Japanese animators up in arms over the write stuff
What is the world coming to? It has only been a month since Sony sadly announced it will no longer produce Betamax video tapes (I know, I know, I feel your pain), and now so-called progress has come to the Japanese pencil industry.
In the latest news from the writing-utensil sector, Japan's Mitsubishi Pencil announced plans to drop its line of 12 coloured pencils beloved of animators, designers and architects, retaining only the red one.
The predictable outrage has ensued, and the coloured pencil lobby, led by the Japan Animation Creators Association, has pressed Mitsubishi to reconsider.
The company's decision sparked a stampede to stationers across the country to snap up existing inventories, producing a "crisis of shortage of stock," the association said.
The company has backtracked somewhat, announcing it will also continue to manufacture light blue, yellow-green and orange, as the association informed members in an "emergency announcement" on Monday.
Oh, and Mitsubishi Pencil shares (TYO: 7976) closed down ¥130 ($1.41) at ¥5,620 on Friday.
Japan's bakugai siege
As the year end draws near, lexicographers put their heads together to decide what the hottest new word was in 2015. In Japan, it has already been decided: Publishing company Jiyu Kokumin Sha chose bakugai, which translates as an "explosive shopping spree carried out by Chinese tourists," as the Japan Times reported on Wednesday.
During China's Golden Week holidays in October, about 400,000 tourists head to Japan and spend an estimated ¥100-billion, ($1.08-billion), according to the paper.
Chinese visitors made up more than a quarter of spending in the country by foreigners in 2014, and that is expected to climb this year.
While the shoppers seem to snap up everything in sight, some purchases turn out to be letdowns. In March, Chinese tourists were dismayed to learn that the high-tech smart toilet lids they bought in Japan were actually made in China, Quartz reports.
"I can't believe I came this far to buy something manufactured on my doorstep," one man from Hangzhou told Sina News (link in Chinese). "Doesn't that just make me a porter?"
Star Wars: The Cash Registers Awaken
The latest instalment in the Star Wars franchise – The Force Awakens – has also awakened the market for Stars Wars merchandise.
The next Star Wars sale by specialist toy auctioneer Vectis, to be held in the northern England town of Thornaby on Tuesday, features 692 lots of Star Wars stuff, some of which are estimated to sell for hundreds of pounds.
Prices for some original Stars Wars items have shot up into the stratosphere. A small plastic figurine of character Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back sold for about three bucks 35 years ago, Reuters reported.
Earlier this year, Vectis brought the hammer down on one for £18,000 ($36,300), and with proceeds from that and other items collector Craig Stevens put up for sale, he bought himself a house.
But if you have a Star Wars fanatic on your Christmas list, you don't have to break the bank. You can get a collectible for just $32.95 (U.S.) that may well have the distinction of being the tackiest: The 1980 album Christmas in the Stars, highlights of which include We Wish You a Merry Christmas as sung by R2D2, and What Can You Get a Wookie for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)
Swett equity
In much of Canada, real estate prices continue their rise with home sales setting new records and multiple buyers vying for the same properties.
And the U.S. market is finding its mojo again, years after prices plummeted in the collapse of a housing bubble. But it is not happening everywhere.
U.S. real estate agent Stacie Montgomery has had a tough time attracting buyers to one of her listings – so much so that the price for the 6.1-acre property was slashed this week to $250,000 (U.S.) from $399,000, the Rapid City Journal reported on Monday.
For interested buyers, the deserted South Dakota town of Swett comes with a house, a shuttered tavern and not a whole lot more.
Ms. Montgomery said since the ghost town hit the market last year, it has attracted interest from various quarters.
One offer came from a Nebraska man who had obviously given some serious thought to town planning: He wanted to bring in 2,000 women from Russia and 600 men who are felons and build houses.
The offer fell through.