Masa's Blog

My Internship

MASA — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:45:49 +0000

Hello, my name is Masa. I live in Seattle and intern at Japanese Media Company JEN Inc. I just started in December 2010.

JEN Inc. They have 3 different publications.

1) Youmaga, which is a Seattle/Portland information free magazine published monthly.

2) Seattle Guide, which is Japanese Pocket-size guide book published yearly. it’s the largest circulation in Japanese in Northwest region.

3) Telephone Guide, which is like a Yellow Pages written in Japanese and have a lot of Japanese businesses published yearly.

JEN Inc. has Website and Blog site, so we have updated lots of information frequently. Also, the company makes webpages and flyers in both Japanese and English.

This is what they do nowadays. However, they used to have a Japanese radio station in Seattle, and also producing Japanese TV programs. From many of great media experiences, JEC becomes one of great successful Japanese business in Northwest area.

I am very excited about interning for this company, JEC Inc.

Thank you for reading:)

Masa

Week 1２

MASA — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:57 +0000

Question

How did you get to be interested in this field? How did you study about this web design skills?

Reflection for the presentation

MASA — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:06:28 +0000

I think I did pretty well on my presentation about cell phones! I guess many classmates got new information about it, and it was interesting. Even though it was about Japanese cell phones, and I am from Japan. I knew a lot of new things as well through the researching for this presentation. I felt the technology has been developing so fast. That is why cell phone technology would be very changed next few years which I cannot imagine what is going to be.This is actually exciting that our technology has been developing, but at the same time, the more new technologies come to our daily life, the more we have to know and get used to these technologies. I still need to catch up the existed technologies nowadays though… lol

Reading week 8

MASA — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:49:47 +0000

Web design, I really wanted to try web design because it is very cool. If you can do it, you can make your favorite looking and coolest website. However, I have never experienced designing a web site in my life. It sounds very difficult but interesting to me, and I would like to try it. It would be fun to do. That is why I registered for this class web design and layout.

I don’t know how to make one and have no knowledge about designing, so this reading was very helpful to start knowing about design. In the reading, there is so much information about designing, so I cannot get them all in one time, but I think it is great to know these techniques little by little.

I was very surprised that just little change makes the looking very different. Even if you did the small change in your website, it won’t be obviously noticed, but the reader will feel much easier to see and read your web site. I think that is a real enjoyment of designing. Making changes on your website for the audience to read it nicer.

After I read the reading, I really want to make my own web site and design it to be cooler and nicer. It would take very long time to get many design techniques and make a web site, but it would be very fun and exciting to do. Since we have the project of making web site in this class, it would be a very good challenge and a great opportunity to make a web site!

Questions
1. Have you created your own website?
2. Which web site do you think the best design technique used?
3. Have you learned designing before?

Presentation about cell phones

MASA — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:29:33 +0000

The article I found is called “Learn How Much Time That Mobile Users in Japan Spend Using Their Mobile Phone Each Day?” This article introduces about osaifu ke-tai which means wallet cell phone. Now Japanese cell phone becomes like a debit card in the U.S. you charge money into your cell phone and scan to use it when you buy something. I have honesty never used this technology yet, but I think it is very great and convenient. Since I live in the U.S., I have used a credit card or a debit card to shop all the time; however, I have never used any cards in Japan. Many Japanese people still use cash when they shop something. That’s why having osaifu ke-tai (wallet cell phone) would be so helpful and useful since most of all people have their cell phones now.

My presentation would be more like an introduction of cell phones especially Japanese one.

“Learn How Much Time That Mobile Users in Japan Spend Using Their Mobile Phone Each Day?”

http://proquest.umi.com.firma.northwestu.edu/pqdweb?index=13&did=1076567071&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1255536712&clientId=20972

Cell Phones 携帯電話

View more presentations from masayukikonishi.

Reading week 7

MASA — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:06:56 +0000

I was surprised that so many people in the U.S use computers because in my home country, Japan, we don’t use computers as much as people in the U.S do. Especially, for Japanese students, they don’t really use computers as often as here in the U.S. Also, online classes are very uncommon in Japanese University even though it is common to take online classes in universities in the U.S. I have taken some of online classes, and I actually liked them.

Also, there is a big difference about the internet access between Japan and the U.S. Here in the U.S., there are so many places where we can get free wireless internet service, such as in a café, grocery markets, and some restaurants. However, it is very hard to find any wireless service spot like in the U.S. I think this is one of the reasons why the internet by computers is not really common in Japan.

However, we use cell phones a lot. I think Japan has higher quality cell phones. We use internet service, e-mail, GPS, and camera, etc. Now we use cell phone to buy something. It means a cell phone is like a debit card in the U.S. You put money in your account and just scan the cell phone when you buy something. That is so easy to use, but it would sounds pretty scared if you lose the cell phone. However, the company has the security lock system, so whenever, you lost it, you just tell the company about it. It is just like a credit card lost system, I think.

Anyway, it is very interesting that there are big differences between countries and cultures.

Questions

How often do you use your computer?
What is your purpose to use your computer?
Can you imagine if your computer is taken away? Do you think you can survive from no computer life?

Marketing

MASA — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:04:15 +0000

I am very interested in Marketing since I took the class of Marketing. It was a very principal class, but I think I gained a lot of knowledge and interests. Before I took I had no idea what the marketing was like. I knew that it was like advertising. However, it was a lot to do in marketing.

In the class, I had a project. I chose one exist company in America and market the company to the other country. Because I am Japanese, so my group chose the clothing store called Zumies to Japan. There were a lot to do in this project. We had to research about the company to know enough about the purpose, target market, and customers. Also we had to research about Japan such as religion, the trends, and the location info. There were a lot to think about and took very long time to figure out many things. Of course there were much more to research and know. The project was very tough, but at the same time, I enjoyed doing it.

As I read the article, there were many interesting things. One of them was about the fact of made in the U.S.A. American people love products which were made in U.S.A. This is really the same in Japan. We love products which were made in Japan. Moreover, it would be more trustworthy.

I really got to feel that I want to study more about the marketing now. Even though it is a lot to do, it is still challenging and fun!

Reading week 6

MASA — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:44:19 +0000

I really think that having digital technologies in a company help the business successfully. It is very beneficial for both givers and receivers. When a company advertises their products or services through the Web 2.0 or whatever digital technologies, it would be very efficient. Also it could be saved some time because workers just work less that going out to market the products or services. For receiver as customers, it is good that companies as givers have their websites or something with digital technologies because customers can look for products or services without going to the companies or stores. It would be very helpful for the customers. That is why it is very great to have digital technologies in a company.

I have never had the experience with electronic commerce in my life. I have never used even iTunes or any online shopping websites. I really know it is very easy and pretty safe to use these online shopping websites, and it would save a lot of my time if I use those. However, I somehow haven’t used them yet.

However, I think having these online shopping websites makes our lives much easier and nicer for several reasons. 1) You can buy anything from anywhere. No matter where you are, you can get any things from all over the world. 2) You can buy anything anytime. Even if you are sick, but you still want to get something for your friend’s birthday, you can just go to the web to look for and buy some. 3) It is fun to shop. Even if you just look at some products or listening to some demo music, it is enjoyable and would cause of relieving some of your stress.

Questions,

1, How often do you use online shopping?

2, When you buy a product or service, will you care about which company or which store?

3, Did you have any problems of shopping online? If so, what were they? How did you solve them?

YouTube

MASA — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:32:54 +0000

YouTube, it is such a huge entertainment to me. I am so far away from my home, Japan, so I sometimes watch Japanese programs on YouTube to feel like I’m in Japan:D That’s why I though YouTube was just one of the fun web sites to entertain. However, now a lot of people use YouTube to communicate with people, such as video blogs. I was surprised how it could happen. I was also surprised there is a class to study YouTube as a communication tool in a university. Since I knew a lot about YouTube as a commnunication tool, I really think YouTube helps us to communicate with the others. Also, it is good that it doesn’t matter where you are because you can watch YouTube wherever you are.

If I use this virtual video message on YouTube, I would probably use it as a diary for my family and friends back in Japan. The diary would show how I spend the day in America and who is around me so that my family and friends in Japan can know how fun my American life is:D Also, it seems very fun to do.

Since YouTube has been world famous rapidly and become a communication tool among people, the would seems to be very small. It is very exciting to communicate with people who have different nationalities and different cultural backgrounds.

Visual Workshop

MASA — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:50:37 +0000

It was my very first time to learn about movies. Because I didn’t know anything about it, everything was very new to me. When Mr. Russell said “Camera is your eyes, Camera is replacing of what you see,” it could be so normal, but I was like “Wow, that’s so true!” I had never thought about it whenever I take a picture. Then I really realized that it’s very important to know about camera works or how to make a film if you want to tell something visually. Also, I thought we better have some techniques of filming. It was just the introduction of the workshop, so I was very excited about the rest of the sessions.

I really felt that knowing little more about how to light or where to put a camera make the movie very different. Because of the camera work, it could be very bad and cheep looking, or it could be very excellent and professional job. Therefore, it was very great to know those filming tips so that I can use these skills for the church activities or even class assignments. Also, if I could get to know more about it, it would open up the new area of my future job.

In the first session, Mr. Russell used the American drama called Lost. I actually haven’t watched this drama yet, but it was very helpful to understand how the camera really works and moves, and it was very good to know what is going on in the real world. Since He said that Lost is popular among young people, so it would have been very fun to watch the drama and listen to his technique lecture. Also, in the second session, we have watched a little of the movie called Pirates of Caribbean. This is the world famous movie, so it would be very easy to relate to the movie and see what was going on in the filming perspective, and also we all enjoyed the scenes we have watched. Using these materials helps me to know about this visual thing easily.

I think if I have an opportunity to make a film, I want to make some bible stories with Japanese friends. Of course it would be very fun to make the film with my friends, and also it would be a very good material for Japanese bible study. If I do that, I definitely use some skills that I have learned from the workshop such as camera works so that the scene would be more natural and have more reality. Even though I don’t plan anything about making a film yet, I am already excited about it.

I’ve been to three sessions; The grammar of motion pictures, Camera work, and Lighting and the grab techniques. This workshop was very helpful and enjoyable to me. I don’t really know what to do with filming, but it was definitely great to know these filming tips and knowledge.