Endless

Somethings seem endless. These six months have been an endless battle for me to raise money to fund our new project GT Channel. We successfully closed that deal and also launched the beta site too. Another thing that looked like it was taking forever was my working visa to enter the US. This took well over 2 years of planning and at least 1 year of preping docs to submit to the US embassy here in Japan. I was finally able to get the visa to work and live in the US.


The "Endress Boys"

エンドレスと思うことってしばしばありますよね。ここ最近半年は資金調達のために奔走する毎日。新事業のGTCHANNEL立上げの為です。ようやく目処も立ちベータサイトも無事開設しました。日本からは見えませんけど・・・
その他まったく終わりの見えなかったのはアメリカ就労ビザの準備と申請。気が遠くなるほど時間がかかりました。この会社の規模でそもそもE2申請自体が無謀だったのかもしれませんが、取れた今は嬉しい限り。準備開始から2年以上経ちました。実際に申請してからは2ヶ月半でとれましたけど。これで5年はばっちり働けます。とにかく資金調達とビザという大きな関門2つを突破できたのは本当によかった。
これで2007年1月にはアメリカに渡り再スタートです！
2007年このブログのテーマは「アメリカで起業した日本人」のテーマでやろうかな・・・
あまり難しいことを考えずにブログは気楽にやらせていただきます。

Hi Res Downloads Using Instant Media

We just started offering Best Motoring and Hot Version videos for download to own.
DVD quality videos will be stored on the hard drive of your computer to enjoy when ever you want it and long as you want.
Currently there are only 6 titles available but we will be increasing the number of video titles offered through this service.

有料ダウンロードサービスを開始しました。DVDと同じ品質の動画ファイルをPCのハードディスクに保存することが可能となりました。いつでも好きなだけ見ることができます。現在は６タイトルのみダウンロードできますが、随時タイトル数は増やしていきます。

SEMA Show Report

Now on GT Channel we have a special section with Dai Yoshihara reporting on the 2006 Sema show. Special SEMA page with videos updated daily.

アメリカで活躍するドリフトドライバーの吉原大二郎選手にGT Channelのレポーターとして２００６SEMAショーを取材してもらいました。SEMA PAGEでビデオを毎日更新します。

C16 Autostyle

One of my favorite car magazines C16 Autostyle at Tsutaya in Roppongi Hills.

Lotus Exige CUP 240 Supercharged

Listen to the fine sound of this Lotus Exige Cup 240 Supercharged.
Also check out the GTChannel branded video player. New!
American Touge 3 is set for December 19, 2006. We will have a Lotus Exige with a K20A Type R engine. This year entrants are hand picked by our staff. We will have fewer cars but the action will not be less. The rest of the cars will be announced soon. Come out to Willowsprings on December 19 if you want to check out American Touge 3.

Noblog

Here's a clip of the first XDL Show from December 05.
I had dinner with Nob last week and he is really looking forward to next season. Nothing is set yet but we talked about how we can get him to the US more often. He's an open minded guy and I think he has good charisma. Some guys just don't have it but I can see he has the open mindness to explore out overseas. We just started his official English blog which his manager Daigo Kasami translates. He's been great help to make this happen and keep it going too. Thanks Daigo! Check out Nob's English blog at http://www.gtchannel.com/noblog

Cameron Gone Soft?

Recently Vodaphone in Japan got bought out by Softbank and they are aggressively marketing their new brand. Here's an ad with Cameron Diaz. She has a couple TV commercials too. From October mobile number portability was enabled in Japan so people were free to change their cell phone carriers to others without changing their phone numbers. Softbank had some serious screw ups and some of the new services were pending. On top of that they marketed Zero Yen fees but they are being investigated that the "Zero Yen" campaign is causing misconceptions of what they are really offering. It's not exactly zero yen calling charges all the time but it only says that in verrrry small letters.

NVCA Documents

http://www.nvca.org/model_documents/model_docs.html

Useful agreement document templates for venture capital investments.
They were put together by a group of venture capital attorneys.
Any source that will keep our legal costs down is good news for us.

Volleyball Womens World Championships

Womens World Championships

Japan advanced to the 2nd round. First game of the second round is tonight versus Cuba. Shots are from the first game of the first round when Japan lost against Taiwan.

Marine Corps Birthday Ball

The Marine corps celebrated their 231st anniversary. I was invited to the ball on Yokota base by an old friend of mine. What an interesting experience.
The guest of honor was the actor R.Lee Ermey. Probably most famous for his role in Full Metal Jacket. Latest role was in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He was actually a real drill instructor for 2 years.



米国海兵隊の設立231年記念フォーマルパーティーに招待されました。横田基地内で行われたのでちょっと入り口では緊張。でも招待してくれた友人（少佐）がうまくやってくれたいたのでノートラブルで基地の中に入れました。横田基地には実は海兵隊員は10人未満とのことらしいですが、毎年やっているというこの式は結構力入っていました。パーティー自体は主賓に米国の映画俳優のR.Lee Ermeyでした。その他お客さん含めて300人はいましたね。式の後はそれぞれ食事、歓談、ダンスと制服を着て踊る軍人はまるでアメリカの映画のようでした。

YouTube Magazine

Last week 32 Japanese companies demanded Youtube to delete 30,000 copyright infringing video files from Youtube. Youtube is all in English but there are millions of Japanese users uploading pirated material onto Youtube. Magazines like this one help and guide Japanese users on how to use the all English interface site.
Digital rights management is a big topic for Japanese copyright holders.
Japanese broadcast TV will all go digital in 2010 but they still have not decided on the details of recording and copying the programs on to DVD discs.
There will be new copyright laws and regulations to be changed in the near future as technology is running substantially faster than the regulation reforms.

Super GT License!

Zigzag Asia just signed a licensing agreement with SUPER GT which gives us the rights to distribute SUPERGT content over the internet. It is an exciting feeling as SUPER GT is the top GT race in Japan and I believe it is the most exciting GT race in the world. The cars go faster than any GT race that is for sure.
Also you can see the top Japanese auto makers trying to out do each other. It is a battle of the state of the art racing cars from Honda, Nissan and Toyota. You also see privateers with their Mazdas, Porsches, Lamborghinis and more.
For starters we are streaming part of the SUPERGT promo video on GTChannel. We are preparing a whole bunch more so just sit tight.

Life In The Fast Lane

Earlier this year Zigzag Asia coordinated the appearance of Nob Taniguchi and Max Orido to drift at GT Live in Phoenix. Taniguchi also competed in the Grand Am series in the Mazda Speed Source RX-8. We'll be updating GT Channel with new clips daily. Make sure to check it out.

Fashiong Town Tokyo

An Engrish spotting near my home. There's never a shortage of them in Tokyo.

Bape Veyron

Simply amazing...