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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 463)

Century-old cosplay photo exists for a reason as bizarre as its dog vs. monkey sumo match

With the rise of otaku culture Japan is in its golden age of anime events, which means that cosplay is bigger than ever. But it turns out that even before there were Internet forums, prop suppliers, and even dedicated themed cosplay photo studio complexes, people in Japan were dressing up in fantasy costumes and posing for the camera.

As a matter of fact, this photo from more than a century ago shows that the roots of cosplay predate Japanese animation itself. But with no anime conventions or social media outlets through which to show off their outfits, why did this group bother? Suffice to say the reason for this photo shoot is about as unexpected as the costumed scene itself: a giant monkey about to sumo wrestle a biped dog.

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Panties return to Japanese vending machines, but this time as pervy coasters for plastic bottles

Japan’s used panty vending machines are sort of like the white whale in Moby-Dick, even though a completely pure-white color would be a sign of inauthenticity in their merchandise. For decades, the obsessed have been combing Japan for them, but the fact that the scandalous machines were outlawed years ago means that while you can go home from a shadey back-alley vending machine bank with ramen in your belly, you won’t have a schoolgirl’s panties in your pocket.

On rare occasions, though, you can find vending machines that sell new undies. And while they’re definitely a niche product, there’s a new player in the market that’s satisfying customers with its cute little panties, thanks to the fact that they’re extra absorbent and also coaster substitutes.

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While people all over the world love spotting a cute girl, Asia seems to get a special kick out of finding an attractive woman in unexpected places. We’ve seen the online community go gaga over pretty teachers, badminton players, and even butchers, but now we’re entering the new frontier: Beautiful evacuee from a bank taken over by an attempted arsonist.

And of course, there’s also manga fan art of the captivating temporary captive and her equally dramatic-looking coworkers.

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Every now and again, some outspoken fan of Japanese animation, distraught over what he sees as a decline in quality among the art form’s offerings, will hold up the shining example of some new title that shows promise, billing it as “the show that will save anime.” But if this tweet is to be believed, it’s too late. Anime is already dead, as proven by a mysterious, Ghibli-like carcass that washed up on the beach.

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Japanese sweets lovers soon to be in their blue heaven with beautiful aqua-color Ramune dorayaki

Earlier this week, we took a look at some very gourmet blue chocolate ice cream. But what if you like your snacks sweet, blue, and Japanese in origin? Then you, adventurous/hard-to-please eater, need to get your hands on one of these aqua-colored sweet bean dorayaki cakes, with a flavor as unique as their vibrant hue.

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How to make a mouth-watering Japanese beef bowl in just five minutes 【RocketKitchen】

The beef bowl is essentially Japan’s equivalent to the American hamburger. Offered by inexpensive restaurants across the nation, the beef bowl, or gyudon, as it’s called in Japanese, is a tasty, hot meal that’ll give you all the protein and carbs you’re craving without costing you much money or time.

But while you’re usually never far from a beef bowl joint in Japan, what if you live in a town or country that doesn’t have a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, or, most tragically of all, a mouth-watering Sukiya? No problem, because with this amazingly simple recipe, you can make your own Japanese-style beef bowl in just five minutes!

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Japan and most of the rest of the developed world don’t exactly see eye to eye on whaling. Sure, Japan has a couple of mammal-fishing buddies in Norway and Iceland, but most other nations with a comparable scientific and economic footing take a dim view of Japan’s professedly research-based whaling expeditions, especially in light of how you’re much more likely to come across a restaurant in Japan serving whale meat than a significant biological discovery about whales coming from one of the country’s scientists.

One of the most outspoken opponents has been Australia, which is particularly upset about Japanese whalers hunting the creatures in the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica, an area much closer to Australia than Japan. Now, though, some Japanese Internet commenters are launching snide jabs right back at their critics from Down Under in regards to the Australian government’s consideration of a plan to kill off a portion of its koala population.

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Two manga high school students, one boy and one girl, stand face to face in a deserted hallway. The guy pounds his fist into the wall behind the girl, executing a perfect kabe-don as he stares into her eyes with a serious look on his face and asks her an earnest, possibly life-changing question. After pausing for a second, the girl gives him her answer: yes.

Is this the birth of another girls’ manga couple? Nope, not this time, as the question the boy just asked isn’t as romantic as “Will you be my girlfriend,” but is no less important.

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Robot sumo wrestlers fire laser blasts in crazy, free-to-play horse racing browser game

Aside from having particularly large members of the animal kingdom as their stars, sumo wrestling and horse racing don’t have a whole lot in common. But the sport of kings and the sport of heavy, scantily clad men are teaming up in a cross-promotion that’s bizarre even by the standards of Japanese marketing, with Japan Sumo Derby, a free-to-play browser game filled with sumo wrestlers riding famous Japanese race horses.

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To those unfamiliar with the history of video game developer Square (now merged with former rival Enix and renamed Square Enix), the title of the prolific Final Fantasy series must seem pretty ironic. After all, the franchise’s Roman numeral-numbered sequels now go all the way up to XV, and by the time you add in the sequel’s sequels, like the recently rereleased Final Fantasy X-2, and spinoffs like Final Fantasy Tactics (which of course has a sequel of its own, too), there doesn’t seem to be anything “final” about the series at all.

Some gamers will be quick to point out, though, that had the original Final Fantasy not been a hit, Square wouldn’t have had the financial resources to keep going and would have had to shut its doors, and the title is a nod to that desperation. Others will correct them, saying that in fact the “Final” portion of the title was chosen because Hironobu Sakaguchi, the driving force behind the creation of the series and its most popular installments, was going to quit the gaming industry if the first Final Fantasy wasn’t a success.

But as Sakaguchi himself recently revealed, neither of those was really the reason Square decided to call what would go on to be its defining game series Final Fantasy.

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Step aside, Goku! Vegeta protects Earth from giant vegetables in new Dragon Ball ramen ad 【Video】

Even though spikey-haired Goku is undeniably the protagonist of classic (and soon to be new) anime Dragon Ball, we’re not sure it’s entirely accurate to call fellow Saiyajin Vegeta a “supporting character.” That’s because the widow’s peak-sporting martial artist would tell you that he’s actually the strongest fighter in the Dragon Ball universe, and his prideful insistence on doing things his way means that “supporting” others isn’t something he’s particularly amicable to doing.

Maybe that’s the reason that while Goku and the villainous Frieza are hawking cola, Vegeta is instead endorsing Cup Noodle’s new vegetable-packed variety of instant ramen, and starring in an action-packed, cabbage-crushing commercial while he’s at it.

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Imagine you’ve got a nine-year-old kid with a birthday coming up, and you ask him what he wants as a present. At first he says he wants a video game, but then, after giving it some more careful thought, he comes to the conclusion that he’s old enough to be getting serious about his studies, so he asks for a dictionary instead.

How should you react? Proud of his sense of responsibility, do you buy him the dictionary, and hurry him one step closer to the end of his carefree childhood? Or do you get him the game, despite the fact that he specifically asked for something else?

It’s a tricky problem, but one dad in Japan came up with a clever, heartwarming, and above all awesome idea.

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Fan unhappy with new Digimon tri. art starts petition for redesign before release of first movie

By giving people a voice that can reach anyone else in the world, the Internet can be a powerful tool for change. Online petitions can draw attention to, and offer solutions for, issues that negatively impact us all, such as unjust laws and inappropriate use of public funds.

And also, as one displeased Digimon fan is doing, call for changes to anime character designs we don’t like the look of.

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Considering how much easier it is to get a dogs to play Fetch than cats, you might assume that a pet pooch gives you more ample opportunities to play together than a kitty companion. However, as one Japanese Twitter user has reminded us, there’s one game, or maybe we should call it a competitive sport, that any cat would be thrilled to play with its owner.

Similar to Fetch, it requires a stick to play. Well, actually two sticks, plus just one other item.

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Some hardcore anime fans try to spend as much of their lives as possible watching Japanese animation. But what if it’s not enough to eat, sleep, and breathe anime? What if you were going to die anime, too?

That’s the question Japanese website Charapedia posed when it asked “What anime do you want to be watching during the final moment of the last day of your life?” The results are in, and here are the 20 shows respondents consider the truly ultimate anime.

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Legend of Zelda robe is perfect for relaxing after you step out of your master bath

For decades, Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series has stayed more or less faithful to its original character design for its hero, Link. In each game, the silent protagonist has long bangs, pointed ears, and green clothing.

In his very first adventure, though, Link didn’t wear any pants. Instead, he sported a thigh-length tunic-like garment. It was a bit of an odd choice, considering that his bare legs sticking out kind of made it look like a dress.

But hey, maybe the fabric used for Hyrulian underwear doesn’t breathe well, and Link needed all the cooling ventilation he could get while running through those eight dungeons. Or perhaps the reason he went pantless is because that was neither a tunic nor a dress, but a comfortable Legend of Zelda bathrobe, like this one you can now buy for yourself.

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Video of kids reacting to strangers dropping their wallets might restore your faith in humanity

For the most part, Japanese society stresses being considerate and courteous. 99 times out of 100, that makes Japan a great place to live, but in certain situations those virtues can be taken to such extremes they actually end up contrary to their original sentiments. For example, part of being courteous is not bothering others, but as I’ve talked about before, in rare instances that bit of well-meaning deference can get warped into not getting involved in other people’s affairs even when they’re clearly in a quandary.

But while adults sometime stumble while walking the tightrope between forcing unasked for assistance on someone and helping those in need, what about children? That’s the question posed in this video showing a group of kids reacting to a stranger dropping his or her wallet at the bus stop, and the outcome just might restore a bit of your faith in humanity.

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These beautiful flower arrangements are actually desserts from Tokyo Station

Whether you call it Bavarian cream or Bavarois, the classic dessert generally isn’t much to look at. Since traditional Bavarian cream itself is just a beige lump (being cream, after all), many chefs choose to drizzle a brightly colored fruit sauce on top of it. And while that definitively adds some much needed visual pizzazz, if you’re after a dessert that’s as captivatingly beautiful as it is mouth-wateringly tempting, this Tokyo pastry shop’s Bavarian cream that includes edible flowers is basically a work of art that you can eat.

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What time is it? Time for a Cardcaptor Sakura watch, and an umbrella too, while you’re at it!

Anime magical girls lead busy lives, especially Cardcaptor Sakura’s Sakura Kinomoto. With 50-plus magical cards to track down, plus all of the study responsibilities of an ordinary elementary school student, the young heroine must have her days planned down to the minute.

Likewise, being too young for a driver’s license, Sakura is in for a lot of walking around outside in the elements on her quest to find the mystical Clow Cards. And if you find yourself in similar need of a way to keep track of the time while keeping the sun and rain off yourself, anime fashion brand Super Groupies has got you covered with a new Cardcaptor Sakura wristwatch and umbrella.

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Maiko beauty secrets: Skincare tips from Japan’s apprentice geisha

Just as with full-fledged geisha, it’s customary for maiko, as geisha apprentices are known, to wear a layer of white face powder, called oshiroi. But those who’ve seen one of Japan’s traditional entertainers close up often marvel at their smooth, healthy skin, remarking that they would be just as beautiful with all of those cosmetic coverings washed away.

But in much the same way that their polished speech and refined mannerisms are the result of years of training, maiko also have a careful routine they follow to keep their skin looking as delicate and pleasing to the eye as it does.

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