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Krista Rogers

Starting with a love of J-Pop and J-dramas when she was 13, Krista Rogers has left her quiet New England hometown in the States both to study abroad in Tokyo and to work on the JET Program in beautiful Yamagata prefecture. She misses chatting in the local dialect and staging Kamehameha battles in the hallway with her students. Although she's currently working on her master's degree in Boston, she will without a doubt be back in Japan before long and buying way too much at Book-Off and Tower Records again. When she needs a break from schoolwork, Krista enjoys eating yakiniku, figure skating, finding cute cafes, watching Big Bang MVs, and continuing on her quest to catch 'em all.

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Posted by Krista Rogers (Page 53)

Taxi driver’s tip to stay safe: “The one thing you should say if you run into yakuza”

When one of our Japanese-language reporters stepped into a taxi the other day, the driver suddenly turned to him and asked, “Sir, do you know what you should say if you have a run in with some yakuza?”

Our man was a bit taken aback by the sudden question out of nowhere, but he answered, “Shouldn’t you say you’ll call the police?”

“That’s the usual response, but there’s an even better one,” the driver replied. He then proceeded to share a bit of advice which an actual yakuza whom he had once driven had secretly shared with him. 

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Need life advice? The Turtle Talk attraction at Tokyo DisneySea may be your best bet

At Tokyo DisneySea, there’s a special theater-style attraction called Turtle Talk where you can ask questions in real time to Crush, everybody’s favorite East Australian Current-surfing sea turtle from Finding Nemo. 

Sounds fun, if not a bit like a generically staged Q&A session, right? However, audience members during a recent talk were in for a bit of a surprise when Crush shared an unexpectedly profound piece of wisdom in response to a young woman’s question.

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New uber-soft gel dog beds mimic the feeling of lying between owner’s legs for pet pooches

Despite our fondness of cats here at RocketNews24, we do still have a soft spot for pooches. So here’s something to appease the dog-loving readers of our site–a new line of gel dog beds sold by Japanese pet interior brand UNIHABITAT, which are designed to recreate the feeling of lying between a human’s legs.

Get ready, pampered pooches of the world, because you’re in for a treat–if your jealous humans don’t buy them all up for themselves first, that is!

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We tried making edible jewels: One recipe gives you three delicious versions!

Remember those beautiful edible “jewels” that we shared with you a couple of weeks ago? Made simply from sugar, agar-agar, and a beverage of your choice, the jewels are both pretty to look at and make a cool – in both senses of the word – summer treat.

They’re still all the rage right now on Japanese social media, so our Japanese reporter Shimazu decided to try making some jewel flavor combinations for herself. She even experimented with three different manners of preparation–serving them right away, freezing them, and letting them sit for a few days to harden.

Which method of making them do you think she enjoyed the most?

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Our Japanese reporter offers up some safety advice for anyone traveling to Southeast Asia

‘The other day, I felt a tap on my back while at a Japanese-style shopping mall in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I turned around and there was a beautiful, wide-eyed woman smiling at me. She asked me a favor in broken English: “I don’t have any friends in this city, and I’d like to hear more about Japan. Won’t you get dinner with me?”

I was surprised at myself by my cold reaction–“Ah, not another one.” Despite my efforts to ignore her, she continued pestering me, this time asking how long I was planning to stay in Cambodia. When I responded, “I’ve lived here for over 15 years, she promptly disappeared with a creepy cackling noise.’

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Does how you dress affect what a sushi restaurant serves you? We experiment in Ginza

Take a stroll down the streets of Ginza and you’ll have no trouble realizing it’s Tokyo’s epicenter of everything posh and luxurious. The neighborhood is packed with shop after shop boasting high-end fashion, jewelry, and dining, so it’s only natural to think that any sushi restaurants in the area cater to an upscale clientele.

That being said, three reporters from our Japanese-language sister site began to wonder what would happen if they went to a Ginza sushi restaurant dressed to varying degrees of formality and ordered a special o-makase (“leave it to the chef”) course.

Would they each be offered different menu items depending on how they were dressed? Would their bills come out to be significantly different? With these burning questions in mind (and the prospect of eating sushi in the guise of journalism), they decided to conduct a little experiment to find out for themselves!

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Japanese people share 11 amusing tales relating to pregnancy and childbirth

Ah, childbirth. That lovely moment when the child you’ve been waiting to meet for months finally comes into the world and brings with it all the joys that come with parenthood. If you’re a woman, that moment also equates to the feeling of your body being ripped into bits as you forcefully expel a new human being from your body. (Sorry if you’re drinking your morning tea as you read this!)

Like the rest of the female population around the world, Japanese women are no strangers to the pains of birthing a child. Below, we have gathered eleven of amusing anecdotes that have been shared over social media relating to their pregnancies, the hysterical states they were in during childbirth, and the time after their child’s birth. And don’t miss the one story at the end that will positively melt your heart.

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All-female Takarazuka Revue set to perform Rurouni Kenshin musical early next year

In early 2016, the beloved Rurouni Kenshin series will be getting its first musical adaptation by the Takarazuka Revue, Japan’s all-female musical theater troupe! If you’re a fan of the manga and singing, check out when and where the musical will be performed and start planning accordingly.

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Is any “fowl” play involved? Nope, Morioka Zoo’s animals just like to sleep in weird positions

Morioka Zoo in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture has a host of both fierce and cuddly animals on its premises. Among the zoo’s current highlights are opportunities to see a baby giraffe, make dinner for the elephants, and feed raw meat to a lion. Oh, and did we mention that the animals there seem to have a penchant for looking dead while simply taking a snooze? 

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What makes “Love Live!” so mega popular? We asked one passionate super fan

If you’re into anime and you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two years, you should have at least heard of the unstoppable, indomitable multimedia force known as Love Live! School Idol Project, which first aired in early 2013. The show took off and captured the hearts of Japanese and foreign viewers alike seemingly in the blink of an eye.

In fact, fans of the series are known for being so incredibly dedicated to the teenage troupe that we wanted to find out firsthand what attracted them to the series. Consequently, we had our Japanese reporter ask one enthusiastic fan, whom we’ll call Mr. K, for his personal opinion. What do you think he had to say about the draw of the series?

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Artist reimagines alternate universe of Captain America: Civil Wok

In an alternate universe envisioned by Singaporean artist Tan Kwang Yang, it looks like the Avengers have ditched the whole “saving-the-world-act” and decided to pursue other lines of business.

Check out Tan’s neatly drawn little glimpse at such a world after the jump!

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Japanese amateur vocalist Reol channeling Internet fame into solo album debut this summer

Reol (れをる), a female Japanese vocalist who has gained immense popularity over the last few years through her releases on online video sharing sites, is set to make her major debut on July 29 under Victor Entertainment.

The singer’s first solo album will be titled Gokusaishiki (極彩色), which translates to “Richly Colored.” If the album’s title track is any indication, the rest of the album will be a fantastical feast for your ears as well!

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Ever heard of SNH48, AKB48’s second sister group outside of Japan? Based in Shanghai, China, the idol unit has been active since 2012, releasing a total of eight singles to date. These singles are all Chinese-language covers of previous AKB48 singles, including their latest release on May 15–the Chinese version of “Manatsu no Sounds Good!” (盛夏好声音).

Now, I’m not someone easily swayed by the cutesy “charms” of idol singers, but a female writer on our Japanese sister site recently wrote a piece expressing her opinion that SNH48 could possibly be–dare I write it–even cuter than the veritable goddesses of the original AKB48.

Take a moment to watch their latest music video and decide who you think is the cutest!

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Woman arrested for pocketing change worth US$370, claims she “didn’t notice”

On May 21, police in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture arrested a woman on swindling charges after the cashier at a local store erroneously handed her an extra 45,000 yen (US$370) in change. The woman is denying the charges, claiming that she simply “didn’t notice” the large amount of cash she received in the transaction.

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Short animation “Snowstorm Traveller” whips up a figurative storm of applause

A short animation titled Snowstorm Traveller has, fittingly, taken the global internet by storm. Recent Canadian university graduate Gerri Jin created the video as part of her graduation requirements, and though it clocks in at a mere 3:46, video still delivers an engaging plot with an unexpected twist ending, so sit back and enjoy watching the result of all of her hard work!

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Plastic model based on Hayao Miyazaki’s as-yet unreleased manga “Teppo Samurai” goes on sale

Since Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame announced his retirement in September 2013, many fans worldwide were left wondering what the prolific director – known to be a notoriously hard-worker – would be doing with all his free time. If you’re one of those people, listen up, because we’ve got some good news and bad news.

First, the bad news–one of Miyazaki’s first new projects post-retirement, a manga series titled Teppō Samurai (鉄砲侍/”Matchlock Samurai”), is currently stuck in indefinite limbo. But here’s the good news–a plastic figure modeled on the titular character has already been released, even without the manga being completed.

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Buy 2,000 identical CDs to visit hot springs with this idol group, save them from disbandment

Many Japanese idol groups, such as the mega-popular AKB48, package incentives in with their CDs to get fans to buy multiple copies of the same exact thing. In AKB48’s case, the group occasionally includes voting ballots within special “election singles” that allow fans to vote for the member that will be featured most prominently on a new song.

Like AKB48, up-and-coming rock idol unit DEEP GIRL is using a system of incentives to encourage fans to buy their debut single, which will be released this summer. However, the group is taking an even more drastic approach by using a tiered system of prizes–along with the very real threat that the group will be instantly disbanded if their song doesn’t make it into the Oricon Weekly Top Ten.

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7-Eleven teams up with Attack on Titan to bring you new video short, prizes galore!

Beginning on Friday, May 22, 7-Eleven stores across Japan will finally team up with the wildly popular Attack on Titan franchise to bring you a special lottery with all sorts of winnable prizes! Be sure to check out the details as well as an amusing new promotional video after the jump.

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Pre-order the sleek new Batman figure envisioned by a prolific video game designer

Tetsuya Nomura is the mastermind behind this upcoming Batman figure, the likes of which you’ve never seen before. The 44-year-old video game artist/designer/director of Square Enix fame (he’s a veteran of both the Final Fantasy series and Kingdom Hearts) personally designed this version of the Dark Knight, and if you’re a fan of both his work and DC Comics, you’d better ready your wallet now!

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“Iron Women”: Airline safety officers in training endure rigorous drills for their future careers

At a vocational school in Chengdu (the provincial capital of southwestern Sichuan Province), China, potential candidates must undergo a rigorous training period in order to pass the test required to be a flight safety officer.

For those of you reading this from the comfort of home, sit back and be thankful that you’re not among these recruits, for whom daily training involves large quantities of mud and broken dishware!

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