Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Andrew, who is from London, England, first came to Japan in late 2006 where he worked as an English teacher in the Tochigi prefecture. After becoming a little more accustomed to the culture and the language, he moved to Tokyo in 2009 where he has been residing since. He has a passion for the Japanese language and has even created himself an “unofficial” Japanese name(安努龍). In addition, Andrew has an interest in a wide genre of news and as a freelance translator is keen to relay the subtle differences between cultures to readers around the world.
Posted by Andrew Miller (Page 2)
Samsung is known the world over for its stylish, high-quality products, but we doubt that anyone could have predicted the latest creation from Korea’s premier electronics maker. Let us introduce you to a brand new range of eco-friendly printers that are all inspired by none other than the art of origami.
Korean electronics giant LG has had to cut its G2 smartphone publicity event short after many members of the public were injured. The company hosted a giveaway of coupons that could be exchanged for free LG G2 smartphones and was expected to be held at other arenas across Korea. However, LG didn’t anticipate just how much of a reaction the free phone campaign would create as a man, intent on getting his own free phone, discharged a firearm into the crowd.
It is a problem that faces most of us at some point or another. Whether it be a get together at a friend’s house or a social gathering where you take off your shoes, having someone point out to you that there’s a gaping hole in one of your socks can be a little embarrassing. While for many in the West it isn’t that often you have to remove your shoes in public, in Japan many restaurants require you to get down to your socks before entering the premises. Therefore, it is much more difficult to disguise the problem if you’re living in the land of the rising sun. Well that was up until now: some clever fellas at a Japanese company named “Naigai” have come up with an ingenious invention for men that could put an end to the problem for good.
A research group from Osaka University has confirmed that acts of kindness really are recognized and rewarded by those around you. Assistant lecturer Onishi Kenji, who is a specialist in the field of Developmental Psychology, led the research at the university which monitored the responses of infants to acts of kindness. The same research group announced its results in America’s online scientific journal “PLOS ONE”, dated August 7.
Nagoya District Court ruled on August 9 that the family of a man with dementia who entered a railway line and consequently died after being hit by a train must pay compensation to the Japan Railway (JR) Group. The court concluded that the measures the family put in place to prevent the 91-year-old from wandering off by himself were insufficient.
MOS Burger, the Japanese fast food chain famous for being a fresher, slightly healthier alternative to other hamburger joints, has recently announced that it will release a new hamburger sandwich to go alongside its existing range of plain and cheese “Tobikiri” hamburgers. The exciting twist? This one’s loaded with French demi-glace sauce and aligot, a sumptuous mix of potato and cheese that’s sure to send you to premium burger heaven.
It’s come to that time of the year again when many of us will be thinking about getting in shape (or wishing we already had!) as our garments become skimpier and the amount of flesh on show sees an increase. For some, this means planning well ahead of the summer season and going through heavy exercise or muscle training sessions at the gym. However, I’m sure that if you came across the 80-year-old Japanese man in the photo above, you’d find it hard to believe that he was a professional bodybuilder. Perhaps the most natural response would be, “An old man keeping himself active.” But wait until you see the body that he’s hiding under that tracksuit.
It’s not unusual for consumer products to suddenly explode in popularity after being introduced on a particular TV show, but when Japan’s Asahi TV introduced mackerel as a food that can be beneficial in weight loss during its home medicine program “Takeshi no Kenkou Entertainment! Minna no Kenkou Igaku” few coould have expected the overwhelming outcome.
The importance of the hand luggage inspection area at airports simply cannot be underestimated. Sure, they’re time consuming and can be an irritating experience for frequent fliers, but without them it would be impossible to ensure the safety of passengers on board aircraft. However, despite procedures becoming ever more stringent in recent years, it hasn’t stopped some passengers looking for ways to slip prohibited items past security. At one Chinese airport, for example, one man recently tried a quite bizarre tactic to smuggle his pet turtle onto the plane: pretending it was a hamburger.
I’m sure I’m not alone in loving my smartphone but always wishing the battery would last a little longer. For many of us, not knowing whether our mobile phone’s battery will make it through the day can be a real problem. While mobile technology has improved in leaps and bounds in recent years, improvements in the batteries that power them have been rather more sluggish.
Thankfully, all this could be about to change. Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd recently announced that it has developed a new material for use in lithium-ion batteries that boasts capacities roughly 10 times the current standard, and is about to shake up the entire industry.
After the explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant back in 2011, the subject of nuclear power has become a very delicate and complicated issue for the Japanese. While there is an element of danger associated with the creation of nuclear energy, many towns have also benefited from the large sums of compensation, known as “nuclear money”, that have gone into creating jobs and strengthening the prosperity of areas that have agreed to home such power plants.
Despite pressure from surrounding groups and the mainland, a small island off the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture has for years refused to have anything to do with nuclear money, and has firmly opposed plans to build nuclear power stations in the area. But all that may be about to change.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that smartphones and mobile technology in general have changed our lives in ways that we might never have imagined even 10 years ago. Communication between people on either side of the globe has become almost instant, with a wealth of information quite literally at our fingertips, and we now have more processing power in our back pockets than the PCs that took up most of our desks in the late 90s.
But is it possible that we are becoming a little too obsessed with making our data-loving life as streamlined as possible? What we’re talking about here are the mobile versions of websites that users are often redirected to when trying to visit a website on their smartphones. Often, these smartphone-friendly sites help us navigate more easily and avoid having to pinch to zoom or pan around the screen to read their contents. But due to their simplicity, many mobile versions lack many of the features of their PC-version brethren and we spend time trying to find what we really want.
A survey conducted by Kenrei Takuchi, CEO and Management Consultant for Iroha Ltd, suggests that a significant number of smartphone users in Japan have a fond dislike of the mobile versions of popular websites and wish they’d disappear back up into the sky where they came from.
Members of the Korean media have come under fire this week after they filmed a man who warned via his Twitter account that he would jump from Mapo Bridge-a known suicide spot-and made good on his promise.
There staff on the scene made no effort to intervene and have been arrested as accomplices to the man’s suicide.
Sony and Panasonic announced on July 29 that they are developing a new generation of optical disc that will boast capacities of 300GB or more. The joint business venture is a move by the two companies to strengthen their presence in the digital archiving industry. It would initially be targeted at the business industry but it’s possible that in the future, it could take off in the consumer market the same way that Blu-ray did in years previous.
Something attracting quite a bit of attention on the net at the moment is an incident involving a 25-year-old homeless man in Japan who put himself up for sale as an “item” on the Yahoo! Auctions website. Anyone winning the bid would in theory have been able bring the man into their home and provide him with accommodation.
Live on air, even with the best scripting and a highly skilled team behind you, anything can happen. Minor mishaps during live broadcasts rarely cause too much trouble, and most viewers are generally quite understanding when they do, but there are some combinations–such as, oh, a serious news bulletin and a doodle of a giant schlong– that tend to raise a few eyebrows.
As many of you may have seen, footage appeared online last week showing newscaster Siobhan Riley using a touchscreen to draw on a map of the local area during a live news bulletin, accidentally creating what some people think looks like a giant penis in the process. Unfortunately for Ms. Riley the news even made it out to Japan where netizens positively lapped it up.
With rapid developments in medicine and an overall increase in awareness when it comes to our general health, in many parts of the world people are living to an age like never before. Although many of us pay careful attention to the advice given to us by medical professionals, health and fitness magazines, and the media in general, curiously some of the healthiest and oldest people in the world rarely visit their doctor, nor do they have access to the information that we in the developed world do. Is it possible that the secret to longevity lies elsewhere?
A village in Bama Yao Autonomous County, China, is one of five locations across the globe where people are known to live far beyond the global average, with few suffering from health problems during their lifetime. Many of the inhabitants of this village live to be more than 100 years old, and despite the villagers’ environment being a tropical region where ultraviolet rays are strong, women of the area have a pale complexion and are strikingly attractive.
Up until now, if you were asked to think of the most efficient hybrid car on the market, surely what would have been at the top of your list is the Toyota Aqua. After all, it boasts a 35.4 km/L (83.2 miles per gallon) spec. that really cannot be ignored. However, the latest offering in hybrid vehicles from Honda, named the Fit Hybrid, goes one step beyond in redefining the notion of fuel efficiency. Boasting energy efficiency levels of 36.4 km/L (85.6 mpg), it steals the lead from the Toyota Aqua. Honda’s Fit Hybrid is expected to be introduced and go on sale in September 2013 in Japan and in terms of hybrid cars, if you exclude the Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV), is set to become the most fuel efficient car in Japan. We’re sure many hybrid car enthusiasts can’t wait to hear more, so check out the juicy details right after the jump.
If you were asked to think of the most loved fast food restaurant in the world, surely it would have to be the big M. After all, it is a place that, regardless of age and status, anyone can relax in the laid back atmosphere and indulge themselves in guilty fast-food pleasures.
In the Philippines there is one style of McDonald’s that arguably defies all traditional views of what a Mickey D’s represents. Its unique point lies in the fact that it is just like a food stall you’re likely to come across walking down your local street, and you won’t find a single hamburger or carton of fries on the menu.
A 50-year-old man who refused medical treatment after being knocked down by a car in the town of Tosu, Saga prefecture, was found dead in his apartment a month after the accident occurred, a local newspaper reports.
Why the man refused treatment is unclear, but after a routine postmortem investigation both town and prefectural police came to the conclusion that the man’s death was brought about by injuries received at the time of the road accident a month previous. Despite having immediately called for the medical assistance that the victim flat-out refused, the driver has been reportedly been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Starbucks Japan unveils second Holiday Frappuccino for 2024
Yakuza vending machines coming to real-world Tokyo neighborhood that inspired Like a Dragon games
Taking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first time
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
Japan’s caramel gacha machines offer sweet thrills, but do they deliver?
The Pokémon Mister Donut lucky bag is even better than we’d hoped!【Photos】
Starbucks adds gingerbread cookies to its holiday lineup in Japan
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation 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】Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
Tokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Samurai ritual suicide contest cancelled by organizer in west Japan
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Flying dango: Unique tourist site where Japanese sweets are flown to you over a gorge
American jackass tourist arrested after carving name into gate at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine【Video】
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a rowGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quitAfter cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
What’s the deal with akebi, the perfectly purple, alien-like fruit that’s in season now in Japan?
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
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
Japan’s caramel gacha machines offer sweet thrills, but do they deliver?
The Pokémon Mister Donut lucky bag is even better than we’d hoped!【Photos】
Starbucks adds gingerbread cookies to its holiday lineup in Japan
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
2024’s Pokémon Center Lucky Bag may have been the hardest to get, but also the most worthwhile
Looking for cinnamon rolls on “Japan’s closest street to America”【Taste test】
Should you warm up your convenience store onigiri rice balls in the microwave?【Taste test】
Awesome Zelda cosplayer gets help from Smash Bros. creator Sakurai to solve costume problem【Vid】
How Many Calories are Burned with the Click of a Mouse?
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Animated video looks at 40 years of women’s fashions in Japan as Tokyo landmark gets set to close
Japan’s biggest manga magazine is raising its minimum payment rate for creators
The 5 best Japanese bento to buy at Kyoto Station