We got it! We're on Japanese TV! XD

This sounds nuts and I wasn't sure where else to put this so hopefully enough of the people I want to see this do.

 

Basically, I've been in Japan on vacation for about 2 weeks. Today me, AsianEd and my GF were at Ueno Park in Tokyo to see the sakura trees bloom. It seems this was the first day of matsuri and the park was packed with people. We wandered around for a bit and finally found a spot to sit down. We brought our DD girls with us for photos and once we sat them on mats and set them up, we were approached by a TV crew asking to interview us!

 

They asked us all sorts of questions about the dolls, about who we were, where we were from, how we got the dolls, etc. They were basically doing a story about foreigners coming to the sakura festival and why they came to see them. We all chatted for about 20 minutes and they filmed us chatting with them and us taking photos of the dolls.

 

Now here's the crazy part. They gave us a consent paper to sign and said we'd be on TV! The show they are part of is called "Zip!" and it's on Channel 4 in Tokyo. They said they wanted us to email them some photos of the girls that we took today as well as some pics I showed them of my collection of girls. I just sent them all the pics a few minutes ago.

 

Now here's where I need help. If anyone here on the boards lives in, around or near Tokyo and can record this show for us, I'd be indebted to you. As I said, the show is called "Zip!" and airs on Channel 4. The guy we talked to said the show would air on April 3rd around 7 to 7:15 AM. So if anyone who reads this can help us out, I'd LOVE to see what they actually show and say about us on that show.

 

Please let me know! I already talked to Torino about this and he might be able to help out but I figure, the more people I can get to try and record this, the better our chances of seeing it.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who can hook us up!

 

 

 

Billy

I hope you find some help to see it because that sounds really interesting. I bet you were one of the more interesting people there and that is why they took an interest in you.

Yeah, it's confusing how Japanese tv stations and even times seem to vary by prefecture. (It's also why you can barely watch much anime in tv at all outside Tokyo) Looking it up, Fu Kuoka does have its own version of Zip but I don't know if the programming is entirely different or not (even worse, it's on at 5am! As far as I'm concerned I don't even exist before 6:30) I have a feeling that if The Fu Kuoka one was gonna do a 'foreigners looking at cherry blossoms' segment they'd do a local one at one of the big parks here though...

Im really curious about it though, pity that they can't just email you the clip.

 

Hopefully the Tokyo peeps here can help out, I know there's some around! If you can't record it, maybe film it with your phone?

THAT'S FANTASTIC!

Just letting everyone know that it looks like Fu kuoka DOES get regular Zip - it just airs right after the way-too-early Fu kuoka specific one.

I can unfortunately only film it with my phone but my friend is also willing to try to film it too just in case I cant for whatever reason.

So you don't have to worry about that.

Just letting everyone know that it looks like Fu kuoka DOES get regular Zip - it just airs right after the way-too-early Fu kuoka specific one.

I can unfortunately only film it with my phone but my friend is also willing to try to film it too just in case I cant for whatever reason.

So you don't have to worry about that.

 

 

Thanks so much! ANY footage of this would be awesome!

 

 

Billy

Sorry, Doesn't seem like I have that channel in Tokyo. My tv only gets like 10 channels.

Sorry, Doesn't seem like I have that channel in Tokyo. My tv only gets like 10 channels.

 

Ahh. That's too bad but I thank you for checking on it for me!

 

 

Billy

Billy, I hope you get your footage somehow. It must have been SO cool for you and your friends!!! Plus what a wonderful time to be in Japan.

 

Linda S.

galatia9

Billy, I hope you get your footage somehow. It must have been SO cool for you and your friends!!! Plus what a wonderful time to be in Japan.

 

I hope so too! I think with Torino and his friend doing their best, we'll be able to see something. And yes, it was WAY cool being interviewed for TV! We were so excited, it went by in a blur. I just hope it's not a quick 30 second thing where you don't see me, my friends or the dolls much..... I'd like to think they have at least a minute or two for us on there!

 

 

Billy

 

Is this you?

I got it!

It was a bit shorter than I expected unfortunately, it was part of a much larger segment and they were going through a bunch of people in Ueno Park so each person only got a minute or less.

But I laughed that they were playing the Sailor Moon theme and Senbonzakura through this segment.

I wish I'd had the TV volume up louder cos you can barely hear the BGM...

 

Only thing that bugs me is that they refer to the whole lot of them as smartdolls. It does make good publicity for Danny Choo though.

WE GOT IT!

 

Thanks to Torino, we can now see ourselves on Japanese TV! Here's the link to the Youtube video:

 

 

We don't get much screentime but I'm still beyond happy that we got ANY mention at all! Seeing us up on TV there with all the crazy sounds and guest reactions is priceless to me.

 

I can now check off a bucket list item I didn't even know I had on there! LOL

 

 

 

Billy

Ha ha! I was too slow in my reply! Yep, that's us alright! We're now famous! LOL

 

 

Billy

Okay, you got me beat. I've been on TV several times (Not for dolls, and all before the era of YouTube.) but never on foreign TV, that's pretty awesome!

Billy's our very own TV star!

 

Can I have your autograph Mr. Baldylox?

I was searching Zip and スマートドール on twitter to see what kind of responses there were from local viewers and the Japanese dolltwitter was going nuts a bit, no one expected to see DDs and smartdolls pop up like that. Responses are mostly surprise and amusement and even some admiration - one remarked how 'strong' baldylox must be (as in the strength of your dedication) to have taken a doll halfway across the world for Hanami pics! (I wish they'd shown your collection photo, cos man, if they think THATS strong wait till they see your 40+ daughters)

 

And I know that variety show presenters can't be expected to be knowledgeable about hobbies they aren't in, but it is kind of funny how much they made out like every doll present was a smartdoll even though only Ivory was there. (especially cos they showed that pic of Rin). The narration even says 'they bought the smartdolls from America all the way here' which is kinda funny to me as the lone smartdoll there was apparently constructed by AsianEd during that trip. And it's a shame it's so short but as you can see from how quickly it went to the next person they were trying to squeeze a lot in that segment. (Imo baldylox and co were definitely the most interesting subjects they interviewed though)

 

Anyway this has apparently been good publicity for Danny, to the extent that 'smartdoll' apparently entered the top 10 yahoo search terms for the morning (at no.9, but still, impressive). And he even made a cautionary tweet that 'some of the dolls that appeared on zip were not smartdolls so be sure to confirm my lineup [on the official site]' in case anyway was confused. (Cos I can't help wondering if someone's gonna head off to get a smartdoll while wanting Rin, pft)

Edited April 3, 2017 by Guest

I'm hoping to get some better footage of this soon, I hsd a friend record the whole thing anx they're going to capture it and upload it for us! It was really cool to see and it was definitely awesome to experience!

 

I was wondering if they'd show me at least because I'm Asian and don't look foreign to them. XD

That's so awesome you guys were filmed! I saw the pics on Instagram. Too bad they didn't show all your girls. I can't believe how much publicity you got for the dolls! Wow! Danny should give you guys some freebies haha!

Okay, you got me beat. I've been on TV several times (Not for dolls, and all before the era of YouTube.) but never on foreign TV, that's pretty awesome!

 

Ha ha, thanks! I've been on TV a few times in my youth when I was in Boy Scouts but it never really meant anything to me. THIS on the other hand is extremely cool since I'm basically being filmed doing something I enjoy but in another country where the dolls I buy are made! It's kinda full circle in a way.

 

Billy's our very own TV star! Can I have your autograph Mr. Baldylox?

 

Hee hee, sure thing! Send me a DD hand or bust and I'll sign it for you. LOL

 

I was searching Zip and スマートドール on twitter to see what kind of responses there were from local viewers and the Japanese dolltwitter was going nuts a bit, no one expected to see DDs and smartdolls pop up like that. Responses are mostly surprise and amusement and even some admiration - one remarked how 'strong' baldylox must be (as in the strength of your dedication) to have taken a doll halfway across the world for Hanami pics! (I wish they'd shown your collection photo, cos man, if they think THATS strong wait till they see your 40+ daughters)

 

Heh, this has been the cause of some controversy online in Japan. It seems that since the show didn't differentiate between our dolls and basically said ALL of them were Smartdolls, a lot of Japanese DD owners are a bit miffed about it. Danny emailed me almost 3 minutes after the segment aired to let me know he saw us and that he was grateful for the shout out for him and his company. Then about an hour later, he replied about the net backlash on his end. More on that lower down.

 

Anyways, they asked me to see pics of my collection and when I showed them on my phone, they all freaked out. They asked me to mail them those pics and I did.... so did Ed.... but it seems they either didn't get them in time or just didn't want to use them or something. No biggie really, I'm just beyond happy that all of us and our girls were on TV!

 

Thanks for letting us know what the people were saying Torino, I had no clue. I find it funny that they called me "strong"..... they've got no clue about how little I care about what other non doll people think of my hobby nor do they know the extent I go to promote the hobby when and where I can. That's why I was more than happy to tell them about Danny. I think they went a little far with it but whatever. As long as it doesn't cause Danny any real problems, I'm cool with things.

 

And I know that variety show presenters can't be expected to be knowledgeable about hobbies they aren't in, but it is kind of funny how much they made out like every doll present was a smartdoll even though only Ivory was there. (especially cos they showed that pic of Rin). The narration even says 'they bought the smartdolls from America all the way here' which is kinda funny to me as the lone smartdoll there was apparently constructed by AsianEd during that trip. And it's a shame it's so short but as you can see from how quickly it went to the next person they were trying to squeeze a lot in that segment. (Imo baldylox and co were definitely the most interesting subjects they interviewed though)

 

Yeah, we did our best to tell them EXACTLY who made what doll... Ed and I even wrote it down for them on paper! And you're right, Ed DID build his girl Dani while there in Japan so it's hilarious that they said they all came from America! I know it was a short segment but with how me and Ed's Twitter accounts have exploded today, it seems more people than we thought saw it and posted about it. I've gained more foreign followers on my Twitter and Instagram today than any other time I've been online. I hope I can keep them entertained!

 

Anyway this has apparently been good publicity for Danny, to the extent that 'smartdoll' apparently entered the top 10 yahoo search terms for the morning (at no.9, but still, impressive). And he even made a cautionary tweet that 'some of the dolls that appeared on zip were not smartdolls so be sure to confirm my lineup [on the official site]' in case anyway was confused. (Cos I can't help wondering if someone's gonna head off to get a smartdoll while wanting Rin, pft)

 

Yeah, he emailed me about it and said a lot of DD owners over there weren't too happy about that. But it's an obvious issue from the station and not us or Danny. We have emails and such that show we told them as much as we could about the girls in order to make sure no one was left out in it. It's great Danny got so many hits from this, I'm happy to send him as much business as I can because he's always gracious and nice to me and we've known each other for years now.... well before he started doing Smartdoll stuff. I hope nothing bad comes from this but I doubt it will since almost everything I've read on Twitter and Instagram has been overwhelmingly positive. It seems I'm being made into a comedy guy because of how I laid down on the ground to take photos of Manami. I thought all people do that when taking pics of their kids/children? LOL

 

Thanks again Torino for everything, you really made our day and week by letting us see this! I owe you one sir.

 

I was wondering if they'd show me at least because I'm Asian and don't look foreign to them. XD

 

Heh, that's so true! The entire trip you were seen as a local and I think this time was no different. But you also gotta think, they were after obvious foreigners to chat with.... who's more obvious than I was at that place? I stood out like a sore thumb! A foot taller than most people there and a big ol' shaved head. I couldn't NOT stand out if I tried. I'm sure those guys thought you were a local and we were visiting YOU. LOL

 

That's so awesome you guys were filmed! I saw the pics on Instagram. Too bad they didn't show all your girls. I can't believe how much publicity you got for the dolls! Wow! Danny should give you guys some freebies haha!

 

Thanks! The more attention we get, the better it is for the hobby. New blood is how hobbies stay alive and running so I'm all about spreading the good word. I do wish they had used the pics of my collection but oh well, I'm happy they put us on TV at all. And Danny always treats me extremely well so I'm cool as is. No reason to ask him for freebies.... he's hooked me up many times before and I'm sure he will again.

 

 

 

Billy

ok wow.. that's amazing!

Congrats dude, you're our new big star! International!!

Awesome Billy

Great Billy

 

at least since it's aired in Japanese TV i less worries people called my girls Smartdoll more often than now

Yay! That's so awesome!

ok wow.. that's amazing! Congrats dude, you're our new big star! International!!

 

Thanks! It's super fun to see how many Japanese doll people saw this and kinda freaked out about it.

 

Awesome Billy

 

Thanks!

 

Great Billy At least since it's aired in Japanese TV i less worries people called my girls Smartdoll more often than now

 

Thank you! Yeah, the TV guys didn't get the naming right but at least the dolls were seen by a lot of people and Danny got a lot of attention because of it.

 

Yay! That's so awesome!

 

Yup! I think so too. Thank you!

 

 

Billy