The baseline which divides Japanese and non-Japanese clearly and neatly, is thermal. Those who flourish in the scalding hot bath and those who get parboiled in it and perish. A kind of thermocline division. Anybody can enjoy Akihabara, but nobody can cross this ordeal of thermocline if he has not grown up in Japan.

On the hither side of thermocline we swarm. No regular TV can suvive in this hellish atmosphere.

So, we jump into boiling hot water every evening, even in sweltering hot summer, and spend a few hours of busy relax-and-scrub sessions. And always wonder why those other people pretend they are clean enough after some 10 seconds under tepid shower nozzle. In some countries, the per capita consumption of deodorant far surpasses the whole computer games expense, while nobody ever heard of deodorant in Japan.

Your Mobile Ojisan, too, dedicates a huge chunk of evening hours to this ritual pastime. Usually, he brings in a couple of books to read. Unfortunately, no books are made damp-proof. After half an hour of steaming in bathroom, they become pretty soggy and heavy. That's my only complaint.


Of course, quite a few Japanese drag in the TV, too. This is quite risky, as everybody knows very well. Braun tube needs an extremely high voltage, say, a few KV. If the set topples down into the bath tub you are in, well, I don't want to think about the consequence. Or, when manager of your local team makes a stupid move. You splash water to his face on the screen in anger...

Even though LCD TV is much safer, it's still tethered to AC power. AC 100 volt can easily kill a couple of African elephants in the bath. Sure, battery-operated micro-TVs are OK. So are the K-tai with One Seg tuner (terrestrial digital TV broadcasting). But, these gadgets are not water-proof. Prolonged exposure to hot steam plays havoc with them.

Princeton Technology Ofuro TV PTV-WWTV7. Display and tuner units.

A peripheral manufacturer, Princeton Technology, Ltd of Tokyo, has released a very useful gear for Japanese amphibians, the Wireless Water-proof TV (PTV-WWTV7), a.k.a. Ofuro TV (honourable bath TV).

The system has two separate units, tuner and display, being connected by wireless (IEEE802.11a, 5GHz band).

Tuner unit: Analog tuner (after 2011, no more analog broadcasting!). Though it has an extra video-audio input jack, no remote control capability. It means if you want to watch a DVD, set everything beforehand, start, then jump into bath. Very cumbersome. Sony's Location Free TV can deal with this remote control business nicely.

Tuner is not water-proof. It should be set far out of the bathtub.

Display unit: 7-inch LCD, widesceen (16:9 ratio). Weighs just 900g. Two-way power (NiMH battery and DC 9V adapter). In the bath, of course, battery use is highly recommended for your health. Can work for 3 hours, long enough for your favorite soap. The unit is water/vapour-proof. But diving underwater with it? No way!

For this dubious privilege, you have to peel off around 45,000 yen (US$390). Worth it? Your Mobile Ojisan has decided to stick to his clumsy Sony Location Free server + PSP viewer set for the moment. Though he understands perfectly that, sooner or later, hot bath steam will do a good demolishing job on tiny PSP. Ah well, in Japan, analog TV broadcasting will come to the end in 2011 anyway.

Display set. Beer's ready, chilled. Kick-off will start in a few minites. Ready to jump in? No, not yet. Bath water is not boiling yet.

 

cheewee
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kaisei1
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