Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
October, 2014 (Page 4)
Everyone loves a good corn dog. From freezer burned to deliciously golden brown in about 30 minutes in the oven, it’s the all-American snack for both kids and adults. Japan has its own version of this classic, known simply as the “American dog”, but instead of a corn-based batter it uses a wheat-based one. Many argue over the superiority of corn vs. wheat, but the fighting is about to end, because Korea has swooped in with its own version and it is mighty impressive. Introducing the Kogo!
Bodhi is a five-year-old Shiba who lives in New York City. He’s also a talented model and one of the best-dressed dogs on the planet, so it’s no wonder he’s already racked up 150,000 followers on Instagram.
Owners Yena Kim, a former designer at Ralph Lauren, and her boyfriend David Fung started dressing Bodhi up for fun last year, posting the pictures to Facebook as a joke. Now Menswear Dog is so doggone lucrative, they’ve both been able to quit their full-time jobs to work with him.
For a dedicated entrepreneur, potential business ideas are everywhere. You just have to keep your eyes open–after all someone had to come with idea for zippers first. The problem, though, is telling the difference between a crazy-but-great business idea and a simply crazy idea. And sometimes it’s much easier to tell them apart, like this bizarre suggestion.
As nice as it is to have clean clothes, few of us especially enjoy the process of doing laundry. But in Japan, where everyone hangs their clothes outside to dry, a couple of rainy days can mean a huge pile of laundry to get through, and it’s not unusual for people to spend a large chunk of their day off doing the washing.
So if you’re stuck at home doing housework, you may as well have some cute company, in the form of these cat-shaped clothes-pins.
Feeling a little too chipper today? Here’s something to bring you back to down to earth: According to Kobe University professor Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and his research staff, there is a one-percent chance that a huge, Japanese-civilization-obliterating volcanic eruption will occur sometime within the next 100 years.
One percent may not sound like very much, but when you hear the kind of eruption the professor’s research refers to, you’ll understand why even that tiny number is much bigger than we’d like.
Already home to a plethora of weird and wonderful snacks, a new contender appears to have hit the Japanese market.
Usually, snack makers like to lure in young and old with fanciful cartoon mascots and promises of salt and/or sugar-based delights. But food producer UHA appears to have taken a totally different route with their Kinoko No Manma, which loosely translates as “mushrooms as they are”, but a slightly more fitting interpretation might be “I Can’t Believe They’re Not Mushrooms!” As the snack’s name implies, its main selling point is that the things inside the bag look exactly like freshly picked mushrooms, but in fact they aren’t…
Or are they? It’s exactly that confusion, and the snack’s rarity, that’s causing many online to wonder: “What do these things taste like and how can we get them?”
If the thought of being able to have your way, in a manner of speaking, with Attack on Titan‘s Eren — albeit in titan form — is appealing to you, then this item may be for you! That’s right, folks, Japanese toy maker Kotobukiya is set to launch a figure of the series’ protagonist Eren Yeager in gruesome titan form, complete with changeable heads!
Join us after the jump for a closer look at this undeniably creepy, yet expertly crafted figure!
While the Japanese economy is powered by numerous exports and industries, from cars to computers, perhaps one of its largest, if not most visible, industries is that of entertainment content such as anime, manga and video games. While we all love good content–it is, after all, king–not everyone is necessarily willing or able to pay for it. While in days of yore that mostly meant simply going without the latest publication of your favorite manga, today’s high-speed Internet has made, shall we say acquiring content easier than ever.
While countries around the world debate the issues of online piracy, free speech, and copyright law, Japan is taking a somewhat more aggressive stance (anti-piracy even has its own figures in Japan!). Nevertheless, stopping piracy completely is an exercise in futility, which is probably why the M.A.G. (Manga-Anime Guardians) Project is aimed more at changing hearts and minds than using legal action to stop those pesky pirates. In fact, they’ll even give you a special-edition illustration if you join!
If you have ever had the pleasure of visiting the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka, you probably know about its amazing food that has people from all over the country booking trips there just to stuff themselves silly. Between the rich, pork broth and firm noodles of the famous Hakata Ramen and the spicy delight that is mentaiko (marinated cod and pollack roe), Fukuoka is a place visitors leave having to loosen their belt a few notches.
With so many delicious things to come out of the city, an online poll set out to see which dishes people think are the epitome of the Fukuoka food scene. Click below to see the results and vote on what you think is the best food to come out of Fukuoka!
Given my pick of cars, I’ll always chose the one with rear-wheel drive. All else equal, it tends to give more maneuverability than front-wheel drive, and weigh less than an all-wheel setup.
Still, there are times when it’s good to be able to put power down through your front tires, as shown by this video of a Chinese woman’s daring rescue of her about-to-be-towed car.
Because of its time zone, holidays come to Japan several hours sooner than the rest of the world. Last weekend, Halloween came especially early, though, with parades of costumers being held in both Kawasaki and Tokyo’s Roppongi.
But even as Halloween continues to become more and more popular in Japan, one thing that hasn’t changed is the way most people get around by public transportation. Just about everyone takes the subway, whether you’re a student, businessperson, or living snowman from Disney’s Frozen.
Last Friday, on the recommendation of a special committee the Abe cabinet agreed to suggested changes to the Fueiho laws which place severe and unclear regulations on dancing in Japan.
As we reported last week, under Fueiho (Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement and Entertainment Business), businesses such as nightclubs are required to operate under a loosely defined set of parameters. However, most didn’t. This led to a string of raids and closures which crippled the night club scene in much of Japan.
After these new changes pass through the Diet, clubs will be allowed to host dancing after midnight – provided the lighting is bright enough.
Although Japan is not often considered the best place for sexual equality, steps are definitely being taken in the right direction. More and more women are trailblazing lifelong careers in not always hospitable corporate environments and forgoing more traditional routes such as marriage and becoming a full-time homemaker.
But sometimes this comes at the cost of getting married and starting a family. While some women are perfectly fine with this, others will no doubt feel the occasional pang of regret when they consider that they never had a chance to get all dressed up and be the center of attention for the day like many of their friends and family.
That’s why Kyoto-based company Cerca Travel has set up a service providing all the glamor of a wedding without any of the commitment in what they call a “Solo Wedding.” That’s right: women can now have the full wedding day experience without actually having to get hitched.
Perceptions of beauty pageants in modern society have definitely changed since the 1960s. While we’re sure that there are plenty of varying opinions out there regarding beauty pageants’ place in modern society, we can certainly get behind the idea that there’s more to a person than how physically attractive they are. That said, we’re sure that for winners of the pageants, like Apasra Hongsakula here, who was 18 when she won Miss Universe in 1965, the shows are source of tremendous pride and happiness.
But winning an international beauty contest isn’t the only thing that separates Apasra from the rest of us ugly shmoes–if recent photos are any indication, she’s been practically reliving her glory days for the last 47 years, since the 1965 Miss Universe still looks like Miss Universe today even at the age of 67!
Japanese electronics maker Sharp has announced their latest product – this adorable bedside lamp that emits what they call ‘plasmacluster ions’. No, they are unfortunately not going to be the baby blue and pink beads you see drifting into the air in the illustration. However, these plasmacluster ions supposedly have anti-bacterial properties.
All you need to do is plug in your lamp and it will not only purify your air, but also improve your sleep and the condition of your skin! Now, that sounds like a good deal if it really works.
There’s something about being on public transport that seems to bring out the worst in us. Whether we’re talking on our phones, bringing smelly food onboard, or taking sly swigs of chūhai when we think no one’s looking, most of us are guilty of some kind of train faux pas.
A company in Japan has come up with an ingenious design solution to a very particular kind of anti-social behaviour – people taking up more than their fair share of space on the train.
We thought we knew pancakes, but boy, were we wrong!
Our team prides itself on both seeking out and sampling good food, all in the name of science and hard-hitting journalism. Among our favorite treats are none other than heaping stacks of fluffy, buttery pancakes, which we’ve even adapted to bake in a Japanese rice cooker with epic results.
In other words, we thought we knew pretty much everything there is to know about the delicious comfort food, that is until one of our Japanese writers made an unexpected discovery–there’s a place in Japan that sells pancakes topped with baby anchovies!
Once upon a time in Bangkok, there was a magical moving emporium that only opened its doors to a lucky few. Inside, those who were permitted to enter could feast on every kind of sweet treat imaginable, and when they stepped out of this cave of wonders, they found themselves in a completely different place.
You might think this to be a fairy tale or the stuff of urban legend, but Thai native Kittiphun Khongawatkiat was lucky enough to chance upon this amazing taxi filled to the brim with snacks and candies and took some snaps to prove its existence.
Over a century ago, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York paper The Sun asking if the rumors she heard regarding Santa Claus were true. Editor Francis Church’s now legendary response is still widely read today, as even 117 years later, it holds up pretty well. At least to me, anyway.
For today’s youth, on the other hand, coming up in an age of unprecedented surveillance and information it’s got to be even harder to maintain belief in a magical man with flying reindeer sneaking into their homes at night to deliver presents.
And so history repeats itself, but this time with newspapers on the decline, a sixth-grade child using the handle tikuwa_0913 turned to Yahoo! Japan Answers for more information on Jolly old Saint Nick.
There are several traditional crafts that Japan is known for, such as urushi lacquerware or Nishijin weaving. Perhaps not as widely known, but just as impressive, is the craft of yosegi, which uses woods of different color and texture to create exquisite patterns. In fact, the precision and skill involved is such that yosegi is not surprisingly, one of the crafts that has been featured in a series of videos uploaded by luxury fashion brand Gucci Japan on their YouTube channel dedicated to introducing the work of talented Japanese craftsmen, and the video has apparently been noticed around the world. Let’s take a look at a master artisan at work!
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Japan triples departure tax, foreign tourists and locals now must pay more to leave country
Starbucks Japan teams up with Converse Tokyo for a new limited-edition collection in honour of Tanabata
Studio Ghibli brings Totoro Soot Sprites out of the anime shadows for a new bag and pouch collection
Japanese overnight sightseeing train returns for summer with ramen stops and ocean views
Sanrio Character Poll announces winners, Hello Kitty absent from top 10 in many countries
7-Eleven Japan has a lot of famous food, but its new burrito needs to be on your radar
Foreign resident of Japan arrested after spraying bear repellant inside post office
One Piece docking at Round 1 amusement centers in both Japan and the USA
Japanese train company brings back beloved “patapata” departure board…with a clever digital twistSalomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenirSanrio Character Poll announces winners, Hello Kitty absent from top 10 in many countries
Live-action Spirited Away stage play announces world tour with first-ever U.S. and Canadian datesJapan triples departure tax, foreign tourists and locals now must pay more to leave country
Tokyo has only two barley tea makers, and we visited one to see how mugicha is made
Pikachu brings electric style to brand-new Pokémon G-Shock watch featuring every stater trioJapanese overnight sightseeing train returns for summer with ramen stops and ocean views
Family Mart Japan installs red-eyed “Monster Wolf” to keep bears away from convenience store
Starbucks Japan reopens Shinkansen platform store after redesigning it for speed
Blind Tokyo commuter explains the easiest place for him to stand while riding the train
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Studio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
New Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Japan launches first overnight Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka this summerSalomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Even at twice regular Daiso price, this handy item is still great for summer travel in Japan
Japanese sweets shop sells an ohagi so exquisite it sells out by noon
Forget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
Japanese sweets brand creates new drinkable Cigare and we’re totally here for itJapan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Sanrio Character Poll announces winners, Hello Kitty absent from top 10 in many countries
7-Eleven Japan has a lot of famous food, but its new burrito needs to be on your radar
Foreign resident of Japan arrested after spraying bear repellant inside post office
One Piece docking at Round 1 amusement centers in both Japan and the USA
Japanese train company brings back beloved “patapata” departure board…with a clever digital twist
We try Krispy Kreme Japan’s first-ever all-you-can-eat doughnut deal
Japan has a new maid school, and it’s now accepting applicants for its first term
Blind Tokyo commuter explains the easiest place for him to stand while riding the train
Japan’s Mocchurin donuts declared too popular to exist by creator Mister Donut, will disappear soon
Studio Ghibli film towels with English dialogue lines are cinematically cool and cute[Photos]
Sanrio collaborates with Sesame Street for adorable merch and sweets in Japan[Photos]
Live-action Spirited Away stage play announces world tour with first-ever U.S. and Canadian dates
Japan’s new pettably fuzzy cat-shaped earbud chargers meow to let you know their status[Video]
Studio Ghibli adds a new Jiji mini bag to its anime merchandise shop in Japan