Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Born and raised in the UK, Evie escaped to Tokyo as an exchange student six years ago. Since then, she has been a Co-ordinator for International Relations in Kyoto, a translator of electronic manuals in Osaka, and a video game translator in London. Her hobbies include scouring second hand software shops for unlocalised retro games, drinking umeshu, and napping under the kotatsu. Her dream is to open a combination English teashop/bookshop/cat cafe in Tokyo.
Posted by Evie Nyan (Page 11)
When you were a kid, you probably owned (or knew someone who owned) a model train set, or Scalextric-style slot car racing track. You probably also watched Back to The Future and lusted after Marty McFly’s hoverboard. But I bet you never thought that when you grew up, you’d be able to buy your very own hovering high-speed train set! And now you can, courtesy of toy company Takara Tomy!
You might have heard that we experienced a magnitude-5.6 earthquake last week, which got everyone in the area a little shaken up (except for this super chill gorilla, of course). While Japan experiences earthquakes incredibly frequently, this one was a little bigger than usual, and had many in Japan diving for cover.
Oh, no, wait, they dived for their smartphones instead…
When you start learning another language, like, say, Japanese, it’s common to come across certain words that sound like English words, but aren’t. For example, the Japanese word “hai” which means yes, sounds a lot like the greeting “hi” in English. Another example might be that “ohayou” meaning good morning sounds a lot like the US state of Ohio.
But, naturally, this goes both ways. There are also plenty of examples of Japanese speakers finding “Japanese” meaning in English words that a native English speaker would never think of…
McDonald’s Japan has been kind of hit and miss with its strategies in the last couple of years. And just when they start doing a few things REALLY right (complimentary socks and free smiles!) they come up with another concoction that’s got netizens dry-heaving.
This time, the offending item is the “healthy” chicken veggie patty burger, aka the “Mogumogu Mac” (mogumogu is an onomatopoeia that means chewing), which is designed specifically for kids.
I don’t know about you, but eating fruit as a kid was kind of a chore. Sure, fruit tasted good, but candy tasted so much better. Now that I’m a fully-functioning adult, though, I eat fruit for fun and candy isn’t all that appealing any more.
But this handy device might help to make a lot of people’s childhoods much sweeter since it enables you to combine fruit and sweet, sweet candy into one treat. Behold: the banana-stuffer, aka “Sonna Choco Banana!”
Here at RocketNews24 we like to think of ourselves as experts in taste and style (hey, stop laughing!). We like to add little personal touches to our cutlery drawers and drinks cabinets (gotta love those panty glasses!). So you can imagine how excited we were when we found out about these little hamsters you can clip onto the edge of your glass or mug to up the cuteness factor of everything you drink by 150%.
Japanese cuisine is known for containing certain dishes that many westerners find hard to stomach, delicious as they may be. That includes sashimi (raw fish!) and natto (fermented soybeans!).
But what about the flip-side of the coin? Which western foods make Japanese people want to barf? The results may surprise you – or perhaps not. Here’s a list!
Our resident oddball writer Mr. Sato loves his coffee, so much so that he finds it impossible to pass by a Starbucks without stopping in for a quick coffee break. The only problem is that he tends to favour “girly” drinks like frappuccinos, and lives in fear of being spotted by friends and acquaintances enjoying one.
The solution? Sneak into Starbucks underneath a cardboard box, Solid Snake-style, and see if the baristas will serve coffee to a cardboard box. Check out our video to see how he did!
Riding the Shinkansen in Japan is always a fun experience. Not only does it go super-fast (you can totally feel those G-forces!), it’s also guaranteed to be quiet and incredibly clean. But with 323 Shinkansen trains departing from Tokyo every day, how do they find the time to clean all those trains?
Well, it turns out that it takes a highly synchronised team of mega-efficient cleaners only seven minutes to clean each train – since that’s all the time they have!. And here’s an incredible video of how they do it!
The cicadas are chirping, the sun is shining, and we’re starting to get sweaty – it can only mean one thing: summer is coming! And with it all kinds of delicious treats like ice cream, ice cream, and, oh yes, ice cream.
But when you only really want to cool down and don’t want to consume too many calories, shaved ice is a much lighter alternative source of summer snack. But why rely on others to do your shaving for you? Why not shave it yourself in style with this awesome retro shaved ice maker?
Japan has a zillion proverbs involving cats, probably because cats are awesome and add flavour and colour to everything in life. One such proverb is “nekojita” which literally means “cat tongue” and describes people who are unable to handle hot drinks and liquids making contact with their precious pink taste buds.
It’s pretty easy to see where the proverb came from – offer anything hot and edible to a cat and watch the look of horror on their face. But did you cat-tongued-people know that there’s a secret method you can use to train yourself to slurp the hottest of liquids with grace and ease?
In modern-day Japan, entering into the marriage or dating market without any prior experience puts ladies at a serious disadvantage from the start. With many women living with their parents until they get married, and with people getting married later in life, there’s a rise of women who remain virgins into their thirties.
Now, there’s apparently a service whereby women can hire someone to take their virginity in order to raise their market appeal to future potential husbands…
Recently, we brought you the news that you can now view an online animated sketchbook version of works by famous Japanese Ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. But what if you’re not content just looking at beautiful art online? What if you could see it every time you look down at your feet? Well, with these awesome printed sneakers from TeeFury.com, you can get some culture into your wardrobe while still looking cool!
Oh, and as an added bonus, they’ve stuck Godzilla’s ugly monster mush into the design, too!
If you’re feeling a little jaded on romance in these days of impersonal dating apps, casual hookups and seeing who can pretend to be the most indifferent, then pull up a chair and watch this heart-warming video! RocketNews24’s intrepid team of reporters hit the streets of Sugamo, Tokyo to interview some of the shopping district’s oldest and wisest residents on matters of the heart, touching on topics such as money vs looks, where to find hot guys in Tokyo, and why you’re never too old to fall in love.
It seems that when Japanese food makes its way over to America, something gets lost in translation and the food winds up inside-out. Just look at California rolls, for example.
And now, here’s another example of Japanese food being flipped: “Ramen burgers” which usually consist of a bun filled with ramen noodles, have been reborn in the US as, um, “ramen burgers”, but with a twist – the meat patty is sandwiched between two “buns” made of tightly packed noodles!
We sent our resident office culinary “expert” Mr Sato down to the first “US-style ramen burger” joint in Japan for a taste test!
Karaoke in Japan tends to be a little different from in the west, and it comes with its own set of rules and etiquette that it’s a good idea to learn if you want to keep being included in karaoke parties.
Whether it’s your first time ever singing in (semi-)public or you’re a seasoned karaoke veteran back home, these six tips for not being a total karaoke bore will help make your singing sessions super special (and not at all humiliating…).
One of the first things you notice when you visit Japan is how nice and polite everyone seems to be. Shop staff bow to you, people greet you in the hotel lobby, even the guy at the combini sprints across the store to open up the second register when there’s more than one person waiting to be served.
But spend any prolonged amount of time here and you’ll realise that there are plenty of rude people here too (just like in the rest of the world…). And there are even a few niceties we in the west generally perform as a matter of habit that just aren’t part of the Japanese way of doing things.
So just how are Westerners unintentionally schooling the Japanese in manners?
Onigiri are the perfect Japanese snack food. Portable and (generally speaking) healthy, they consist of a small ball or triangle of rice containing one of a huge variety of fillings, wrapped in seaweed or coated with some kind of seasoning. While most of the onigiri you can buy at convenience stores here in Japan are probably filled and shaped by machine, it’s traditional to roll ’em yourselves by making a squeezing motion with your hands. And now you can combine your love of onigiri with your love of cute idol girls by heading down to “Galmusu”, a new cafe where, for a small fee, a cutie will squeeze your rice balls for you right in front of your eyes!
We sent one of our Japanese reporters to investigate this new form of edible performance art!
Oh, but before you read on, we should probably mention one thing: our reporter usually can’t stand anyone handling his food…
You may have noticed that Japanese product packaging tends to be completely covered with text in a variety of fonts and styles. If you’ve ever taken the time to read any of it, you’ve probably realised that quite a bit of it seems to be particularly chatty, going beyond the usual product description in order to occasionally impart some philosophical wisdom or advice.
Some companies even go as far as to include hidden messages to communicate directly with the consumer. Check out this gallery of some of the best.
Parasyte, the creepy science fiction horror manga series about a boy with a sentient alien parasite living inside his arm, was almost the newest Studio Ghibli animated venture, it has been learned. Studio Ghibli’s former president Toshio Suzuki last week sensationally revealed the news that Hayao Miyazaki had intended to bid for the rights to the series, which eventually went to film studio Toho.
So, what is Parasyte and what, if anything, have we missed out on here?
Cherry blossoms begin blooming in Japan with record-early starts for sakura season
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Universal Studios’ Sailor Moon theme park attraction is finally coming to America
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
The next time you’re feeling stressed out, you could relax on a Pokémon Psyduck chair from Japan
McDonald’s Japan celebrates spring with… a Strawberry Shortcake Pie?!?
Eastern Japan high school graduating class’s wallets robbed during ceremony
7 hilarious/inexplicable Japan moments in South Park
Mister Donut makes matcha lovers swoon with new Gion Tsujiri collection
World’s first real ramen in a can now available at Japanese vending machines
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime character
Studio Ghibli adds new Mother’s Day gift sets to its anime collection in Japan
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old onesThe next time you’re feeling stressed out, you could relax on a Pokémon Psyduck chair from Japan
Komachi Shokudo: Japanese mum’s-style cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan opens new cafe and art gallery in top Tokyo tourist neighbourhoodStarbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
The top 10 graduation songs in Japan as chosen by current Japanese high school students
7-Eleven Japan’s giant fried chicken skewer would be too big to eat, so it’s really for cuddling
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in TokyoStudio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime character
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Nine great places to see spring flowers in Japan, as chosen by travelers (with almost no sakura)
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases a new Cream Puff Frappuccino for a limited time
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
McDonald’s Japan celebrates spring with… a Strawberry Shortcake Pie?!?
Eastern Japan high school graduating class’s wallets robbed during ceremony
7 hilarious/inexplicable Japan moments in South Park
Mister Donut makes matcha lovers swoon with new Gion Tsujiri collection
World’s first real ramen in a can now available at Japanese vending machines
One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world ocean
Is Tokyo’s real-world Kamurocho as dangerous as the Yakuza games’ setting? Mr. Sato investigates
Japan’s Family Mart selling rainbow socks, rainbow-package fried chicken as show of LGBTQ support
You can now buy a Japanese train station clock in Japan
Japanese AI device reads stories to your kid with your voice, even if you’ve never read them【Vid】
Starbucks Japan opens new cafe and art gallery in top Tokyo tourist neighbourhood
Turns out even Japanese people aren’t sure how to use Japanese-style toilets
Japanese restaurant chain installs tip boxes in response to foreign tourists leaving tips, sparks debate
Number of foreigners living in Japan has grown 50 percent in four years, hits historic high