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Master Blaster

Writer / Translator

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 146)

Denny’s Japan to serve up burgers with added microorganisms… for your health!

It would appear that Japan is getting more and more firmly entrenched in the euglena craze. These little algae (particularly those from Ishigaki Island) have been determined to pack a nutritious punch carrying around 59 different kinds of nutrients from vitamins and minerals to amino acids.

We recently sampled these little guys in a cup of delicious yogurt, which was creepy at first but not a big leap since yogurt is all bacteria-y anyway. But would the public also go for these little microorganisms being added to a patty of grilled red meat? American diner chain Denny’s is wagering “yes” with their euglena hamburgs only available in Japan from the end of this month.

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Aomori Garlic Black Beer: That great, people-repelling aftertaste of gyoza, now from a beverage!

All around Japan, various craft brews are sold each with their own unique twist on the widely-loved beverage. For beer connoisseurs, part of the fun of domestic traveling can be trying to unearth hidden brews scattered across the land.

For example, out of Aomori Prefecture, known as the garlic-producing leader of the nation, comes Aomori Garlic Black Beer. Our reporter, Mami, spotted some in the wild and decided to try it out. The combination of beer and garlic had potential, and Aomori certainly know their garlic. What could go possibly wrong?

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Report finds a dramatic increase in Japanese men taking up stalking in their golden years

As Japan’s senior citizen population continues to steadily grow, changes in society occur regularly. We’ve seen inspiring tales of the elderly getting into modeling, mastering the latest technology, and forming idol groups. On the other hand we’ve also seen complaints of rampant spitting and pushing by Japan’s silver citizens.

And then we have a troubling trend which was discovered by the National Police Agency (NPA) which say that incidents of stalking perpetrated by people over 60 have increased 3.8 times in the past ten years.

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Intergenerational fashion show celebrates the beauty of ages

Grandchildren’s Day (Mago no Hi) was on 20 October this year, and is a date when grandparents may officially shower gifts upon their children’s children. However, you can’t have grandkids without grandparents, so a unique fashion event was held two days prior, bringing together models from both these generations, and aimed to celebrate and bring out the beauty in their relationship.

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Video shows karate ref flipping out and defeating both fighters

Karate is a martial art which takes a high level of discipline and training to master. Those who make it to the highest ranks of the fighting technique deserve all of the respect and honor that comes along with such a position.

That being said, watching an official karate tournament on TV tends to rank somewhere around pro-bowling and bass fishing in terms of excitement. This is why seeing a video like the one on YouTube titled “Karate referee gets into the fight” is too good to be true!

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Nagano police bust up cannabis tempura camping party

Late last month 51-year-old resident of Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, Kazuhiko Shirasaka, allegedly called together a camping party with around 30 other people including 62-year-old Naofumi Katsuragawa who lived in nearby Ikeda Town. Little did they know, these young rascals would be cooking up the makings of an after-school special, if late-middle-aged people still went to school.

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Japan under siege by broken umbrellas

Japan is a country that loves their umbrellas. Rain or shine, lolita or businessman, everyone enjoys the security of a swath of plastic or cloth above their precious head. However, this time of year poses a particular problem for parasol lovers, when mother nature flings typhoons at East Asia like so many spitballs at a blackboard of the Pacific Rim.

The result for most pedestrians is a nasty combination of heavy wind and rain where one wrong turn of the corner can instantly result in your umbrella becoming the world’s largest and most depressing shuttlecock.

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Two restaurants in China accused of adding poppy seeds to food hoping to get customers hooked

Reports out of China have revealed that two restaurants in the Guangzhou area were found to be using ground up poppy seeds in some of their dishes. The reports allege that the businesses were “using the seeds of addictive poppies in an underhanded way to get repeat business.”

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Liquidman lets you dance like a maniac on a busy street from the comfort of your own living room

Have you ever wanted to start dancing like a madman in the middle of a crowded urban street, but felt restrained by the conventions of society? Our reporter Mr. Sato sure has. So when he learnt about the Halls throat lozenges’ YOUareLIQUIDMAN campaign, he got right on it.

YOUareLIQUIDMAN encourages sheepish individuals to upload a photo of themselves to the Halls website. Their photo is then displayed on liquid man who proceeds to dance like Michael Stipe in front of total strangers.

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Limited edition Gundam cake up for preorder, comes with Char’s custom plate and fork!

Some of the lesser-known joys of Japan are the occasional anime/video game and cake collaborations. Sure, taking your favorite hobby and injecting it with some cake is a no-brainer, but these limited offers always bring some very unique collectables with them. Monster Hunter fans who pre-ordered their Rathalos cakes should be getting them next month.

Now we present to you the Char Zaku Cake Set. It’s a cake in the shape of Char Aznable’s custom MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type served on Char’s custom cake dish and fork.

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We try yogurt which contains euglena… yeah, we had to look it up too

Euglena is a microorganism, in some ways similar to algae. However, it is truly unique in that it exhibits feeding habits of both animals and plants. Such a fascinating biological specimen has left us all wondering: What does it taste like?

To answer that, convenience stores all over Japan have begun selling Euglena Yogurt from 15 October. Our brave reporter Usagi went to try some out.

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We get a sneak peak at stew-flavored Garigari-Kun popsicles! Tastes great with rice!

Since a picture was leaked online last week, Japan has been all abuzz with rumors of the latest in the “rich” flavor line up of popular Garigari-kun brand popsicles. Their previous corn potage flavor was deemed a rousing success and now it appeared they were topping themselves this with a potato stew version.

The good news is a release date has been set for 29 October. The even better news is that we already got to take some Garigari-kun Potato Stew bars for a test taste at a presentation in Tokyo two weeks early!

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Kiss’ spicy steamed meat buns are Hotter Than Hell

Chinese style steamed dumplings are a staple of convenience stores all over Japan. Known as nikuman in Japan (or other name ending in “–man” depending on the fillings) their round shape allows for a lot of cross marketing creativity. In the past we’ve seen Spiderman, Monsters Inc., the Dragon Quest Slime, Hatsune Miku, and random cute animals all rendered in dumpling form.

What better way for the hard rocking and hard merchandising titans of Kiss to commemorate their Japan tour in the latter half of this month than with the Kiss Super-Spicy Chili Tomatoman? But can a steamed dumpling capture the rock and roll spirit of Kiss? Mr. Sato went on the day of their release to find out.

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Japanese police officer sentenced to prison, found guilty of attempted extortion to settle his gaming debt

When Takahiro Ueyama was a boy he dreamed of becoming a police officer like his father. Rain or shine, even on holidays, he would remember his dad rushing out to help people when needed. Ueyama studied hard to achieve his goal and in 1989 he was finally able to be like his old man. It didn’t stop there either, up-and-coming Officer Ueyama continued to work hard and eventually outperformed his father in police work, earning an award in the process.

Takahiro Ueyama told all this to the Kobe District Court last month where he stood trial for extortion. By this time his crime had become widely publicized as it was carried out in order to pay off his mounting mobile phone game bills of 500,000 yen (US$5,000).

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Man arrested after rice cooker found plugged into neighbor’s home

In Kawazoe, Saga Prefecture, a 48-year-old homeowner received a shock when he found a rice cooker plugged into an exterior outlet on his house. He immediately called the police and reported the meal which was being prepared in his yard without his consent. Knowing that time was of the essence, police rushed to scene.

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To reuse or not to reuse, that is the question for restaurants everywhere

The other day I was eating at a restaurant that served their French fries with a small cup. One half was filled with ketchup and the other half mayonnaise. The presentation was quite lovely but it made me wonder. It was about the size of a pudding cup and there was no way I would be able to use all of those condiments in one sitting. What would happen to the rest of it? Would it be thrown out? Surely it wouldn’t end up being served to another customer after I’d dipped my fries and poked around in it for the majority of my meal?

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Chinese netizens call for education reform after seeing Japanese test question

The above question allegedly taken from a children’s test in Japan was posted on Chinese social networks recently. It’s a question that not only teaches us the proper way to use a scale but also a little something about the way we educate our youth.

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Japan votes on the musical act they most want to see in the Olympic opening ceremony

With the Olympic Games slated to return to Tokyo in 2020 a lot of prep work needs to be done. And as facilities are being planned and developed there’s also the difficult task of providing entertainment, particularly in the opening ceremony. China’s powerful and impressive ceremony raised the bar for what’s expected of a country in terms of presenting their culture in a fun and meaningful way.

To get the ball rolling, the Japanese Olympic Committee held a survey asking everyone which musicians they would most like to see appear at the opening ceremony. A total of 143,394 people responded and the following top twenty artists were recently announced.

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Legendary mecha designer dreams up the future of Japan’s fire trucks

Fire truck manufacturer Yoshitani Machinery Co. recently approached mechanical designer Kunio Okawara and asked him to draw the next generation of fire engine. Of course, when you ask an artistic talent behind the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and other giant robots to make a fire truck, you’re in for a treat.

Behold, The Next Yoshitani Rescue Vehicle!

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Shinkansen stopped and searched by police because of passenger who really had to pee

No matter what language you speak, words can sometimes have a way of landing us in trouble. Sometimes we exaggerate for the sake of making a sentence simpler by saying things like “just a sec.” Other times idiomatic phrases like “talk someone’s ear off” can lead to absurd literal translations.

And then there are times when a simple turn of phrase can inadvertently lead to a major incident involving the police and talk of a potential terrorist attack.

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