Two days ago, we heard news that the Snow Miku sculpture exhibited at the Sapporo Snow Festival had collapsed and injured a passerby.

For those that are worrying whether Snow Miku will be “revived”, Crypton Future Media President Hiroyuki Itoh has announced via the PiaPro Blog that the snow sculpture is being rebuilt and will be completed before this Saturday (11 Feb 2012).

Snow Miku is one of the mascot for the ongoing Sapporo Snow Festival but things didn’t go so well for her because one of the Snow Miku sculpture that was being exhibited broke into pieces this afternoon. One of the pieces that broke also injured an old lady nearby and she had to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.

The authorities are attributing the incident to the change in weather conditions, suggesting that it might have gotten too warm in the afternoon so that the structure wasn’t stable enough. Poor Snow Miku-san (´・ω・｀)

Source: オタク.com｜オタコム and はちま起稿

If you have been regularly watching your favorite VOCALOID songs on youtube, you might have noticed that some of them went missing because a certain entity/group has been filing false copyright infringement complaints and causing many of her high ranking videos to be taken down.

Japanese fans have banded together and are coordinating a mass effort (e.g. 2channel “Save Miku” campaign) to contest such destructive and ridiculous takedowns. If your own video has been taken down due to a fake report, you can contest it through the counter-notification form.

I find it quite ridiculous thing is actually happening when Hatsune Miku is featured so prominently in the Google Chrome JP campaign. Wouldn’t Youtube who is also under Google already be familiar (or have some existing policy) with the content posted revolving around Hatsune Miku.

However it also highlights a more inherent problem that once the anti-piracy laws such as the SOPA bills are in place, many of our favorite content would be taken down indiscriminately and the internet might no longer be what it used to be.

Hobby Stock has commenced preorder for the fourth figure from the Mikumo lineup and this time it features Hatsune Miku from the song “Romeo to Cinderella”. I think this is a figure with a very lovely pose though I think the details of her eyes seems kinda weird.

She is scheduled for released in Mar 2012, and will be retailing for around 3,930 yen. Interested folks can place your preorders with CDJapan, HobbyLink Japan and Hobby Search.

For those that are curious about the song “Romeo to Cinderella (ロミオとシンデレラ)”, here’s the youtube video below:

Sega has uploaded onto youtube the retailers promotional video for their upcoming Nintendo 3DS game “Hatsune Miku and Future Stars Project Mirai” that will be released on 8 Mar 2012.

After watching the PV, its almost quite impossible not to fall in love with all the kawaii Nendoroid Vocaloids that will be featured in the game. The game will be retailing for around 5,800 yen and interested folks can place your preorders with CDJapan:

Remember the Google Chrome Japan CM that featured Hatsune Miku? The feature song “Tell Your World” by Kz livetune has been released on iTunes Stores in 217 countries. This is way ahead of the of the Tell Your World EP mini album which will be released in Japan on 14 Mar 2012.

For Today’s Japan Photo, we will be checking out one of the special mode of transport that is being featured at the 62nd Sapporo Snow Festival – the gorgeous Snow Miku Tram.

Thanks to my dear friend @alyukito for sharing this lovely shot with me. The Snow Miku tram will be running on the streets of Sapporo until then end of March.

Image Credit: alyukito instagram

Sega has released a new commercial to promote their upcoming Nintendo 3DS game “Hatsune Miku and Future Stars Project Mirai” that will be released on 8 Mar 2012.

Apart from new songs being featured in the game, the most interesting bit is that the augmented reality feature that allows Miku to interact with the environment around you.

The game will be retailing for around 5,800 yen and interested folks can place your preorders with CDJapan:

Earlier last week, Google Chrome Japan released a really cool CM featuring virtual idol Hatsune Miku, and you could almost foresee that it was a matter of time before Hatsune Miku had her own official youtube channel.

Apart from showcasing official media and commercials featuring Hatsune Miku, the channel will also feature works by the many talented creators. Cryton Future Media has also shared plans to share a portion of the ad revenue with the creators.

Source: 萌えオタニュース速報

With an official channel, I think Hatsune Miku will be able to reach out more to an international audience and hopefully more creators will be inspired to create lovely songs for her and the rest of the Vocaloids.