Featured

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.

Twitter RSS

Posted by Casey Baseel (Page 548)

Cool, super-absorbent handkerchief maps keeping Japanese hikers dry and on-course

There are a few things you’ll want to make sure you have before setting out on a long hike. Proper footwear is a must, for example, as is a sufficient supply of water.

Especially if you’re heading into the mountains of Japan during the summer months, a hand towel is something else you’ll definitely want to have with you. The high humidity means you’ll be working up quite a sweat, and having something to wipe yourself off will go a long way towards making your day outdoors more enjoyable.

Of course, even more so than being drenched in sweat, getting lost is an easy way to ruin your day out. Thankfully there’s now a way to prevent both of those problems with a towel that doubles as a map.

Read More

Pork skewers, spicy fish cakes, and beer backpacks – We look for baseball grub at Nagoya Dome

Even though she grew up in Nagasaki, when it comes to baseball our Japanese-language correspondent Aya cheers for Nagoya’s Chunichi Dragons. Sure, the Softbank Hawks, who play out of Fukuoka, would be closer to her home town, but ever since Aya’s Dragon-loving friend took her to her first baseball game at Nagoya Dome, she’s been pulling for the serpentine team.

The Dragons have given their fans plenty of memories over the years, with the sweetest being the club’s Japan Series championship in 2007. But do they also provide a tasty meal at their home stadium?

Read More

Keep your iPhone safe and retro-gamer chic with Famicom protective film

Yesterday, Nintendo’s Famicom, known internationally as the NES, celebrated its 31st birthday. While it may not have been the first video game console, the way Nintendo’s 8-bit system combined, for its time, high-end processing power, pleasing aesthetics, and user-friendliness elevated it to a level above both its predecessors and would-be rivals.

The Famicom was the sort of sweeping, segment-defining success that didn’t come along again until the iPhone took over the smartphone market. Now, you can combine those two iconic pieces of Nintendo and Apple hardware with a Famicom protective film for your iPhone.

Read More

How many years does an anime franchise have to be inactive before it can be officially declared dead? Given the pace at which fans’ tastes change in Japan, if more than a couple of years go by with no new content, it’s probably time to give up hope, hard as that may for those fervently waiting for a new season of Ranma 1/2, Trigun, or All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku.

But when you’re the most popular martial arts series in the history of the medium, the ordinary rules don’t apply, which is why last year Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods hit Japanese theatres, ending a 17-year drought in Dragon Ball anime. Thankfully, the wait for the next installment in creator Akira Toriyama’s epic won’t be nearly so long, since there’s yet another Dragon Ball Z movie coming next year.

Read More

Emotional anime short celebrates Tokyo Station’s 100th birthday【Video】

It’s been 100 years since the opening of Tokyo Station. For many people, it’s more than just a rail hub, it’s a symbol of the city and the lives of those who live in and around it.

With just about everyone in Japan’s capital passing through sooner or later, Tokyo Station serves as the backdrop for a lot of nostalgic memories, not to mention some life-changing events for workers and travelers alike. So it’s fitting that the anime made to commemorate Tokyo Station’s 100th birthday is filled with both comforting looks back at the past and hopeful expectations for the future.

Read More

Japanese jeweler’s glittering gold Godzilla is amazingly detailed, shockingly expensive

There’s a pretty predictable pattern that merchandising for anime and youth-oriented movies in Japan follows. New hits get inexpensive trinkets, at a price point where kids can purchase them with their allowance. After a decade or two, higher-quality, items start to show up, like Sailor Moon jewelry and Gundam cars, which are priced more in line with what the franchise’s nostalgic and employed fan base is willing to spend.

Since it’s now been 60 years since the first Godzilla movie, some fans who weren’t even in preschool for the legendary kaiju’s debut are now getting close to retirement. With possibly a whole career’s worth of earning, prudent financial decisions, and wise investments, some Godzilla fans can afford to lay out big money to show their respect for the King of the Monsters, which is where this solid gold Godzilla figurine comes in.

Read More

We spend an afternoon in the park with the King of the Monsters at Kurihama’s Godzilla Slide

Every summer, as part of our effort to see as many brightly colored explosions as possible, my wife and I head to Kurihama in Kanagawa Prefecture to watch the neighborhood’s annual fireworks festival. In the past I always had to work on the day of the event, so we’d arrive just as they started launching the rockets, but this year I had the day off, so my wife suggested heading down early to do a little sightseeing. “We can go to Kurihama Flower World!” she offered, referring to the area’s expansive garden.

Sure, I thought, that might be kind of nice and romantic. I was a little surprised by her enthusiasm, though, since early July isn’t exactly the best time for flower viewing in Japan. It’s right in the gap between when hydrangeas and sunflowers are at their most beautiful, so what exactly did she want to check out there?

“We can see Godzilla,” she explained, which just might be the most convincing argument for going someplace ever.

Read More

Is boob-shaped controller a clever gag ad, pie in the sky dream, or the future of gaming? 【Video】

While plenty of video games use busty female characters to try to spice up their gameplay and drum up sales, few are as unabashed and exuberant in their mammary motivations as Senran Kagura. The bosomy brainchild of producer Kenichiro Takaki, Senran Kagura is an action title centered on a group of young female ninja that lets players fight hordes of enemies while staring at oversized, under-supported breasts.

Recently, though, a new round of inspiration smacked Takaki in the face, as he realized that cramming his series full of prodigious chests is only half of the equation of letting people play games with big breasts.

So he set out to design a game controller shaped like a pair of boobs.

Read More

Preview for Ghibli TV anime Ronia the Robber’s Daughter shows heroine in (jerky) movement

The works of Studio Ghibli are almost universally loved and respected, but there is one interesting criticism detractors lob against Japan’s premier anime production house. Barring the occasional music video or video game art design project, Ghibli’s body of work consists of feature films, all of which have been financial successes (even the widely panned Tales from Earthsea earned more than triple its budget).

Ghibli obviously can’t be blamed for building on its success by putting in the time, money, and, of course, effort to produce movies of such high quality. At the same time, some have wondered how the studio would fare operating under the notoriously tight time and budget constraints of television anime.

Judging from the recently released preview for Ghibli’s first TV series, Ronia the Robber’s Daughter, the transition, not to mention the lead character’s movements, might not be so smooth.

Read More

Onion Note: The crazy notebook that makes you cry when you write in it 【Video】

In putting together an article for RocketNews24, I use just a laptop for the vast majority of the process. On rare occasions, though, it’s quicker or more convenient to grab a notebook and pen to jot down ideas or outline a story.

As much as I love writing, the physical act of putting pen to paper doesn’t really hold all that much mysticism to me. I’m not sure exactly why, but it might be because I’ve got terrible penmanship. In order to form letters that I’ll actually be able to go back and read later, I have to concentrate so intensely that I just don’t have the leftover mental capacity to get emotional about the subject at hand.

Soon, though, there’ll be a way for anybody to get misty-eyed, no matter how bad their chicken scratch, with a notebook that’s scientifically designed to make you cry when you write in it.

Read More

Just a few weeks ago, as the World Cup got underway, expectations were running high for Japan’s national soccer team, which played impressively on its way to making the Group of 16 four years ago in South Africa. Seemingly the whole country was pumped up, with both long-time soccer nuts and people who ordinarily have little interest in sports getting behind the men in blue.

Sadly, though, Japan’s shot in Brazil came to a close after just three games, with its best outing being a 0-0 draw with Greece. It’s safe to say fans are disappointed, and there’s another group of people that acutely shares their pain: retailers stuck with boxes of unsold Japanese soccer team merchandise.

Read More

With more and more women identifying themselves as otaku, Japan’s super hardcore fans of things such as anime and video games, the odds of an otaku male finding a like-minded girlfriend aren’t so bad. Recently, there have even been professionally run matchmaking events to help romantically compatible anime-loving singles find one another.

Still, it’s human nature to always want more. Not too long ago many guys would have considered a girl a keeper simply for accepting their otaku lifestyle, but one group of illustrators has thought up four specific ways they’d want their girlfriend’s otaku leanings to manifest.

Read More

We wait almost two hours for a rum parfait in Hokkaido, and it’s totally worth it

Running a restaurant is tough work, as anyone who’s ever worked as a server, cook, or manager can tell you. Especially in Japan, a country where a good meal is considered one of the best things that can happen during your day, we try to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that they’re preparing our food as quickly as they can, while still maintaining the levels of flavor and presentation customers expect.

Still, we have to admit our patience was tested when we walked into a restaurant in Sapporo and ordered a single parfait. We were pretty surprised when well over an hour later, it still hadn’t come.

Then we were even more shocked when we finally got to eat our dessert and found out it was well worth the wait.

Read More

Give yourself the feet of an anime idol with these Love Live shoes

We talked recently about a creative smartphone case inspired by Love Live, the current standard bearer for the “cut girls strive earnestly to be the best at something” genre of anime. But while it’s all well and good to be able to dress your phone up in the same uniform worn by the show’s teen idol singers, it doesn’t create a direct connection between fans and the show.

Love Live attire isn’t just for smartphones, though, as there’s now a line of shoes based on the popular franchise.

Read More

Japanese snack giant Calbee makes its chips the star ingredient with unusual fast food venture

Here at RocketNews24, we’re no strangers to the culinary charms of extremely meaty hamburgers. Time and again, we’ve seen chefs in Japan push the burger envelope by offering increasingly massive sandwiches.

Today, though, we’re looking at the polar opposite: a bun-based sandwich with no meat at all. While a lack of beef may run counter to our baseline burger beliefs, there’s one important detail that turns this from sacrilegious to scrumptious.

The patty has been replaced by potato chips.

Read More

It’s no secret that Japan is seriously into cuteness. Accordingly, in most situations, deeming something kawaii, or cute, is seen as high praise.

This is especially true when it comes to women. Whereas in English-speaking countries some may take issue with what they perceive as a diminutive or demeaning connotation to the word “cute,” in Japan, calling a girl kawaii is almost universally considered a compliment. Even actresses and models who would ordinarily be described as “beautiful” by English speakers earn kawaii cred if they have a kind smile, or any other sort of soft warmth to the aura they project.

But while just about any Japanese woman is happy to be called kawaii, things aren’t quite so simple for men.

Read More

Create your own Sailor Moon heroines with the awesome Sailor Senshi Maker

With the recent premier of Sailor Moon Crystal, anime’s most famous magical girl is back in action. But while the basic premise is largely the same as it’s always been (klutzy girl and her friends team up to fight evil while wearing pleated skirts), the characters look noticeably different than they did in the previous anime from 1992, as we recently saw in a side-by-side comparison.

The new artwork does look a lot closer to creator Naoko Takeuchi’s original manga, but not everyone is taken with the extremely willowy proportions and super-long shins of Crystal’s character designs. Thankfully, if you’re one of those left cold by the new look, you can always crank out a few Sailor Scouts of your own instead, with the awesome Sailor Senshi Maker.

Read More

Beautiful new luxury train for Ishikawa dazzles with gold leaf and lacquer interior

For the past few decades, getting around Japan has been a snap using the extremely efficient rail network that crisscrosses the country. Even better, in just a few years, not only will you be able to go anywhere on the main island of Honshu by train, but you’ll be able to do it in style, thanks to luxurious new trains servicing the Chugoku, Kanto, and Tohoku regions.

Hokuriku, the part of Japan running along the central northern coast of Honshu, isn’t about to be left out though, and its upcoming train may be the most opulent of all, with an interior decorated with traditional lacquer and gold leaf.

Read More

Lovers of Love Live will love this lovely anime smartphone case

Last month a set of futons for smartphones caught our eyes. Considering all the handy gadgets do for us, we agreed it’s only fair we help them get the rest they need. After all, don’t you enjoy a good’s night sleep at the end of a busy day?

Still, you don’t want your smartphone loafing about all day. Sooner or later it’s got to get up and get to work, just like you. Of course, unless you’re a work-from-home nude model, you can’t be running around without any clothes on. Once again, it’s only fair that you apply the same standards and extend the same consideration to your phone by giving it a proper set of clothes, like this school uniform from the hit anime Love Live.

Read More

I love Tokyo’s awesome, full-scale statue of Gundam as much as anybody. I try to at least stop by and say hello to Japan’s most famous giant robot whenever I’m in Odaiba, and when time permits, I’m happy to sip a beer or munch on a pretzel from the adjacent shopping center as I stare up at the 18-meter (59-foot) tall mecha.

As I mentioned before, though, it has always seemed a little ironic that the monument is stationary. After all, the series is called Mobile Suit Gundam. Shouldn’t he be moving?

Actually, in a few years, he just might.

Read More

  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 545
  5. 546
  6. 547
  7. 548
  8. 549
  9. 550
  10. 551
  11. ...
  12. 581