NIPPON-ICHIGO

Yes, it’s true; the only people to have seen Kusanagi’s nude (and drunkenly disgraceful) glory the other night were policemen and people legitimately concerned for their own well-being.

Hinokicho Park. 3 AM. Kusanagi, drunk, just feels like being naked in a park. Is that so wrong? Arrested while chilling on the grass, I see a surreal humor in this. He’s the least-outspoken member of SMAP and certainly looks the part.

Party boy.

In everything, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for the guy; then again, you realize what a discomfort it is to everyone else when someone is drunk, even more when someone is drunk and wants to take off all his clothes right next to you.

And to say this guy was drunk is a vast understatement: dude was pissed out of his mind. Ten rounds of sake will do that to a fella.

This presents a problem: his face is everywhere. Companies commercially associated with him are considering blacklisting him (or already have). For a little drunken mid-night nudity, it seems harsh, yet may very well be justified, as I can’t imagine him appearing anywhere anymore without someone bringing up his “scene”. Now all his planned appearances and TV commercials have been canceled. You’d think he killed a guy.

Unfortunately, I can’t say I’m affected as a fan (flash back to when I discovered Daishi Kajinaga was arrested for possession of cocaine and measure my reaction against this – basically, I was heartbroken); I’m not much for pop, and the only song of SMAP’s I’ve ever heard was one in Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, in which I liked the female cover more than the actual song.

Well, we’ve arrived. We’ve come to the point where billboards can scan us and feature advertising based on what we (might) like.

Actually, that's...not as cool-looking as you'd expect it to be. Function, not form, right?

This is all thanks to Yahoo! Japan, which is kinda like Japan’s Google, if you get what I mean. It won’t be long now—this fall, in fact. First they’ll start off small, then grow and expand—! Soon these boards will be able to scan pregnant women and tell them what brand of clothing is best suited for their eventually-newborn baby son. (Comel and NEC Soft, developing this in tandem with Yahoo!, didn’t say that, but it’s only the next logical step.)

Like almost everything else from Japan that I have heard of or encountered, this is kind of creepy, but REALLY cool at the same time. I had anticipated similar technology ever since I watched Minority Report a few years back. People involved with the movie, and others’ predictions for how life and technology will be approximately 40 years from now, are kind of like this. Brace for it.