Featured

June, 2013 (Page 9)

Mayonnaise is a highly debated condiment. There are those who praise it as a creamy, delicious gift to sandwiches while others curse its very existence. Even though the following job requires you to eat mayonnaise, mayo haters may still want to apply. Currently a topic of discussion on Japanese textboard, 2channel, the job in questions is simple: just eat mayonnaise and get paid 150,000 yen (US$1,540)!

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On the morning of 5 June, along a highway in Makubetsu, Hokkaido, a car swerved off the road and crashed through a tree before stopping on the sidewalk. The 87-year-old driver of the car was taken to hospital but sadly died soon after.

However, the actual accident wasn’t what killed him and the official cause of death had nothing to do with his age at all. In fact, the reason he died was something you may have done yourself while driving.

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Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest and much-climbed mountain, has lately been acknowledged as a priceless part of the world’s cultural heritage. But a climb to appreciate this heritage may now come with the hefty price tag of 7,000 yen (about US$70) per person.

If you only make it half way up, how about a half price discount?

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In China this year, 7 June was the day prospective tertiary education hopefuls sat down to take the national university entrance examination. It’s a high stakes affair that has a great impact on each young person’s future.

Given the pressure these students and their family face there’s no question some will resort to cheating to get through. This year alone 9,120,000 people will take the exam. Considering those numbers, even if the cheating rate is only 0.1 percent, there is still a serious problem.

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The only McDonald’s in the world where the golden arches aren’t golden

Everyone knows the famous golden arches of McDonald’s. Wherever you go in the world, you can be sure you’ll spot that big yellow M, calling out to you with promises of juicy burgers, greasy fries, and gallons of soda pop.

But did you know that somewhere out there is a lone blue M? That’s right, blue!

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On July 13 this year, the film Bruce Lee, My Brother (released as Young Bruce Lee in English), will be coming to Japan. It was originally released in Hong Kong in 2010 and tells the story of Bruce Lee’s childhood and early career as based on a book, Memories of Lee Siu Loong, written by the dearly departed movie star’s siblings.

Robert Lee, Bruce Lee’s younger brother, has visited Japan to promote the film. While here he took part in an exclusive interview with online newspaper, Tokyo Sport, where he addressed many of the rumors surrounding Bruce Lee’s untimely death at the age of just 32. He also shared an unexpected story involving the top-notch fighter’s dreadful fear of cockroaches.

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We enlist at “Nation at War Tavern”, where luxury is the enemy and you can step back in time

On 15 August, 1945 Japan had announced their surrender and set the end of World War II in motion. However, in one small space tucked away in Kagoshima City the atmosphere of that time over 60 years ago has been preserved.

Upon hearing of this unique location one of our reporters headed down to see if Nation at War Tavern (Gunkoku Sakaba) could really take us back to a very different Japan. The following is their report.

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Showa Era newspaper’s drawings of future Tokyo scarily accurate, hilariously off base

These photos, which surfaced recently on a Vipper forum, show a Showa Era newspaper’s predictions of what Tokyo would look like in their future. If Mark Twain can foresee the Internet nearly a hundred years in advance, surely a Showa Era newspaper can get a few predictions right? Let’s take a look:

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What could possibly be worse than having to put down your beloved dog? How about that dog coming back from the grave and hunting you down?

Okay, that’s a gross exaggeration, but as you’ll see, there’s a good reason for that being my first thought when I saw this story.

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Visit sacred ‘ranobe’ spots around Japan with Book Off’s handy otaku map

Light novels (or ranobe for short, a portmanteau of raito and noberu) are popular in Japan as short, cheap reads for young adults. They often come with manga-style illustrations and feature many tropes from popular anime. This makes the transition between genres easy, and many light novels have been adapted into popular anime such as Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (There’s no way my little sister’s this cute!) and the currently airing Date-A-Live.

And now, Book Off–Japan’s brilliantly-named used bookstore chain–has added to the the recent spate of interactive maps with their new “Light Novel Pilgrimage Map”.

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French fries with sushi? Our delicious experiment in multicultural dining

One of the greatest things in Japan are kaiten-zushi restaurants, where customers sit at a counter and grab little plates of sushi that go streaming by on a conveyer belt. With instant gratification, no language barrier, and a far cheaper price than traditional sushi restaurants, what’s not to like?

One of the most popular kaiten-zushi chains is Sushi Ro, with its low 105 yen (US$1.05) prices. The fish is quite tasty too, enough so that most customers don’t bother with the various non-sushi side dishes the chain also offers. But if you can pull yourself away from the succulent slices of tuna and amberjack for a moment, you’ll be doing yourself a favor to get an order of Sushi Ro’s French fries.

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Gamarjobat: The funniest mimes to trot the globe

Humor, generally, is very subjective. Even when everyone’s speaking the same language, local cultural differences can have a massive impact on how jokes are received. Attempting to bridge these divides can be both difficult and frustrating. Not to mention dangerous if you happen to offend the wrong crowd.

All of which makes it even more impressive when someone does manage to leap over the gap with aplomb.

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Karaoke in Japan is quite different from what you find across most of the Western world. Rather than letting wannabe rock stars take to the stage in a crowded bar, most karaoke parlors in Japan offer private rooms for all of their customers, whether singing in a group or taking time alone to do some hitokara. Unfortunately, these closed quarters can lead to some awkward scenarios when single men and women share the mic at office after parties…

Earlier this month My Navi News conducted a short survey of the single women employed by the company. They asked 200 of these working ladies whether or not they’d ever had a man do something at karaoke which really made them want to draw away, and if so, to explain it in detail. The results were quite the eye-opener.

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This bizarre room listing gives a whole new meaning to “open-air layout.” A Tokyo real estate agency is advertising this room with a 160-square-meter (524 ft) balcony attached. It all seems like a fantastic deal until you realize that, while the balcony is indeed enormous, it dwarfs the room itself – which is a mere 25 square meters and somehow manages to cram a bathtub, toilet and kitchen inside.

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At approximately 10am on Wednesday, 5 June, Suma Municipal Sea Fishing Park in Kobe became a crime scene after a 68-year-old fisherman made a once in a lifetime catch.

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As soon as the teaser trailer for Hideo Kojima’s upcoming video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released earlier this year, gaming news websites and message boards exploded, partly because it was clear that David Hayter, the voice actor who had played the character of Solid Snake since 1998, had been replaced, but mostly because the new voice in the video sounded an awful lot like that of world-famous actor Kiefer Sutherland. Earlier today, those rumours were finally confirmed: Jack Bauer is Snake!

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Any photographer will tell you that you always have to be aware of your light sources. Especially with people, the wrong kind of lighting can someone look completely different, usually in a bad way.

This young photo bug took that advice to heart when he attended a cosplay event in China. Realizing that work outside of a studio pits a photographer in a battle with sometimes unpredictable lighting, this man fitted several brackets to his back, each supporting an external flash.

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These Chinese-style steamed buns have adorable animal faces

Japan has a healthy habit of adopting food from other cultures and making it fit for a Japanese palate. We see it with their sweet-brand curry, rice filled omelets, and corn and mayo topped pizzas. Think too of Japan’s many adorably decorated coffees and character-shaped steamed buns.

Four-rue is an authentic-style Chinese food stall that’s often found on the basement floor of Japan’s large department stores. In a move to appeal to Japan’s cute-conscious consumer base, they’ve created a series of animal-shaped steamed buns that far surpass the quality of those mass produced and sold in convenience stores. These cute little critters are handmade with loving care to capture the soft edges and utter adorableness of a stuffed toy. We sent one of our animal-loving RocketNews24 staffers to four-rue to purchase a set of these delectable creatures and give us her thoughts.

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NTT showcases technology which can “correct” Japanese people’s English pronunciation

Depending on the second language you’re trying to master, pronunciation is arguably the hardest aspect to conquer. The Japanese and English languages are no exception. Japanese, with its highly syllabic alphabet, often has a hard time accommodating the often chaotic nature of natural English pronunciation.

While a native English speaker’s tongue might stumble when trying to spit out makudonarudo (McDonald) smoothly the first few times our language allows us to pick it up with a little practice. Japanese English speakers have far more adversity trying to understand all the diminished sounds of a native English speaker casually uttering the name of the famous hamburger chain.

With that, NTT has revealed technology it’s working on that may one day automatically correct a Japanese person’s English pronunciation by editing the speed and rhythm while keeping the original speaker’s voice intact.

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Figurines, Wii U consoles and free vacations – Grab a sweet prize in 7-Eleven’s ‘Jump Heroes’ campaign

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven certainly knows its way to customers’ hearts. The store’s current Jump Heroes campaign–a collaboration with Shonen Jump Comics–is giving customers the chance to bag some pretty impressive prizes, with things like games consoles, tablet computers and even free hotel accommodation up for grabs.

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