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 156)
Laozi is often credited with saying, “Rather than give a man a fish, teach him to fish.” These wise words would appear to have spurred on KFC Japan’s newest promotion in conjunction with the One Piece series. Rather than give you an ice cream, KFC and the Straw Hat Pirates are going to teach you how to make ice cream and give you a maker to do it.
Being a teacher is tough. In a sincere effort to mold young minds, many educators have to endure strict regulations, tight budgets, and the unreasonable demands of monster parents. It’s too much for some to handle, as we can see in the case of Yusei Yoshikawa, the 26-year-old teacher who has recently been racking up an arrest per month for vandalizing and robbing his own school.
These days it seems all you can find are mechanical car washes scattered across our urban landscape. Sure they might be cheap and fast, but would you trust your beloved vehicle and decal of Calvin and Hobbs peeing on a Ford logo to the cold uncaring hands of a machine?
No, sir! What you need is the warm and gentle touch that only a woman can offer – a woman wearing a swimsuit since washing a car involves lots of water of course. Also, because school swimsuits offer the most durability they would have to wear those at Swimsuit Carwash in Akihabara.
You see, there’s an excuse reason for everything, including the 10,000 yen (US$100) price tag that comes with the experience.
With the announcement by Japan’s premier manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump regarding their highly anticipated smartphone app Jump Live, information has been coming out in drips and drabs about its features.
However, their most recent announcement has fans jumping for mild confusion: it’s a multimedia pasta cooking challenge between the creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko Araki and creator of Assassination Classroom Yusei Matsui.
Customs authorities in South Korea are pleased to announce that they have cracked a smuggling ring in which gold was brought into the country via people’s cracks. Police have issued warrants for the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the crime, a 47-year-old man going by the name of Zou, along with eight accomplices.
When out on the town many drinking establishments in Japan offer yakitori, which is basically grilled marinated chicken on a stick. These are offered in a wide variety using different parts of the chicken, added vegetables, or different sauces, salts and spice blends.
Now Zenyaren Sohonten Tokyo is offering a one-of-a-kind type of grilled chicken called The World’s First Mega-Yakitori. This limited edition menu item is said to contain 30 times the meat of a regular stick of yakitori. This isn’t a simple case of quantity over quality either as the chicken is specially selected from regions across Japan.
Before anyone even asked him, Mr. Sato was digging out his most loose-fitting jeans and on his way to try it out.
For any young man in Japan looking to get into professional soccer, enrollment in Yasu High School in Shiga Prefecture would be a good decision. This school has graduated several pros in Japan and is continuing to build a reputation for soccer skills since winning the National High School Soccer Championship in 2006. In case you don’t believe them, they posted a promotional video on YouTube showing a brief minute-and-a-half flurry of fancy footwork along with surprisingly good cinematography for a high school video.
On 20 July, McDonald’s Japan released their third and final luxury Quarter Pounder Jewelry Series burger, the Quarter Pounder Ruby Spark. Like the Black Diamond and Gold Ring that came before it, the Ruby Spark sold for the exorbitant amount of 1,000 yen (US$10).
The Ruby Spark’s special premium ingredient was a few slices of chorizo developed specifically for this sandwich. As customers started devouring the one-day-only sandwich and took to the net to voice their opinions, public sentiment was unusually divided straight down the middle with a balance of comments declaring it “perfect” and “not good enough.”
Curious at how polarizing one burger can be, we sent a reporter to check one out.
In the never-ending hunt to find ways to keep cool, many in Japan have been flocking to ‘cool towels’, which miraculously claim to provide a cooling sensation with the mere touch of moisture.
However, do these man-made wonders have the goods to keep people cooler than pure ice in such scorching weather? On this tremendously hot and sweaty day, I was tasked with finding out…
We’re still searching for that perfect way to survive summer, whether it be by eating cow tongue ice cream or tossing water onto the street. However, Burger King claims they have the answer we’ve all been looking for: grilled meat, fried garlic, and lots of both.
Starting on 26 July they will be releasing two sandwiches as part of their Summer Stamina series dubbed the Garlic Meat Monster and Garlic Double Cheese.
Japan really knows how to put the stigma into stigmatized properties (homes and rooms to rent where people have committed suicide or are murdered and the like). The fear of moving into such a place and becoming like the guy from The Shining is such that real estate agents find them nearly impossible to unload. Especially with websites mapping out exactly where they are, potential renters and buyers know just where to avoid.
Recently though, a listing appeared on Japanese real estate site SUUMO which attempted a whole new approach to offloading a stigmatized property, with the author trying to convince you, the potential renter, that it’s actually great to live in a place where someone violently died!
Thirty years ago today, on July 15, 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer game system, affectionately (and pretty much officially) called Famicom. The designing process began back in ’81 by Masaki Uemura and his team who dealt with tight budgets and little hope of success. However, this machine breathed much-needed life into a suffocatingly over-saturated gaming market that was only in its infancy.
It’s generally agreed that few members of the animal kingdom can quite match the level of cuteness offered by the humble otter. Watching those little guys floating on their backs and eating off their tummies makes you just want to snatch them up from the water and take them home.
Well, now Keikyu Aburatsubo Marine Park is still not letting you do that, but they are giving you the next best thing without violating poaching laws. From now until 13 September, you can get a little touchy feeling with their otters by letting them grab your finger.
It would seem that Japan is experiencing an upswing in men who like to wear bras. I had no idea until reading a story on the website My Navi that claims this is so. Sure enough after searching Japanese online shopping site Rakuten, there were six pages of bras designed specifically for men on sale.
My Navi‘s bra-wearing woman reporter went to gather evidence of this phenomenon to find out why more and more men a looking to strap on a brassiere.
In Japan, there’s a saying that goes: “Japanese people are born into Shintoism, get married as Christians and die as Buddhists.” Usually it’s meant to be a comment on Japan’s laissez-faire attitude towards religion. However, having experienced all three of these life events in Japan, it’s a surprisingly accurate aphorism.
In the case of birth, after one month it’s common practice in Japan to take the baby a Shinto shrine for its Hatsumiyamairi (literally “first shrine visit”) often shortened to Omiyamairi. Like weddings and funerals, these ceremonies can differ greatly depending on the region, so I thought I’d share my own recent experience at an Omiyamairi to shed some light on this lesser-known Japanese tradition.
This 14 August, Yamagata City will be holding its 34th Yamagata Fireworks show, one of the biggest in the Tohoku area. This year the festivities will be represented by Hanapon, the new yuru-kyara (costumed mascot) on the very crowded block.
With the announcement of Mt. Fuji joining the ranks of UNESCO’s World Heritage, there has been a sudden swell of attention paid to the iconic mountain. Merchandise has been coming out fast and furious, but the popularity explosion has unexpectedly struck the cute anthropomorphic Mt. Fuji moe character Saori with some of its shrapnel. However, while people were coming for the name association, a steady fan-base is building as we learn a little more about Saori’s personality.
The ceremonial first pitch is a century-old tradition of baseball, where we get to watch notable politicians and celebrities try their hand at the great American pastime. There’s a lot of entertainment to be had to see if these outsiders can get the ball across the plate cleanly or at least avoid bouncing it.
Then, every once in a while, someone comes a long and revolutionizes the first pitch. This recently happened in South Korea when rhythmic gymnast Shin Soo-ji stunned the audience and redefined the phrase “throw like a girl”.
Yakiniku (Korean barbecue) restaurants have been popular in Japan for a long time now. People around here can’t seem to get enough of managing their own grill and eating copious amounts of pure meat. However, in recent years Japan seems to really be getting into red meat what with romantic meat themed video games and classily stacked Quarter Pounders for a king’s ransom.
Particularly around the summer season Japanese people appear to be craving red meat extra hard. News Post Seven reports that of all types of restaurants in Japan, the yakiniku sector has grown a hearty 14 percent compared to the previous year. It was the only type to grow over 10 percent – an impressive feat in this sluggish economy. As a result we are seeing other restaurants and bars adopting charcoal grills to tap into this success.
To answer the million dollar question of why Korean barbecue is going so strong, News Post Seven‘s Tatsuya Matsura came up with an interesting theory. Let’s see if it holds water and maybe a little BBQ sauce too.
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
Eight unforgettable hot springs, as recommended by Japan’s “Professor Bath”
Mt Fuji convenience store becomes “lawless zone” as tourists hurl abuse at security guards
Yakuza family speaks out against rise in organized crime
Japan’s workplace drinking party communication is unnecessary, says majority of workers in survey
Drinkable Mayo on sale at Japanese convenience stores for mayonnaise fanatics
Finally! Icees are coming to Japan!
Savor the sass in Osaka’s new obachan-inspired buns
Big dam Godzilla appears in Japan as power-washer art on side of 195-foot dam【Video】
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Studio Ghibli releases new range of cardigans for anime fans
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Celebrating Good Couple’s Day in Japan…by getting our significant others to dress us
7-Eleven Japan releases fukubukuro lucky bags filled with convenience store surprisesStarbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Travel tip: Fukuoka has a great luggage delivery service that’s cheaper than a coin locker
Taking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first time
Beautiful Totoro bag returns, still requires jumping through an extra hoop to get, still worth it
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle themeStudio Ghibli releases new range of cardigans for anime fans
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve tooBerserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
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
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
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
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Drinkable Mayo on sale at Japanese convenience stores for mayonnaise fanatics
Finally! Icees are coming to Japan!
Savor the sass in Osaka’s new obachan-inspired buns
Big dam Godzilla appears in Japan as power-washer art on side of 195-foot dam【Video】
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Studio Ghibli releases new image albums and soundtracks for fans
Late-night cake cafe in Tokyo’s hostess/host bar district will satisfy your confectionary desires
How to order snacks on a Shinkansen bullet train in Japan
Foreign tourist angers locals for doing pull-ups on torii gate at shrine in Japan
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Japan’s subscription service simply called “Mom” is totally worth it
Japanese woman stumbles on the power of the infamous “gaijin seat” phenomenon during flight
10 crazy pizzas from Japan
Tsukiji alternative – Tokyo has a second fish market, and it turns out it’s awesome too