Avata-xing for Members (from our Osaka correspondent)

Imagine your Avatar in a virtual world looking pretty much like you and not some Frankenstein weirdo. You walk down a street which looks familiar and as you go you pass ordinary looking people walking normally and not staggering as though they have some problem with their glutes. You stroll into a shop you have visited many times in the real world. A life like shop assistant approaches you and helps you with your selection. You actually talk to the sales assistant with your real voice and she responds with hers. No longer does your crash dummy stand their wiggling their fingers emulating the keying of their message which appears on your screen some minutes after you have made your request. You are measured up - with your actual real life measurements - and you pay for your new jeans and sneakers with your real credit card and a few days later the real items land on your doorstep.

Before you go home to your virtual home (which is not packed with old newspapers and rubbish you forgot to put out for the sodai gomi (the big rubbish collection in Japan) - it’s spotlessly clean with no dirty dishes or cups in the sink awaiting your attention - unless you masochistic tendencies materialise in your Avatar) you pop into Life Supermarket and do your weekly grocery shopping which like the clothes will be delivered to your real world address.

It sounds too good to be true but a Japanese company has developed “real” virtual world technology and have based their virtual world on 23 real Japanese cities. Xing will only be available to residents of Japan and foreigners or aliens as non-Japanese are known - will have to provide proof of residency before being asked to part with around US$3,500 for the privilege of being a part of Xing world. For your hard earned dollars you will receive an annual income approximating 10% of your membership fee but there’s more. Each member is entitled to introduce new members and the introducer is entitled to receive a portion of not only their membership fee but a slice of every membership fee introduced by them and so ad infinitum. Members will be able to purchase real property for a price and set up real businesses.

Provided the owners of Xing bring it all together and they have a large enough spending base of members it is not beyond the realms of reason to expect that Mega Stores such as Sogo and Daimaru will want to purchase the virtual buildings they occupy now in the real world and carry on business as usual. Their staff costs will be amazingly low and as good or services will be delivered to the purchasers in the future and in the real world their inventory problems are eased considerably.

Until the Xing world is populated with thousands of members and businesses it would probably resemble a city forced to evacuate after a major crisis. Where do the cities end though. Will there be a gigantic unscalable wall at the sea in Yokohama or just out of Bentencho. Will the boundary of Osaka be defined as the Osaka Loop which encircles the city and over the railway line a rolling impassable fog? As extra sources of revenue Xing have created a food or fuel system for the Avatars because naturally without sustenance not only will the Avatar come to the sticky end so too will the investors.

Hop in quick and buy up a McDonald’s franchise or two, and while you are at it three or four Yoshinoyas and of course you wouldn’t make any money in the evening without an Isakaya. Will Xing world have car dealerships where your Avatar can test drive the latest Ferrari to its hearts content and having reported back to you on the excellent your Avatar purchases one for you with your credit card and arranges deliver to you at your real door step … but have you got your shakoshomei - your parking permit or is that the job of your Avatar.

Will there be a friendly Koban (police box) on every major street corner with friendly police Avatars helping not only Japanese but aliens by providing directions and explanations of the rules of residing in Xing World.

The questions is how many people would be prepared to part with US$3,500 for the chance of living a life in a virtual world and the outside chance of making a living from it. Linden’s 2nd Life allows members in without costs and they are provided with the means to create a basic avatar albeit robotic in movement - hey its free.

Like all Multi Level Marketing schemes the people at the top will make money but how far the revenue trickles down the online will remain to be seen. For those willing to take the punt they may be able to actually talk to themselves by means of paying for a hologram device which the promoters claim will generate holograms from Xing world of a far superior quality than the holograms generated by Star Wars many years ago.

What do you think? Have you been exposed to Xing? Have your say through our Blog.

Nestled in the Futatabi Hills over looking the beautiful city of Kobe resides the Kobe Club. The Kobe Club is a private membership club serving Kansai’s international community. Local Japanese taxi drivers still know it by original name “gaijin curubu” or Foreigners Club.

The Club features manicured gardens around its half Olympic pool in which members can relax with their family whilst being served food and beverage by the well trained and first class staff.

The main restaurant serves an elegant combination of western dishes together with a fine selection of local fare. The wine list is one the somellier Jimmy is very proud of boasting fine wines from the best regions of France, South Africa, Australia and Chile.

The club offers a well equipped gymnasium and a squash court and after the exercise is done a quenching ale at the well stocked bar overlooking the city of Kobe.

The Club also has a ballroom for those very special functions and private meeting rooms when business needs to be conducted in peace and quiet.Please explore the Kobe Club through the website and contact us if you require additional information. If you are moving to the Kansai or are new to the area, our Club is an excellent place to start making friends and acquaintances and can indeed turn into a ‘home away from home’.

Robertsons Solicitors senior partner Michael Lintern Smith joined the firm in 1981 and became a partner in 1985. He has been Robertsons senior partner since 1989 and has been instrumental in guiding to firm to one of the top legal firms in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s great financial and business centres and as such attracts company’s and entrepreneurs alike from all parts of the world. Robertsons Solicitors not only have expertise in almost every area of law but between the partners can communicate fluently with clients in a wide variety of languages which apart from English include: French, Spanish, Cantonese, German, Italian, Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Robertsons Solicitors not only have a presence in Hong Kong but also in Guangzhou thus providing a range of legal services for clients wishing to establish their enterprise in China.

Robertsons Solicitors in Hong Kong with approximately 25 Practising Solicitors, approximately 60 support staff and a Branch Office in Guangzhou, P.R.C. are more than qualified to advise clients on all matters pertaining to the law in Hong Kong and China.

Cherry Blossom , or Sakura as it is known in Japan, which occurs throughout the country in Spring, is a time when the Japanese can shrug off the greyness and chill of winter and let their hair down. As the cherry tree flowers bloom in radiant shades of pink spreading gradually from the west to the east, evidence of the arrival of the new season’s pink colours can also be seen on the faces of Japanese overindulging in the numerous parties in parklands and on river banks throughout the nation. The unofficial national flower which has carried the nation to war years gone by, is soon to enjoy another accolade. A number of seeds from the cherry tree will be blasted into space to be housed at the International Space Station which is orbiting Earth. The Space Station will remain home to the seeds for six months during which time scientists will observe of microgravity may or may not affect them. There are cherry trees in Japan designated as “national treasures” and one in particular in the northern town of Miharu attracts some 300,000 viewers during the three weeks of its bloom. The duty of collecting seeds for the space mission will fall on the primary school students in Miharu who will collect 200 of the fallen seeds. Once the seeds are returned they will be certified and put on display or sold in order to attract interest to the town.