G-Shock #13: The Masami Nagasawa model, The perfect watch for Sakura

Spring has finally begun in The Netherlands. Yesterday it was 20ºC here and a friend of me reported it was 27ºC in Eindhoven this afternoon. It is the time that the blossoms are in bloom, specially the cherry blossom trees.

I love the cherry blossom season. A lot of streets in my area turn pink for a short time. In Japan the name of these cherry trees is Sakaura (サクラ). The blossoms of this trees are in Japan a metaphor of life: short, beautiful and transitory. Also the flowering of the cherry tree is called Sakura.

A very beautiful G-Shock for this short season is this DW-6900FS-4JF. It was released in December 2005. Although I think this watch was available in North America, it was sold mostly in Japan. The white version (-8JF), which was released at the same time was far more common and was available in large quantities in North America. 

The "Hot Pink" DW-6900FS was marketed in 2005 as a model that matched the latest street fashion . It was suitable both for man as woman. Personal, I think wearing pink as a man shows you are a strong personality.

My friend DragonJade has also an interesting theory why I seem to be atracted to pink colors. I am a little dyslectic, so I am a slow reader. Specially blocks of texts without interpuntion or paragraphs can drive me crazy. You might already have noticed that my articles on 50 Gs always are divided in a lot of small paragraphs.

I'm also quite hyperactive (although it has attenuated over the years a bit), which makes concentrating on one subject not always easy. Maybe that's why some of my articles (apparently including this one) seem to meander off topic from time to time. Also my 50 Gs articles are often written in my bedroom or at night, when everybody sleeps. According DragonJade, the color pink might bring calm in my head. That's why lenses of glasses for dyslectic people have blue, purple or pink colors. It might be that pink is a color that allows me to get things in order.

The DW-6900FS-4JF was the first pink G-Shock that was released. In Japan this model is sometimes called the Masami Nagasawa model. Masami is a well known actress and model in Japan. She is a busy lady. She has played in several Japanese movies and television series. She also hosts a radio show called "All Night Nippon". The reason this G-Shock model is named after here is the fact she appeared in the "G-Shock Official Book" mook of 2006. A mook is a typical Japanese combination of the words magazine and book. You can buy mooks about every thinkable subject (sports, motor bicycles, gardening, architecture, etc). They are thick glossy magazine, bound like a thin book. The National Geographic magazine might be considered a mook in Japan.

It is a pity I can't read Japanese. I'm quite curious if Masami Nagasawa is showing the watch as a model, or is telling about her personal G-Shock. I think it is the last, although I can't find any photo of her on the web where she is wearing a watch.

Actually I have a second DW-6900 in the same color. I bought it in Hong Kong. It must be a modded model, as it does not have DW-6900FS stamped on the back, only DW-6900. Surprisingly this G-Shock has a dark gray light button with a white G. For a while I have thought it was an overseas model, but highly probably had a previous owner bought a bezel and strap set for his DW-6900. I am a bit puzzled about what the original model would have been, as the red eye and white G on the button looks like a DW-6900H-9 is used. Unfortunately all DW-6900H models show FOX FIRE in the display, not ILLUMINATOR. Although the white button on the real thing is absolutely beautiful, this gray light button with a white G does not look bad at all.

I think I was pretty lucky in finding these two watches, as it was not easy at all to get these. I bought them both around November 2008, three years after the release. I have no clue what I paid for them anymore, but they weren't really cheap. I did a search today on Yahoo Japan and frankly all I could find was a pink bezel/strap set for around 3500 yen. Strange enough, the white version is, 5 years  after the first release, still available, both in Japan as in North America.

So if you like this watch, there are two options. Wait endless before one pops up at eBay or Yahoo Auctions Japan, or buy a white DW-6900FS-8JF and a bezel/strap set of the pink version. They both share the white button with the black G and the color of the texts on the display seem to be the same.

Intermezzo #36: KIKS TYO Charity "Hope Japan" T-Shirt.

I had seen several known brands having a special T-Shirt release to support the Japanese Red Cross. FUMI posted several shirts about a week ago. When I saw these shirts, I contacted KIKS TYo if they were also going to release a charity T-Shirt. I soon got a reply they were working on it, but it was delayed, because of the exhibition of the Summer Collection 2011. Yesterday Hiro Ueno posted the concept of the shirt on Facebook. Now it's available both in the Japanese as the International KIKS TYO webshop.I have ordered mine. If I have some spare money next month and the shirt is still available, I will buy one for my son too.

Other known brands with charity T-Shirts supporting the Japanese Red Cross are Stussy's "One World, One Love, One Heart",  HTML's "One for All Japan Unity" and Neighborhood's "You are not alone".

(photo by FUMI)

There are many ways to support the Japanese Red Cross, but I think, as a big T-Shirt lover, that combining charity with something you love is a good combination.  Of course all profits of the T-Shirts of these brands go for 100% to the Japanese Red Cross. 

Photo above: Bernard Vercouteren van den Berge

Here some photo's of a meeting I had with Hiro Ueno (International Director) and Hobby:tech (Founder) at the KIKS TYO Head Office in Shibuya, Tokyo.

The press machine operator at KIS TYO, cleaning up around the printing unit. He's the guy who prints all these prints on your KIKS TYO shirts. Below the printing unit of KIKS TYO. They are very proud with this machine. It's is the highest quality printer for textile available and there are only a few (2?) of them in Japan. Another great guy around the office is Ro, who does most of the international communication ans shipping. He's a great guy. Although I met him for only about an hour, it was like I met my lost brother.

G-Shock #12: G-Lide in black.

 Let’s do a short article today. Due to a very busy experiment scheme at work, I haven’t got time to think about anything for 50 Gs. It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful sunny spring day today. I would like to take a ride on my bike. I haven’t done that since October, since the winter came fast and abrupt last year.

As I expected a guest article this week, I did not worry to much, but I haven’t seen it yet. I had also no idea what to present you today. I dove into my collection and dug out some “simple” models and showed Eva, who was coincidentally walking by to the bathroom. She choose this watch. It’s the GLS-5600V-1DR (overseas version of the GLS-5600V-1JF).

The GLS-5600V is part of the G-Lide series. Outside Japan the name G-Lide for this series was already used since 1996, though Japan first released these models under the X-Treme series. Since 1998 also the Japanese domestic models are released under the G-Lide flag.

The G-Lide series are models dedicated to “board sports”, roughly divided in three categories, surfing, snowboarding and skate boarding. This model was released in November 2008 as part of the winter collection ’08. In the official description Casio gave with this model it mentions the shock absorbing structure (duh… it’s a G-Shock) and LCD that still functions at extreme cold temperatures down to -20 °C.

In the past LCD displays were not cold resist, but as far as I know Casio uses cold resist LCD displays for at least 15 years now in the G-Shock line. I guess it is mentioned here specific to stress that this watch is dedicated to Snowboarding.

 The GLS-5600V features a very nice double Velcro strap. The upper part is made of very thick nylon cloth, while the under part looks and feels like a kind of felt. This strap feels very comfortable on the wrist and the Velcro and buckle closure make that the watch is securely strapped around the wrist.

Like most Double Velcro G-Shock straps, there is a patch on the strap. The patch on this model has a G-Lide logo. It is not the usual surfboard shaped G-Lide Logo, but a logo that is made of bold letters.

 The GLS-5600V models from the Winter Collection ’08 came in three color schemes, a white version with black accents, a lime green model with black accents and a purple negative display and this black model with fuchsia accents. The finish of the resin parts is glossy. Maybe not for everyone’s liking, but it is a nice matching contrast with the strap.

The black part around the display has an etched structure, which makes incoming light laying around the display, like if they are light rays sent from the center of the display. You sometimes see this on dials of analog watches (of various brands), but the use of this around a digital display is quite uncommon.

The case has the classic DW-5600 case, but the 3178 module is pretty new. In the past G-Lide models were equipped with 60 minute Countdown Timers and even 60 minute stopwatches. The 3178 module features 2 Stopwatch functions with a 1000 hour capacity. Stopwatch 1 also has the Auto Start function, which has a 5 second countdown, before the Stopwatch function starts.

 The 24 hour Countdown Timer function is also very complete with a repeat function and a progress beeper, which both can be turned on and off.

The Alarm function with 5 alarms (one is a Snooze) and a hourly chime and a the World Time function features 48 cities in 29 time zones make this G-Lide a very complete watch.

 I normally have a preference of bigger G-Shocks on my wrist, but the GLS-5600V is not only comfortable, the strap make it appear bigger on your wrist. Somehow I do not wear this as a winter watch. II actually like to wear mine in spring time. I have the black and lime green model. I love to wear them when it’s warm enough to wear short sleeves outside.

Although this model is more than 2 years old, it is still not too hard to find this model. A quick search on eBay learned something pretty unusual. The best places to buy this model seem to be in Europe (€50.- and €10.- shipping). Not a bad price for a nice looking watch.

Intermezzo #35: DJ's Okonomiyaki

The chief assistant in the Machida restaurant was wearing this apron

Let's get totally Off Topic today in this intermezzo. DragonJade posted a post about Okonomiyaki on his View Japan weblog. Only the word makes me hungry. On the last day I was in japan, we went to Machida. He asked me if I would like to eat Okonomiyaki. "What's that"? I asked. "Oh, that's a small Japanese ancake with vegetables" he said. I like hearty pancakes, so that sounded like no problem to me. It's funny Okonomiyaki is referred to it's pancake. It's such a small part of the dish. One thing for sure, it was one of the best things I have ever tasted!

DragonJade made this video aboveof the preparation of his Italian Okonomiyaki with Salami, tomatoes and cheese in a Okonomiyaki restaurant in Shibuya..

Above is the Okonomiyaki I had in December 2010. It was a version with bacon, eggs and a lot of cheese. If I'm correct it was the most expensive on the menu, but 1200 yen is still a very friendly price for such a big meal. The first thing that came to my mind when it was served: "How do I eat all of this". Not quite a small meal, but very delicious.

Intermezzo #34: Comando-G

In October 2009 I was invited by the guys from Comando-G to joint them Spanish leg of the Shock The World 2009 Tour in Barcelona. These guys are pretty fanatic G-Shock lovers and collectors and it was great to meet them.

En octubre de 2009 fui invitado por los chicos de Comando-G a la pierna Españoles conjunta que el choque de El Mundo Tour 2009 en Barcelona. Estos chicos son muy amantes de G-Shock fanáticos y coleccionistas y fue genial para hacerles frente.

One thing made me pretty curious. Where did that name come from. In English it would be more logical to place the G in front, so you get G-Commando, but the G is placed at the end (and Comando is spelt in Spanish with one M).Adan referred to an old animation series on the Spanish television, called Comando-G.

Una cosa que me hizo muy curioso. ¿De dónde viene el nombre de. En Inglés sería más lógico poner la G en el frente, para que pueda obtener el G-Comando, pero el G se coloca al final (y el comando se escribe en español con una M). Adan se refiere a una serie de animación de edad en la Televisión en español, llamado Comando-G.

The funniest thing is that if you asked about this series, they all start to sing and dance. As I do not speak a word Spanish, it was hard to understand the text, but the dance looked very funny and the song was quite entertaining.

Lo más gracioso es que si se le pregunta acerca de esta serie de televisión, todos comienzan a cantar y bailar. Como yo no hablo una palabra en español, es difícil comprender el texto, pero el baile se veía muy divertido y la canción fue bastante entretenido.



Last weekend I accidentally stumbled upon this video. I still can't understand much of the song (middle in the song they scream jyfully "Mutation!"). I discovered this series was also broadcast in The Netherlands under the name: "Strijd der Planeten". It was the Dutch version of a  US adaption of the Japanese anime series Gatchaman, called "Battle of the Planets". In this US version a lot of scenes were deleted, because it contained too much violence. Well, now the whole family is singing "Comano-G" since I discovered this song. Let's hope this song brings you the same joy. If you speak or write in Spanish, don't hesitate to join Comando-G. They are a small but very friendly and very active.

Último fin de semana que tropezó accidentalmente con este vídeo. Todavía no puedo entender mucho de la canción (en el centro de la canción que gritar jyfully "mutación"). Descubrí esta serie fue transmitida también en los Países Bajos con el nombre: "Strijd der Planeten". Fue la versión holandesa de una adaptación de los Estados Unidos de la serie de anime japonesa Gatchaman, llamada "Batalla de los Planetas". En esta versión de los Estados Unidos una gran cantidad de escenas se han eliminado, debido a que contenía demasiada violencia. Bueno, ahora toda la familia está cantando "Comano-G" desde que descubrí esta canción. Esperemos que esta canción te trae la misma alegría. Si hablar o escribir en español, no dude en unirse a Comando-G. Se trata de un pequeño pero muy amigable y muy activo.

I hope the Spanish text is a bit readable. I have used Google translate, as I can't speak or write in spanish. sorry.

Espero que el texto en lengua española es un poco legible. He utilizado Google Translate, ya que no puede hablar o escribir en español. Lo sentimos.