JDM Journal by Taro Koki

GTChannel Videos

2010-03-06T11:45:00.008+09:00

GTChannel Youtube Channel

2009-04-18T08:36:00.002+09:00

That's a lot of "channels" but we just recently updated out GTChannel Channel on Youtube. It has all of our originally produced GTChannel videos with some Best Motoring trailers. Soon we will launch a Best Motoring channel on Youtube so watch out!

I'm Moving my blog!

2007-06-22T02:54:00.000+09:00

In our new GT Channel 1.0 site we have blog functionalities. I've been super busy with the new site and that's the reason why I haven't been able to blog recently here. GT channel has a whole line up of social networking features including blogging so being the owner of GT Channel, naturally I'll be moving my blog over there to my account.

But for those of you who have wandered onto this old blog, (yeah now its suddenly the "old" site)below is a widget from the blog on GT Channel with all of my posts. Come check out my new blog!

[Loading PeopleAggregator widget ...]

Here a Skyline GT-R Spy video enjoy!

New Blog Widget Test

2007-06-14T04:09:00.000+09:00

we are testing the new GT Channel site. I am testing here if I can really export a "blog post widget" from my blog on the new site. Yes the new site enables users to make their own blogs in addition to watching and uploading videos. Actually not just blogging but they can network among other users, make groups, share media etc. It is really going to be cool and we can't wait to launch it officially. Those of you who have found it on the web already just bear with us as we work out the glitches. It will replace the current site very shortly.

[Loading PeopleAggregator widget ...]

from lax

2007-05-24T12:39:00.000+09:00

Sitting in lax waiting for my delayed plane to depart. Actually this is my first ever post from my black berry. I have no idea how I am going to up load a photo of my sad looking gate...
Going to Vegas tonight not to party but to study. Out of all things to do in Vegas...
Google is throwing this seminar for Adwords. I thought I'd might as well learn more about this black art of optimizing our Adwords advertisement.
Lets see how it goes...

E! van

2007-05-17T15:27:00.000+09:00

Went to the E! building today for a meeting.

I was asked "are you auditioning for the guys cooking show?" as I was waiting in the lobby. I should've gone since I would've loved to show them my mean natto (fermented Japanese soy beans) and rice bowl. They probably would have called security as soon as I opened the package of natto. Natto smells like...garbage basically. But it's good food.

Primedia Enthusiast Titles Sold for $1.2 Billion

2007-05-16T06:42:00.000+09:00

Buyer Source Interlink to Form Full-Service Media Company

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Source Interlink Cos., the home- entertainment distributor, this afternoon said it agreed to buy Primedia's enthusiast-media division,
Primedia's enthusiast division, just sold to Source Interlink Cos., includes 70 magazines, 90 websites and 60 event programs.
which includes magazines such as Hot Rod and Motor Trend, for $1.2 billion.

Full article on Advertising Age

So giant mag publisher gets sold off for $1.2B. Same day Chrysler is sold to Cerbus Capital Management for $7.45B. Either Primedia got a killer deal or the automaker got low balled big time. But then again Google bought Youtube for $1.6B which everyone thought was the same thing as flushing your money down the toilet.
Especially when Viacom charges a $1B lawsuit against Youtube the second after it's bought by Google.

Drifting vidoes on American Touge 3: Drift Bible Project D

2007-05-16T04:21:00.000+09:00

If you know that drifting videos are good for you, then head over to and check out Drift Bible Project D Online. The first drift video is up and ready for your peeing eyes. We'll have more updating for anyone who wants to catch the drift.

This is our first attempt to truly cross over internet video content with DVD. Part 1 is on GT Channel and the Part 2 is on the DVD. Each segment is independently entertaining and is a segment on its own. We can't fit everything in the DVD so this is another chance for our viewers to enjoy our videos free online! Enjoy.

American Touge 3 DVD release (2)

2007-05-10T05:39:00.000+09:00

Our latest release DVDs arrived to the office just a while ago. Besides the AT segment which has now become an annual event at Willowsprings, we also have something interesting called the Drift Bible Project D in this DVD. In this segment Daisuke Ito challenges the art of drifting. The segment is divided in two parts. You can see Part 1 on gtchannel.com and Part 2 on the DVD.
We hope everyone enjoys this DVD. We did.
Go to http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com for more info.

Formula D Long Beach Video

2007-05-09T01:55:00.000+09:00

Formula D Long Beach

2007-05-05T03:49:00.000+09:00

We have a new Formula D Long Beach feature page up on GT Channel. There will be 5 video clips on the feature page. I shot all of the videos on this page. I'm usually not the one to shoot video for our production but it was a good experience. Especially when you have a good editing guy like our Katsu Takahashi anything can look pretty damn good. Enjoy!

Lexus Scoop Road Rage?

2007-04-27T09:07:00.000+09:00

What we thought would be a quick run to Mitsuwa food store in Torrance for some udon noodles became a near accident when our GT Channel Autonews Blog editor found some mysterious looking cars in front of him...

GT Channel Autonews Blog

Picked up by Autoblog:
Autoblog

Picked up by Jalopnik:
Jalopnik

FD Long Beach Video by Belle One

2007-04-27T02:13:00.000+09:00

Here is a nice clip we found on GTC. Thanks to Belle One!

BMI Caster Daisuke Ito wins Super GT Okayama!

2007-04-25T06:23:00.001+09:00

American Touge 3 DVD release

2007-04-25T05:37:00.000+09:00

AT3 DVD goes on sale on April 30th, 2007.
Go to http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com

GT Channel Mirror

2007-04-21T01:46:00.000+09:00

Only natural to have the GT Channel logo on the side mirrors.
GT Channel is all about blowing by cars and leaving them behind in your mirrors.

Thanks to Garpot Studios for a great pic.

Edmunds.com

2007-04-19T09:09:00.000+09:00

We visited edmunds.com for a meeting.

Edmunds.com lounge. They have 40 feet long coffee counter!

Did you know that Edmunds was founded in 1966?!

Open air office. Kind of reminded my old days when I used to work in Ohtemachi as a "salary man". I liked all of the colors in the office. Very startup like with lots of space.

Cadillac bench. Lots of fun things in the office.

USC Trojans Football

2007-04-18T03:20:00.000+09:00

Most of you that know me personally are aware that I love cars but football is my passion. I played high school ball in Houston Texas where I grew up and college ball at Waseda University in Tokyo. This past weekend a few players and two coaches from Waseda came to visit USC here in LA. I helped them with logistics like booking hotels etc., and went to USC with them during the weekend.

Practice field

USC spring scrimmage

Trojan Horse

Waseda Players with coach Sam Anno

With head coach Pete Carroll

Japanese football still has a long way to go so coming to somewhere like USC to learn and absorb as much as possible was a great experience for Waseda. Waseda had been to USC 2 years ago too. Last year Waseda invited a coach to Tokyo for about a week. I hope this relationship continues as there is always so much to learn.
When I was still playing for Waseda we had the privilege of going to Yale for a whole week and practicing with the Yale coaches. Later in the week we played Keio Univ at Harvard stadium. That week Keio had practiced with the Harvard coaches for one week. Scheduling and economic constraints prevented the entire team to visit but I am confident those that came will take back everything they learned here.

GT Channel/Best Motoring videos now available on BitTorrent

2007-04-18T03:09:00.000+09:00

Best Motoring Intl. videos are now available for downloading via BitTorrent. Yes legally.
You can buy a 90 min DVD for $9.99 or rent it for $2.99.

American Touge 3 DVD Trailer

2007-04-11T07:45:00.001+09:00

Formula D Long Beach 2007

2007-04-11T07:35:00.000+09:00

Went to FD Long Beach on Saturday. Usually I'm not the videographer at events but this time I thought I'd give it a shot. GT Channel needs to be light and nimble for small productions and event coverage like this. For Best Motoring we can have huge productions.
Here's our Best Motoring flags at the Live Sockets booth. DVDs and t-shirts are always a popular item at events.
2nd photo is Dai-chan being interviewed by Courtney. Dai got 3rd place overall.

For more info on FD Long Beach go to GT Channel Auto News blog.
We'll have a special feature page with videos soon.

Gymkhana USA

2007-04-04T09:34:00.000+09:00

We went to Gymkhana USA this weekend. Half pleasure and half work. I had a camera with me just in case something interesting happened. We brought out the 2008 Mitsubishi and we found Dai Yoshihara at the event with his Rockstar/Nitto drifting team, I had him climb into the Lancer and take it for a few laps. We will get that video footage up soon on GT Channel.

Gymkhana USA This Weekend

2007-03-30T16:34:00.000+09:00

See you there!

GT Channel Auto News

2007-03-22T05:46:00.000+09:00

Our GTChannel Auto News has a new editor, Tyrone Rodriguez. He's churning out post after post. Check it out as it's 100 times better than when I was attempting to edit auto news.

Footsoldier

2007-03-22T05:37:00.000+09:00

Here are my Bathing Apes. Love them. I bought them about a year and half ago at the Bathing Ape shop in Harajuku. I hear they are planning on opening a shop in LA soon. The cool thing about Bape is that even though they are a Japanese brand(made in China. But then again what isn't made in China), they have big sizes. Obviously they are targeting the international market. I have large feet considering I am Japanese. My Nikes are 12. But Nike makes their shoes smaller than other brands. These Bape sneaks are 11. I could probably go for 11.5.

Bravissimotoring!! Molto Bene!

2007-03-20T14:29:00.000+09:00

We have released an Italian version of Best Motoring International in Italy now through our partners in Italy Eurosport Editoriale.
Now Keiichi's drift, testing in Tsukuba and the Touge Showdowns can be appreciated with espresso and panini.
Bravo!

Marc Cuban blog on Youtube Supoena

2007-03-20T09:38:00.000+09:00

Marc Cuban Blog

Viacom Sues YouTube and Google

2007-03-15T03:36:00.000+09:00

Right after my rant about Youtube, Viacom announced they are suing YouTube and Google for "massive intentional copyright infringement" of Viacom's entertainment properties. The suit was filed this morning in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and seeks more than $1 billion in damages.
Viacom sues YouTube and Google, claiming YouTube is making money off of unauthorized copyrighted content, such as Comedy Central's 'South Park.'

"YouTube is a significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent, Google," said a Viacom statement, issued in concert with the lawsuit.

Totally true. It's time we start sticking it hard to them. It's just wrong.
The part that really bugs me is that they have the capacity to police themselves better but they just aren't. Youtube has no intentions of blocking users from uploading pirated content.
We have filed complaints about Best Motoring several times. With their technology and man power how can they not restrict uploads with tags and titles that have the word "Best Motoring"?
Because if they do, no one will come watch the pirated content on their site. They are a business based on showing pirated content for free.
Their is no difference between Youtube and the guy selling pirated DVDs on the streets.

Visit to Mitsubishi Motors

2007-03-12T14:01:00.000+09:00

We had a meeting with Mitsubishi Motors recently

That EVO that was in "the movie".

Hey what do you know a Mitsubishi "i" from Japan! It's one of the best selling kei car(light weight) cars in Japan.

The new Lancer.
The Evolution version(EVO X) is to be released sometime in spring 2008. I like the design of this new Lancer a lot. The style is a lot more sportier than the previous version. The old stock Lancer didn't have much to do with being sporty but I think this new model is.

Best Motoring on Youtube

2007-03-10T17:49:00.000+09:00

Best Motoring is all over Youtube. This is a fact. There is no way we can completely avoid this and this is just part of what the internet is all about. But I am not afraid to say it loud and clear that what is happening is illegal.
I am writing this because recently we received one disturbing e-mail. It was from some guy complaining to us that we are demanding Youtube to take down our video clips. Which is true, once in a while we send a letter to Youtube claiming to take down pirated video clips. As a content rights holder we have that right and it is our duty to protect our interest. We have no right to be bitched at for doing this. But realistically there is simply no way for us to police this 100% and we just let most of it go. We need a full team to keep up with the clips that are being uploaded every day. That won't make sense.

Many people mistake us as being some huge conglomerate Japanese media company and none of these free clips on Youtube would actually dent our multibillion dollar revenue and we could go on our way without even flinching. That is a wrong perception.
First go on Youtube and search "best motoring". There are HUNDREDS of videos up. Secondly, we are not a multibillion dollar media company that has a tree that grows $. Thirdly some people think that the internet has nothing to do with decline of DVD sales. It's just an excuse. Hello everyone, why do you think CD sales have continued to slump since the introduction of file sharing on the net? Why are DVDs going down the same path? Because of the internet! Duh!
Many people don't know that Japanese media companies formed a consortium to ban their content on Youtube and request thousands of clips to be deleted.
Oh wait a second, Youtube is for the people and internet is free flow of content. So content holders should give out their stuff free because it belongs to the people that want it. Not.
You want to share everything with everybody and have everything for free? Try giving away all of your stuff for free.
As long as production companies make money selling their content, free flow of content hurts the producers, the actors, the hair dressers and even the prop guy. Because the rule of capitalism is that you gotta pay for good stuff. It has always been that way.
TV looks like it is fee. But it's not. Companies like Coke, Ford and Verizon all pay to have American Idol brought to you. They pay all the bills. On the other hand, Youtube delivers content, puts up ads and takes all the money for themselves. Somethin is wrong here.
If we got a penny for every Best Motoring clip they showed for free, I wouldn't be writing this now. We'd be on a beach sipping pina coladas and discussing which Veyron we should crash test in our next program.
Ok, there are some benefits of having our stuff up there to some extent. But now we have no control over what goes up. Guys are posting full length DVDs. And you want us not to claim this? It hurts us more than anyone because the core business of Best Motoring videos is selling DVDs. If Best Motoring was a TV show, the advertising sales would somewhat cover minimal costs but our first line of sales is selling DVDs.
It's the internet so should we just shut the f+ck up and stop bitching? No way Jose. I'm not going down like some encyclopedia company that couldn't keep up with the times!
Why should small/mid sized content producer continue to produce content when we can no longer monetize from our hard work? It's a bad spiral and I hope they really find a way to give incentives to the producers. Because right now their policy is content producers get free promotion and Youtube keeps the ad sales.
The reality is that you have to break the law to make it big in the internet and sell the company for 1.65 Billion? Just my 2 cents...

Rocking the Best Motoring Tee

2007-03-09T12:26:00.000+09:00

Here's me wearing the BMI signature red t-shirt. We actually have a number of different designs available. This red one was one of the very first we made about 5 years ago. The shirts are available online at the BM Store on http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com.

Recently we signed a deal with Live Sockets which has them handle all of our DVD distribution and EC logistics. Basically we, Zigzag Asia/Best Motoring International wanted to concentrate on being producers and publishers of the content. It will be more efficient for us as a business to let Live Sockets take care of stocking, taking orders and shipping DVDs and we focus on making cutting edge car content on a regular basis. So this year we are scheduled to at least release 4 DVD quarterly and maybe even one bonus or special edition somewhere in between.
The new DVD coming up in April, American Touge 3 will all be distributed by Live Sockets. These guys have been a great distributor for us in the past and it was just a natural course of action.

But all things digital and on the net will be distributed directly by Zigzag Asia/Best Motoring International. Some very exciting announcements coming up soon on that front. We have some big players in that space taking our content for digital distribution...

Sing Shot Acquired by Electronic Arts

2007-03-01T16:44:00.000+09:00

About a year ago I posted on this blog that my friend Ranah Edelin started up Sing Shot. Now they are acquired by Electronic Arts! Here is the news:
Forbes Article on Sing Shot and EA

The King and I

2007-02-22T16:13:00.000+09:00

One of the interesting things about the Drift King is that he really doesn't give a shit what other people say and think about him. You hang out with him long enough and you will see that he pretty much bows to no one. Well ok, he's Japanese so he'll do a courtesy bow here and there but he'll never do anything or say anything he doesn't want to.
You become a super star and it looks like you have a big fargin ego. Well the big fargin ego that the DK has is pretty much well deserved. Drifting would have never become this big around the world if the man did not exist. Tire companies would not have made so much money if there wasn't driftinng. He single handedly raised the premium on 1986 Corolla Levins. He basically founded D1. Taught the world how to drift. Can I stop now?
I heard a funny story recently that he was not chosen as a committee member for the Japan Car of the Year award. The voting people said he wasn't established enough or what not and didn't want to let him in. Basically they wanted to shut him up because the committee was afraid of him going off on how bad some of the cars were. The sponsors of the Awards are, yes the car makers. They didn't want him ragging on certain cars freely like he does in Best Motoring. BM is an independent media so he is allowed to say what ever the hell he wants.
The story gets better. After he was not voted in, he went public with how the committee is corrupt and how bs the way things are run. That sparked some serious flames here and there in the Japanese car media segment. Like I said, the DK doesn't give a whole lot about what others say and think.
There are ofcourse conscequences to things like this and sometimes as a guy who works close to him wishes if he could be a tad bit more "diplomatic" but he isn't about to change his ways. That's why he's the king...

http://myspace.com/gtchannel

2007-02-20T15:47:00.000+09:00

Ok so we finally got onto myspace. URL is http://www.myspace.com/gtchannel.
We've been asked many times why we are not on myspace. We knew it was something we had to do but just putting it off. Now that I made a GT Channel myspace, I can't get enough of it. I like doing things good if we are going to do it. I actually have/had another myspace account but I have like 3 friends and I was soon bored of doing anything with it. I put more time into posting comments on this blog.
Our GTchannel myspace as of today has 5 people including Tom who you get for free...I've sent out some invites to some friends I know on myspace so we'll see who becomes my friends.
So if you are reading this and have a myspace account be my friend!

I'm still not sure how everything works but I somehow figured out how to redesign my background and get rid of annoying ads that seem to pop up sometimes when you use free coding services. They sneak in funky links and their own ads sometimes. I got rid of those. The myspace profile page is cluttered as it is. Some people say that the cluttered chaotic interface is what makes myspace, myspace. Well what ever it is I like my info clean and sorted as much as possible. Maybe I'm old. Who knows. But it looks like you ain't nobody if you're not on myspace so here it goes.

My Article in Modified Mag Feb 2007

2007-02-17T08:50:00.000+09:00

There is an article I wrote in the February issue of Modified Mag about the Touge Showdown.
By the way our next DVD will be American Touge 3. It's scheduled for release at mid March. An announcement is coming up pretty soon about a new distribution deal which allows us to concentrate more on production and marketing. We are planning on releasing at least 4 DVDs this year on a quarterly basis. Look out here we come!

Visit to HKS USA

2007-02-17T04:51:00.000+09:00

I visited HKS USA this week. HKS has been a great partner for us for a while now. We've worked very closely with them when Nob Taniguchi comes to the US since we like to feature him in our videos.
We've worked with HKS for the XDL show and GT Live in Phoenix. In our last DVD Best Motoring International Japan VS USA Drift Off we included a HKS CDROM product catalog. This year we will be working with them for various projects.

Here's a video of Nob Taniguchi, Dai and Lisa at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Cold California

2007-02-16T15:26:00.000+09:00

The day we arrived to LA it snowed in Malibu. It has rained almost 5 times in the 4 weeks we have been here. I don't know how the weather is usually around here but it's not as sunny and warm as I imagined. I guess this cold is pretty rare because after we moved in we found out that the heater in our house was beyond repair.
Here in these photos the workers are taking the AC unit off the roof and putting a new one on top. The surprising thing was that the old unit was probably about 30 years old and the new unit was just as big and looked exactly like the old one! Cars have become smaller, radios and music players have become smaller, phones have evolved to be smaller, TVs are thinner. Now why haven't the air conditioner units become smaller? How about the performance?
I hope this new unit delivers more power for the buck. Shouldn't they be more efficient too, just like the other devices that we surround ourselves with?

Wallstrip

2007-02-14T04:10:00.000+09:00

WRC Subaru Time Attack on the Touge

2007-02-14T03:42:00.000+09:00

I always love it when we have special guests on the touge. It's great to see different genres of motorsports interact.

Setting up the pad

2007-02-13T16:17:00.000+09:00

Inside Sony Studios in Culver City

Taku stuffed in the back seat with the flat screen

One of the first things you need in your house is a TV. Especially when you are in the business of selling DVDs. So after we got our new place we headed off to get a TV. You can see we barely fit it in the rental car with our friend Taku in the back seat.
Getting cable here in the US takes so much time. My mistake EVERYTHING here takes so much time.
We still don't have a land line because we are still waiting for the guy to come hook up the house. That was after being put on hold for about an hour to get through to someone. Doing this for cable, electricity and internet can get pretty old. I'm glad we're almost finished with everything...
Starting your life from scratch in a new place can be pretty challenging. I grew up here so I can speak the language but I have not spent any of my adult life living here. Which means no credit. No credit in the US means you get no credit card and no record of any financial status. Basically a baby.
Sometimes you really feel like you were born yesterday. I was just telling some friends of mine today that the people at the grocery store looked at me as I was seriously challenged when I asked them what in earth was "cash back" when I used my new debit card to pay.
In Japan we don't have this. You always have to go to the ATM to retrieve cash. Never at the same time you buy something. I was just trying to pay and they are asking me if I want "cash back". I never gave any cash so why would I want "cash back"? It's more like "cash withdrawl" right? The cashier lady was "so you want cash back or what?".
I was so scared by her glaring at me I was like, "no, no I don't want any cash, thank you and I'm sorry". She would have climbed over the counter to kick my ass if I asked another stupid question about how to use the darn debit card.
Anyway we're getting used to this. Lesson one, just use cash if in doubt.

Searching for Director of Internet Strategy and Online Operations

2007-02-13T05:00:00.000+09:00

We are seeking to hire the following:

The Director of Internet Strategy and Online Operations will manage the web presentation of Zigzag Asia websites. Director will be responsible for managing a team of content producers and coordinating other related disciplines. Will set work production schedules with the production team for ongoing production, as well as new projects implementation.
He/she will be responsible for:
1. Developing strategy for the site and overseeing all aspects of goal implementations.
2. Managing website development and day-to-day operations to support superior viewer experience and to incorporate new features and offerings.
3. Serve as a single point of contact with development team (internal or contract) to ensure all tasks are clearly defined and are completed according to schedule.
4. Identifying opportunities for leveraging the website in pursuit of other key objectives including cross-promotion of new products
5. Identifying and executing strategic partnerships to acquire compelling content, features, and online tools that support the website strategy.
6. Update management on the status of all projects especially when there are slowdowns or bottlenecks.
7. Tracking and analyzing site traffic to understand customers' usage patterns and trends and assessing ongoing competitive analysis of high-speed Web sites, content and emerging technologies to continually inform the content strategy and foresee new trends.
8. Building and leading a cohesive, professional staff to support strategy and operational goals
Qualifications:
• MUST LOVE CARS
• 5+ years experience managing an online portal with responsibilities including overall portal strategy development, content acquisition, and website development
• Strong knowledge of Website production technologies including HTML, databases and XML if possible, video encoding, extensive contacts in the online space and in depth experience monitoring and evaluating industry trends
• Solid management experience and track record in motivating and building strong teams.
• Strong communications skills and ability to build working relations across all levels of an organization.

Send resumes to taro@zigzagasia.com

PRIMEDIA Acquires Modified Automotive Group

2007-02-10T04:09:00.000+09:00

NEW YORK, NY —February 8, 2007—PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM), America's leading targeted media company, today announced that its Enthusiast Media Segment acquired Toronto-based VerticalScope Inc.’s Modified Automotive Group (MAG), publisher of Modified Magazine, Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine, Modified Mustangs Magazine, and their related event partnerships and websites. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The Modified Automotive Group has been an outstanding growth company. PRIMEDIA, as a strategic buyer, is ideally positioned to leverage Modified’s assets for growth into the future primarily by cross-selling with PRIMEDIA’s existing brands, and realizing numerous economies of scale, particularly in the areas of sales, production, distribution, and direct mail,” said Steve Parr, President of PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Media.

MAG was founded in July 2002, with the premiere issue of Modified Magazine, a performance magazine for sport compact and import car enthusiasts. MAG has delivered strong revenue growth in each year of its existence. The Modified brand is well known and highly respected by both marketers and enthusiasts.

Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine was launched in November, 2004, and caters primarily to the high-end market. Modified Mustangs, launched in October 2005, skews toward a younger demographic. All three MAG publications complement PRIMEDIA’s existing assets and broaden PRIMEDIA’s addressable market.

“In addition to the synergies we expect to realize, we intend to expand Modified’s online presence, begin to generate licensing revenue using Modified’s strong brands, and benefit from Modified’s event partnerships,” Parr added.

VerticalScope was represented in the sale by DeSilva & Phillips, LLC.

北米チューニング雑誌出版社のモディファイド社が大手出版社のプライメディアに買収されたというニュースが２日前に発表されました。プライメディアはnasdaqに上場している大手雑誌出版社。特定趣向の中堅雑誌を何誌も持っているトップ１０に入る雑誌出版社です。自動車雑誌で有名なのはMotortrendですね。チューニング雑誌で有名なのはSuper StreetやSports compact car。とにかく業界を代表するメディア会社です。
２００２年に創業したばかりのモディファイド。厳しい競争を勝ち残ってプライメディア系の購読数を抜き去りました。後から出てきてプライメディアの牙城を破ってすごいなぁと思っていました。
このモディファイド、本社はなんとカナダにあります。チューナー系の情報発信はほとんどアメリカ西海岸なのに。でも一番驚くのはこのモディファイの社長のRob Laidlawはなんと若干２５歳。びっくりです。
買収というと日本ではまだまだネガティヴのイメージがありますが、米国ではacquiredというとベンチャーの世界では「おめでとう」です。起業家にとって買収されるというのは株式上場に続いておめでたい出来事なのです。時には上場よりも手間がはぶけexitできるすばらしい方法です。いままで汗と苦労を正当に評価してもらい他社の傘下に入る。それほど悪い話しではありません。もちろんメリットとデメリット両方あります。例えば従業員の問題、経営の自由度、混乱などがあるかもしれません。しかしより大きな資本下に入ることによってよりブランド力を高めたり、大会社の資産を共有できたり、コストを下げたりする効果も充分期待できます。
Robとは何度か会ったことありますが、落ち着いていて僕より１０歳も年下とは思えないほど発想が大人で関心させられました。
こういう若者が育つ環境、競争できる市場というのは素晴らしいですね。日本の起業家も負けてられません。そういう意味では本件非常に刺激になるニュースでした。
日本男児がんばらないといけませんね！

Pacific Coast Highway

2007-02-01T17:05:00.001+09:00

Life in LA started 2 weeks ago. We finally found a place in Marina Del Rey.
I can get to the office in about 20 minutes going South on the 405. I can also cruise down Pacific Coast Highway. Now that I've found a house, I have to find a car! Still thinking about what to get...

ロスでの生活が始まりました。到着して２週間経ちましたが、ようやく家が見つかりました。
トーランスのオフィスの近くを探しましたが、結局マリーナデルレイにしました。事務所までは高速を使えば２０分でいけます。高速を使わない場合はこのPacific Coast Highway通称PCHを南に下っていきます。このPCHはここカリフォルニアの代表的な街道で良く映画などでも登場します。
いつかこの道をバイクででも走ってみたいですね。
あ、その前に先ず車を買わなきゃ。家が決まったので次は車ですね。どれにしようか迷っています・・・

Toyota Camry has been named 2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year

2007-02-01T16:45:00.000+09:00

The all-new Toyota Camry has been named 2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Launched in spring 2006, the new Camry offers a major redesign for the 2007 model year.
Check Out GT Channel for the full story:http://www.gtchannel.com/AutoNews/index.php

Me at the Motor Trend office this past week in LA.

Tokyo Auto Salon video in association with Temple of VTEC

2007-01-24T13:30:00.000+09:00

We just did a Honda video on GT Channel in association with one of the most popular Honda enthusiasts site Temple of Vtec
It is now the second most watched video on GT Channel. Spoon's Ichishima-san always has something interesting to say and the guys always like Lisa Fleming!

GT Channel Podcast on Melodeo

2007-01-24T07:53:00.000+09:00

Now you can subscribe to the GT Channel podcast. Check it out.

Dog Quarantine at Narita

2007-01-22T18:17:00.000+09:00

So prepping our dog to leave Japan was just hard as obtaining my working visa for the US. Ok, maybe not that hard but it sure took a lot of effort.
First of all this is probably useful information if you are plannning on returning to Japan with your dog. Our return date is not set yet but we went ahead and did everything possible to get back into Japan if and when we need to. So here are the things you need. I suggest everyone confirm with the Animal Quarantine Officials way before hand. http://www.maff-aqs.go.jp/

1. Rabies shot certificate. You need 2 certificates with at least 2 months intervals from each shot. You can get this from you vet when your dog gets the shots
2. Rabies serum anti-body certificate. You need to have a vet send blood samples to the MAFF testing center. The testing center will send you back the stamped certificate to your home.
3. Application letter signed by owner and vetenarian. There is a MAFF application form. I got mine at the vet.
4. Health check dated within 1 week from the day of your departure. In the middle of shipping your stuff out, saying goodby to friends, co-workers and relatives you have to take your dog to the vet one last time for a check up.
5. Certificate of microchip with ID number and injection date.

I faxed the Narita quarantine office everything about 1 month before my departure date. They will check and tell you if you are missing something or you need to make some changes in the form.

At that time, you will tell them the date and make an appointment about 3 hours before your flight. I went a 2:30pm for my 5pm flight. Everything went pretty smooth because they already had seen my papers and knew I was coming in at that time. They checked my dog with the microchip reader to see if it matches the papers and a simple check up.

They place a "Quarantined" sticker to place on the crate. We were done by 3pm. Then you take your dog out to pee for the last time before checking in.
We were flying ANA and of course you need to tell them you are bringing a dog when you purchase your ticket. You need to tell them the info on the dog, size and weight of the crate.
Dogs are placed in a pressurized compartment with aircondition. You are not allowed to go check up on your dog during the flight. Actually no one is allowed down there during the flight.

Some people drug their dogs to make them groggy but we didn't wanted to take that risk. Our dog is pretty used to staying inside his crate for a long period of time. He would probably prefer to sit underneath our chair but his crate was too big to fit. I think dogs that fit in smaller bags or crates are allowed in the cabin. He would probaby be more comfortable in his crate, although he would probably be a little scared.

So you check in your dog at the counter along with your check in luggage. Just like that. We waited until the last minute, about an hour until departure. We ran inside from the priority check in lane since we were pretty late by that time.

Only to know after we pasted customs that our plane would be delayed for one hour. At this point there is no turning back so you just have to wait and hope.

At LAX about 10 hours later, we were stuck at customs for about an hour. Visitors are stuck in a lane that lasts for ever. When we came to the luggage claim area, the crate with our dog was waiting for us next to all of the other suit cases. He looked happy to see us but we were not allowed to let him out yet. We had to go thru US quarantine.
Which takes about 2 minutes.
At Japanese quarantine, they give you a stamped and signed certificate. US quarantine just takes a copy of it for their records. That's it. Easy as that.

You go thru the lines and get out. We ran to the first grassy area and let him pee. What a relief. Despite our worries Payton took it like a man and was just fine with everything. He didn't dirty his crate in anyway. He jumped up and down just like anyday before going out on a walk. I was very proud of him. Now's he's been to 3 countries. Australia, Japan and the US. What an international dog!

2007-01-15T23:51:00.000+09:00

So here is a behind the scenes shot of Lisa Flemming and Dai goofing off, off camera. We got a lot of footage of these two playing around a lot actually. I shot this with my digital camera. TAS is about having fun anyway so we want to get that feelingacross thru our videos. Should be coming up soon.

Before leaving Japan tomorrow I wanted to make sure to visit Meiji Shrine once more. It listened to my wish last year. Hopefully they are still listening this year too.

Here is my dog Payton among all of the boxes in the house. He's having the toughest time wondering where in the world everything went. Now tomorrow he has to go thru quarantine at Narita and get in a cage for 10 hours. On second thought, he's probably got it better than economy class!

Tokyo Auto Salon 2007

2007-01-15T11:22:00.000+09:00

Went to Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday. We were shooting some video segments for GTChannel. We uploaded some photographs on GTChannel Auto News so you can get a sneak peak before the videos are up.
Nice thing about the TAS is that it's at the beginning of the year so it's a good chance to see everyone and greet them happy new year.

Besides that I had to move this weekend so everything was so crazy at the Koki house. Dog had to go to my parents for a few days, giving the keys back to the landlord, dealing with the move to LA, getting our huge sofa out of the house etc. I'll post some more pics later. Now I have to go to get my eyes checked up. I just got Lasik last week!

Nissan in Great Condition

2007-01-08T17:40:00.000+09:00

Saw this nice classic Nissan in my neighborhood. Don't know what it is though.
Getting ready for the move to LA. Boxing are piling up in one of the bed rooms in our apartment. Haven't figured out what car I will drive in LA yet. Will probably end up driving an SUV since they are so convenient to haul people and things around. Looking forward to starting everything new.

こんなキレイな日産車を近所でみかけました。なんだろう？
引越し準備でばたばたです。荷造りをはじめているので部屋の中が箱いっぱいになってきました。
ロスで乗る車はまだ決めていません。多分SUVにすると思います、人やものを動かすのに一番結局便利だし。すべてが新しくてこの辺も楽しみです。

XS Engineering R32 GT-R

2007-01-05T18:31:00.000+09:00

This is a shot from our American Touge shoot in December. As you may well know the Skyline was never exported to N.America. What a shame. There were a few that made it out there but I'm not getting into that story right now. The remaining Skylines in the States are mostly track use like the XS Engineering R32 Skyline GT-R. This Japanese muscle car is kicking serious ass in time attack events all around. From Japan, the time attack champ Mine's R34 GT-R makes its way to Willowsprings to take on the challenge.

The following video is not from the video shoot but something I found on GTChannel.com from XS Engineering. It's from the Super Street time attack with Tarzan Yamada behind the wheel. This is what we call stupid fast...

アメリカにGT-Rは正式に輸出されませんでした。しかし公道を走ることを許されたスカイラインはごく少数ありました。この話をすると長くなるのであえてしませんが、現在米国内のスカイラインはほとんど競技用車両です。このXSエンジニアリングのR32　GT-Rもその一台。ジャパニーズマッスルカーとして北米でタイムアタック大会荒らしをして回っています。そのR32が今回はわれわれのAmerican Tougeに登場。日本からは国内のタイムアタック王者のMine'sのR34が参戦。

下のビデオはSuper Streetのタイムアタック大会にXSが参加したときのもの。ドライバーはターザン山田選手。馬鹿っ速とのこのことですね。まさにStupid Fast...

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T17:51:00.000+09:00

Happy New Year
Best wishes for the new year.
The photo is of a Porsche Carrera GT I spotted in Ginza during the new year break.

I expect 2007 to be a great year both personally and professionally. My family will move to Los Angeles in 2 weeks. I wil base myself out of our Zigzag Asia (America) office in Torrance from now. Of course I will be travelling back and forth to Japan very often. But since I spend a lot of my time in LA anyway and my business targets the N.American market, it was only natural to make the move. Stay tuned for a lot of adventure on this blog this year. : )

新年あけましておめでとうございます
2007年は個人的にも仕事の面でも非常に期待しています。2週間でアメリカのロサンゼルスに引越します。これからは米国トーランスにある子会社Zigzag Asia(America)Inc.をベースにします。
もちろん日本と米国をいったりきたりの生活はしばらく変わらないと思いますが・・
やはりロスへの出張も多く、北米市場をターゲットとしている事業なので社長である僕が市場の近くにいるのがもっとも自然なこととして決断しました。
今年はたくさんの冒険（？）があることでしょう。なるべくこのブログでも紹介していきたいと思います。

（写真は年末銀座でみたポルシェ・カレラGTです）

Best Motoring US location shoot on December 19

2006-12-25T11:54:00.000+09:00

On December 19th we were all at Willowsprings Street course to test some cars. We had the Ford Shelby GT500, Lexus LS and Acura TS Type S.
Road & Track international editor Sam Mitani is featured here with Keiichi Tsuchiya.
Keichi really liked the GT500.

ベストモータリングのUSロケを先週行いました。
ロード＆トラックの国際編集者のサム三谷さんを招いてシェルビーGT５００、レクサスLSとアキュラTLタイプSを試乗しました。

She Works Hard For Her Money

2006-12-13T19:47:00.000+09:00

My parent's Great Pyr "Blanca" has been casted in a Japanese TV program "Maison Ikkoku". Featured in Sanspo. The program stars Misaki Ito, one of the most popular actresses in Japan right now.

実家の犬ブランカが来春放送予定の「メゾン一刻」に出演が決定しました。本日サンスポにもでていました。
主演伊東美咲です。撮影への立会いは残念ながらできそうにありません。

ちなみに弊社の昔の事務所は「メゾン原宿」というマンションの中にありました。

Getting Ready for the move

2006-12-11T12:37:00.000+09:00

The Tokyo Office of Zigzag Asia will move to a new office in January.
New address is:

Zigzag Asia Co.,Ltd.
Shibuya Mark City West F22
1-12-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
150-0043
Tel:+81-3-4360-5731
Fax:+81-3-4360-5301

On another note, in Japan we have year ending get togethers and parties. Although that never stops us from actually have lots of new year get togethers and parties too. Here's a nice shochu I had the other day. It is potato based. It is called "Kame-goro".

年末に事務所移転します。新住所は：
ジグザグ･アジア株式会社
１５０－００４３
東京都渋谷区道玄坂１－１２－１
渋谷マークシティー　ウェスト22階
Tel：03-4360-5731
Fax:03-4360-5301

年末年始は忘年会や新年会など集まりごとが多いですね。くれぐれも暴飲暴食に気をつけましょう。

先日行った居酒屋で「亀五郎」という芋焼酎がありました。
昔アメフト早慶戦のパンフレットにボクの名前が「湖　亀太郎」となっていたのを思いだしました。

というか、ボクはたぶん４歳ぐらいまで人に名前を聞かれたら「みずうみのかめたろう」と答えるものだと思っていました。

それは親が「湖亀（こき）です。ミズウミのカメと書いて湖亀です」といつも人に言っているのを聞いていたからでしょう。だから名前を聞かれたときはそう答えるものだとおもっていた。

「お名前なんていうの？」
「みずうみかめたろう」
と、平気で答えていたらしい。肝心の「湖亀」が抜けてるっちゅの・・・珍しい苗字にはデメリットもあります。

「亀五郎」美味しかったです。是非一度お試しを。

Car Manufacturer Testing Videos from GT Channel at Nurburgring

2006-12-09T22:02:00.000+09:00

Industry Pool testing at Nordschleife has been captured on video and uploaded on to GT Channel. Stephane who uploaded these videos is an old friend of Best Motoring International.
Video includes the McLaren SLR during it's testphase.

ニュルブルクリンクでの各社のテスト映像がGT Channelにアップされました。
撮影しアップしたユーザーのStephaneはBest Motoringの英語版を発売した当時からサポートしてくれているファンの一人です。
マクラーレンSLRのテストも含まれています。どんどんこういう映像が見れるようにしていきたいと思います。

Revver's Blog

2006-12-08T12:42:00.000+09:00

Revver's Blog

GT Channel was recently featured on Revver's blog.

American Touge 3 Announcement

2006-12-07T14:18:00.000+09:00

American Touge 3 Official Site

AT3 VIDEO SHOOT
Spectators are welcome to come see the video shoot.
Where: Willowsprings International Speedway
Course: Horse Thief Mile
When: December 20th(Wed), 2006

THE CARS
Mine's R34 GT-R
XS Engineering R32 GT-R
Prototype Racing Lotus Elise K20A VTEC
Hasport CRX
Stoptech Z06 Corvette
APR'06 STI
Dinan E46 M3
Cosworth/Dynocomp '06 STI

WRC Evo Time Attack

2006-12-06T11:53:00.000+09:00

One of my favorite forms of motorsports is actually rally. And this is a very interesting segment we took with WRC racer Gilles Panizzi in Japan. They are goofing off at first but afterwards they are nothing but serious in the time attack.

実はボクのモータースポーツの形式で一番好きなのはラリーかもしれません。これは三菱のワークスドライバー、パニッツィが来日したときの映像です。この後壮絶なタイムアタックバトルが繰り広げられるのです。

Ellica

2006-12-04T19:10:00.000+09:00

Ellica is an electric car project run by Keio University.
I saw it parked in front of Tokyo Gymnasium near our office.
Ellica Website

慶応大学の電機自動車プロジェクトELLICAが会社近くの東京体育館前に停めてありました。

Mac Enough or What?

2006-12-01T18:17:00.000+09:00

What the? That's 4 patties in one Big Mac. I found this special Mega Mac at the Roppongi MacDonald's. It must be a special gaijin version.
I can never go by without trying something like this.

It's definitely taller than your average Big Mac but the Big Macs in Japan are "mini" Big Macs. There is nothing big at all about them. So there's more beef and more bread but it's nothing that can't be taken care of. It was good.

おいおいちょっと間違っているんじゃないか？
と思うようなハンバーガーを六本木のマックで発見してしましました。
外人向けのスペシャルバージョンなんでしょうね・・・
こういうものを見ると思わず買ってみたくなる性分なんです。

ということで頼んでみました。

確かに背は高いがパンとパティーは普通のビッグマックと一緒なのでお腹がすいていれば食べれないことはありません。

まいうーでした。

Endless

2006-11-29T17:08:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-29T11:06:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-22T16:33:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-16T20:39:00.000+09:00

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

Lotus Exige CUP 240 Supercharged

2006-11-16T20:30:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-11T19:34:00.000+09:00

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?

2006-11-10T20:09:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-07T20:41:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-07T17:31:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-06T19:41:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-04T12:12:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-11-02T18:11:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-01T09:51:00.000+09:00

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

2006-11-01T09:47:00.000+09:00

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

Bape Veyron

2006-11-01T09:44:00.000+09:00

Simply amazing...

American Touge 2 Behind the Scenes

2006-10-30T12:07:00.000+09:00

We are preparing our American Touge 3(2006) shoot for December 19-20 again. Tentative plans is to have a US version My Car Challenge on 12/19 and a American Touge on Horse Thief Mile on December 20.
In the meantime we've uploaded some Behind the scenes footage from AT2 on http://www.gtchannel.com.
We will be uploading new content everyday as we fix the glitches and bugs of this site. Let us know what you think! E-mail your comments and ideas to info@zigzagasia.com.

Waseda American Football Beats Nihon Univ.

2006-10-30T11:38:00.000+09:00

Waseda beat Nihon University 28-20 yesterday.
My alma mater Waseda Big Bears are now 4-0. We are playing Senshu Univ next week and after that Hosei Univ. which are the reigning Kanto college champs.

To beat Nihon U is a big feat for us since they have beaten us 30 times in all 39 official season games we have played them since 1940. Our loss when I was senior is included in one of the 39 losses against them.

The last time we beat them was in 1993. At that time Waseda had not beaten them in 40 years. But since 1997, Nihon U lost their edge. Yesterday was the first match up in 10 years.

Nihon U Phoenix had a charismatic coach named Shinotake who passed away earlier this year. He had a aura that none of the other coaches had.
The other coaches including Waseda were all part time Sunday coaches. But you can't win football games that way. Thing started changing for Waseda when Takao Asakura became coach. He graduated 2 years earlier than me and was the captain of the team when I was a sophmore.
After winning a championship with the Asahi Beer Silverstar he worked for the NFL Japan office for a while and then quit to become the head coach of the Waseda Big Bears. He has shown a clear goal to win the college championship and a plan to achieve it. We are supporting him.
I hope we can make it to Koshien where the Kanto champs and Kansai champs fight for the Japan collge championship. In 2002 we went to the championship game but lost to Ristumeikan 51-14.
Our 06 team has a good chance to be the champ.

Super Car Spotting

2006-10-30T11:26:00.000+09:00

Lamborghini Gallardo parked outside of a Shinjuku department store.

GT Channel.com Update

2006-10-24T10:17:00.000+09:00

Our online automotive site "GT Channel(beta)" is up and running now! It has taken a long time to get here but we are so proud we were able to launch this site. This is what GT Channel offers.

1. Top quality videos starting from Best Motoring, Hot Version and the Super GT racing footage from Japan. We have original programming coming up soon! First videos from SEMA Show 06.

2. Viewer uploads of their own videos. Just like YouTube, you can upload your ride or video footage you took at events etc. Unlike YouTube, once you sign up and upload your video, you will be PAID a portion from the ad if someone clicks on the ad.

3. You can also make money by just "grabbing" the videos too. We call this syndication. Just sign up and start grabbing your favorite videos and start posting them on your blog, myspace, homepage and forums. We will also pay you a portion of the ad sales if someone clicks on the ad you syndicated.

Still some glitches here and there but GT Channel is up and running so go crazy!

Mine's GT-R in the US?!

2006-10-20T09:53:00.000+09:00

Mine's R34 GT-R

The Mine's R34 GT-R arrived to the US for its promotional tour. It will first go to SEMA in Las Vegas in 2 weeks. Then to the Super Street Time Attack.
In December it will be at American Touge 2006!

BMI Type R Legend videos for UK Honda Type R Site

2006-10-19T18:46:00.000+09:00

Copyright Honda Motor Europe Limited

The 2007 Civic Type R will go on sale in the UK in March 2007. We were proud to take part in helping UK Honda tell the Type R story. Couple clips were used from Best Motoring International Vol.1 Type R Legend for the special website.
Now if only we can get a Type R in Japan too...

Check out: http://www.redh.co.uk/
Archives
'92 NSX Type R Gallery-Next
'95 Integra DC2 Gallery
'97 Civic R EK9 Gallery

Hakone Shoot (2)

2006-10-17T17:56:00.000+09:00

A silver version of the Spoon S2000.

Rays Wheels and Williams F1 Team

2006-10-14T20:24:00.000+09:00

Japanese performance wheel maker RAYS and Williams F1 Team announced their collaboration for the 2007 F1 season at Suzuka GP last week.

Spoon S2000 with Rays wheels
Photos Courtesy of Yuki Imamura.

Run DMZ

2006-10-13T18:26:00.000+09:00

Took a trip to Seoul Korea last weekend and also visited the DMZ. Little did I know that N.Korea would test their nuke the next day!

Here is the last station on the South side before entering N.Korea. It's called Dorasan Station.

They even make rice in the DMZ. Special farmers are allowed to work and live near the border to cultivate the land.

We visited the 3rd tunnel. This was the third tunnel dug by the North which was capable of transfering North Korean troops across the border underground. Who knows how many others they have dug?

In downtown Seoul, Nandaemon.

Japanese ladies taking photos in front of a billboard of Korean soap star Pei Yon Jung...

Obviously I was also thrilled to take a photo with Yon-sama.

Star Trek Cribs

2006-10-10T20:22:00.000+09:00

This is one funny video. Just had to post it.

ブラックでヒップなスタートレック人形のMr.スポックが展開するStar Trek Cribs。G4というアメリカのゲーム／オタクなCATV局で放映されています。スタートレックの再放送をアメリカで見て育った私はおもいっきり笑ってしまいました。

ところでこのビデオはYouTubeからのフィードですが、Googleが本日Youtubeを16億ドルで買収したというニュースがありました。Youtubeはまだ事業性を証明できていませんでしたが、Googleがこの大金を払って買うということは今後の可能性を読んでいるのでしょう。著作権問題がYoutubeをNapsterにように閉鎖させることになると予想するアナリストや業界人はいますが、果たしてどうなのでしょうか？これでクリーンになれるのでしょうか？実際我々のBest Motoringのコンテンツも無断でユーザーによって毎日YoutubeやGoogle Videoのアップロードされています。一応Claimをすると早ければ数日後には削除してくれますが、対応は遅いし、そもそもチェックしていないところがまったくダメですね。その辺は大きく成長するための必要リスクと見ているかもしれませんが、もっと著作者への配慮がないと今後問題になりそうです。

Hakone

2006-09-29T15:45:00.000+09:00

I went to Hokane yesterday for a photo shoot.

This is the final ad coming out in the Japanese VTEC magazine.

I took some video footage too so hopefully I can post some up here next week. It was lots of fun zooming thru the touge of Hakone in the S2000!

How To Connect Your PC to your TV

2006-09-26T19:51:00.000+09:00

You learn something new everyday...

2006-09-26T18:46:00.000+09:00

Technorati Profile

2006-09-25T16:13:00.000+09:00

Saw some friends this weekend from the US.
This is videographer/dj extraordinaire Mr.Joesh and me.
We went to a bar called Heartland in Roppongi Hills.

My Story Riceboys in Super Street Oct '06

2006-09-21T14:37:00.000+09:00

私が書いた記事が米国の自動車雑誌Super Streetの１０周年記念号の中に掲載されました。

Seeker S2k

2006-09-20T14:37:00.000+09:00

Met Ryo Teraoka from Seeker today. They are a tuning shop that specializes in Honda parts. Check out:http://www.seeker.co.jp/

Hybrid Civic Photos

2006-09-19T15:53:00.000+09:00

Lonelygirl15

2006-09-14T14:38:00.000+09:00

The story is out: Lonelygirl15 Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers

Those of you who don't know who Lonelygirl15 is:The lonelygirl15 story unfolded in a series of confessional video blogs, supposedly made by a home-schooled girl named Bree, Since June, viewers have questioned whether Bree and her friend Daniel, who also appeared in the videos, were real people or part of some larger project or promotional scheme. An ominous hint of a satanic plotline to come suggested a horror film in the making.

You can see the rest of her vlogs on YouTube and Revver.com. Just go and search lonelygirl15.
People didn't know if the story was fiction or real. But it was 3 film makers that made this on a shoe string budget and it became a huge hype. Interesting what the web can do. Its the Blair Witch Project of the net.
Story on CNN.com

面白いできごとがアメリカでおきています。YouTubeやRevverといったビデオ投稿サイトを使って「ロンリーガール１５」lonelygirl15というVlog（ビデオ・ブログ）が今年の6月から始まりました。色々と謎をもったBreeという女の子が日常の出来事やDanielという友人との関係、父親との関係、宗教などについて話します。これが瞬く間にネットで火がつきしまいにはファンサイトやSNSで大きな話題となります。また、lonelygirl15についてコメントするビデオも出てくる状況。いったい彼女はだれ？実は宗教は悪魔崇拝？など噂が飛び交うこと数ヶ月。なんとCNNやNYタイムズも取り上げるほど。
それが昨日やっとこの話もキャラクターもすべて3人の映像製作者が作ったものであることがLATimesのインタビューにより明らかになりました。YouTubeなどのビデオ投稿サイトは限界を知らずどんどんこのような新しいスターを生み、メディアとしての存在価値を広げてきています。
まったくあたらしメディアの使いかたとして無視できませんね。

Hybrid Civic

2006-09-12T11:43:00.000+09:00

The video location shoot of the new VTEC Club took place at Fukushima Prefecture's Ebisu circuit.

One of the cars that we brought out was the Civic Hybrid Racing car.

Honda's hybrid car racing program is actually not even a "program" yet. It all started in 2003 when a couple of engineers from Honda started playing around with the idea of entering a race with a hybrid car. Honda never officially backed up the team so the members had to get together after their day jobs to complete this car from scratch.

Keiichi Tsuchiya and Daisuke Ito both said the car lacks serious power but what can you expect from a hybrid? The Honda engineers say that the car was made for endurance racing. The high efficiency gasoline engine is supported by the electric motor for additonal power similiar to how a super charger assists an engine. This engine is based on the 1500cc Fit engine instead of the stock engine.

One of the biggest obstacles the car faced was "heat". If they want more power for the motor, they need the batteries to work harder. Which causes heat. If the batteries get too hot, they melt and that's the end of your race. So during the race the drivers had to keep their eyes on the battery heat meter at all times. Water nor air was powerful enough to cool this oversized battery so they went to the extreme and decided to carry dry ice in the back seat to cool the batteries.

I mentioned earlier that the electric motor works similiar to a supercharger. The biggest difference is that the motor assist only when it is necessary according to the ecu mapping. The electricty from braking is collected and used to charge the battery.

At first it was set to assist 4th gear to gain top speed. But they realized they wanted more pick up rather than top speed. So they programmed it so the motor would kick in for pick up and if it had enough power left over to also help the top speed.

With fine tuning they were able to achieve efficiency while improving maximum power.

As for drivers, basic driving skills is a must but whether you can save electricity during the race becomes a big factor. This Civic uses a regenerative braking system so you brake early going into a corner but should never shift down and engine brake. You have to go into a corner without giving any gas using only the brakes to slow down. This way you slow down and generate energy at the same time.

After Daisuke came back from his first impression of 3 laps, Keiichi tried to hop in the car as he usually does for his turn. But the engineer told him that they were out of batteries and have to recharge. I guess Daisuke engine braked and drove the car like a normal car which didn't allow the car to generate enough electricity.
This needs getting use to for the driver at first. As more and more hybrids make it out to the racing tracks, drivers will have to adapt to the new requirments of hybrid car racing.

Sport Compact Car/Forza/Best Motoring

2006-09-02T15:37:00.000+09:00

November 2006 Issue

A special Best Motoring DVD sponsored by Forza motorsport will be inserted in every Sport Compact Car magazine on the news stands! This is huge for us as it will help further get our name out to car enthusiasts and give them a piece of what we are all about.

The guys are Sport Compact Car are great and we really like working with them because we speak the same language. It was really quick when we decided to go with this plan because we knew we could compliment each other and also make the readers happy! This magazine hits the newsstands on 9/19 so make sure to pick one up!

特別編集のBMI　DVDを米国雑誌のSport Compact Carに挿入することになりました。約20万部発行されるこの雑誌は日本車を取り扱う雑誌の中では老舗の正統派雑誌に入ります。最近はショーカーなどを取り扱う雑誌が多いなか、SCCはパフォーマンスを重視した雑誌です。
チューニングカーイベントでは東部最大のNOPI NATIONALSでも配布されるそうです。

コンテンツは既に発行したDVDの中から抜粋して３コーナー入っています。それでもちゃんと60分近いので読者はお腹いっぱいになるはずです。

9月19日から全米のニューススタンドに並びます。
反応が楽しみですー。

Apparel

2006-08-31T15:28:00.000+09:00

We just starting selling Best Motoring apparel in our Best Motoring Store from August. It has been a pleasant surprise to us that these shirts are selling so well. We should have done this a long time ago.

By they way, if you've bought a shirt from us, we'd love to see photos of you wearing the t-shirt. Send a jpeg photo to info@bestmotoringvideo.com we'll choose a couple winners and send out other free stuff we have laying around the office. I knew we had a Keiichi Tsuchiya autographed Drift Bible somewhere...

BMIのアパレルを8月からBest Motoring Store で販売開始しました。以外や以外、結構これが売れています。もっと早く始めればよかったかなと思うほど。やっぱりBest Motoringのブランドはかなり認知されていますね。根強いファンがいると本当に認識させられます。ありがたいです。

GT Channel is Everywhere?!

2006-08-30T19:51:00.000+09:00

Barrio 305

2006-08-29T12:08:00.000+09:00

Interesting article on Barrio 305 on Ad Age

バリオ３０５とはオンラインMTVのラテン版といったところアメリカでこのようなニッチ市場のコンテンツサイトとSNSが一緒になったサービスが多く出てきています。バリオ３０５はBright Coveのホワイトレーベルのビデオ配信システムを利用してオリジナル番組を配信しています。今後このようなニッチ市場向けコンテンツがマーケターの目に留まります。バリオ３０５はFALKENタイヤのラテン市場向け広告代理店に抜擢されたそうです。

Onsen

2006-08-28T11:19:00.000+09:00

One of the best things about Japan is the onsen. The hot springs(onse) of Japan is definitely one of the favorite past times here. I can't think of any other country that likes to bathe so much. There are onsen's everywhere all across Japan.
Last week I went to a Best Motoring shoot in Fukushima prefecture. I did not realize until I got there but it was the same onsen town we used to come stay for football camp during my college days. Oh those memories...

先週ロケで福島にいきました。そしたらなんと大学時代にアメフトの夏合宿時に泊まった吾妻館じゃありませんか！びっくりしました。とても懐かしかったです。

Dake　Onsen has declared themeselves the Nikoniko Republic. It was like this 15 years ago too.
なぜか岳温泉はニコニコ共和国なんです・・昔のまんまです。