Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Fran grew up on a farm in Northumberland, England’s most northern and least populated county. She relocated to Nagoya in 2011 to teach English and find better edamame beans. On arriving in Japan, she enthusiastically abandoned a lifetime of vegetarianism and now spends her weekends on the trail of the perfect miso katsu. When not attempting to sing k-pop at karaoke, Fran can often be found loitering in old camera shops, or on a hike wishing the manual camera in her backpack wasn’t so heavy.
Posted by Fran W (Page 11)
Further controversy has emerged surrounding the South Korean Sewol ferry disaster, as a TV crew is accused of setting up footage of a rescue diver. Korean media reports that a member of the rescue team who was not working at the time was put in a wetsuit and drenched in water to give the appearance that he had just come back from a dive. Media crews apparently said that a dry-haired diver would not be realistic and believable enough.
Earlier in the year, we brought you the news that you can now buy men’s bras and panties on Japanese shopping site Rakuten. Well, the online retailer – the beautifully named Wish Room Men’s – have released their new spring range. We are pleased to announce that it’s even pinker, frillier, and more adorable than ever!
Join us after the jump for impressively muscled manikins, lacy panties, and A-cups galore.
Anyone who’s watched more than a smidgen of Japanese TV will tell you that the line between “appropriately heartwarming” and “so cheesy you want to tear your eyeballs out” is drawn in a different place in this country. It can seem like every exchange in a Japanese drama is overly emotionally charged. Why are the actor’s reactions so exaggerated? Does it really have to rain every time someone is sad? And why is there someone running through the streets frantically in every single episode? I have grown to love J-drama’s clichés and warm heart, but still occasionally regard Japanese acting as perplexingly over-done.
It’s heartening to discover, then, that a series of spectacularly cringe-inducing ads for Microsoft’s Surface tablets have been widely panned in Japan, as the nation screams, “Stop! You’re hurting my ears!” in one voice. Let’s take a look at this awkward new advertisement in all its glory.
Here at RocketNews24 we can’t resist a good Pokémon mashup, whether it’s official merchandise or fan-made goodies. Micah Coles is a fan who combined his love of Pokémon with a keen eye for design, reimagining NBA team logos with a new corresponding Pokémon! He’s made new Poké-mascot logos for each and every NBA team, plus a few extras, too!
It looks like we have another entry for the “People Reacting Inappropriately To Disasters” contest, as a South Korean male model has come in for fierce criticism after posting a bizarre photo of himself apparently pretending to drown, shortly after a ferry sank off the coast of South Korea.
The picture, which shows 19-year-old Heo Jae-Hyuk submerged in the bathtub fully clothed, was posted on Instagram in the early hours of Thursday morning, and captioned “A fun game”. The eyes of the world have been on South Korea as the search for survivors of the ferry disaster continues, with almost 300 hundred passengers and crew still remaining unaccounted for.
Over 70 percent of South Koreans plan to donate to a government fund set up to pay for potential unification between North and South Korea, a recent survey suggests. If the two countries were successfully reconciled, the Finance Ministry estimates that unification would cost South Korea 7 percent of its GDP for 10 years.
North and South Korea have made various joint declarations of intent since the 1970s, but there has never been any successful implementation. However, the South has set up the fund to raise $50 million for a hypothetical unification, and almost almost three quarters of South Koreans surveyed think that other countries, such as China and the United States, should also contribute towards the financial cost of unification.
It sounds like the plot of an improbable B-movie. But sometimes the truth is stranger than science fiction. Four women in the US have successfully received implanted vaginas that were grown in a lab from their own cells.
The women, who were all born with a rare condition which means the vagina does not develop properly, underwent the pioneering treatment at Wake Forest School of Medicine, North Carolina. The engineered vaginas, the first to be grown from the patients’ own living tissue and successfully implanted, have made it possible for the women to have sex for the first time.
Google operates hundreds of domain names for different regions around the world, from Australia (google.com.au) to Zimbabwe (google.co.zw). And searching for the same keyword throws up different results depending on which country Google thinks you’re in.
So what happens when you search “Japan” in different countries’ Google Image Search? To find out, a curious Japanese netizen did exactly that. The image results reveal a little bit about how each country sees Japan – some just might surprise you!
During my high school years, I worked in a supermarket, where an announcement over the loudspeaker system for “Code 19” always meant it was time to head to the staffroom for a cup of tea. Just like my clever supervisor, many service industry workers have developed their own set of code words that they use to communicate without letting the customers know too much about what’s really going on.
But thanks to this list of the secret keywords used by hotel staff in Japan, next time you’re in a Japanese hotel you can prick up your ears and listen out for any exciting gossip going on amongst the employees! Just for fun, have a look at this list first and see if you can guess what they mean. What would obake, nō-shō, aidoru taimu, chirashi, donden, and sukippā mean in a hotel context?
Japan’s favourite cartoon dog continues his quest for country-wide domination this month with a brand new Snoopy-themed cafe scheduled to open in Oita Prefecture on April 19th. The cafe’s theme fuses Snoopy cartoons and traditional Japanese style, or wa (和). The new venture comes hot on the tails of Snoopy x Japanesque, a collaboration last year that saw the cute line-drawn character from Charles M. Schulz’s comics combined with traditional Japanese artisan works.
We’ve seen what some lucky Japanese students get up to at their crazy cosplay graduation ceremonies, and now we bring you an entrance ceremony extravaganza! New students enrolling at Kinki University in Osaka on April 5th were treated to a stadium-style light show and idol dance performance conceived by Tsunku, the producer behind idol supergroup Morning Musume.
While some Japanese netizens took to social media to question the organisers’ use of funds in throwing such an extravagant party for students who are, after all, only just entering the school, the university offered up an original reason for putting on the spectacular show: to encourage the one-third of incoming students who hadn’t picked Kinki University as their first choice.
Japanese netizens are bursting with excitement about Manuel Valls, who was appointed as France’s new Prime Minister this week. But what are these Twitter users so astounded about? Well, the newly appointed Prime Minister supposedly bears a striking resemblance to evil genius Colonel Muska, from Hayao Miyazaki’s 1986 movie Castle in the Sky.
And what’s more, in Japanese his name sounds just like barusu or “balse”, the incantation from Castle in the Sky. So this new guy not only looks like a character from the classic animated movie, his name also happens to be the movie’s most important word – which, incidentally, is a record-breaking Twitter meme in its own right.
Here at RocketNews24 we love finding “The Most Expensive (Thing) Ever” and have even been known to see it as something of a challenge. Our eyes light up whenever we see an advert or – more likely, press release – for “World’s Most Expensive (household item that’s usually quite cheap)”.
But brands also love to come up with their own insanely high-end products in the hope of gaining a superlative world title. Whether it’s encrusting something entirely with diamonds, or coating it in gold dust, we can’t help but feel they’re doing it on purpose, just to get our attention (and column inches). Today we bring you seven products from Japan and around the world that you didn’t even know you wanted … until now!
Last summer, I was riding the subway with some friends from home who were visiting me here in Nagoya, Japan. Suddenly, my friend pointed at a sticker on the window behind us. “What’s that?” he asked, staring wide-eyed at the image of a smiling cartoon golden dragon wearing a train conductor’s uniform. “That’s the mascot of the Nagoya Transportation Bureau,” I replied, happy to be imparting local knowledge. “Oh,” he said. “And why does the Transportation Bureau need a mascot?”
You see, it’s the little things that can be most surprising about a culture that’s not your own. Today, we bring you a list of 10 quirky things that you probably didn’t know – or may not have realised – about everyday life in Japan.
Miso soup is a staple of the traditional Japanese diet and has long been anecdotally connected with Japanese people’s famously long life expectancy. Now, research has linked consumption of miso soup with a reduced risk of stomach and breast cancer.
Japan’s cancer rates are low compared to western countries, but the country’s relatively high rates of stomach cancer have often been blamed on the high sodium content of the traditional Japanese diet. However, research suggests that miso, the fermented soybean paste which makes the base of miso soup and many other Japanese dishes, could actually counter-act the harmful effects of sodium consumption and even smoking.
As Japan’s university students return to start the new academic year this month, many will be looking at their bank balance with trepidation and wondering how exactly they managed to spend all that money during spring break. Over two-thirds of Japanese university students work part time, helping contribute towards the cost of study materials, weird alcohol for drinking games, and buying the same clothes as everyone else.
For students looking for extra funds, or – dare we say it – graduates who’ve been unable to find full-time employment, Japanese site Recruit Jobs has compiled a happy little list of the best-paying part-time jobs in Japan. Let us know how they compare to student jobs in your country!
Japan knows a thing or two about human billboards. And now, from the PR company that brought the world adverts stuck to girls’ thighs on the condition that the girls wear short skirts and knee-high socks, comes a brand new marketing idea: Candy Crush are sponsoring this girl’s fingernails, with a wacky, candy-based design that’s as bold and colourful as the game itself.
Getting a haircut in another country – in a foreign language – can be a daunting experience. We’ve all heard stories about that one unfortunate soul who, just wanting a trim, indicated a few centimetres between thumb and forefinger, only for the hairdresser to think that was how much they wanted to remain on their head and start lopping off hair left, right and centre.
Japan being Japan, of course there are a few surprising and funny things they do at salons that are different from back home too! But with some simple words and phrases under your belt, you can visit a Japanese hair salon with confidence. Join us after the jump for a guide to surviving – and hopefully enjoying – a haircut in Japan!
When Tatsuo Horiuchi was approaching retirement age, he wanted to do something new with his free time. So he bought a computer, and in 2000 decided to try his hand at making digital art. But Mr. Horiuchi from Nagano Prefecture, Japan, doesn’t use Photoshop or any other graphics editing software. These intricate digital artworks were made entirely in Microsoft Excel! It’s hard to believe that spreadsheet software can be used to make something so compellingly beautiful.
Fourteen years after he first started experimenting with digital art, Mr. Horiuchi is now a celebrated artist whose works have been exhibited locally and nationally. He’s also the winner of the Excel Autoshape Art Contest (what d’you mean, you didn’t know that was a thing?!) Let’s take a look at some of his work, and the fascinating process that goes into making it.
April is the start of the academic year in Japan, and for kids, parents and stationery manufacturers that means one thing: it’s back to school shopping season. And across Japan, as elementary school students carefully write their names in their notebooks for the new year, there’s a good chance that notebook will be Showa Noto brand. The company’s gakushucho (study notebooks) are a hugely popular series of school notebooks, used by school students all over the country. Showa Noto also makes character-branded goods, and we’re desperate to get our hands on one of these new Star Wars school notebooks!
Studio Ghibli unveils new interactive stationery dioramas that bring anime movies to life on your desk
Pokémon and Polaroid reveal collaboration with adorable Pikachu and Eeveelution camera and film
Studio Ghibli composer Jo Hisaishi just set three Guinness Records
7-Eleven Japan brings back best-selling flat croissant that became a hit on social media
Universal Studios Japan partners with manga horror master Junji Ito’s Tomie
Starbucks Japan releases two new seasonal drinks that blur the line between summer and autumn
New Shinkansen Supreme Class private cabins get try-before-you-ride displays at Tokyo, other stations
Tokyo pub prohibits talking or keeping your phone out, only lets you drink in morning on weekends
Japanese convenience store sunglasses just became our newest Convenience Wear obsession
Japanese workers reveal their top five mysterious rules they wish would disappear【Survey】
12-year-old British girl who went missing in Tokyo found safe after visiting anime sites around Yokohama
Study finds hundreds of people in Indonesia legally named after Naruto, Inuyasha, other anime stars
12-year-old foreign tourist missing in Japan, police asking for help finding her [Video]
Japan’s Rabbit Island in danger of becoming Boar Island, tourists asked to follow feeding rules
Japanese gacha machine in Shibuya now sells tiny capsule terrariums
Stay at a hotel with a bed for your plushie in Japan
The Japanese city where ordering grilled chicken doesn’t guarantee you’ll actually get chicken
Japanese airlines set to cut fuel surcharges for international flights in September and October
Studio Ghibli adds new Jiji’s baby plush toy to its anime merchandise range in JapanJapanese workers reveal their top five mysterious rules they wish would disappear【Survey】
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards12-year-old British girl who went missing in Tokyo found safe after visiting anime sites around Yokohama
New Shinkansen luggage drop-off system begins in Japan, making train travel even easier
Air-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat
Japanese Shinkansen becomes an overnight hotel for three nights this summer
Pokémon Center Online designates first Pokémon items that will require Japanese ID card to buy
Japanese toilet aims to attract foreign tourists but not everybody is happy about it
99-year-old woman rescued while attempting to climb Mt. Fuji
Tokyo’s newest viral dessert is like a Japanese parfait inside a bread bun [Taste test]
New Japanese vending machine at Shinkansen station sells cups of ice on platform
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Starbucks Japan releases two new seasonal drinks that blur the line between summer and autumn
New Shinkansen Supreme Class private cabins get try-before-you-ride displays at Tokyo, other stations
Tokyo pub prohibits talking or keeping your phone out, only lets you drink in morning on weekends
Japanese convenience store sunglasses just became our newest Convenience Wear obsession
Japanese workers reveal their top five mysterious rules they wish would disappear【Survey】
Dog-friendly Wanwan Liner bus to begin operations between Tokyo and Osaka this fall
Kyoto shop turns traditional Japanese kimono into teddy bears, with special meaning hidden in their patterns
12-year-old British girl who went missing in Tokyo found safe after visiting anime sites around Yokohama
Tokyo giving out free furoshiki from Pikachu’s designer to help tourists carry their garbage home
Stay at a hotel with a bed for your plushie in Japan
Japanese gacha machine in Shibuya now sells tiny capsule terrariums
Japan’s Rabbit Island in danger of becoming Boar Island, tourists asked to follow feeding rules
A practical guide to freezing your boss’ hat in a block of ice [Photos]
Totoro shaved ice wows Studio Ghibli fans in Tokyo for a very limited time