Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
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.
Posted by Casey Baseel (Page 466)
If you have a penchant for eating right, you’re no doubt familiar with the importance of a balanced diet that includes all of the major food groups. But even if you’re making sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, have you got the Pikachu food group covered?
Sure, you already know how to make a Pikachu burger, but if you’re looking to up your Pokémon intake (and skip having to do any real cooking yourself), you can now buy quick, convenient, and adorable Pikachu ramen.
Whether you call it Comic Market, Comiket, or Comike, the twice-a-year event is the largest gathering of creators and fans of dojinshi, Japanese self-published comics. Each iteration of Comiket draws hundreds of thousands of otaku to its venue at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center.
Something else that’s known by more than one name is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A proposed trade agreement between a dozen nations, including Japan and the U.S., the legislation is more commonly referred to by the acronym TPP in the Japanese media.
As negotiations between the U.S. and Japan continue, some anime and manga fans are worrying that the Trans-Pacific Partnership/TPP could be disastrous for Comic Market/Comiket/Comike, but just how justified are these fears?
As Japan’s biggest anime and manga hits become increasingly mainstream in their popularity, more and more of them are getting live-action adaptations. One of the latest series tapped for the transition is Terra Formars, the sci-fi action manga from writer Yu Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana.
The first major news about the project came in February, when it was announced that Takashi Miike will direct, and now the live-action Terra Formars has found its star.
For decades, the international perception of ramen was that it was something for lazy college students to buy in bulk for when they wanted a quick, hot meal, with only minimal thought given to flavor or presentation. And while ramen does sometimes take that form, assuming it’s all like that is sort of like basing your whole image of pizza on microwavable frozen varieties.
Thankfully, there’s a ramen renaissance going on, as the rest of the world is getting onboard with just how delicious Japan’s favorite noodle dish can be. In response, some restaurants in Japan are adapting to make their food more accessible to foreign visitors, such as this restaurant in Tokyo that serves halal ramen.
It’s said that barbers’ poles, with their interlaced contrasting stripes, are a holdover from the Middle Ages, with the red and white symbolizing blood and bandages. In those days, the field of surgery was still at such an early stage in its development that the guy who cut hair would also handle operations and amputations. After all, cutting was cutting, right?
In our modern era, though, you’d never think of asking your doctor to take a little off the sides, nor would you trust your hairdresser to remove a tumor. So isn’t it time for barber shops to get a new symbol, like this one in Aomori with a compliment of giant Gundam statues hanging around outside?
You can probably describe about 90 percent of fast food with some combination of the words “convenient,” “greasy,” and “delicious.” In the case of Japanese hamburger chain Lotteria, though, you’ll want to make an addition to your vocabulary list: “crazy.”
Oh, sorry, looks like a typo slipped through. That should actually be “crazy!!!”
Lotteria is sort of the playground daredevil of the Japanese fast food scene. On just about any given day, you’ll find at least one item on the menu that seems to have been created not so much because it’s a good idea, but so that the restaurant can say, “Hey guys! Look at what I can do!” Every now and again, though, Lotteria gets its batch of crazy sauce just right, which is why it’s bringing back the awe-inspiring Burger with Everything on It.
How much of a Hayao Miyazaki purist are you? Have you never once set your Spirited Away DVD to the English-dubbed audio? Do you cringe at the thought of watching Castle in the Sky Laputa with its reworked soundtrack? Do you actually pronounce warrior princess Nausicaa’s name with the “shi” sound it contains when rendered in Japanese text?
Even if you answered yes to all those questions, it’s unlikely you’ve got as much love for the Studio Ghibli cofounder as Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. Why? Because for Anno, even movies directed and written by Miyazaki himself don’t have enough Miyazaki-created content.
Remember when you were a little kid, and your parents would take you to the park to play? Not only were you having fun, you were developing important motor skills as you ran around, did somersaults, and swung on the monkey bars. Maybe when you got a little older and more coordinated, you’d even play catch with your mom and dad.
But did your parents love you enough to have a couple of sumo bouts against you?
With some jobs, the risks are obvious. Want to be an F1 racer? Driving cars at unsafe speeds is pretty much the extent of your work responsibilities. Firefighter? Be prepared to get up-close and personal with dangerous flames, because after all, the position isn’t called “fire-mediation-and-peacekeeping-liaison.”
Working the gate at a fan event for a video-sharing website seems like it should be relatively safe, though. That’s not always the case, though, as one man found out when he became a human speed bump standing against a crowd of stampeding fans at the recent Niconico Chokaigi.
You could argue that it’s silly for the heroines of Sailor Moon to wear heels, seeing as how, like clockwork, they’re required to head into battle against dangerous monsters once a week. But while the Sailor Senshi are the defenders of humanity, they’re also five fashionable young girls, so you can see how they (or series creator Naoko Takeuchi) would be reluctant to go with, say, combat boots instead.
If you’re a Sailor Moon fan living in the real world, though, fighting evil probably doesn’t figure into your footwear choices, leaving you free to step out in these heels inspired by the Sailor Senshi, or the sensible flats modeled after their feline mentor Luna.
On any given day in a Tokyo summer, you can expect the weather to be hot, rainy, or a sticky mixture of the two. As such, it’s usually a good idea to have a couple of indoor activates in mind in case you need a break from the sweltering heat.
Thankfully, Japan’s capital is filled with museums, and one will be holding a special exhibition on the cultural impact of anime, manga, and video games. We’ve been looking forward to this event for a while, and now there’s even a partial list of titles that are scheduled to be highlighted.
It’s well known that many anime fans, in the midst of watching a show, start to develop a crush on their favorite character (and sometimes that crush becomes a full–on obsession). But the admiration fans feel towards a 2-D character isn’t always tied to romantic rumblings. Sometimes, they see an anime icon and instead of “I wish that was my girlfriend/boyfriend,” they find themselves thinking “I wish that was my boss!”
Japan may seem like a futuristic wonderland, what with its high-tech toilets and their array of functions that clean your bottom, heat your cheeks, and even provide sound effects to cover the natural ones that accompany your bathroom business. But technology is constantly evolving at a rapid rate, and each new innovation replaces something that used to be cutting-edge.
Case in point; every spring, thousands of young Japanese people leave home and move into their first, low-rent apartment to start school or a new job, and you can expect at least a couple will be shocked when they go to take a shower, discover this giant contraption next to the tub, and have no idea what it does.
Japan is a country that values fiscal responsibility and economic security, and that can influence how people judge a possible romantic partner. For example, we previously looked at a survey in which an overwhelming number of women said they’d rather date a man who’s ugly but rich than a guy who’s handsome and unemployed.
That doesn’t mean that just any old job will do, though. A new poll asked Japanese women what jobs were deal-breakers for a potential boyfriend, and the resulting list includes some surprisingly high-paying professions.
These days, we’re seeing more and more manga and anime being adapted into live-action movie, stage, and musical versions. In other words, Japanese animation and comics are going from the 2-D world to the 3-D one.
But it turns out there’s an intermediary step that we’ve been forgetting. Here with a reminder is one talented comic artist who’s using illustrated cutouts of his characters, settings, and even sound effects to create an amazing 2.5-D manga.
Late spring is one of the few universally pleasant times to spend outdoors in Japan. The cold of winter and the heavy pollen counts of early spring are gone, and the heat and humidity of summer are yet to make their appearance.
Of course, some would say that no matter how nice the weather is outdoors, it’s even more comfortable to have a drink in hand. Next month, you’ll be able to scratch both those itches at once with the Shibuya Sake Festival in Tokyo’s Miyashita Park, where you can spend a day drinking as much as you’d like of more than 100 different kinds of sake.
March 31 was the last day to pick up something from Anna Sui’s line of Sailor Moon purses and accessories. The American designer hasn’t exhausted all of her Japanese animation and comic inspirations, though.
Next month Anna Sui pop-up stores are scheduled to open at six locations in Japan, where fashion fans can find exclusive bags, wallets, and pouches that take cues from some of Japan’s most famous manga creators, including Osamu Tezuka, Ryoko Ikeda, and Rumiko Takahashi.
While the 1:1-scale Gundam statue in Tokyo is, with good reason, a mecca for mecha lovers, it’s not the only extra-large recreation of combat hardware from anime’s most prolific robot franchise. Clear on the other side of Japan’s island of Honshu, Okayama Prefecture has its own statue, modeled after the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam.
On one hand, Okayama’s mobile suit isn’t life-size, but it still stands an impressive seven meters (23 feet) tall. Even better, this weekend fans will get to climb into its cockpit.
Buddhism and Shintoism share space pretty peacefully in Japan, partially thanks to a division of duties. Shinto shrines, for example, handle weddings, while Buddhist temples are the locations of funerals and graveyards.
These days, though, a few Buddhist temples are helping singles find someone to marry at one of those Shinto weddings, though, as one sect of Buddhism in east Japan has branched out into organizing matchmaking parties.
Half-way through April, all of the cherry blossoms are gone from the Tokyo area, and while it’s good to know that they’ll be back in 12 months’ time, it’s always kind of a bummer to see them go.
Thankfully, though, there’s plenty to look forward to as the weather starts to heat up. For example, traditional festivals and amazing fireworks displays take place all across Japan during July and August. Plus, it looks like there’s a new annual summer event now, as the city of Yokohama is going to once again be overrun by Pikachus this year, and this time it sounds like all 1,000-plus of the unbearably cute Pocket Monsters have come down with dance fever!
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
Mickey Mouse in now a transforming robot created by the designer of Gundam【Photos】
Samurai ritual suicide contest cancelled by organizer in west Japan
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
Japanese police arrest four foreign residents on charges of stealing over 100 cars
Off-the-beaten-tourist-track observatory tower in Tokyo has great views of the city…for free!
Transparent coffee! We taste-test Asahi’s Clear Latte, marvel at Japanese drinks wizardry
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
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
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】Off-the-beaten-tourist-track observatory tower in Tokyo has great views of the city…for free!
Starbucks releases new Wicked tumblers in Japan
Japan’s Pokémon donuts are evolving as Diglett grows into Dugtrio churro!
Beautiful Japanese garden green tea crepes waiting in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood
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】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 tooTokyo restaurant isn’t kidding about the name of its overflowing rare wagyu-ju【Photos】
Kyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
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】
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【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
Japanese police arrest four foreign residents on charges of stealing over 100 cars
Off-the-beaten-tourist-track observatory tower in Tokyo has great views of the city…for free!
Transparent coffee! We taste-test Asahi’s Clear Latte, marvel at Japanese drinks wizardry
Is “Ago-kui” the next “Kabe-don”?
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Problem solved: How to open a Japanese convenience store onigiri rice ball【Pics and video】
Cosplaying go-kart driver strikes bicyclist in hit-and-run collision in Akihabara
Japan’s new difficult-to-drink-from beer glass protects your liver, but it’s a brutal experience
Beautiful Japanese garden green tea crepes waiting in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood
Hyotan Onsen – Japan’s only hot spring with three Michelin stars
Low price, free booze and curry, late check-out, and great location — Akihabara capsule hotel has it all
The 10 best hotel hot springs in Japan, as chosen by Japanese travelers