If you thought being an anime director was all cosplay groupies and cool action figures, think again. Turns out it’s long, long hours in front of a computer, less-than-fancy convenience store dinners and tons of office all-nighters.
July, 2013 (Page 9)
Our reporter was strolling through Ginza one afternoon and found herself in an Okinawa specialty goods store. As she was browsing through the aisles, she couldn’t help but notice a brightly colored can of Coca Cola with a red shisa (lion dog) printed on the front. Upon further inspection of the can, she realized that she had stumbled upon Okinawa Coca Cola, made with the waters of Okinawa. How would this special Coke taste? She just had to buy one and find out.
Korean government plans to erect giant robot on disputed island, strongly opposed by Korean netizens
All around the world, young and middle-aged adults have fond childhood memories of giant robot cartoons. I can remember watching Autobots brawl with Decepticons over their endless hunt for energon cubes. Meanwhile, South Koreans were enjoying Robot Taekwon V.
Robot Taekwon V was such a hit that even today the Korean government uses its robot protagonist’s likeness to promote the nation’s claim to ownership of the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korea, Takeshima in Japan), a disputed island that has recently renewed some tensions between Korea and Japan. However, a recent plan to erect a statue of Taekwon V has been met with strong resistance from South Korean net users who feel that instead of being intimidating, the statue would cause Japanese citizens to laugh.
With so many sushi shops around Japan you’re bound to come across some irregular ones every now and then. Our very own Kuzo caught wind of one shop in particular that serves up sushi rolls with names that challenge you to guess what’s inside.
Maruhachi Sushi is located in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and you can find creations such as Sexual Harassment Sushi, Ice Cream Sushi, and Frigid Lady Sushi alongside your favorite sushi toppings. Kuzo headed to Nagoya to find out what these menu items were all about.
While kendo is an inherently violent sport–after all it’s basically the Japanese version of fencing–the general perception is that it’s more about calm, carefully-coordinated attacks than all-out aggression. In fact, kendo very strictly adheres to etiquette and respect, with competitors generally expected to act with the utmost sportsmanship.
Unless you happen to be a cop.
From countries and camera lenses to burgers and government corporations, Japan has a vibrant moe culture of personifying inanimate objects – in other words, turning them into cute, giant-eyed anime characters. The latest addition is a game populated by beautiful, shapely “warships”, which seems like a very modern idea but may actually have its origins in the prewar era.
McDonald’s Japan recently announced a new line of high-class Quarter Pounders that cost nearly ten bucks. Marketed as the “Jewelry series,” they come with premium ingredients such as truffle sauce, pineapple, or chorizo and each burger will only be available for one day in Japan. The first of the series, the Quarter Pounder Gold Ring, will be served up in a special “jewelry box” on July 6. If you live in Japan, hurry on over to your nearest McDonald’s, this ultra limited edition Quarter Pounder is only available today.
“The wind is rising! … We must attempt to live! (Le vent se lève ! … Il faut tenter de vivre!” — Paul Valéry, Le Cimetière marin
Fans of Japanese anime will know by now that the release of a new Studio Ghibli movie is surrounded by a fair amount of hype. Their newest film, The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu), scheduled for release in Japan on July 20, is certainly no exception, especially since it’s the first Ghibli movie in five years to be directed by the studio’s co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. Now that preview screenings of the movie have started, we were anxious to get our hands on a ticket. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we were able to do, so we thought we’d share our experience with you.
It may be just a bit of clever PR, but this video released by Japan’s Honda Motor Company earlier this week, simply titled “Hands”, is one of the coolest shorts we’ve seen in a long time.
Beginning with the line “Let’s see what curiosity can do,” the video treats us to a look at some of the company’s creations past, present and future, all in the form of sleight of hand tricks, topped off with a generous helping of computer-generated magic. Check out the full video after the jump.
Located in the posh Roppongi area of Tokyo is RyuGin which was given a three star rating by Michelin earlier this year, and was ranked the 22nd best restaurant in the world by S.Pelligrino and Acqua Panna. Part of the reason for these accolades is the artistic vision of head chef Seiji Yamamoto who enjoys pushing the boundaries of Japanese cuisine.
One example is the dessert seen above, the Ichigo Ame 2011 -196℃ to 99℃. It consists of a strawberry sherbert forged at ultra-low temperatures encased in a strawberry candy coating and served with a hot strawberry sauce. Sounds fantastic doesn’t it?
Of course, going to one of the top restaurants in the world doesn’t come cheap, making the Ichigo Ame out of most of our price range. Luckily, RyuGin had uploaded a reference video to YouTube, so that we can all learn how to make it. Join us as we take you through the process to make this unbelievably sophisticated dessert.
In what has to be one of the most random, yet awesome, releases we’ve seen so far this month, Japanese toy and figure fanciers Kitan Club has recently launched a range of six key-chain figures based on… Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo. No, we’re not quite sure why either.
Japanese society is, by many measures, on the shy side when it comes to love. Full-grown adults often keep having a boyfriend or girlfriend a secret because they’re afraid of being teased or questioned about marriage, and if you see someone dressed up nicely carrying a bouquet of flowers, they’re far more likely to be going to a farewell party for a coworker than a date with a special someone.
However, there is one way in which Japan is refreshingly upfront with its romantic ambitions: the singles’ party known as a gokon. Literally meaning “matching party,” at a gokon you get an equal number of unattached men and women together, usually at a restaurant with plenty of alcoholic drinks, and see if there are any compatible pairs in the group.
As a guy, the combination of booze and girls seems like an ideal situation. But the flip side is that you’re also being judged by a panel of the opposite sex, so there are some serious pitfalls to look out for, and women in their 20s and 30s were recently polled as to the surest ways a guy can blow his chances at one of these parties.
Don’t let Takeru Kobayashi’s slight build fool you. That guy vacuums up food faster than a Hoover. In his most recent feat of voracity, the Japanese competitive eater gobbled down a whopping 67 hot dogs in 10 minutes. The next closest contender only managed 34!
There have been reports in the Taiwan media this week of a naked man walking and occasionally jogging along the street on a busy afternoon. Passersby caught the event on their phone cameras at various points along his journey.
In a strange twist, however, thanks to the blurry resolution of these cameras the man looks exactly like a real-life titan from the manga/anime series Attack on Titan. The following video illustrates just how eerily close a comparison the man makes with a titan.
For the most part, there’s very little danger from the animal kingdom in Japan. Even hiking in the mountains far from civilization, bears are rare and wolves are non-existent. Sure, the poisonous fugu blowfish can kill you, but it only poses a threat if you’re too stingy to eat it at a restaurant and insist on catching and cleaning one yourself without the proper know-how.
The are a couple of animal annoyances though, such as massive, territorial crows that claim suburban trash pickup sites like street gangs, plus schools of jellyfish that don’t have the courtesy to wait for summer to be completely over before showing up to ruin the fun of playing in the surf. By far the worst offenders though are the mosquitoes that are prevalent during the warmest months of the year.
But this year we’ve got a secret weapon to deal with the itchiness of the inevitable mosquito bite, and we bet you’ve got one in your kitchen already, too.
There’s apparently a running joke in Beunos Aires, Argentina, that if you’re planning on riding the subway’s B Line, you’d better bring a Japanese dictionary. No, Argentines don’t have a bizarre and nonsensical sense of humor; it turns out the country imported the B Line’s trains from Japan and didn’t even bother to change all the Japanese writing.
A few days ago, we designed and field tested a shoulder-mounted, hands-free burger holding device that allowed our gluttonous Mr. Sato to eat one of his beloved burgers without missing a Tweet. Then he wondered if his free hands might allow him to indulge his other passion… Get your mind out of the gutter! We mean noodles!
Read on for the results of our experiment and instructions on how to try it yourself.
Soon to be released by Japanese novelty goods maker Cube is a pair of cute Captured Alien Eco Bags. These bags help reduce waste and make you look like you’re dragging a little green man away to a secret facility in Roswell, New Mexico. It’s win-win!
The five-star Park Hyatt Tokyo, known to many as one of the locations used in the movie Lost in Translation, has plenty of things going for it, including luxuriously appointed rooms, ample business facilities, and a full array of spa services. But we already live in the area and have an office nearby in Shinjuku. Plus, the natural stunning good looks of the RocketNews24 team preclude the need for any beauty treatments. So what can the Park Hyatt do to get us through their door?
How abut offering two types of beer you can’t get anywhere else, and free refills to boot?
Yeah, that’ll do it.
With more than a thousand unique temples and countless sites of natural beauty, planning a short trip to Kyoto can be no easy task. Thankfully, there’s a Japanese travel website that’s made things easy with a top ten list of unmissable places in the region. If you’re looking for a way to escape the information overload and simply visit the best that Kyoto Prefecture has to offer, then this list–complied by native Japanese no less–might just be the list for you.
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