In order to prep myself to watch the big screen version of Dae Jang Geum without having to stare at the subtitles, I have decided to take up Korean language tutorials and am considering if I should rely on Bae Yong-Joon (BYJ) to learn this language. See, some multimedia company called Mobilero is paying him W400 Million (USD288.590) to put his feminine face in an education Korean language game that will teach bitches like me basic Korean. This game will be launched in Japan in Jan ‘09 and it targets those crazy ass ajumas that are BYJ’s fans. For 5000 yen (USD52) , they can learn Korean with Miss Thing here through listening, reading and writing. I wonder if he will also teach them how to be more lady-like, or give them the secrets to having a pair of silky soft hands or a head of split ends- free hair. Either way It will be money well spent for them.

As for me, I have decided not to learn Korean from some overrated Korean soap star. Saving money is everything in this economy and I have decided to head down to the Korean Deli in my neighborhood and take lessons from the angry cashier instead.

Tags: Bae Yong Joon, korean

The Ezaki family has been creating and innovating confectionary products, including the immensely popular Pocky, since 1922. Their company, Ezaki Glico is currently run by Katsuhisa Ezaki, who has been serving since 1982.

First sold in 1966, Pocky consisted of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. Simply enough, right? It had sales of ¥30b yen in its first two years (roughly $30.2b USD) and was an instant hit among Japanese teenagers.

Founding Father
After the death of one of his sons, Riichi Ezaki had retreated to a fishing village and noticed a group of very healthy and active children playing. Further investigation yielded the villagers’ high consumption of oysters which contained elevated levels of glycogen.
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Tags: biscuit stick, chocolate, ezaki, Pocky, riichi ezaki, treat, yen

A few months ago, I was shocked by the US dollar to Korean won exchange rate when it was actually less than 900 KRW to $1. After having the exchange rate at a steady 1,000 KRW to $1 for the last decade, that low rate really hit me in the face. It’s kind of ironic that it did, though. I grew up in the mid-90s, where it was 800 KRW to $1. But then the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis aka IMF Crisis occurred, and I remember the won rate going up high as 1,800 KRW to $1. Of course I didn’t really understand the implication of such things. All I know is that it was good for us Americans to exchange USD to KRW. Sadly to say, I still do believe in that since my main source of income are in dollars. However, today proved to be an insane day in the monetary world. At least for me.
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Tags: 1997 asian financial crisis, ahjumma, dollar, economy, finance, imf crisis, korea, seoul, won

Daniel Pink gave a greatly entertaining and informative lecture at Japan Society, New York, tonight about the incredible spread of manga around the world. Ningin blogger Mia Lerda and I thought we were going to hear more about Mr. Pink’s new book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, but Mr. Pink gave a larger socio-economic lesson on the power of the dojinshi in Japan’s manga-based economy operating under amoku no ryokai. Sounds complex? Well, it is, or near impossible, in a lawsuit-prone USA. Mia’s writing a complete report to sort it out for you.
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Tags: amoku no ryokai, daniel pink, dojinshi, Japan Society, johnny bunko, manga, new york

The Innovative Daniel H. Pink will be lecturing at The Japan Society of New York this Monday. The accomplished author will be speaking about his time in Japan when he studied the culture and society of Manga. As the writer of “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, he breaks a new mold as the first American author of a business related Manga! Yes… you heard that right, this New York Times best seller’s new endeavor is in Manga format.

The lead protagonist of this Japanese style comic, Johnny Bunko, is a just your average Joe. He has never strayed from normal expected behavior like listening to his parents or teachers. What is wrong with this? Like so many of us, Johnny is stuck at a dead-end job that he doesn’t like, more so, he’s is just upset with the way his career path is going. He begins to suspect that his knowledge on balancing career and happiness is just plain lacking. One bizarre night in a Japanese restaurant, Johnny meets Diana, the unlikeliest career advisor he will ever meet.  Described as part Cameron Diaz, part Barbara Eden (I Dream of Genie) , she uses her otherworldly powers and wisdom to reveals the six essential lessons for thriving in the world of work.

Dan Pink’s past work have been published in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired (where he is also an contributing editor). His analysis of business & technology trends have been seen on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other various national/international networks. Even more interesting is Dan held a position in the White House, where he served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore.

The Japan society is situated on 333 east 47th st, right across from a lovely park called Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. For ticket information on this or other events hosted there you can call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258.

Tags: Business, Dan Pink, Japan Society, japanese, manga, Politics

There is a video quickly circulating the web this week about an Asian American named Hubert Chang, who claims he was the 3rd founder of Google, and who was there and helped think up the search algorithm, system architecture, name, business model, and corporate culture.  He even cites the name of the Stanford professor who paired up Chang with Sergey Brin and Larry Page.  After collaborating on Google, Chang says he went to finish his Ph.D at NYU.

The story article is here.  This is a pretty wild story, but who knows when it comes to the tech industry?  There have also been rumors about how Facebook was created after Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea from people who hired him at CollegeU.com.  It would be cool if an Asian American were behind Google, to have another positive face out there to join Jerry Yang (Yahoo), Steve Chen (Youtube), and others going back to when An Wang invented magnetic core memory and founded juggernaut Wang Laboratories.

Tags: google, hubert chang, larry page, sergey brin, yahoo, Youtube

Vikram Pandit is CEO of Citigroup, the world’s largest bank, and employs 358,000 people around the world in 100 countries. He was formerly President and COO at Morgan Stanley from 2000 to 2005. He is a former board member of the NASDAQ.

Vikram was born in India to a moderately affluent family. He moved to the US to attend Columbia University where he received a BS (electrical engineering), MS (electrical engineering), MBA, and Ph.D. in finance. Vikram is also a trustee at Columbia University.

After obtaining his multiple degrees in succession, Vikram became a professor at Indiana University Bloomington before joining Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities division. He was responsible for building their prime brokerage services. Afterward, he started his own hedge fund called “Old Lane,” which was later purchased by Citigroup, at which point Vikram was offered a job. When he was appointed to CEO, his father was quoted as saying,

“He was a brilliant boy. In school, he always stood first in his class. He is very astute and focused. I saw him rise. Vikram has stood to my expectations.”

Got to love them Asian parents!
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Tags: Asian heroes, BS-MS-MBA-PhD, CEO Of Citigroup, deeply religious, former professor, Qualified professional engineer, Vikram Pandit

Jerry Yang is co-founder and CEO of Yahoo! Inc. He is worth an estimated US$2.3 billion and ranked 524th among the richest people in the world. Mastering the English language in only three years during his high school years, Jerry was soon placed in an AP English class. He went on to Stanford University where he graduated with a B.S. and M.S. degree in electrical engineering.

Jerry has been a leading force in the Internet media industry for as long as anyone can remember. He has built Yahoo! into a destination network of sites that attracts 3.4 billion views per day. Yahoo! remains the world’s most highly trafficked website–beating Google–and is one of the world’s most recognized brands.

Yahoo was originally started in 1994 when Jerry was a PhD student. He jokes, “Really, we’d do anything to keep from working on our theses.”

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Tags: " Jerry Yang, $26bn Yahoo's "Yet Another Highly Officious Oracle, Asian heroes, entrepreneur, Internet icon, technologist, Yahoo's Jerry Yang

Gurbaksh Singh Chahal, known to his friends as “G,” is an award winning American entrepreneur who has created companies worth over $340 million. He is the Founder & CEO of two advertising companies which were sold for over $340 million.

G grew up as a Sikh in California, the religion that requires wearing a turban. He recalls,

Once when I was 10, I went to the local elementary school to play basketball. While I was playing, two kids were saying derogatory things to me. One said, “Come here.” He pulled a knife on me and told me to take my blue turban off.
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Tags: Advertising entrepreneur, asian heroe, BlueLithium, Gurbaksh "G" Singh Chahal, TV personality

“That’s why Lin’s bottom line with his self-financed latest pic, the Bruce Lee mockumentary Finishing the Game, is control of marketing and distribution. Or at least significant input. He wants to learn how it’s done; figure out how to build a network for exhibition and distribution of Asian American indie film on his own, if necessary. “That’s the next step,” he says. “It’s all about distribution and exhibition and marketing–figuring out how to do that right. That’s what the growth of the Asian American cinema is going to hinge on. I’m not worried about the talent…I’m not even worried about the money. It’s about getting people to watch these films, and proving there’s an audience.”

http://instantyang.blogspot.com/