Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
2014 (Page 185)
What’s this strange contraption? Perhaps a headrest, or some kind of anti-cheating device? Maybe it’s something for the kids to hold on to when English grammar classes get too exciting to bear!?
Actually, this classroom has been fitted with these specially-designed desks as a measure of preserving their kids’ precious eyesight.
Our hungry friends over at Foodbeast have just unleashed a great new how-to video that outlines a number of errors both Japanese and non-Japanese alike often make when eating sushi. Not only that, but it teaches us the correct way to eat the stuff, introducing one piece of dining etiquette in particular that even regular sushi eaters often forget. Be sure to check this one out!
Of course, not all anime are created equal, but there are some common themes and scenes that run throughout. From nosebleeds at the sight of an attractive young lady to “magical openings,” the following video, titled “10 Steps To Become Real Life Anime!” has been generally celebrated by the anime-loving community for its truthful and humorous depiction of anime. Watch the video yourself and see if you agree!
Hokka Hokka Tei, a Japanese bento food chain, announced its “Attack on Titan Lunch” collaboration with Attack on Titan to create limited-time lunches. So, what exactly goes into a lunch for giant appetites? The answer is a lot of meat and vegetables.
A bank teller in Shanghai kept a cool head when a would-be robber threatened her with a huge meat cleaver. Without showing even a hint of fear, the bank teller can be seen laughing and pointing at the man, as his bungled robbery ends in him being taken away by security guards.
Recently, in what we might call the ‘marshmallow movement’, we’ve seen chubby girls start to shed some of their stigma in Japan. A chubby Japanese idol group has already arrived on the scene, and now we can also introduce a dedicated plus-size magazine. And as if marshmallows weren’t enough, they’re apparently also pushing for a new, and rather creative, label.
Annual Cat Day may be over, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop celebrating all things feline, does it? That’s right, as fond as we are of cats, we don’t really need a reason to express our affection for our feline friends, and in that spirit, some of the lovely reporters at our sister site Pouch decided to get together and come up with a list of the best cat-themed alcoholic drinks around. Cats and alcohol, now that sounds like a dangerously attractive combination!
To get their hands on some of the fun and tasty cat-themed drinks out there, our reporters used the services of major Japanese online liquor distributor Kakuyasu. Let’s see what their top five pics were.
The Box Office Mojo website reports that Hayao Miyazaki‘s final film, The Wind Rises opened in limited release this weekend in 21 theaters with an estimated US$306,000. Those box office receipts gave the film a per-screen average of US$14,571, the second highest among all films in the United States this weekend (after Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me‘s US$15,000 average on two screens).
Dogs are some of the best pets you can have. They’ll play with you when you’re bored, they’ll snuggle with you when you’re sad, and they’ll be just plain adorable whether you want them to or not. And, if you’re really lucky, you can even get them to play dress up with you!
But just what character would you want your dog to cosplay as? There aren’t too many options, but here’s the one that should be obvious: Amaterasu’s wolf form from Ōkami!
Perhaps you remember Ladybeard from our previous post a couple of weeks ago introducing the cross-dressing bearded pro-wrestler, performer, heavy metal singer and party rocker. Well, it would seem that Ladybeard recently met up with another iconic cross-dresser in Japan, the “Sailor Suit Old Man”.
A hairy burly man and a balding old man in schoolgirl uniforms may sound like an absolute turn off, but they looked so happy, we couldn’t help but think they actually look somewhat cute. Here’s the most epic schoolgirl combi in history!
Last month we laughed along with the Swedish animators Olivia Bergstrom and Eric Bradford as we watched the first scenes of their anime-inspired creation Senpai Club. Now the pair, collectively known as makebabi.es, is back for another round of parody featuring dangerously pointy anime chins, ostensibly handsome upperclassmen, and just maybe even more stealthy bilingual gags with Senpai Club Episode 1 Part 2.
Japanese publisher Kodansha reported its financial results for the 2013 fiscal year (December 2012 to November 2013) on Thursday. The company garnered 120.272 billion yen (about US$1.173-billion) in revenue, a 2.0% increase from the previous fiscal year. The publisher’s profits increased by 107.3% to 3.214 billion yen (US$31.346 million). This is Kodansha’s first revenue increase in 18 years and its first increase in both revenue and profit in 19 years.
Back when I was applying for my first Japanese work visa, there was a thick stack of paperwork I had to submit. Most of the items made sense, but one that struck me as weird, though, was my college diploma. I knew that Japanese law required a college education for the visa I was applying for, but wouldn’t sealed, authenticated transcripts make more sense than a personal diploma, which could be easily forged for 20 bucks at any print shop, or even with a high quality home-use printer?
Nope, I was informed, it had to be the diploma. That’s the paperwork they give you when you graduate, right? After all, from the standpoint of honest and by-the-book Japanese society, who would be so dishonest as to provide false educational credentials?
How about a man in Osaka, who taught junior high school for 15 years without ever obtaining his teaching credential.
Ah, the joys of international travel. You shell out the majority of your paycheck for a ticket and spend sleepless nights counting down the days to your adventure of a lifetime. Then the day of departure finally comes and you board the plane, arriving hours later at your destination and trembling with anticipation. Camera in hand, you journey to the first famous place on your list that you’ve been dreaming about for weeks on end. Finally there, you take a quick look around, eyes widening in surprise, and blurt out, “…that’s it?!”
While Tokyo’s recent blizzard showed us the lighter side of natural disasters with amusing snow sculptures and insane images of overly panicked urbanites, these kind of storms have the potential to be very deadly and serious if you are caught outside. Last March, a violent storm hit the northeast part of Hokkaido and took the lives of nine people.
One of the most tragic stories to come out of this storm was a young girl who lost her father after he used his own body to protect her from the freezing temperatures and strong winds. On the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, the girl asked one of Japan’s biggest newspapers, the Yomiuri Shimbun, to publish a heart-breaking letter thanking the country for the huge outpouring of support over the past year.
As fans the world over continue to wait for the upcoming newest installment of the Sailor Moon franchise, merchandising giant Bandai has been releasing a steady stream of goodies from the hit anime. Recently, we’ve seen compact mirrors and even lingerie inspired by the twin-tailed magical girl and her cohorts, and now comes a line of Sailor Moon pens.
The cutesy home-made lunches that lucky Japanese children take to school are famous worldwide. For the time-pushed or culinarily challenged among us, though, store-bought bento (boxed lunches) can offer great value for money. Convenience store bento, which are hugely popular all over Japan, contain all kinds of delicious goodies like fish, meat, stewed vegetables and pickles, along with rice. When one bento-loving Japanese university student threw caution to the wind and sunk her entire lunch into her miso soup, she discovered that the resulting soupy concoction was even more tasty than she could have imagined! Thus, convenience store bento soup was born!
Here at RocketNews24 we love to try out rice-augmenting recipes and other wacky food combinations, so when a writer from our Japanese sister site heard about this amazing invention, made by heating the entire contents of a convenience store lunchbox in a pot of miso soup, she just had to give it a try! Let’s see how she got on.
Tales have oft been told of the mythical items to be found when journeying through the maze of shopping aisles in Japan’s online realm. From unusual manga characters to riot shields, it seems anything might be possible once you’ve entered through the magical portal known as Amazon Japan. Now it seems that visitors who stop by to make purchases are just as interesting as some of the items on offer, as self-proclaimed heroes and brave warriors from across the nation are buying swords from the marketplace and providing feedback on the efficacy of their items. Latest reviews are aimed at an innocent-looking plastic sword, which is said to be under-performing when it comes to vitality levels and magic ability.
With just over 1,000 stores covering practically every prefecture, Starbucks is a coffee powerhouse in Japan. Since opening its first store in Tokyo in 1996, the company has managed to adapt its business model to suit Japanese tastes with seasonal flavors, expanded (alcoholic) menu options and utilizing Japan’s unique architecture. Last week, Starbucks went one step further in its Japanese expansion plan by announcing that it would promote 800 temp workers to full-time positions, which netizens applauded as a move to create pressure on the Japanese market to provide better benefits to workers.
While the silly news last year about a Chinese zoo trying to pass a dog for a lion made headlines around the world, the story this time is a lot more disturbing. A zoo in Xiamen (also known as Amoy) on the southeast coast of China reported earlier this week that one of its male fallow deer had suddenly died. As if its death wasn’t already tragic enough, upon conducting an autopsy, workers were surprised to discover the unexpected cause of death, something that could easily have been prevented. Keep reading to learn the unfortunate details.
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Cheeseburger rice bowls arrive at Japanese beef bowl chain Matsuya, and in our stomach【Taste test】
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Flying dango: Unique tourist site where Japanese sweets are flown to you over a gorge
Tokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
American jackass tourist arrested after carving name into gate at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine【Video】
Domino’s Japan has all-you-can-eat pizza isn’t an Internet rumor, but it is hard to find
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippersGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve tooJapanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
New Ghibli papercraft kit gives you a little Princess Mononoke forest on your desk【Photos】
Tokyo restaurant isn’t kidding about the name of its overflowing rare wagyu-ju【Photos】
Beautiful Japanese garden green tea crepes waiting in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle themeTokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a rowGhibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
What’s the deal with akebi, the perfectly purple, alien-like fruit that’s in season now in Japan?Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippersGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve tooJapanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Tokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
American jackass tourist arrested after carving name into gate at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine【Video】
Domino’s Japan has all-you-can-eat pizza isn’t an Internet rumor, but it is hard to find
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
The Straw Hat Students are back with a new One Piece Japanese high school anime short【Video】
Japan’s lap-pillow ear-cleaning salons aren’t just for pervy guys, we find out
Japanese Twitter user shares a genius-level tip for drawing manga characters in skirts【Pics】
Hooters closing original location in Japan as large-chested chain’s downsizing continues
Made In Japan Fender Limited Edition Hello Kitty Stratocaster now on sale in Japan
New Ghibli papercraft kit gives you a little Princess Mononoke forest on your desk【Photos】
Is Kyoto’s raindrop cake as good as the original from Yamanashi?
Beautiful Japanese garden green tea crepes waiting in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】