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December, 2014 (Page 5)

Why making kids cry on camera never gets old

It was a viral hit in China back in 2010, but with 12 million views and counting, ‘Cute Little Chinese Girl Scared To Death On TV Show’ is a video that shows no sign of going away. The video of a little girl’s frightened reaction to a fake criminal, which recently resurfaced on the Japanese internet after being reposted to Liveleak, wasn’t the first funny crying kid video to stack up hits online, and it won’t be the last. From Charlie Bit My Finger Again, to the Reasons My Son Is Crying tumblr, to the recent video of a toddler left inconsolable after she realises a newborn can’t come to her birthday, it seems we just can’t get enough of weeping toddlers.

So why are videos of kids crying so popular?

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Mayonnaise and takuan sandwich proves disgusting food combinations are big business in Japan

If you’ve lived in Japan a while or even just visited, you may recognize the word “takuan” – a type of Japanese pickle made from radishes and served as a side dish – and you’ll almost certainly recognize mayonnaise as that thing that is incongruously glopped on just about everything in Japan.

You’ll probably also recognize that these two items have absolutely no business together, especially if just stuffed unceremoniously into a loaf of bread, but, you see, this combination was almost inevitable because, as we’ve proven time and time again, gross food combinations are just the bee’s knees when it comes to prepackaged foods in Japan.

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Toyota’s Prius c Journeys through Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter

While the Prius c (sold in Japan as the Aqua) has always been marketed towards city-dwellers, Toyota assures road trip aficionados that it’s great for lengthy road trips and grand adventures, too. Especially the kinds of journeys you’d experience in Dragon Quest or Monster Hunter.

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Truck driver hailed as “hero” for cutting off car on wet highway

There is perhaps no greater feeling of anger and frustration than getting cut off on an expressway. To have your pleasant cruising speed shattered by some jerk-off who can’t tilt their head an extra inch or position their mirrors properly is usually an unforgivable act in the driving world.

However, this one truck driver in particular has earned the acclaim of everyone who watched the harrowing video of it cutting off a car as they both drove along at high speeds on a rainy highway. After watching the video we’re pretty sure you’ll understand why.

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10 slightly strange Christmas trees from Japan

Christmas in Japan has always been different than what folks from other countries are used to. There’s always the Christmas bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken handed out by a santa-suit-clad Colonel Sanders, the Christmas cake topped with whipped cream swirls and strawberries, and those romantic walks with your loved one around the many illuminated streets. LINKS. That’s why we weren’t surprised, and frankly delighted, to find the following 10 unconventional Christmas trees from around Japan.

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Unhinged Japanese boyband fan stalks “rival” on Twitter, demands they delete their account

They say that hell is a teenage girl. It sucks having to deal with burgeoning romantic feelings when most of the boys in your grade are more interested in giving each other wedgies and chasing balls around. That’s where boy bands come in! Obsessing over squeaky-clean, baby-faced guys with angelic voices gives young girls an outlet for their romantic ideals, as each boy band provides a pleasing variety of “safe” alternatives on which to have a crush (real boys, after all, are too unpredictable!) So it’s no wonder that sometimes girls can take things a little bit too far. When one Twitter user set her user icon to a pic of her favorite Japanese boyband member, little did she know that her actions would spark a stream of increasingly unhinged messages from a fellow fan.

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Flipping the kanji for “husband” upside-down reveals slightly worrying double meaning

The common stereotype about women among sexually frustrated, mostly parents’ basement-dwelling, men is that girls only go for attractive, rich guys, and never the nice, tender guys with warm hearts and chic fedoras.

Well, when it comes to one of those observations, anyway, there appears to be at least one cultural precedent of a diabolical hidden message that seemingly proves the stereotype right in one of the very words that defines men and women’s relationship in Japan…

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  • Dec 22, 2014

Get into the groove with this beautiful Japanese confection that looks like a piano keyboard!

Have you ever tried yokan? It’s a delightfully smooth jelly-type Japanese dessert typically made with red bean paste and agar. It’s quite thick in consistency so it could be described as something in-between a cake and jelly, and it usually comes in a long, solid block form which you cut into smaller pieces to eat. The dessert has a history in Japan going back centuries, and now, a shop in Southern Japan has come out with a jazzy, stunningly modern take on the traditional sweet. It’s the Jazz Yokan, artfully created with the look of a piano keyboard, and just looking at it may make you want to play some music!

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Japan’s premier beatboxer sets YouTube ablaze, annoys fans with lack of beatboxing

We’ve talked about Japanese YouTubers before, and there certainly are a lot of awesome ones out there! One of the most famous is the beatboxing Hikakin, who was even featured in YouTube’s 2014 Rewind video. His musical skills have even caught the attention of the world at large, and Hikakin has performed with (and wowed) foreign artists, like Ariana Grande. There are plenty of folks around the world who are fans of the bespectacled YouTube star’s skills, but it looks like some of them are losing patience with his seeming lack of actual beatboxing.

As if he’d heard all of those complaints directly, Hikakin just released a new video with none other than Ne-Yo! Click below to check out the two artists make beautiful music with nothing more than their sexy mouths!

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Self-healing glasses on sale next year

Starting on 1 January, 2015 Vision Megane will begin selling their strongest frames to date. Dubbed the Super Taflex, it boasts extreme resistance to bending and stretching and also claims to be able to heal itself from everyday dents and scratches within ten seconds.

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Don’t believe in the magic of the 100 yen store? This product will seal the deal!

A lot of people think that the dollar store isn’t worth their time in America. There is this stigma that all the products are really cheap, plus, most of the items are actually over a dollar! 100-yen stores in Japan such as Daiso and Seria, are still proving they know how to treat the thrifty shopper right, however. You’re always able to find just what you need there, but Japanese Twitter users are currently all sharing their excitement and various uses for a product you wouldn’t think you could buy for only a buck.

Say hello to the hermetic sealer!

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Japanese makeup artist does classic Hollywood glamour, recreates Audrey Hepburn’s coveted look

Zawachin has made a name for herself online by recreating the makeup of celebrities and now has legions of Twitter followers as well as multiple cosmetic and real-world advertising deals. She’s known for covering her mouth with a face mask or other convenient objects and really focusing on what makes the eyes of her subject distinctive. We’ve introduced her and her skills before, but today we have a slightly different look of hers to show off.

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Can’t cope with the feeding frenzy at meal times? Why not stack your cats!

As anyone from a multi-pet household can tell you, trying to feed several hungry animals at once without ending up covered in stinky, sloppy pet food and teeth marks is a serious task. If several of your fur buddies have special dietary requirements and/or special medicine that must be skilfully disguised in the morning’s Fancy Feast, then it gets even harder. If you’re looking for a way to make the whole operation a lot less of a hassle, you could take inspiration from this company president’s method of feeding his nine kitties. All you’ll need is a flight of stairs!

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The scariest snow sculpture you’ll see this winter

The merciless snow has hit Japan and we suppose the mood would be gloomy. However, one Twitter user found his house in a rather frightening state when someone decided to take vengeance on the snowy weather with this artful sculpture of snow that can be interpreted as either a horror movie or an installation art that is awfully hard to understand. Either way, this is probably one of the most creative uses of snow we’ve see this season.

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Sick of BABYMETAL? How about some sumo metal!

Japan has a few, shall we say, unusual commercials that have raised eyebrows around the world. While you may laugh, when you think about it, it just shows that Japan’s marketers really know how to get the audience’s attention–and isn’t that the job of a commercial, to get people’s attention? We’d say so, and we think we may have found our favorite new eyebrow-raising Japanese commercial!

An exhilarating, upbeat sound track? Check. A simple, direct message that makes almost no sense at all? Check. Half naked people? Oh, holy hell, yes, check! 

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Piccolo saves Christmas when he’s not saving Namekians

Comic book fan, cosplay aficionado, and 15-year veteran deputy sheriff Michael Wilson (@knightmage) brought cheer to countless families on December 18 when he strolled into his local Ohio TOYS R US dressed as Dragon Ball‘s Piccolo and paid off everyone’s layaways.

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Clever cat duo cause havoc in the bathroom but are too cute to scold

Cats are amazing creatures that have a sneaky habit of getting into places you would never think they could (and then also often getting stuck there). But somehow it’s hard to be anything but amused by their silly antics, especially when they pull hilarious faces like this!

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Latest evolution of Pokémon cafe to open in Shibuya this January

To celebrate the release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, “THE GUEST cafe & diner,” a restaurant inside the Shibuya Parco building, will mega-evolve into a Pokémon-themed cafe for a limited time starting this January. They will offer a wide variety of meals, desserts, and drinks to fully restore the HP of all Pokémon trainers and their loyal Pokémon friends.

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11 never-ending hypnotic GIFs that just made a portion of our weekend disappear mysteriously

We all know GIFs are images set in a motion loop, but many of these moving images have a short story to tell, and we can somewhat tell that there is an “end” at a certain point before it loops back to the start of the sequence.

This series of GIF images we found today, however, simply goes on and on… for an eternity and beyond. We can’t tell how it starts or how it ends as there is no particular message or story, and the image transitions are simply flawless. If you’re the type of person who prefers to spend your weekend doing nothing in particular and spacing out, these hypnotic moving images could possibly keep you occupied for hours!

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Tips from Japan to make your skin extra beautiful! It begins with a bath and…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, in Japan, beauty is in the water of the bath taker. Over here, winter has arrived, and many people woke up to falling snow in much of the country this past week. And while pets are finding ways to stay warm and stylish, there isn’t much for us ol’ humans to do besides desperately stand in front of the heater or soak in a nice hot bath. Besides being a great way to heat up the frozen flanges, people around the country are using common items found in the Japanese household that are really great for giving your skin the extra luster and moisture to fend off the cold, dry months. Try adding any one of these three ingredients to your next bath!

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