Google updated its Translate app this week with Japanese-to-English functionality. Through its Word Lens technology, English-speaking users can now translate Japanese words just by pointing their phone's camera in their direction, and watching as they change in real time. Impressively, this process can also be done offline once you have downloaded a small file, allowing visiting tourists to use their phones as immediate pocket dictionaries without the need for a Wi-Fi connection.

Tourists, and locals who still need the help — like me. I've lived in the country for the last three and a half years, and while I can order a drink in a restaurant and catch trains on time, I'm often still stumped by the reams of kanji that populate official documentation, gadget manuals, and local websites.