me directly. I’ll help you. No problem!

There’s a few old sayings I’d like to repeat:

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

and

“80% of success comes in the planning.”

Trust me this little bit of planning will save you much time and effort and is extremely important if you want to get the message out and grab people within the first 10 seconds.

Of course, if after making your video, you decide that you do want a little more of a professional video production in Japanese or English (or any other language) then please think about us at Robot55. We are specialists in 30 Second and 60 Second videos for all areas of business videos, restaurant videos, service videos, product videos and more. Contact us if you just want to talk about it (free consultations) and let us give you a free estimate.

Email: contact@robot55.jp

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For more free tips:

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 1 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-1/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)
Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (http://robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 4(（www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-4/)