≫Implant
A method of treatment that involves cutting open the gums and implanting a false root, then putting a false tooth on top of it. While it can’t be removed, unlike typical false teeth it doesn’t come loose and you can chew with it like you would a regular tooth.
≫Doujin Manga
Also called doujinshi. A magazine funded and produced by an individual or small group. Unlike normal magazines, these are not sold through normal distribution channels and are primarily “passed out” at doujin events. (They are never “sold.”) Originally they took the form of literary magazines, but as printing technology improved and the number of manga and anime fans increased, more and more of them took the form of manga. There are many genres of doujinshi, such as original works, derived works, all-ages works, adult works, works for men, and works for women. They are also called “thin books.”
≫Scramble Communications
A method of encryption used by places like paid satellite channels and cable TV. The data is encrypted by a simple method of scrambling it to stop people who have not bought the service from watching it. Paid customers are given a decoder that allows them to decrypt the scrambled data and view the channel.
≫Dodo Bird
A flightless bird that went extinct in the 1600s in what is now the Republic of Mauritius. The word Dodo is Portuguese for “fool.” A dodo bird appears in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
≫Inokashira Park
Officially named “Inokashira Onshi Park.” A 380,000m2 park owned by the city and located in Tokyo between Musashino and Mitaka. Opened in 1917. The park contains Inokashira Lake, as well as the Benzaiten and Inari Shrines, and a zoo called the Natural Culture Park. There is also a stadium grounds in the west park, and in the southeast of the west park, there is a smaller park as well.
≫Nikola Tesla, Wardenclyffe Tower
An electrical engineer and inventor born in the Austrian Empire (now Croatia). 1856-1943. During his student days, he discovered the fundamental principles behind AC electricity. Afterward he went to America and worked for Edison’s company, but he fought with Edison over the differences between AC and DC power transmission and left the company after only a year. In 1888, he invented the AC power generator and AC motor. In addition, in the 21st century Tesla’s AC power is the primary mode of power transmission. He invented several other things as well, but in 1901, he built the 57-meter-tall “Wardenclyffe Tower” on Long Island, America as part of his experiments with a wireless power transmission system (The World System). But the experiments never succeeded, and due to the war and a lack of funds, it was torn down. The international unit of measurement for the strength of a magnetic field is a “Tesla.”
≫CNN
Cable News Network. The world’s first 24-hour news network. Founded in America in 1980.
≫Reuters
A communications company founded in 1851 by the Jewish Paul Julius Freiherr von Reuter. It’s currently owned by the Canadian Thompson Corporation and is known as Thompson Reuters.
≫2channel
The most frequently accessed anonymous message board in Japan. Its catchphrase is “From Hacking to Tonight’s Side Dishes,” and it covers a huge variety of topics, from standard to underground.
≫Dredging
The act of bringing up water from a lake and taking the mud, etc. out to improve water quality. Originally used to maintain the water quality in holding lakes for fields, this has been a part of Japanese culture for centuries.
≫People’s Temple
An American religious organization founded in 1955. At first it called for the abolition of all forms of discrimination, but its founder, Jim Jones, was overcome by fear of persecution, and it gradually became a cult. In 1978, Jones and over 900 of his followers committed suicide in Guyana, South America.
≫Harmonica Alley
A shopping and dining area in the backstreets near Kichijoji Station. It has over 100 stores.
A social network that opened in 2006 in America. This “mini-blogging” platform allows for posts of up to 140 characters in length. In 2014, it had over 2.4 billion active users worldwide.
≫256 Incident
A mass death incident that occurred in the book at Inokashira Park. Yuta Gamon came up with this name because 256 corpses were found.
≫Tora no Ana
A manga doujinshi shop. There are over 20 of them all across Japan. In Tokyo, they’re concentrated in Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro.
≫J-CAST
A Japanese news site company that was founded in 1997. Over 11 million visitors come to J-CAST sites each month.
≫Baudot Code
A letter code used for teletype communications. Invented in 1905. In 1931, it was chosen as the standard code for the international Telex network. In the 21st century, it is no longer used in most cases thanks to the internet.
≫Punch Tape
Here used to refer to paper or plastic tape used as memory storage device for computers and electronic calculators. Very commonly used between 1950 and 1970. Data is saved by punching holes in long, thin tape, with the presence or lack of a hole being used to denote the data. Originally there were five rows, but later this increased to six, seven, or even eight rows.
≫Synchronicity
A theory propounded by Swiss analytical psychologist Carl Jung. A meaningful coincidence, like a sudden premonition. When two phenomena possess a similarity or connection in meaning or image, they stick out from the order of time and space. This sticking out is the definition of synchronicity.