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Casey Baseel

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Casey Baseel spent his formative years staring in frustration at un-subtitled Japanese TV programming shown on Southern California’s international channel. Taking matters into his own hands, he moved to Tokyo to study the language, then found work in Yokohama a decade ago teaching, translating, and marketing hotels he can’t afford to stay in. When not participating in the eternal cycle of exercising to burn the calories form his love of Japanese food, Casey scours used comic and game shops for forgotten classics, drags his wife around the country in a quest to visit all its castles, sings karaoke not nearly as well as he thinks he does, and counts the days until the summertime bars open on Enoshima Beach.

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Posted by Casey Baseel (Page 456)

When Final Fantasy VII hit the PlayStation in 1997, it was one of the most graphically advanced games ever produced. For months leading up to the title’s release, gamers had been drooling over magazine previews plastered with work-in-progress screenshots of what developer Square was doing with its first foray into the bold new world of CD-based games and polygonal graphics.

Flash forward 18 years, and technology has progressed to the point that Final Fantasy VII looks pretty retro to most modern eyes. As a matter of fact, it’s so retro that not only is Square Enix is remaking it for the PlayStation 4, mobile phones now have enough power to run the original, which is why Final Fantasy VII has just been released in iOS form.

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Tokyo restaurant’s crazy huge rice omelet has 600 grams (1.3 pounds) of rice

It’s not uncommon to describe a meaty dish by listing how much beef it contains. McDonald’s has had plenty of success with the Quarter Pounder, and some American restaurants will tout their steaks as being 10 ounces or more.

But have you ever stopped to think about how much rice is on your plate? We recently sent one of our reporters to a restaurant in Tokyo to take on a rice omelet, one of Japan’s favorite comfort foods, made with a staggering 600 grams (1.3 pounds) of rice.

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Any good athlete obviously needs some measure of speed, strength, and stamina, but the list of necessities starts getting much longer if we’re talking about good student athletes. Youth sports are supposed to be as much about developing character as physical skills, so any proper high school athletic program should want its players to be just as dedicated to sportsmanship and integrity as they are to on-the-field performance.

That’s why we think Fukuoka Prefecture’s Kyushu International University Senior High School (called Kyukoku for short) is doing a fine job with its baseball team, since after a heartbreaking loss on the road, players from Kyukoku immediately started cleaning the stadium.

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They’re back! Pikachus overrun Yokohama for second straight year and dance up a storm! 【Videos】

Although I’ve never witnessed either in-person, I’m sure that the running of the bulls in Spain’s Pamplona and the return of the swallows each spring to their nesting grounds in Southern California are wonderful sights to see. And yet, I think I’m still happiest with what we get here in Yokohama: an annual visit from packs of Pikachus!

Just like they did last year, the loveable Pokémon once again overran the Minato Mirai harbor district for a week this August, But just like Nintendo’s Pocket Monsters routinely acquire enhanced abilities with each new video game or anime installment, in the time since their last appearance in Yokohama our adorable visitors had learned some new moves…dance moves!

Read on for all of our videos and photos of Pikachus grooving and swaying to hip-hop, hula, and more, with costumes to match!

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“Gotta catch ‘em all!” isn’t just the advertising copy for Pokémon, it’s also the personal motto of the legions of hardcore fans of the series’ video game installments. But how does one find the time to track down, battle, and capture hundreds of Pocket Monsters, especially when you’ve only got so long until Nintendo releases a sequel that renders all of your old Pokémon obsolete?

Easy: you multitask by playing four copies of the game simultaneously, as this video shows.

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Tokyo’s Shibuya is one of the busiest parts of one of the world’s busiest cities. Ginza is filled with high-class cafes, Harajuku is bordered by the tranquil Meiji Shrine, and Shinjuku’s Shinjuku Gyoen is a sprawling green space in the center of the city, but Shibuya is all glitzy entertainment, fashionable boutiques, and trendy restaurants.

But even in Shibuya, every now and then something happens that makes people stop in their tracks and take a moment to smile, like the sight of this adorable kitty taking a nap under the statue of Japan’s most famous pooch.

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For any guy with a romantic streak, the highlight of summer is no doubt a weekend getaway with the girl he loves. What could be better than a little sightseeing, a stroll on the beach, and a night spent together in a hotel?

But what if the girl you love happens to be a video game character? No problem! All you need is a life-size costume of your digital sweetheart and you’re all set, as this dedicated fan shows with his series of vacation photos starring one of the characters from dating simulator LovePlus.

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How to tie a women’s summer kimono sash 【Video】

It might seem a little odd to hear that yukata, the lightweight kimono worn at summertime festivals, fireworks shows, and bon dances, are in the middle of a revival in popularity in Japan right now, but it’s absolutely true. After several years in which young Japanese found yukata to be too expensive and troublesome to bother with, they’re back in fashion with teens and young adults in a huge way.

Part of this is no doubt due to more and more manufacturers offering reasonably priced yukata, as you can now often find sets that include the robe and sash for around 6,000 yen (US$48). And as for not knowing how to put everything on and tie it properly? That’s also a problem of the past, thanks to online explanations like this pair of videos from fashion and yukata retailer Uniqlo.

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We try Cup Noodle Ice Cream, filled with shrimp, meat, eggs, chives, and madness 【Taste test】

A few days ago, we heard that Nissin, maker of Cup Noodle, was now selling ice cream topped with meat, chives, and all the other fixings that are found in instant ramen at the Cup Noodles Museum. One of my coworkers, who lives not far from the Osaka Cup Noodles Museum, bravely volunteered to try it out, and I was all set to let him be our guinea pig, since I’ve already taken one for the RocketNews24 team as far as strange desserts go.

But as it turns out, the Cup Noodle Ice Cream is available exclusively at the second Cup Noodle Museum in Yokohama. Hey, wait a second! That’s where I live!

Uh oh…

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Just how big is Comiket, the dojinshi (independently produced comics) event held twice a year in Tokyo? Over the three days of the event, some 35,000 creative groups and roughly 600,000 fans are expected to attend. In terms of size, Comiket isn’t so much an anime convention as it is a temporary city that roles through the Big Sight conference center.

Comiket is such a large-scale gathering that it changes the whole atmosphere of the neighborhood on the weekend it’s held, and with this summer’s iteration right around the corner, the local train station and convenience store are looking a lot more otaku-centric, as these photos show.

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Determining Japan’s most popular anime or manga franchise isn’t such a cut-and-dry thing, as different criteria suggest giving the crown to different series. For example, if you’re going by longevity, pirate saga One Piece has to be in the discussion, since its manga started in 1997 and its anime in 1999, with both still going strong.

However, you could also make a case that teen idol singer story Love Live! is a contender for the title, since currently no other show’s fanbase can hold a candle to the burning passion of the Love Livers, as Love Live! fans are called.

But while the main characters of both One Piece and Love Live! and friendly, forgiving, and work well in a team, the Love Livers are feeling quite a bit more animosity towards One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda for a remark he made that many interpreted as the famous manga artist throwing shade on the way Love Live! has become a pop cultural phenomenon.

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If you’re putting together a profile for a video game or anime character, the inclusion of certain bits of information are optional, such as favorite food, hobby, or breast weight. But just about every fictional character coming from Japan has an official birthday. As a matter of fact, it’s become such a standard bit of background information for anime and video game characters that you can search online and find dozens to sing happy birthday to on any given day.

This week, though, was the birthday of an especially popular figure: Cloud Strife. Not only did the hero of Final Fantasy VII hero receive plenty of warm wishes from fans, he also got an illustrated birthday card from his designer himself, Tetsuya Nomura.

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Japanese culture has more or less made peace with the fact that the things we eat used to be alive. Part of the reason people in Japan say itadakimasu, literally “I will receive,” at the start of a meal is to verbalize their gratitude for receiving the life of the ingredients that make up the dishes. Sashimi that’s served still moving is considered a delicacy, because what’s fresher than seafood that’s arguable not even entirely dead?

Still, even Japan generally has limits of how much it wants to imagine the former life of the tasty morsels it’s dining on, which is why one startling fried chicken advertisement is drawing a mixture of gasps and chuckles.

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Remember that manga we talked about a while back which was a thinly veiled erotic retelling of beloved children’s story Doraemon? Or, perhaps more specifically, have you been unable to completely repress the memory and knowledge that it exists?

Nozoemon, which prominently featured an android of the same name that looked like an elementary school girl and whose moniker and design were clearly inspired by robot cat, was sure to be a decisive work. But while controversy can help generate attention and sales, it’s generally a good idea to keep the publisher on your side. Nozoemon, though, wasn’t able to do that, and it looks like the “Slightly Fakkin’” (the manga’s words, not ours) tale has come to an abrupt end.

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This is what ramen with 100 slices of chashu roast pork looks like

Earlier this month, we decided to find out just how many hard-boiled eggs you can fit into a bowl of ramen/human stomach, and found out that 10 was a doable and delicious number. But while an egg is a nice accent to a bowl of Japan’s favorite kind of noodles, the king of ramen toppings is chashu, the slice of roast pork that adds some heft and protein to the meal.

Most ramen in Japan comes with a solitary slice of chashu, but some places allow you to pile on more pork. Since we’d already gone with ten times the normal amount of toppings with eggs, we decided to raise the scale to the second power and chow down on a bowl of ramen with 100 slices of chashu.

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Two families brawl in a Kobe home center over diapers, likely rivals in resales to China

After a long, tiring week at work, most people don’t feel like jumping out of bed to be somewhere by 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The prospect usually doesn’t get any sweeter if the reason for dragging themselves out from under the sheets is as mundane as going shopping for diapers with their spouse and mother-in-law.

Nonetheless, that what not one, but two families living in Hyogo Prefecture did last weekend. Still, the trip wasn’t as dull as it could have been. As a matter of fact, if anything there was too much excitement, as the two families ended up getting into a seven-person brawl, since they appear to be rival factions competing for riches in the wild speculative trade sector of reselling Japanese diapers in China.

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Growing up, I spent many a weekend fighting traffic to drive into downtown L.A. or Orange County to check out the manga, magazines, and other publications imported from Japan at one of the area’s handful of Kinokuniya bookstore branches. But Southern California isn’t the only place where you’ll find fans of Japanese pop culture looking for a fix. Over the last few decades, anime and manga fandom has spread around the globe, and travelers to the Middle East are sometimes surprised to find that there’s a gigantic Kinokuniya branch in Dubai helping Arabic and expat otaku keep up to date on all their favorite series.

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The corporate culture at RocketNews24 is pretty casual, but before I joined the team I spent several years working in the service and hospitality sectors. As a country that takes both work and etiquette very seriously, it’s probably not a surprise that Japanese business etiquette has a detailed code of proper conduct, all in an effort to foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and smooth cooperation.

Still, even for some people born and raised in Japan, the list of dos and don’ts can feel a little too long, and those who’d rather not have to stand on ceremony compiled a list of their own of the top 10 Japanese business manners young adults could do without.

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Cardcaptor Sakura becomes Day Planner Sakura with this cool anime organizer

We recently talked about an elegant iPhone case inspired by anime/manga franchise Cardcaptor Sakura, and judging from the enthusiastic response, it seems like many of you still have a special place in your hearts for creative team Clamp’s magical girl series. We couldn’t help but notice that a few of you mentioned you don’t have an iPhone to put inside the case, though.

So if you’re iPhone-less but looking for functionality in your anime merchandise, or simply prefer to keep track of your appointments the old-fashioned way, we recommend this Cardcaptor Sakura day planner.

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As in most countries, magazines aimed at young adults in Japan spend a lot of time talking about the opposite sex. Just as publications aimed at men often wax poetic about their image of the ideal woman, so too do women’s magazines write up collections of traits of desirable guys.

But one recent list has Japanese Internet users scratching their heads over its oddly specific list that includes such minutiae as foot size and social media preference.

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