Featured

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.”

StudyNow App

Twitter RSS

Posted by Master Blaster (Page 161)

43-Year-Old Taiwanese Man Arrested for Stealing Box of Condoms, Booooooy Are His Parents Gonna Be Mad

It’s a familiar coming-of-age scenario for many a young man. Things with the girlfriend are progressing well and it’s time to round third into the home plate. However, there are still condoms to get. How do you confront the judgmental gaze of the minimum wage cashier who in reality couldn’t care less what you’re up to?

One young Taiwanese lad at the tender age of 43 faced with this dilemma opted to steal a box of condoms rather than deal with the awkwardness of buying them legally, and as such has become international news.

Read More

The Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo have long been the powerhouse team of Japanese Baseball. Through highly effective promotion and the acquisition of top players they often draw parallels with the New York Yankees.

So it’s no surprise that a month and a half into the 2013 season the Giants are sitting in a familiar first place spot in the Central League standings.  However, things have begun to take a turn for the worst after a comment made by model Aki Higashihara in her supernatural “death blog.” Over the past decade people, places and businesses have all suffered some form of misfortune shortly after being mentioned in her blog Higashihara Desuga?

Read More

Inquiry Regarding Doctor Fish Results in Bizarre Yahoo! Answers

Generally, when looking for information, I avoid Q&A websites such as Yahoo! Answers at all costs. But recently I’ve been rethinking that policy. There are a lot of freaky people floating around these places that I’m missing out on.

One such freak gave the “best answer” to a simple request on buying doctor fish, a popular name for those fish in spas that remove the dead skin from your feet. It’s surprising though since while this response does give some fascinating insight into how a doctor fish eroticism addiction can affect the family unit, it seemed to lack any hard facts like a price or specific location.

Read More

Group of Foreigners See Gunma Cycle Sports Center in a Whole New Light

Some of you may remember our report on Shigenobu Matsuzawa’s visit to Gunma Cycle Sports Center a few months back.  It’s the amusement park where everything has pedals including the roller coaster. While Shigenobu ultimately gave the place four out of five stars in his reviews, the photos he took looked kind of depressing.  However, now a video released on YouTube seems to have captured a totally new angle of Gunma Cycle Sports Center which gives it a much needed image boost.

Read More

Japanese Man Arrested for Molesting Woman After Being Invited to do so Online

On 8 May Wakayama Police announced that they arrested 26-year-old Masaya Ogawa for the indecent assault of a 23-year-old woman aboard a commuter train. Adding a bizarre twist to the story, Ogawa claims that she was asking for it. He doesn’t mean that in the lame wearing-a-mini-skirt-is-asking-for-it way that other sex offenders use. Ogawa says that this was a prearranged session of “molester-play” set up online between him and the woman.

Read More

In a small ceremony at the Ukyo Ward Precinct of the Kyoto Prefectural Police, Chief Suzuki presented 13-year-old junior high student, Ryoga Nomura, with a certificate of appreciation for his bravery during a train ride home. Nomura was recognized for almost single-handedly leading police to the arrest of a drunken adult male for inappropriately touching the woman next to him.

Read More

Three Years After his Tragic Death, World Continues to Mourn Michael

As most people flock to the high production values of American television programs, the subtle nuances of British dramas, or the addictiveness of Korean programs, Taiwanese television shows are often sorely overlooked. Still, after nearly three years from its first airing we continue to be haunted by a television moment so poignant that it has captured not only the nation’s audience but the world’s.

I’m talking, of course, about the truck accident that claimed the life of Michael from the series Night Market Life. Achieving well over one million views on YouTube, people keep coming back to relieve that fateful day.

Let us watch and remember.  Michael would have wanted it that way.

Read More

Fujiyamashita Station: Crushing Dreams Since 1928

It looks like Mt. Fuji is well on it’s way to becoming an official piece of World Heritage, which means the area can expect an upswing in tourism. Around 200 km away in Gunma Prefecture, workers at Fujiyamashita Station are also bracing for an increase in foreigners mistaking the tiny station for the closest stop to the majestic mountain.

For Hirokazu Nagumo, the operator of a single car train for Jomo Rail, this is bad news.  The disappointed faces of heartbroken visitors over his 18 year career is an image he has trouble shaking from his memory.

Read More

Which is More Loved in Japan: Cats or Dogs?

It’s the eternal struggle of pet preferences. There’s no question that the top two choices for pets are cats and dogs and the human race is ultimately divided between so-called “cat-people” and “dog-people.” Since there can only be one animal to take the number one spot as “favorite pet,” large scale surveying website Research Planet asked nearly 30,000 Japanese people straight up, “Which do you like better, dogs or cats?”

Read More

Local Group’s Plan for “I Conquered Nation of Japan” Certificates Dashed by Protest

A group of local residents around the Nation of Japan had established a plan to issue “I Conquered Nation of Japan” certificates to people for 500 yen (US$5) a copy.  The plan was a small way to help promote tourism to the area. However, when the news broke, people from all over the country wrote in, protesting the scheme and calling it “inappropriate.”

Read More

We Try a “One-Piece Chicken McDo With McSpaghetti” at McDonald’s in the Philippines

In our continuing endeavor to visit McDonald’s restaurants around the world we sample the unique regional offerings the international chain creates to appease the locals and delight tourists.

This time RocketNews24 sent a reporter to a McDonald’s in the Philippines to sample one of their localized combos centered by a heap of McSpaghetti. The following is their report.

Read More

When Akio Toyoda took the helm of Toyota Motor Corporation in 2009, he was faced with a collapsing economy and a recall scandal that now seemed to have been blown out of proportion.

Still, he was able to steer the company through these stormy waters by being something more than just the founder’s great grandson who took over the company. He was a guy who truly loved cars.

As proof, it came to light on 30 April that he will participate in this year’s 24 Hours Nürburgring, a grueling endurance race on one of the most challenging circuits in the world.

Read More

The two boys seen above are Aldrich Lloyd Taloding and James Walter Bucong from the Philippines.  Their video having been uploaded to YouTube about a week ago is already nearing one million views and comments such as “Freaking beautiful!” and “I got goosebumps.”

Read More

McDonald’s to Sell McGriddles All Day Long, It’s about Time!

As we have been monitoring the peculiar efforts that make up McDonald’s Japan’s marketing it seemed as if the fast food chain could do no right (with the exception of the spectacular fries holder).  However, their upcoming campaign looks like something everyone can get behind: an all-day breakfast menu!

Well, one sandwich at least.

Read More

OBJECTION! The Prosecution is Pitching a Tent!

Ace Attorney (or Gyakuten Saiban in Japan) is a popular lawyer video game series that has found success in Japan and overseas. One hero of the games, Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo) takes the role of defense attorney versus the iron clad prosecution of his long time rival Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi).

As one would do when their games become successful, Capcom has merchandised it up and down the block releasing items such as mugs, key chains, and the stylish plastic folders you see above.

But one Twitter user discovered something rather unsettling about them.

Read More

Era’s Adventures in Intellectual Property Rightsland

Recently a new game developed for Android devices, Era’s Adventures was turning heads for its main character, Era’s slight resemblance to Nintendo’s famous dinosaur Yoshi.  The attention had gotten so big that it caught the eye of Nintendo’s legal team who decided to have a chat with the developer, Botond Kopacz.

Read More

Famicom Creator Masayuki Uemura Had No Faith in the Game System’s Success, Colored it After His Boss’ Scarf

This year Nintendo and fans celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Family Computer (Famicom) game system originally released in 1983.  It was the machine that revitalized home gaming worldwide with its later incarnation, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In a story of shocking success, no one was more shocked perhaps than the system’s head developer, Masayuki Uemura who revealed the details of the Famicom’s rocky beginnings in an interview with Shupure News.

Read More

Time to Get Rid of Those Ugly Radiation Suits, Teijin to Unveil Radiation-Proof Fabric

It’s often sad to see the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant or any other radioactive site around the world. It’s a dangerous job that requires brave workers, and brave workers deserve a cool looking uniform. Firefighters get those axes and huge trench coats, police often have cool looking bulletproof vests, but workers in areas of high radiation have to wear those white or yellow suits that look like trash bags.

Thankfully, this sad state of affairs may soon change with the development of a fabric which blocks x-ray and gamma-ray radiation.

Read More

Home Run Girl Video a Hit on YouTube, Scores of Guys Wish they Were Stuffed Animals

Recently a video titled Where is Dobayashi’s Ball Going… Home Run Girl Stares as She Waits Her Turn was uploaded onto the official YouTube channel for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League.  Within days it became the most watched video on the channel with 286,249 views and counting. The reason why this video of a failed home run became so popular is clear from the image above.

However, you might be wondering what this stunningly beautiful woman is doing in full uniform clutching a doll of what appears to be the Phillie Phanatic and intensely staring at player, Shota Dobayashi.

Read More

Parents Group in Russia Deems Death Note ‘Harmful Matter,’ Requests Ban

On 24 April in the Ural region of Russia, a parents group published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin asking that the popular Death Note manga series be regulated in all its forms (print, anime, live action).

Death Note was a Shonen Jump series that ran from 2003 to 2006 and centered on Light Yamagi, a student who stumbles upon a magical notebook which has the power to kill people simply by writing their names in it.

Read More

  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 158
  5. 159
  6. 160
  7. 161
  8. 162
  9. 163
  10. 164
  11. ...
  12. 184