2020 Olympics | ROBOT55

All posts in “2020 Olympics”

Key Hunter – Classic Japanese Sixties TV Show〜懐かしの60年代テレビ番組キーハンター

2015年2月20日 / No Comments

In searching for a type of music for a video production we are currently making, I turned to get inspiration from a 1960’s Japanese television detective series entitled “Key Hunter.” Key Hunter was a smash hit on Japanese TV between 1968 to 1973. I got lucky because I found a version with English subtitles!

Wikipedia says:

Key Hunter (キイハンター) was a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) network from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 episodes, and it was one of the most popular action dramas in Japan at the time. The story involved “Key Hunter”, a special clandestine unit of the International Police, which endeavored to solve various crimes. “Key Hunter” was a unique TV show, which started out as a grand scale spy thriller never before seen in Japan. The episodes were individually themed on global crimes and political strife. The initial hardboiled theme later evolved to include intellectual elements involving action, and occasionally with comical elements as well. Tetsuro Tamba starred in the 1967 film “You Only Live Twic”e as Japanese Secret Service agent Tiger Tanaka, an ally of James Bond. This role greatly influenced his image in “Key Hunter”.

I really like the images and production in Key Hunter. I laughed out loud at the video at the very beginning where the guy is in bed kissing the girl and suddenly pulls out a gun and points it at someone; I love that style of Hollywood “Camp.”

This program is an inspiration to me because I really like how, in spite of a low budget (like all Japanese shows of the sixties) – and excepting the car crashing over the side of the mountain and exploding into flames – the director and production crew use good ideas and creativity to make a compelling story and an interesting image to watch. This is brilliant work!

The music is also fabulous.

I am especially interested in the sixties in Japan because that was when the first Tokyo Olympics was held and we have the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up. The sixties throughout the eighties in Japan were a Golden Time. I look to those days to bring art and inspiration to all our video productions in Tokyo.

Often times, when companies make promotion videos for their products or services, video production companies use library music or stock footage. This has a few problems as there can often be a rights issue and sometimes, even with a contract, the creator has an issue with use of their music or images. Trust me. I’ve seen it happen many times.

You don’t have that problem with a video production done at Robot55; and you never will. Why? We always create our own original music and images for use in all our videos so you never have to worry about getting a letter from a lawyer representing Getty Images or some company that represents an artist’s musical rights telling you to pay several thousand dollars.

And I’ve seen that happen, more than once to other companies, so we don’t do that at all. Everything we use; images, music, sound effects, narrations are original and done specifically for you. There’s never a worry about rights or a time limit on a production we make for you.

With a video production made by Robot55, you won’t have anyone like the folks in Key Hunter chasing you down for use of music or images; we create quality and we are always 100% original. Everything we create for you, becomes yours. It’s yours forever.

Let me repeat that: 100% yours to use. Forever.

Very Best Cameras Japan

2015年2月19日 / No Comments

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up, the eyes of the entire world will be on Tokyo and Japan. Along with that, of course, there will be a massive influx of foreigners coming to Japan’s shores and they will be bringing with them their friends and families and that gives us in Japan an incredible business opportunity.

There is, and always will be, another opportunity for smart business people to share their businesses, products, services and ideas with folks outside of Japan through online shopping or auction sites like E-Bay. Did you know that E-Bay annual sales in 2014 were $17.9 billion dollars? And now there is a boom in Japanese online retailers taking advantage of this exploding market.

Last week, we met an extremely smart and charming woman who is the president of an online store called “Very Best Cameras Japan.” Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used cameras equipment on E-Bay…. And their business is growing by leaps and bounds. The president was proud of her work and of the company, so she wants to expand and increase her sales so she asked us to help her make a video. We did! Here it is:

This video is effective because it is short and to the point. It gives Very Best Cameras Japan a “human face” and allows us, the potential customer, to see the people we are dealing with when making an important purchase. I think she did a fine job and she comes off as, kind, extremely polite, honest and sincere. As a customer, I have no problem with dealing with her for my business.

When thinking about making a video like this, remember the data I shared with you yesterday in “90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase!”

Important numbers and words:

1) “90%.”

90% is the percentage of online shoppers at a major retailer’s website who said they find online video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions. Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with a video sell a lot more than products with no video.

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. (Read more: www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/)

At Robot55, we specialize in this sort of English language video for businesses in Japan. All of our staff are seasoned professionals and our narrators have thousands of FM radio shows, How to Video narrations, game narrations, animation narrations and even real TV commercials under our belt. We are proud that we have a stable of true professionals who have lived and worked in TV and radio in Japan.

Not only that, but we help the business owner to write their script in a professional manner… And we are doing that part at no charge!

The business owner merely needs to jot down what they want to say, and we will make it up to be a short and effective business promotion video, in English or Japanese… Of course, we also do subtitles in other languages. I will post the Japanese subtitled version of the above video in another post coming soon.

No one can beat our discount price for this level of quality.

Contact us and let’s get started on making a video for Youtube, Facebook or your homepage that will increase your business and sales.

Email: contact@robot55.jp

Very Best Cameras Japan URL: http://stores.ebay.com/Very-Best-Cameras-Japan

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NOTES: Here is the script for the video above. Use this as a model for your own script!

Looking for the best in new and used camera equipment from Japan?

Welcome to Very Best Cameras Japan. My name is Naomi and I’m the president and owner of Very Best Cameras Japan.

Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used photographic equipment. Our inventory is wide, versatile and constantly changing.

The Japanese are famous for care of technology and equipment we can assure you of the best quality products at Very Best Cameras Japan.

We always take special care to wrap and pack our items safely and securely and to ship them as promptly as possible.

We personally respond to each and every customer’s questions and inquiries.

Very Best Cameras Japan promises to give you a shopping experience that is easy, reliable, and saves you money!

Oh, and we also speak English.

Very Best Cameras Japan!

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

The Language Spoken Around the World! Betty Boop in Japan in 1935!

2015年2月15日 / No Comments

Everyone knows the language of love. Everyone knows the language of happiness. Those feeling go past man made languages and borders.

I’ve been talking about the Olympics a lot recently as those will be bringing Japan back into the international spotlight (for good and bad) once again. It will be bringing lots of foreign tourists here too.

I think lots of people will be very surprised when they come to Japan and see just how popular American cartoon stars are in Japan. In fact, some of them are much more popular in Japan than they are in the USA?

The president of TV Tokyo (they own the rights to the Peanuts cartoons and characters) once told me that sales of Snoopy in Japan surpass those of the entire United States and Europe put together. Did you also know that Winnie the Pooh massively outsells Mickey Mouse in Japan too?

Winnie and Snoopy truly are superstars in Japan!

Of course, though, everyone already knows that Japan loves Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, but did you know that Betty Boop was popular in Japan before any of them? It’s true. And Betty Boop was popular in japan in the 1930s!

I think it is because Betty Boop could speak Japanese… No. Really. I’m not making it up. Watch this cartoon and see for yourself. In it, she sings in Japanese and dances. Her Japanese is pretty darned good too!

Here is a 1935 Max Fleischer produced Betty Boop cartoon called “A Language All My Own.” Max Fleischer was famous for Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Superman and Popeye.

Wikipedia says about this cartoon:

The studio produced this short after discovering that Betty was very popular in Japan. Animator Myron Waldman, worried that Betty’s gestures might offend the conservative Japanese audience, asked a group of Japanese college students to review his work. Having Betty sing in Japanese also allowed her to slip a racy comment past the Hays Office: one of the lyrics in the Japanese song translates to “Come to bed with me and we’ll boop-oop-a-doop!” “Come to bed with me and we’ll boop-oop-a-doop”

Indeed! Please enjoy this 5 minute cartoon from a simpler time from yesteryear! This is so charming. You don’t get any more eclectic than this!(Betty starts singing in Japanese at about 3:45!)

Betty Boop? You kidding me? I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating rice crackers!

I think it is interesting the date of this cartoon; it is a mere 5 years before the 1940 Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to start! Just like today, 5 years until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics! This just shows that a good film or video production in English or Japanese truly does speak a million words!

Oh, and here’s one more thing that will blow your mind, Betty Boop is STILL popular in Japan! I see her image on girl’s bags and accessories and see her image on posters around Tokyo to this very day… I’d bet that, in 2015, Betty Boop is much more popular in Japan than in the States.

Time Travel! Video of Life in Japan in 1966

2015年2月14日 / No Comments

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. And we all agree with that, right?

Well, if a mere photo speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks millions. Here is a video that I found while searching for images for a client. Actually, I cried at about 1:40 of the video where the mom is serving food to the two kids and the song, Shojyoji no Tanuki Bayashi 「証城寺の狸囃子」（しょうじょうじのたぬきばやし) , is played. My mother used to sing that song for me at bedtime when I was a little boy.

This video shows the life of a typical Japanese family in 1966. It was filmed by a German TV crew. This is quite enjoyable as it shows the family and their daily life; waking in the morning; going to work and school; the day’s events and coming home at night.

Please pay attention because there are many very cool shots of Tokyo intersections, the train stations, an old TV and much more. But one thing really struck me about life in Japan: Basically, things haven’t changed all that much since 1966 to today: kids still wear uniforms, the family unit is still strong, the train stations look the same. It’s wonderful. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here is the video:

1966 Japanese Family Life (if the video doesn’t play, click here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvoZjbp9R1w)

I watched the entire film and enjoyed it immensely so I thought we should share it with you.

Having a film like this immortalizes this family and this slice of time.

Having videos of the family is great and it is wonderful to see everyone prosperous and healthy.

When it comes to family videos, the cameras nowadays make great videos for the family. But for the business, and those special occasions, you want to show customers and potential customers your dedication to quality and care, then a professionally made video from the Tokyo production team of Robot55 could be the answer you are looking for.

The video above is 45 years old and is still very cool and cost several tens of thousands of dollars to create. But, a top-quality professional 60-second video showing people your shop, restaurant or business done by Robot55 can be made as low as ¥70,000!

Let’s do the math, the Tokyo Olympics is coming in 5 years, so your video can help your business greatly in that time and beyond. 5 years x 365 days a year = 1,825. ¥70,000 / ¥1,825 is ¥38 yen a day. (¥4 a day if we are looking at it from a 45-year calculation!)

Could there be any better, cheaper, more effective way to drive customers using a smart phone or other device to find your business than a video on Youtube or your webpage? Contact us at Robot55! email:contact@robot55.jp

Discount Video Production Services Have Arrived!〜格安動画制作サービスが始めました〜

2015年2月13日 / No Comments

Everyone is thinking everyday about the state of the economy and where the business opportunities lay. The Tokyo Olympics is coming to Japan in 2020 and that means there’s a massive opportunity for Japanese businesses, large and small, to capitalize of the media focus on Japan as well as the large influx of foreigners who will be heading here over the next 5 years.

On that note, I came upon a small news article buried in the very back of a publication. It dropped my jaw. Read on.

Robot55 has been doing video production in Tokyo for Japanese companies that want to target the domestic market, as well as the influx of foreigners heading to Japan’s shores. Long ago, I did promotion, marketing and PR for mostly airlines and travel related industries. I have worked with Delta Airlines, Austrian Air, ANA, Lufthansa, helicopter companies as well as many major hotels and restaurants. Heck I have even made many videos for companies like Domino Pizza and did the voice over narrations on national TV commercials for Smirnoff Vodka, Success, Roomba Vacuum cleaners and many others so I think we at Robot55, have a pretty good grasp of the state of that business.

Excel Air Service offers helicopter rides around Tokyo for a very reasonable price. Highly recommended!

When it comes to airlines, many airlines are cutting routes, services and amenities to passengers. The so-called “premium carriers” seem to be the hardest hit and the mid-class carriers want to change their image to “premium carrier.”

I think there is a big difference between wanting to be a premium class carrier and actually being one. Changing a middle class carrier into a premium one takes much more than a note handed down from corporate; it takes a fundamental shift in corporate culture. Some, of which, by the way, will be impossible for most carriers to accomplish.

On that note, I also am puzzled at how people perceive the term “Kakuyasu” in Japan. “Kakuyasu” means “super discount.” Most people seem to have a bad image in their head about this word, but I think this is nonsense and I also think that perceptions are quickly changing.

While many may gruff and snort at the term Kakuyasu, the public is eating it up. One good example is the discount liquor store that even put the term “Kakuyasu” in its name: Kakuyasu. Kakuyasu is a discount liquor store that originally started out as a family shop in 1921 and was derided as low class when it first incorporated as a chain discount liquor store in 1982. Now they have 140 stores all over Japan and are #1 in liquor store sales… Kakuyasu even outsells 7-11 in liquor sales in Japan!

So, while, still to this day, some people will hold their noses at the term “Kakuyasu,” the public loves it and has turned this particular store into a smash success that has over $860 million dollars (USD) in annual sales.

We at Robot55 are targeting companies that want to make videos for the domestic audience as well as the flood of foreigners coming to Japan in the next 5 years and we aim to do that at a price that blows away the competition. The internet search engines give more weight to webpages that are updated often and that includes videos. Why spend ¥300,000 for one video when we can make your entire annual video campaign, including 3 videos for that price? This video below was made for the incredibly reasonable price of ¥80,000. That includes the entire video production team, editing, music and 100% customer satisfaction.

Albatross: http://youtu.be/E5B41Jio1MI

Won’t you contact us and let us give you a quote? We will not be outsold! Send us an email and let’s get started! Email us at: contact@robot55.jp

contact@robot55.jp

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NOTE: So, while the economy tanks and the old school belittles discount services and products, those services continue to make serious in-roads into to public consciousness and then increase their profitability.

This brings me back to the point of this article and what I set out to write about in the first place. It is an interesting little topic that seems to have slipped between the cracks of the major news outlets. Now, a Chinese Low Cost carrier (LCC) is offering flights from Japan to Chinese for ¥4000. That’s less than the taxi fare is from my home to downtown Tokyo (and that is only about 20 minutes!)

Chinese discount carrier Spring Airlines will offer a 4,000 yen one-way ticket between Shanghai and Ibaraki Airport, about 80 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, from September 15 to 29 on a total of 14 flights, it said Wednesday. The discount fare will apply to around 10 percent of the total 180 seats per flight, while fares for other seats are set at between 8,000 yen and 26,000 yen.

Spring Airlines launched chartered flights between the two destinations in July, and has recently received approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to offer the 4,000 yen ticket.

So, like I said, while some will look down upon and thumb their noses at discount services and products, the public seems to want all it can get…. It reminds me of the old quote about giving the public what they want;

When massive crowds attended the 1957 funeral of L.B. Mayer, the head of MGM, a writer was quoted as saying: “Well, it only proves what they always say, ‘Give the people what they want, and they’ll come out for it.'”

The smart businessman will recognize this for what it is.

Top 6 Favorite Foods Amongst Foreign Tourists to Japan

2015年2月12日 / No Comments

Well, a survey of tourists leaving Japan shows what everyone already knows: Sushi is a favorite among tourists (and Japanese alike). Here is a list of the top favorite foods amongst tourists to Japan!

A recent newspaper article I read said this:

Foreign tourists visiting Japan enjoy sushi above any other national dish, according to a survey by the Japan National Tourism Organisation. The state-run agency said it interviewed more than 15,000 foreign tourists as they left Japan and asked what their favorite food had been during their visit.

So what were their favorite foods?

Drum roll please!

At #6: Gyudon! Gyudon is everywhere in Japan too. Gyudon is beef and vegetables on a bed of rice and it is probably the best value for the money in town. You can have a full stomach for under $5 (USD)! I recommend Sukiya as they have nearly 2000 shops all over Japan (and English menus!)

#5: Udon! You need the best and most delicious and inexpensive Udon in Tokyo? Check out Takamoto Seimenjyo: Gaijin Gourmet! Awesomely Delicious Udon in Kamiyacho, Tokyo!

At #4: Tempura! Fish, shellfish or vegetables deep fried in batter! I don’t usually eat fried foods but I have been to Tenya a few times and it is fast, cheap and delicious.

At #3: Sashimi! (good sashimi is expensive so I don’t really know any cheap places… But try out #1 below!)

At #2: Ramen! A noodle soup that originated in China, came in second with 21 percent of visitors placing it top. I can’t really recommend any ramen shop because there’s millions of good ones everywhere in Tokyo!

At #1: Sushi! Four out of ten people picked sushi as #1. Sushi is morsels of vinegar-flavored rice usually served with sliced raw seafood. Well, there’s a million great sushi places in Japan too! (Well, duh!) But if you have kids who are picky eaters and you are on a budget traveling in Japan, then try out Hamazushi! The kids LOVE this place! Gaijin Gourmet: My Favorite Robot (Sushi) – Hamazushi

Of course, as the Olympics get closer, there will be more and more of these establishments making English language videos for the foreign audience coming to Japan and you can bet that Robot55 will be there making these video productions for the shops, especially in the Tokyo area. As we produce these videos, we will post them on the Robot55 webpage.

Bon apetite!

A Japanese Rock & Roll Ghost Story

2015年1月28日 / 1 Comment

“Don’t dream it. Be it.” – Tim Curry as ‘Dr. Frankenfurter’ from the Rocky Horror Picture Show

Last year, when I had a close call with death (please refer to: Near Death at the Hospital, Last Month! – Back in Humor, This Month!) I realized that I needed to start doing the things in my life that I have been dreaming about. So, I decided that I had to get my talented friends together and make a short feature film. I think there is a chance for us to build a Rock & Roll Cult movement that is famous around the world between now and the 2020 Olympics.

I want to be in the center of that movement. The movement involves Japanese culture, past and present, rock and roll music and animation.

To make things easier to grasp, I think it might be good to tell you, dear reader, the 4 key words (images) that I always want to keep in mind for all the films and projects we make: 1) 1950s Science Fiction, 2) Rock and Roll, 3) Horror/Ghost movies, 4) Tarantino.

I think if I can keep my mind, and my staff’s mind, on these images, then we will succeed in making the kinds of things that will be perfect to put 2015 ~ 2020 Tokyo into the minds of the fans of cult films and music… Because the Olympics and big money cash-ins amongst the politically well connected ARE NOT what we, nor Japanese people are about… At least I hope so.

Our story is about a struggling Rock and Roll musician who finds the tortured spirit of an old blues musician living in his studio. At night, when they are all alone, the two together make music that is unworldly in its brilliance, yet no one can hear it except the struggling rocker and the dead blues musician. It doesn’t have a happy ending… Or does it?

I wanted to make this movie on the level of quality of something like Quentin Tarrantino makes. Yes. Laugh now, if you wish; it is a ridiculous goal for us. Ridiculous or not, that is the heights we aim for.

To be the director of the movie, I asked Enrico Ciccu who has written and directed for some very fine cult movie productions in Italy. He has agreed to direct. Enrico is a difficult person to work with; but that’s the way I like it. Great artists are never easy people to deal with. Enrico wrote the screenplay and had a large hand in the making for this short film which was accepted at the Sapporo Film Festival: “Julie – Johnny Guitar.”

I think “Julie – Johnny Guitar” captures the essence of what we want to accomplish in the Rock & Roll Ghost Story: A Tarantino style full of cinematic allusions and pop culture references.

In any quality film, not only is the director a critical issue, but lighting is also something that makes or breaks the visuals – and therefore the suspension of disbelief – in a film. For the lighting of our movie, I recruited a guy who has been a good friend for nearly twenty years. He was my next door neighbor for ten years and he is now my lighting director. His name is Yuji Wada…

Oh, yeah, I guess I should also mention that Yuji Wada was the lighting director for many Sophie Coppola films, one of my favorites was the Hollywood smash hit, Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray.

The lighting in this scene is the feel of what I want. Yuji is the perfect guy for that. Need proof? Here, below, is a shot from our session on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. This is EXACTLY what I wanted.

For our cameraman, I asked Ken Nishikawa who is a former BBC staff as well as director at TBS. Ken has worked on TV and film productions for just about every major TV station in Japan. He is a superb cameraman and brilliant artist. He also wrote the screenplay and is directing production for another Robot55 production entitled: Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha, which we will be going into serious production this spring. Here is the short trailer for that:

Finally, to put it all together, I needed actors who can actually perform and have a strong Rock and Roll image. Who better than one of Japan’s best rock and roll bands, “The Neatbeats”? Mr. Pan, lead singer of the Neatbeats, will play the part of our struggling musician. He is the hero, and failure, of our movie. He is the guy sitting on the right of the sofa in the photo above. The guy is just overflowing with Rock and Roll. He’s perfect!

Besides Mr. Pan, we also have several other famous Japanese rock stars acting in our movie. I am also in one scene acting as a guy who is drunk and almost dead from boredom. Here is that scene that was shot night before last on Jan. 26, 2015:

Robot55 movie shoot. On stage is the Privates. Table in front is Furukawa Taro and Tomomi Hiraiwa. Table behind (guy sleeping) is me, Mike Rogers (Brilliant acting, right?) Camera (far right) Enrico Ciccu (Director). Photo by Arai Osamu.

The editing for this film starts next week. As we progress, we will post updates. I may be acting dead in this photo, but I am going to die a happy man when this production is finished and it is world-quality and as good as anything Hollywood makes. It is one thing, a first of many, that all of us; Ken Nishikawa, Enrico Ciccu and me, have dreamt about all our lives.

Like the good doctor, said, “Don’t dream it. Be it.”

Photo from the set of “A Japanese Rock & Roll Ghost Story” Left to right: Mike Rogers (sitting in front), Enrico Enrico Wtmm Ciccu (standing), Ken Nishikawa (kneeling in middle), Mr. Pan (sitting on sofa laughing). (photo by Osamu Arai)

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There is also a boom of English language videos and productions coming to Japan and Robot55 aims to be a key player in making viral videos for the foreign market that comes to Japan. Why not? We have people who live and work professionally in this market in TV and video production as well as guys who have made many commercials and smash hit (and cult) TV and radio shows.

I am confident that there is no other company in Japan who can touch us for that market; making viral videos in English for the foreigners coming to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics. There is a cult and cutlure boom coming to Japan in the next 5 years.

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