Enjoy the Toronto International Film Festival even if you can't secure tickets!

 In preparation for next year, here are some tips on how to enjoy the fan zone without buying tickets at the Toronto International Film Festival. If you can't buy a ticket, you might also have a chance to meet celebrities!

① Four Theaters

At the International Film Festival, movies are primarily screened in five theaters:

1. Roy Thomson Hall (RTH)

2. Princess of Wales Theatre (POW)

3. Royal Alexandra Theatre (RA)

4. Toronto Bell Lightbox (TBLB)

5. Scotiabank Theatre (SCOTIA)

The fan zone is set up across the street from theaters 1 to 3. The abbreviations in parentheses are the official schedule abbreviations listed on the festival's website.

(In front of the Princess of Wales Theatre,

inside the silver fence at the very front of the fan zone)

② Controlled by Wristbands

To enter the fan zone, you'll need wristbands. Wristbands for the premium screenings of the day are distributed in front of RTH from 9 to 10 AM. You can request wristbands for specific movies or simply ask for all of them. 

(Note: Premium screenings are movies being premiered for the first time at the festival, typically attended by directors and lead actors for promotional purposes.)

(A bundle of wristbands)

③Fan Zone Entry 2 Hours Before the Movie

If you have a wristband, you can enter the fan zone 2 hours before the screening at each theater. If you want autographs and interactions, be sure to get to the very front. There will be lines to enter, so arrive about 3 hours in advance.

④ If You Couldn't Get Wristbands in the Morning

If you couldn't wake up early or had work preventing you from getting wristbands in the morning, there's still a chance! Arrive 1 hour before the screening at the fan zone, and if there's space available, you can enter.

⑤Celebrities Start Arriving About 40 Minutes Before

As the time gets closer, the street is blocked off, and limousines arrive. When celebrities arrive, call out to them enthusiastically. Celebrities often come to the opposite side of the street to interact with fans, but the fan zone is quite long. It depends on the celebrity where they choose to interact, so try to get their attention. Sometimes, you may only get an autograph or a selfie, so decide your priority in advance. Having a notebook and pen ready for autographs is also a good idea.

Unfortunately, I can't share photos of the actors and actresses online, so I share the picture of the autograph I really wanted, which was from Viggo Mortensen. (Viggo Mortensen is best known for his role as Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings." He's already 60 years old, but he's still fantastic. I became a fan in junior high school, and I never thought I'd get to see him in person!)

Other celebrities I got autographs from:

- Patricia Arquette

- Camilla Morrone

- Willem Dafoe

- Lee Byung-hun

- Park Seo-joon

- Park Ji-hu

- Finn Wolfhard

This year, the Toronto International Film Festival took place during a strike by the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood, which meant there weren't as many celebrities attending as usual. The list of celebrities usually attending in early September wasn't released this time, and the festival didn't seem as lively as in previous years. As a result, there were many available spots in the fan zone, even at the last minute. We hope for a more exciting festival next year.

There might be changes in the wristband distribution methods and timing for next year, but I hope you find this information useful!

HACK.BAR in Kobe

Hi everyone,

I'm Keitaro. This time, I'd like to introduce a unique bar in Kobe, HACK.BAR. In this bar, you can enjoy cocktails named after programming language and chat with software engineers!

Entrance

At the entrance, you'll find a selection of technical books about programming.

Inside

                                

The bartenders are also engineers and they can introduce you to their products and the source code displayed on the big monitor. They are high experts and very friendly. You can ask any questions If you are interested in!

The most intriguing part is their drink menu. The cocktail names are based on programming languages. You're sure to find something that interests you! Of course popular drinks are available as well.

Can you guess which drink I had?

The answer is.. Typescript! The color matches the language's logo color. Anyway, it was sweet and tasted great.

The bar is located at Sannomiya, the largest station in Kobe. If you visit Kobe and are interested in programming, I highly recommend this place!

Thank you for reading!😊

URL: https://hackbar.jp/

Nice to meet you!

Hello, everyone,

My name is Keitaro Hirano. I'm a web developer. I'm joining Tenatch as an intern and I'm very happy to be here! I was looking for an opportunity to gain interesting experiences and I found this internship program through Kobe engineer's community. I wanted to learn English and create helpful products with new programming languages. So this internship is perfect for me!

I live in Kobe now. It's a really nice city with mountains and ocean. I have two children and I go to the beach with them almost every weekend during summer. There is the second largest suspension bridge and I love this beautiful scene.

My children and me

Akashi bridge

Besides, I also love Canada. 10 years ago, I visited Toronto to see my girl friend. Nostalgic!lol Buildings and nature are so beautiful. Especially Canadian people are friendly and I don't know of any city with such diversity. I hope to visit the country again!

By the way, I love watching movies and playing soccer. I had never played soccer 2 years ago, but I joined a local soccer team's class and start playing!  Although it is challenging, I learned many useful lessons for my life! (Did you know that the word "soccer" is derived from "association", which hints as its social nature?)

Lastly, let me talk about my current job. I'm working in Japanese IT company and making a web marketing software, time scheduling application and mobile app. The company's office is in Tokyo, but I usually work from home remotely. I wish my experiences will be helpful for Tenatch's business. 

Ok, that's all. I'm so glad if we could talk a lot. So don't hesitate to talk to me or ask me any questions!

Thank you for your attention!

Team MAGIC @ Draper University Herothon

After the disappointing showing at Junction ASIA, an opportunity to atone for past sins immediately presented itself. Having heard a lot of good things about Draper University, I decided to enroll in the online Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship course to see what it was about. To go off on a tangent, I almost did not get accepted for the program. I was almost not able to do the 15-minute online screening interview, as I was experiencing technical difficulties with my microphone. Being badly shaken, fumbling through the first few questions, and the interviewer not being in a good mood, I somehow managed to find my composure, and finish the last 5 minutes of the interview strong. I got accepted into the program. I guess all the grilling we got from the mentors at FI🌱 does help build up startup muscle memory.

 

And wow, what an experience! It was a huge cohort of more than a hundred people. Most them were sponsored by government programs(in particular, in Central Asia and Africa), it was a really interesting to experience to see how entrepreneurship is transforming those regions. In the middle of the program, there was the Herothon(Draper University Hackathon), which they divided us into groups of 5. The theme of the Herothon was to create an app for ChatGPT. With the mistakes from Junction Asia still fresh in my mind, I settle quickly into focusing on what needs to be done. With another talented team for the weekend, of Nicole, Nurland, Andrea, and Bogdan, we managed to come up with Nicole AI

Nicole AI accelerates market validation through a ChatGPT-powered reasoning engine.

 

Nurland did a fantastic job creating the Android and iOS app, Andrea came up with the business model, and Bogdan came up with the idea to name the project "Nicole AI".  When it came to the Herothon presentation, it was plagued with network issues, as the slides were not changing on the screen during pitch. However, Nicole, a talented young pitcher from Calgary, pulled through, and despite the technical difficulties, her firm voice managed to convey our message. We came in 1st place🥇

It was a great result, and it helped me remember what it was like to work with a good team which could execute. Unfortunately, we did not get an investment for Nicole AI, as it is hard to keep the momentum going for a hackathon team. Everyone has different priorities(as we all had our own startups, ideas and/or school to pursue), and different paths to walk. Ultimately, as a closing act, we made an application to Y Combinator, to see if we could keep the ball rolling...🏀

All in all, Draper University was a great experience, and now we can call ourselves proud DraperU Alumni🎓

We pledge to fail, fail, & fail again until we succeed💪

We all became Heroes🪄🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️🤖🚀

CNE!!!!!

I went to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition)! Despite the presence of COVID-19, it seems that the event resumed its operations last year. The duration is from August 18th to September 4th.

I went with five of my college friends. The system for entry involved a $25 admission fee, but you also had to purchase tickets to use the rides, with each ride requiring around six tickets, on average.

To fully enjoy the event, we decided to buy the all-day ride pass (around $70) that includes admission. There was an early bird discount available until the day before the event, which would have cost us $45, but we missed that opportunity. However, one of my friends found a discount using a Presto card, so in the end, it was around $50. Presto cards offer various discounts, so I recommend checking them out if you plan to attend any events.

This is the URL for reference: PRESTO Perks | AuthentiGATE

This was my first time visiting a temporary amusement park, so I honestly didn't have high expectations for the rides. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how well-maintained and authentic they were. One of my friends even fainted after riding a roller coaster, which was quite amusing.

I enjoy thrill rides, so I had a great time, but I must admit that the rusty appearance and age of some of the coasters were a bit scary at times.

I think the most popular attraction was the gondola pictured here! 

It was much higher than I expected. The view is much more beautiful at night, so there was quite a long line once the sun went down. If you don't mind riding during the day, I recommend doing it earlier to avoid the crowd.

Inside the park, there were various shows and exhibitions. On the day I went, I had the opportunity to watch an ice dance show, a dog show, a fountain show, and a drone show. I heard that starting from tomorrow until the last day, there will be an airshow by the Canadian Air Force, so if you plan to visit during this time, be sure to check it out.

Well, when I checked the website again, I realized that I probably didn't even experience half of this event. It's so vast that you can't see everything in just one day!

I've heard that for Canadians, the end of CNE marks the end of summer. If you're considering whether or not to go, I highly recommend giving it a try. I heard that entering in the evening is even cheaper!

Team OASIS @ Junction Asia 2023

This past weekend, Team OASIS participated in the Junction Asia 2023 Hackathon, it was a great event, and we had a talented team, and it went something like this:

Day 1: What have we got?

Day 2: We got this!

Day 3: We got nothing.

So where did things go wrong? As an 'A' Team with a 'B' effort, we had our lunch eaten by less talented teams with better effort. We did not get our priorities straight, and that's just not good enough. Plenty of blame to go around and finger pointing, but as the CEO of the team, the bucket stops with me.

 

This competition was significant for me personally, as it marks my debut as an AI/ML Engineer, and I managed to complete and publish my first recommender system, and this will have an impact as Tenatch makes the transition to become an AI/ML startup.

 

But for Team OASIS, I wore the wrong hat, and we lost. We needed Steve Jobs, not Steve Wozniak. We talked about "working smart", and laughed at the Korean teams who stayed up all night throughout the hackathon, but our own questionable decision making, and inability to keep our own egos in check ultimately sunk the ship. The Koreans got the last laugh, and we reinforced the perception that Foreigners talk alot and but cannot deliver. And this stung me particularly hard, as it was a completely winnable competition, but we dropped the ball.

Sometimes, we can only learn by failing. And having gotten too used to winning, I slacked up, and had to learn the lessons the hard way. 

 

To be honest, I did not expect much from the event, but this competition turned out to be a microcosm of the Korean startup ecosystem, and I am grateful I could learn so much in a weekend. And the lessons learned will be invaluable for Tenatch, as we embark on our journey in the Land of the Morning Calm🇰🇷

As for Team OASIS...We'll be Back! We thank the organizers and teams we completed against, and the wonderful new friends we made along the way!

Looking forward Junction Asia 2024!!👾🚀

The truth about not finding a suitable partner

 This is an overview of the "Consciousness Survey on Countermeasures for a Declining Birthrate" conducted by the Japanese Government. When asked about the reasons why young unmarried individuals are not getting married, the following results were obtained:

According to the survey, the top reason for both men and women not getting married is "not finding a suitable partner." Based on this result, the city of Sanda in Hyogo Prefecture was planning to support young people in meeting each other and had invited ideas from the public (the recruitment period has now ended).

However, I don't think the reason for "not finding a suitable partner" is as straightforward as it sounds. In my opinion, Japan is currently facing a crisis of impoverishment, and it seems to be approaching a point of no return. Salaries have not increased, but prices have risen due to global circumstances. The yen has also depreciated. What was once known as the "Lost 20 Years" has now turned into the "Lost 30 Years" without any effective measures being taken. Furthermore, it appears that the Japanese government has no intention or ability to take a "realistic" way and is even suggesting further tax increases.

In such a situation, some young men and women at the age of marriage are burdened with student loan repayments and other financial challenges. What I have personally thought about and discussed with friends who have also reached the marriageable age is that, in such an uncertain future, people are hesitant to marry someone on the same level as themselves. Many men and women seem to think that they don't want to marry someone with a similar salary, education, skills, or their family's economic situation. They feel anxious about marrying someone unless that person earns more, has some special skills to cope with possible economic difficulties, or comes from a wealthy family. At least, they can't marry just for the sake of getting married. This is why the answer "not finding a suitable partner" is given in the survey.

However, as a truth, humans can only meet people within their social circles, and within those circles, there will be people of similar levels. No matter what kind of meeting opportunities are organized or how many people you meet on dating apps, in principle, you can only meet people of similar levels, and mutual understanding won't be possible. Haven't we been told this since 20 years ago, "If you want a good encounter, first improve yourself"? In other words, it's not an issue of meeting opportunities; it's a more fundamental problem. The government should have taken more proactive measures earlier. I don't think the plan in Sanda City, whatever it may be, will have a significant impact and lead to a fundamental solution.

On the other hand, I don't believe providing financial assistance to married couples would be of much help either. I have heard that in France if a couple has five children, they can receive enough subsidies to not work. If Japan could do something like that, it would be a different story, but in reality, marriage and child-rearing are economic activities that last for at least 30 to 40 years.

As for the future of Japan, I think the various solutions that could have been implemented 20 years ago are now too late. I don't believe the current politicians have any real intentions to do anything about it. I think Japan will continue to decline, and that's one of the reasons why I came to Canada. Although I love Japan as my hometown, I plan to return there because I wanted to gain various experiences in a society that is becoming increasingly stagnant.

I used to think it was truly a great country, and coming to Canada has made me feel even more strongly about how sad it is to see it end up like this. 

So, would you like to get married?