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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 459)

Japan’s barley soda is so weird in so many ways, yet so right in one 【Taste test】

So this morning, my boss asked me if I wanted to do a taste test of a new drink that just went on sale in Japan. I figured this was a pretty sweet assignment to snag for the day, and not just because at that same moment my boss was having some of the other RocketNews24 writers strip down to their underwear and pose for pictures as part of another project, which I would then have an excuse to sidestep.

See, the taste test was of a new carbonated barley-based beverage, and since beer is one of the wells I go to as a writer, I assumed my boss was talking about the world’s most popular alcoholic beverage. But nope, it turns out that there’s now barley soda in Japan, so I was off to the store to try some of this drink that’s devoid of alcohol but surprisingly full of mystery.

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As information technology continues to evolve, telecommuting is becoming increasingly feasible and popular in Japan. Still, sometimes mobile workers find themselves in need of more business-oriented facilities than their home office has, and make use of shared workspaces like the ones we previously looked at.

But while all of those communal offices have amenities such as Wi-Fi, power outlets, and meeting areas, only this one has a resident cat that you can play with when you need a stress-relieving break from work.

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Watermelon mousse cake sounds too good to be true, but it’s real and in our office 【Taste-test】

When we heard about a special dessert called the suika baumkuchen being offered through online retailer Rakuten, we were pretty psyched, since it combines two of the greatest things on the planet: watermelon and cake. As a matter of fact, we were so excited that at first we thought it was only going to be available for one hour on August 1.

But as we spent hours drooling over the watermelon cake’s webpage, which had us so captivated we barely had time to use the Internet to look at pictures of cats and swimsuit models, we noticed something: the suika baumkuchen is actually available right now! We put in our order right away, and now we’re here to bring you our report on this incredible culinary crossover.

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Taking the train is by far the most common way to get around urban and suburban Japan. By its very nature, though, using public transportation means being out in public, which in Japan means following social norms about proper manners and not bothering your fellow passengers.

The average Tokyo commuter spends an hour each way on the train, though. It can be hard to follow all of the implicit rules of train etiquette during such a lengthy ride, and here are 10 minor breaches of etiquette that some Japanese men are willing to turn a blind eye to.

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As the last feature-length anime from Hayao Miyazaki, we’re sure The Wind Rises is going to be watched over and over by anime enthusiasts hoping to squeeze one last drop of mana from the celebrated director’s final film. But even if those repeated viewings won’t wear out your The Wind Rises Blu-ray like a fifth-generation Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind VHS fansub, you can only watch it so many times before diminishing returns start to set in.

But soon enough, there’ll be another piece of Miyazaki’s legacy for fans to pore over, as the manga version of The Wind Rises, drawn by the legend himself, is finally being published in a collected volume.

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To beard, or not to beard, that is the question. Here are Japanese women’s answers

Live overseas for long enough, and you’ll start to experience reverse culture shock on your visits home. On my last trip back to L.A., I was surprised to see how popular beards have gotten in the States, and judging from the foreign travelers I see here in Japan, they’re just as trendy throughout western Europe.

As someone whose Arabic ancestry means every day is a battle against a phalanx of facial hair, I have to say I can see an upside to this new golden era for beards. But, as with any decision a man makes, it’s important to first ask yourself that critical question, “Will this make women think I look cool?” To help answer that question, today we’re looking at the results of a survey asking Japanese women whether or not they like a guy with a beard.

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As we’ve talked about before, sometimes there’s some pretty silly stuff that goes into the making of an eminently cool cosplay photo. Often there’s something strange going on just out of frame, such as the heroine slouching like crazy to make the hero look taller or an assistant holding up a handful of a model’s hair to make it appear like it’s blowing in the wind.

The models above, however, are completely legit, looking every bit their parts as lovely young ladies relaxing by the pool. But this time the behind-the-scenes comedy is actually in the back of the scenes. Can you guess the funny truth behind those dramatic sprays of water?

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Our Japanese coworkers remind us that today is No Bra Day with words and photos

After a couple years of living in Japan, I got into the habit of sending out emails to fellow expats and other internationally minded friends on American holidays that aren’t really a big deal here. Nothing fancy, just a quick “Happy Thanksgiving!” or “Have a fun 4th of July!” It’s always nice to have a reason to celebrate, and I know from experience that without a reminder, some of these lower-profile holidays can get lost in the shuffle of our busy daily lives.

Meg, one of my Japanese-language coworkers, seems to have a similar mentality, since she sent out a message to remind us all that today, July 9, is No Bra Day. And just to make doubly sure she had our attention, she sent photos, too.

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Old West meets Far East with the denim kimono and samue

It’s hard to find a more Japanese piece of clothing than the yukata, the lightweight kimono worn in the summer. Over on the other side of the Pacific, there are few more iconic symbols of American fashion than blue jeans. So what happens when you put the two together?

You get the denim yukata.

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Sushi-flavored potato chips?!? Could our world really be so beautiful? 【Taste test】

At the start of my workday, my boss asked me if I’d be interested in trying some potato chips that taste like o-toro, the extra fatty tuna that’s a highly prized sushi ingredient. Looking at the clock, I calculated that it had been about 14 hours since I’d had sushi for dinner, and since that’s honestly about two hours longer than I like to go without eating some of Japan’s most famous culinary creation, I solemnly accepted the mission.

But while I’d already experienced potato chips inspired by fine American cuisine, I’d never had sashimi-flavored ones, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, even before I discovered the other big surprise waiting for me.

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While cats are definitely cute, I’m not sure I really buy into the whole idea that they’re still skilled predators. Sure, house cats are much more likely to bag game than many other popular pets, such as hamsters or goldfish, but I think centuries of domestication have bred out a lot of the instincts that came from their shared ancestry with lions and tigers.

As proof, I offer this video of a cat in Japan, in which the “hunter” becomes the hunted and meets its match when, defying all logic, a cucumber sneaks up on it.

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Full orchestra to perform music from Attack on Titan, Madoka Magica, Evangelion at Tokyo concert

The music plays a huge role in setting the mood of some of anime’s most memorable hits, but it can be kind of hard to notice behind all of the dialogue and sound effects. Grabbing the series’ soundtrack and popping in your earphones is a good way to appreciate the compositions, but an even better way is to hear them performed live by a full orchestra, which is just what fans of Evangelion, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Attack on Titan, Berserk, and more will be able to do at a special concert taking place in Tokyo this month.

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A while back, we took a look at the top 20 anime that fans want to be watching as they leave the mortal realm. But what if it’s not enough to spend the last moment of your life watching your favorite series?

Then maybe what you need is a way to express your love of Japanese animation from beyond the grave…and through the grave, for that matter, with an anime tombstone like the one this craftsman made.

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Who needs fast food? Tokyo tempura totaling less than 10 bucks

Here at RocketNews24, two of the things we love most are delicious foods in our bellies and cash in our wallets. Unfortunately, those two things don’t always go hand-in-hand, especially in the Michelin star-studded culinary landscape of Tokyo.

But in a city as big as Tokyo, you can find just about anything with a little searching. Even if you’re totally bereft of folding money, you can still get a great meal in Japan’s capital, and you don’t have to settle for eating at a fast food chain either. On the menu today: a nine-piece tempura meal in the heart of Tokyo for less than 1,000 yen (US$8).

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The brand-new Death Note TV drama just made its debut, and it left us feeling a little lukewarm, what with its rushed pacing and less-than-compelling changes from the manga and anime source material. Still, we probably shouldn’t be too harsh in our criticisms. After all, at just one episode in, there’s still plenty of time for the newest live-action adaptation to turn it around and deliver a portion of the thrills the original Death Note did.

Plus, we’d like to stay on the good side of the series’ death gods, since this creepy photo has us worried that maybe they can manifest in real life, and might even be watching us right now.

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One day in college, my business operations management professor was talking about Japanese automaker Toyota, and about the huge impact of its production processes and corporate culture on the business world. “Toyota owes much of its success to its kaizen system,” he told us, and while I largely agreed with what he was saying, I didn’t really agree with how he was saying it.

See, while Toyota’s ideal of continually looking for better, more efficient ways of handling tasks is nifty and all, there’s nothing particularly special about the word kaizen, which just means “improvement.” Even as someone who’s spent most of his life looking for excuses to speak Japanese, insisting on using the word kaizen, when otherwise speaking English, has always seemed a little odd to me.

Oddly enough, though, right now there’s probably a Toyota employee sitting at his desk and scratching his head over one of his Japanese coworker’s penchant for using foreign loanwords, many of which might be on this list of the top 10 commonly used English business terms that Japanese businessmen wish their colleagues would use Japanese for.

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By many criteria, Japan’s trains are just about perfect. They’re clean, safe, reasonably priced, and almost always on time down to the exact minute.

It’s hard to find a better way to get from Point A to Point B, as long as you’ve got a book to read, music to listen to, or smartphone to play with. Actually, you might not even need something to pass the time with, since some train operators recently made their service not only punctual and reliable, but exciting, too, as they turned their trains into a wrestling ring and full-on dance club.

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The Death Note franchise is proving to be ironically long-lived. Starting off as a manga in 2003, the saga of Light Yagami and his supernatural notebook that allows him to kill whoever he wants just be writing down his or her name has been adapted into an anime series and trilogy of live-action films, and there’s even a Death Note musical in the works.

This last Sunday saw the debut of a brand-new Death Note Japanese TV drama, and you can read our personal impressions of the show right here. In the meantime, it looks like the general viewing public was really excited by the premiere episode, but not because of its casting or changes to the original story, but because of a set-decorating coincidence.

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Burger King Japan unleashes red burgers and Angry Sauce on my stomach 【Taste test】

When Burger King Japan first brought out its black burgers, more than a few people were shocked, and even a little intimidated, by their sinister appearance. After diners got over their fear and tried them, though, they discovered they were pretty tasty, and they’ve now become a welcomed, sporadically appearing item on the chain’s menu.

Seeing how well that gamble played out, Burger King has decided to spin the roulette wheel once again, but this time they’re betting on red with two new sandwiches with crimson buns and cheese. So how do they taste? We decided to grab the pair and try them for ourselves.

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Japan Railways recently revealed ramen-style rice balls in its convenience stores

Walk into any Japanese convenience store or supermarket, and you’ll find a row of rice balls waiting. You can always count on the old standards, such as salmon, pickled plum, and spicy cod roe being represented, but each store also sets aside a bit of shelf space for unique, limited-time versions as well.

In the past, this form of carbohydrate-packed one-upmanship has given us such wonders as the bacon cheeseburger musubi and headscratchers as the fish butt onigiri (musubi being one of the Japanese words for “rice ball,” and onigiri the other). It’s always a flip of the culinary coin whether these outside-the-box rice balls are going to be a hit or a miss, but when we heard about ramen-style onigiri, we were immediately onboard.

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