We know that April 8th is Ayumi Hamasaki's debut anniversary (this year is her 15th), but did you know that it's also Sayuri Sugawara's debut anniversary as well?
Happy 4th anniversary, Sayu! She debuted back on April 8th, 2009, with "Kimi ni Okuru Uta".
If anybody can translate this (without Google Translate) it would be gladly appreciated!
In addition to the anniversary, we haven't been updating some things for quite a while. Here are some things that we missed since the last time we posted here:
New concert pics from "Open The Gate Tour 2013" (this one's from the Tokyo half on 1/20; the other one was in Akita on 1/27). Eight pictures in the set.
New mobile site and fanclub (called "Chao! Crew"), replacing the old one. The new mobile site is located at http://sugawarasayuri.mobi/. (See also http://ameblo.jp/sayurisugawara/entry-11502703127.html) The old site could not support smartphones; the new one does. I can access it through my iPhone...from the USA - but in order to access the premium features (315 yen/month), I actually need a Japanese phone to pay it...and now I need some help if I could (see below).
Sayuri has been recently putting Twitter pics on Twitpic (http://twitpic.com/photos/SAYURISUGAWARA), NOT Lockerz. She switched to Twitpic...possibly under my advice to switch to that. (Sorry if I have to be biased, but maybe it's because I'm trying to put her "on the same page" as Ayaka and Yanawaraba (more info on Yanawaraba here) A switch after over two years using Lockerz (formerly Plixi), ever since she bought her first iPhone back in 2010. It now seems that switching from Lockerz to Twitpic may have been a "smart" idea, because now I heard Lockerz is no longer allowing photo sharing from the Echofon Twitter app (Echofon is the client that, like Ayumi Hamasaki, Sayuri is using for Twitter when she's on the iPhone, while she usually uses Twipple (http://twipple.jp) when she's on her MacBook)...
Spoiler:
Quote:
Dear Lockerz API user,
You are receiving this message as a courtesy because you at some point have accessed or used our photo-sharing application programming interfaces (“APIs”) and services. Please be advised that, effective April 22, 2013, Lockerz, Inc. (“Lockerz”) will no longer offer or support photo-sharing services for developers and third party applications. As of that date, Lockerz is terminating its API End User License Agreement with you and all others who are parties to that agreement. As required under the API End User License Agreement, on that date, you immediately will cease to access or use the APIs, will relinquish all rights previously granted, and will delete or destroy all information derived from your access or use of the APIs and any and all copies or copies of portions of the APIs.
We thank you for your past use of the APIs and the related photo-sharing services and wish you well in the future.
I just heard Sayuri went to LA recently for her spring break. First over seas trip (which was supposed to be that Singapore live concert that got cancelled), I suppose... http://ameblo.jp/sayurisugawara/entry-11501297316.html
Anyways, as I said earlier, Sayuri just introduced a new mobile website (http://sugawarasayuri.mobi/; only access through smartphone (iPhone, Android), not the PC!!!), which now supports smartphones, and along with that comes a new version of the mobile fanclub, which is still at 315 yen (~$3) per month. I am really highly interested in it...only problem is that it seems I cannot sign up for it. At first I thought I would pay with my credit card directly, but when I checked other fanclubs that were based on the same system that Sayuri's fanclub is using (C&K, for example - http://fc.c-and-k.info/ - again, use smartphone, NOT PC!!!), it seems I cannot use that and I had to use an account related to a Japanese mobile phone carrier (au ID - KDDI; NTT docomo; My SoftBank). Sayuri's staff did confirm that:
Now it seems I want to try to sign up, so I used the au ID that I signed up. I had a thought that I could sign up with that au ID (just in case if I want an au smartphone if I live in Japan, and I even registered my credit card with it!!!), so the account creation was successful, but when I tried to sign up it asked me to register an au smartphone first before proceeding, and I would not be able to proceed without registering a smartphone!!!
Also, I don't think I am able to sign up for my docomo or My SoftBank accounts as I would need the same thing, from the respective carriers.
So it seems that I am out of luck from joining "Chao! Crew". Had they kept with M-UP (the previous fanclub provider, which actually accepts credit cards directly), then I would've able to sign up. But now the fanclub is powered by e-talentbank (which is the same for C&K), and they don't accept direct credit card payments. I wish either they would go back to M-UP, or, if they're sticking with e-talentbank, they would offer direct credit card transaction (which is my preferred method)...
For now, is there any way I am able to sign up if I have an au ID but don't have an au smartphone (and I don't intend to buy one) or try to sign up with docomo or SoftBank ID without an actual docomo or SoftBank smartphone? Maybe any AHSers in Japan can help me to sign up, even though I live in the USA?
(UPDATE: Sayuri's staff still says that it does not accept credit cards, but also adds that it is undecided whether the system will accept it in the future...)
Anyways, even though for now only Japanese could sign up if you have a smartphone maybe give the new Sayuri Sugawara mobile site a try (http://sugawarasayuri.mobi/).
Man...four months without an update? After all, last check with Sayuri Sugawara's follower count on Twitter is almost 4,400...
Last edited by Bigtop; 8th April 2013 at 08:29 AM.
8th April 2013, 07:39 AM
Hybrid Mode
