Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Master Blaster is the two-man translating team of Canada’s Steven Le Blanc and Japan’s Masami M, a pair who in addition to writing work are in English education and created the StudyNow app for Japanese students of English.
Together they have written somewhere around 1,500 articles for RocketNews24 covering such diverse topics as Chinese men selling sanitary napkins to each other and a Japanese guy dragging an ear of corn around the Tokyo train system. A few of these were actually good, but don’t take our word for it! Here’s what our beloved readers had to say:
“One isn't always in the mood for bold tastes. But when I'm in the mood for bold flavor I turn to you.”
“Stupid article. Who cares what the Japanese think it's cool. You don't call a monkey, "gorilla".”
“You know, this is about the most cogent explanation of how a turbocharger works that I have ever seen in the non-motorsports world.”
“Thanks for the article peter!”
“It's people like you who make exploitation possible.”
“It looks yummy and the story was great. Thank you for the smile.”
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Posted by Master Blaster (Page 126)
Sure we all love the great taste of ginger ale. Its sugary and spicy flavor, which also helps ease tummy aches, is second to none. But I know some of you must be wondering: “Why can’t I get that fantastic ginger taste in a milky substance which has no saturated fat or lactose and was not produced in a way that directly exploits animals?”
Your highly specific prayers have been answered! Kikkoman will be bringing Ginger Ale Flavored Soy Milk to stores across Japan in February.
Late last year shower specialists Oxygenics released sets of shower heads featuring the faces of Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They were warmly received by moms in America, who immediately saw them as a way to get kids motivated for bath-time and praised their easy water-pressure controls.
People in Japan saw the character shower heads quite differently, however, with some even going as far to call them “demeaning” and saying that “I don’t know if this is appropriate for children.”
The other day while out shopping for computer parts like that-thing-that-connects-an-old-type-iPod-to-a-PC, one Twitter user stumbled upon a truly great deal. For only 200 yen (US$1.70) you can get…um, you know…one of those “things-that-let-you-make-a-USB-into-a-plug.”
Wassup young people, I’m speaking your language today to tell you about to totally tubular deal from JR Kyushu! They’re offering some super-rad discounts of up to 40% off on train fares around the island of Kyushu for a seriously limited time.
It’s called the Gachi Ticket, where “gachi” is a new word the kids in Japan are using that’s hard to translate to English but somewhere along the lines of “for realz!” and “aww psssht it’s on!”
Some of you may recall us looking back on Japan’s version of Spider-Man from the late 1970s that was so over-the-top it made the old Adam West Batman series look like brooding British melodrama set atop a dew-soaked Northumberland farm.
It kept pretty close to the original storyline of Spider-Man, like how a motorcycle racer got his spider powers from an alien along with a spaceship that transforms into a giant robot to battle the evil Professor Monster, and shouting out, “I’m the emissary of Hell!” in Japanese before doing so.
It’s been a while since those good times but now the Japanese fans that still remember the series are tickled to see Spidey’s old war machine Leopardon has returned in the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man!
Tired of RocketNews24 items that are coherent and have some semblance of order? Me too, so here’s a video of Dragon Ball Z villain Freeza playing an excellent rendition of the One Piece theme song “We Are!” on the drums. Well, it’s nearly Friday, isn’t it?
Iwata Bookstore is a modest little shop in Sunagawa City way up in the Northeastern part of Hokkaido. It also the site of an unlikely success story as it has recently been receiving orders from all over Japan by people wanting its one-of-a-kind offer of 10,000 yen (US$84) worth of books.
They’re not just any books though; these books are recommended by the shop’s owner Toru Iwata and hand-picked for every customer who orders.
The world is full of musical instruments with varying degrees of notoriety. Many instruments, like the guitar and piano, have legions of followers, while others like the sheng only get picked up by a select few. The Udar falls into that latter category with Mr. Sato having just become one of the very few people who have ever picked one up.
Join us as we listen to the musical stylings of the Udar as played by its inventor Michinobu Uda and learn a little about how it works.
During the winter months Japanese people often like to relax under their heated tables (kotatsu) and enjoy a nice mikan tangerine. Its juicy sweetness and vitamin C is a great compliment to these chilly nights. But really, anywhere in the world, anytime is a good time to enjoy some variation of orange, isn’t it?
So next time you get ready to peel a mandarin or clementine how about making it into a caterpillar first like many Twitter users in Japan have been doing in recent years? It’s super easy and we’re going to show you how.
As we’ve been constantly reminding you over the past year or so, Youkai Watch is really big in Japan now, and yet some of you out there still don’t seem to believe us. We’ve watched them rip the annual McDonald’s calendar endorsement deal out of the cuddly clutches of Pokemon. We’ve seen fans carve their graven images into pumpkins. We’ve tasted of their milk. Still, there are those who think that it’s just a flash in the pan.
For those people, we present the highest honor a character in Japan can receive: a sashimi platter in their likeness.
As with the beginning of any new year, there comes the chore of getting a new calendar for your wall or fridge. Sure one usually arrives in the mail from your friendly neighborhood real estate agency, or you could always shell out for the motif of your choosing from a local calendar boutique.
But the really lucky years are when the perfect calendar just falls right into your lap, as it did with our Japanese writer Ponkotsu the other day. From an associate in Shanghai, he received something in the mail with the words Chinese Dream printed on its front; a calendar that he knew in an instant would become the one of his own dreams too.
There’s a particular type of male who when in possession of a vehicle strives to make it the most outstanding machine on the road for better or for worse. This generally involves painting obnoxiously loud colors onto their cars, which have been fitted with even more obnoxiously loud speakers. The result is a visual and audible horror show only appreciated by those with a similar mindset.
And then we have Harpeet Devi of India who has reached new heights of annoying car customization. He had his transmission customized to have four speeds in reverse and only one speed forward so he can drive backwards everywhere he goes.
Although they often live in the shadow of their cousin Pocky, Glico’s Pretz brand of cracker sticks are also usually quite tasty. They certainly have enough taste power to stand on their own, but now after joining forces with the children’s money magnet that is Youkai Watch they certainly are a snack force to be reckoned with. The result of this power coupling is Our Milk Flavored Youkai Watch Pretz.
The concept of youkai (traditional Japanese monsters) milk is kind of disgusting in the first place but fun for the kids so we’ll let that slide. However, one sharp-eyed Twitter user spotted in the fine print below: “milk solids 6 percent” leading many online to wonder if “our milk” might actually be something far more heinous. So, I grabbed a pack to take a gander at the actual ingredients and find out if Our Milk Flavored Youkai Watch Pretz actually taste like milk – youkai or otherwise – despite apparently hardly having any milk inside.
With Toyota’s first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV), Mirai, now available, many wait to see if this revolutionary car with take off or fall flat in Japan. On 25 December, JX Nippon Oil & Energy began selling hydrogen for these new vehicles at a cost of 1,000 yen per kilogram (US$8/kg – $3.60/lb).
So is that worth giving up the pumps for…whatever hydrogen comes out of?
As you’ve probably already gathered by browsing our front page today, fukubukuro season again! And for the 99.999999999 percent of us who couldn’t get the robot suit, every other store in Japan has something up for grabs.
This time we’re going to take a peek inside a lucky bag from leading fast food chain Lotteria as purchased by our own Hattori GO. Even though he’s not particularly a Naruto fan, he found himself very satisfied with his 2,000-yen (US$17) paper bag, so let’s take a look inside and see why!
Throughout 2014, Kyoto Prefectural Police began an initiative having taxi drivers and late-night convenience stores work together to reduce incidents of armed robbery. Although still early, the program has so far been rousing success, leading to a 48 percent decrease in convenience store robberies compared to the previous year. They also get extra points for giving it the cool name of “Midnight Defender Strategy”.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Technical Research & Development Institute (TRDI) appears to be nearing completion of the Throwable Type Reconnaissance Robot. It’s a little black orb about 50 percent bigger than a softball that Self-Defense Force members can simply toss into environments otherwise hazardous to humans and have a look around before taking action. It looks kind of awesome.
The New Year season is often a peak shopping time in Japan, and as such stores pull out the big guns in what are known as fukubukuro (lucky bags). These are bags full of the merchandise a particular shop peddles. Sometimes it’s random which means you could end up with a laptop for fifty bucks, other times the contents are known but you can still get a decent deal on a bulk purchase. And sometimes, in the name of publicity, shops will throw in some unusual item or offer remarkably great deals to celebrate the new year.
It appears the winner for 2015 will be Keisei Department Store who are offering what must be a very large fukubukuro containing a two-meter-tall functional robot suit!
No matter what culture you come from, you have probably played a game of tag or a similar game by a different name at least once in your life. It’s a childhood pastime that quite possibly dates well back into prehistoric times in one form or another.
In Japan it is well-loved and goes by the name onigokko (“play demon”) wherein on player takes the role of the oni (demon/”it”) and tries to touch the other players which will turn them into oni.
I say “well-loved” because in recent years the country has held the largest games of tag in the world and has currently evolved the game into “sports onigokko” an organized team-based version of the of what you may know as tag.
Overseas Uber driver and anime fan gets the Cowboy Bebop surprise of a lifetime【Video】
Japan’s most competitive neighboring prefectures are revealed in a recent survey
Anime Industry Report shows overseas anime market is bigger than Japanese one, but is this a cultural tipping point?
What’s in the KFC Japan fukubukuro lucky bag?
The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】
“I overdid it.” – Man in Japan fired after ditching work 633 times to go to the gym
Kyoto reportedly planning to raise hotel guest taxes, create highest accommodation tax in Japan
The etiquette rules for visiting Shinto shrines in Japan
Starbucks Japan reveals new Valentine’s Day goods for 2025
Starbucks unveils new Valentine’s Day Frappuccino in Japan
Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?Anime Industry Report shows overseas anime market is bigger than Japanese one, but is this a cultural tipping point?The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】
There’s an official PlayStation lucky bag, but what’s inside?【Photos】The etiquette rules for visiting Shinto shrines in Japan
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The Häagen-Dazs Japan fukubukuro lucky bag is filled with…ice creams from 2023
Starbucks Japan saves the best for last in our fukubukuro lucky bag haulJapan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】Anime Industry Report shows overseas anime market is bigger than Japanese one, but is this a cultural tipping point?
Bear breaks into house in Japan, quickly begins spending winter exactly like Japanese people do
Hayao Miyazaki says Happy New Year to Studio Ghibli fans with new art for Year of the Snake
Japanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glasses
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
McDonald’s Japan has a fukubukuro lucky bag that everyone wants to get their hands on
What’s in Starbucks Japan’s fukubukuro lucky bag for 2025?
Station of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid Line
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
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?
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
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
“I overdid it.” – Man in Japan fired after ditching work 633 times to go to the gym
Kyoto reportedly planning to raise hotel guest taxes, create highest accommodation tax in Japan
The etiquette rules for visiting Shinto shrines in Japan
Starbucks Japan reveals new Valentine’s Day goods for 2025
Starbucks unveils new Valentine’s Day Frappuccino in Japan
An extremely simple trick to spice up plain rice for a refreshing, citrusy summer treat
Line of foreign tourists leads us to Akihabara’s meatiest fatty ramen【Taste test】
Starbucks Japan saves the best for last in our fukubukuro lucky bag haul
Fashion for the young at heart! A different take on what it means to get older in Japan
Low price, free booze and curry, late check-out, and great location — Akihabara capsule hotel has it all
Lingerie lucky bag from Japan’s Peach John includes anime cosplay bra/panty set, maybe by accident
Sonic creator thanks fans for loving character so much that his ugly movie design will be changed
Sega apologizes after exec says Puyo Puyo players eat beef bowls with cheese