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December, 2014 (Page 17)

Humbug! Japanese wives in international marriages share what they hate about Christmas overseas

Christmas. Depending on who you are, it can be a time for getting together with family and friends, attending religious services, or maybe just drinking a lot of egg nog. But while all of those are activities of profound cultural and spiritual importance, not everyone has a song in their heart at this time of year.

For a certain set of Japanese women in international marriages and living overseas, ‘tis the season for venting about how Americans and Europeans spend Christmas, and here’s their list of grievances.

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It seems like everyone in Japan wants this pillow featuring a famous sumo wrestler’s butt

In the past year, sumo wrestler Endō Shōta has been busy outside the ring, showing up in special edition photo booths and using his muscular arms to carry contest winners like a princess. Now, this 24-year-old rising star has been making his way into Japanese homes in the form of a pillow. Featuring Endo in his work attire, this limited release pillow was only given out to five thousand lucky winners, who weren’t shy about showing off their love for this young man’s backside.

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Dual-wielding Samus Amiibo auctions for $2,500

A factory accident has made one Metroid fan very happy, albeit a couple thousand bucks poorer. An eBay auction for a factory-sealed, defective Samus Amiibo recently ended at $2,500, with an original starting price of $50.

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Mikan flavored potato chips sound gross, but may actually be genius marketing

We recently brought you a round-up of some of the weirdest snack foods available in Japan, and now we’re about to add another one to the bag – Mikan (Japanese Tangerine) flavored potato chips! Such a flavor may seem shocking, even deviant to some of us western folks, but there’s a clear marketing strategy behind these new tangy treats that’s bound to result in success in the Japanese market. See if you can guess what it is, then join us after the jump to find out if you were right!

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All we want for Christmas is a 1/6 model Spider-Man to take photos with

They say a dog is man’s best friend. But if these pictures are anything to go by, Spider-Man’s best friend is a cat.

Not only does this 1/6 scale Spider-Man come with a puffer vest, he’s also the perfect size to take all kinds of adorable pictures. Join us after the jump for Spider-Man hanging out with pets; tucked up in a cat bed; and showing what an awesome dad he is.

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Water pipe bursts at Beijing art building, turns everything into a frozen winter wonderland

Nothing kills a great winter vacation more than coming back to find out your pipes have burst. That water can be flowing out of the broken pipe for days before you return home to find you have a new indoor swimming pool. It only has to happen once to forever taint your holidays with an extremely nagging “did we turn the water off?”

With temperatures dipping below zero in many parts of the world, each day is a potential pipe bursting tragedy. However, sometimes two wrongs really do make a right, and the horrible outcome of water soaking everything with Jack Frost blowing through create a really spectacular winter wonderland.

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McDonald’s Korea now serving up Hello Kitty in cute Sanrio costumes

Hello Kitty has been quite the busy cat celebrating her 40th birthday. Earlier this year, she was making rounds at theatres in Japan dressed as characters from Rurouni Kenshin, and now she has crossed the ocean to make an appearance at McDonald’s in Korea. This time, she’s cosplaying as some of her fellow Sanrio mates. Check out the cute kitty after the jump!

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Most popular pet names in Japan for 2014 suggest owners obsessed with food

Earlier this week, we looked at popular baby names making the rounds this year in Japan and now we’ve discovered some data on what Japanese named their pets in 2014. The little guy above may be right to look concerned because almost every name on the list is food-related…

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Where the ninja magic happens – Naruto creator gives interview, peek into his manga studio

The serialized nature of manga means booming success can really sneak up on artists and publishers alike. When Masashi Kishimoto turned in his pages for the very first chapter of his new series Naruto back in 1999, he probably didn’t know he was about to create one of the most popular manga ever, but that’s exactly what he did.

Kishimoto didn’t just earn himself 15 solid years of steady work, though, but also the continual march of tight deadlines that come with writing and drawing a hit manga. Despite being one of the biggest names in the industry, Kishimoto had only found time to give one TV interview during Naruto’s serialization, but now that the series has finally come to a close, he’s appeared before the camera again, in a special interview held in the studio where he put pen to paper and brought one of Japan’s most beloved comics to life.

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Japan’s awesome drinkable cookies in a can mean there’s no need to pour yourself a glass of milk

For the most part, cookies in Japan are crunchy little things. One very notable exception, though, is confectioner Fujiya’s Country Ma’am line, which are soft, chewy, and also absolutely delicious.

What makes Country Ma’am cookies so good is how moist they are, and now confectioner Fujiya is taking that one step further by turning them into a drink! We got our hands on a few cans of this miraculous beverage, and while it’s still early in our relationship, we think we may be in love.

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In Hokkaido there’s weed, weed everywhere, but not a drop to smoke

Japan tends to be a very drug-shy country. Most people you talk to will say that they’ve never gone anywhere near substances like marijuana, and according to a Public Library of Science survey, 98 times out of 100 they’re telling you the truth.

And yet you might be surprised to hear that there is an abundance of cannabis growing wild all over the northern island of Hokkaido. But before you go booking a ticket, you may want to learn why.

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Hello Kitty now makes 90% of her money abroad

After 40 years of hard work, Japan’s precious Hello Kitty character (affectionately known as Kitty-chan in Japan), has brought Japanese “kawaii” to all corners of the globe. It hasn’t been all fun and games for her though; she has had to work really hard to keep her parent company, Sanrio, afloat.

But now, thanks to Kitty-chan’s popularity overseas and her success branching into other markets, Sanrio isn’t just floating, it’s positively surfing on waves of international profit.

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Buyers’ remorse in China: After a record-breaking day of online shopping, the angry selfies begin

It will come as a surprise to many that the biggest online shopping day in the world is not Cyber Monday, but November 11.

China’s Singles Day, held on a date made up of auspicious number ones, has evolved into an online shopping bonanza for retailers (remember the guy who chose to declare his love by buying 99 new iPhones?). And Singles Day spending keeps going up and up: this year, Chinese consumers spent a record-breaking 57.1 billion yuan (US $9.3 billion) with Alibaba Group in 24 hours.

Not everyone was happy with their purchases, though, as disgruntled shoppers took to social networking sites to post sad selfies of clothes that weren’t quite as fabulous as they were expecting.

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Treats for the sweet! Kitties paw-litely beg for fishy snacks 【VIDEO】

One of the first things every new pet owner learns is to never feed your furball at the table. You only have to give in once, and you’ll spend the rest of your days fending off kitty with a fork and spitting fur out of each mouthful as your adorable pet gets a little overinvolved in your meal times. In my house it’s got to the stage where I can’t even butter a slice of bread without one of my kitties attempting to lick the knife, and I’ve had to remove the other cat’s head from the refrigerator before closing the door so many times it’s beyond a joke. But what are you supposed to do when your pet looks up at you with those big, round eyes and begs you for a treat? Just see if you can watch this video of kitties begging for fishy snacks without melting!

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Popular TV show’s awe-inspiring Mario dance number is geektastically cool

Quick, what is the geekiest thing you can imagine ever possibly happening? Is it four grown adults dressed like Mario characters dancing a Mario-themed, choreographed dance to classic Mario music, on a stage replete with several thousand-dollar Mario-themed props, in front of a crowd that is only passively aware of the Mario franchise at best, plus those guys from Duck Dynasty and some shirtless guy?

Well, if you were thinking of that oddly specific scenario, you are way off base, because one couple on Dancing with the Stars just made Mario-themed dancing about the coolest, most mainstream thing around with a beautifully choreographed routine that is proving a major YouTube hit.

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Anime’s top catchphrases & top Japanese Internet buzzwords of 2014 announced

The Japanese news site Gadget Tsuushin has unveiled its choices for the Anime Ryuukougo Taishou 2014, or the “Great Anime Buzzword Awards.” The winners are:

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Inside the luxury Chinese hotel where North Korea keeps its army of hackers

North Korea has put together a secret army of computer hackers that it uses to disrupt South Korean military options and break into US military computers.

It might seem strange that North Korea has a dedicated cyber-warfare army unit. After all, only a few hundred people in the country even have access to the internet. But the country has worked to establish an elite group of hackers.

North Korean defectors say that the country actively searches for schoolchildren who display mathematical talent, and then trains them up in elite universities to become experts in hacking.

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Sony’s PlayStation turns 20 years old, we look back at how it all began and the games we loved

If you grew up in the ’90s, chances are the original PlayStation was a part of your life. Arriving on the console scene long after rivals Nintendo and Sega, PlayStation was an altogether different kind of beast. Its games shipped on CDs, it boasted spiffy three-dimensional graphics, and one of its flagship titles even featured music by abrasive electro pop group The Prodigy. It may have been a dull grey slab of plastic, but PlayStation was the console that all the cool kids wanted.

By some cruel trick played on us by the forces of nature, Sony’s original PlayStation turns 20 years old today. This makes us feel tremendously bitter and old, but at the same time we thought this would be a good opportunity to look back at some of the great games that came into being through the console, and also to revisit the surprisingly dramatic tale of how PlayStation was born.

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The 20 most fun PlayStation titles, as picked by Japanese gamers

Two decades ago, Sony had displayed about as much skill in producing video games as Nintendo had Hollywood movies. Sure, Sony had published games sporadically under its Sony Imagesoft brand, but it’s hard to build much consumer goodwill with such a small catalogue of titles, especially when most of said titles are terrible.

Then, on December 3, 1994, the company launched the original PlayStation. While the 3DO and CD-i of fellow electronics manufacturers Panasonic and Phillips would both end in ignominious failure, Sony would go on to slice itself a very large piece of the pie in its new industry, dominating two generations of console gaming and remaining competitive ever since.

Of course, hardware isn’t worth much without fun games to play on it. Thankfully, Sony’s systems had plenty of hits, as shown by a poll of Japanese gamers’ 20 favorite PlayStation games.

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All your ordinary moments through a sweet retro gaming lens【Animated GIFs】

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how much is a pixel worth? We guess that really depends on how many pixels are in a piece of art. The following works by @1041uuu certainly capture more than your ordinary dots of color. You are going to wish your life was as fantastic as these nostalgic, creative and inspired GIFs capturing everyday life in Japan.

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