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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 163)

Is 800 Million Yen Really Enough to Take a Bath In?

Not too long ago, Mr. Sato was thumbing through a magazine when he came across an ad for something. On the page he could see a man sitting in a bath tub filled with cash.  “Boy, he sure looks happy” Mr. Sato thought as he put down the magazine.

That image lingered in the back of his mind until the announcement of Loto 7’s biggest jackpot ever, 800 million yen (US$8.5M). Then it dawned on him. He could win the grand prize and realize his new dream of bathing in money.

“Winning the jackpot once should be no problem,” he thought to himself “but it’d be a little harder to win twice if I need that much to fill a tub.”

He had to be sure that 800 million yen was enough before he’d be foolish enough to play the lottery.

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New Line of Coffee Claims to Shed Fat in 12 Weeks

Kao Japan is preparing to release the newest addition to their line of Healthya brand health drinks. In addition to their existing collection of waters and teas, things are getting a little more flavorful with fat-burning “Healthya Coffee.”

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The Five Most Popular Places to Kill Oneself or The Top Five Places to Save a Life

Japan often gets a reputation as a suicide-heavy nation but the social problem of self-destruction is something all parts of the world have to tackle.

The following is a list of five places in the world where suicides have most often occurred. It’s a bittersweet honor in that they are all either places of extreme natural beauty of impressive feats of engineering.

On the other hand, they are also places and countries that clearly do too little to prevent either the mental illness that leads to suicide of the act itself.

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You would think any transportation business would realize that in the event of a massive delay, a steady flow of information to the passengers is crucial.

Still, places like Kunming Changshui International Airport in China and more recently Keihan Electric Railway in Japan continue to leave their customers stranded without a clue about what’s happening with disastrous results.

On 24 March, Keihan Electric Railway experienced a massive loss of power along the entire Main Line running between Osaka and Kyoto. The hour-and-a-half delay ruined many people’s days and resulted in a tongue lashing for one blind lady.

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Lunch Exchange: We Taste Test Japanese “Station Bentos” from New York’s Grand Central Station

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Tokyo Station as well as Grand Central Station, New York: two titans of transportation who have served their respective metropolises proud.

To honor this centennial, Grand Central hosted “Japan Week” which drew crowds to the already crowded terminal. Hearing of this, RocketNews24 sent a reporter to investigate the centerpiece of Japan Week; the ekiben counter!

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IKEA Giving Away Free Breakfast for Limited Time

We all love Swedish housewares chain IKEA for their reliable selection of TISDAGs and RÅSKOGs, and whenever I’m out shopping for a new SLÄT I like to stop by the cafeteria for their 99 yen (US$1) breakfast.

But for a limited time IKEA is lowering the price of their ultra-cheap “Morning Plate” breakfast right down to 0 yen (US$0).

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The Genesis of the Nintendo Famicom-Shaped Guitar: The Family Comguitar

Behold: a guitar shaped like an 8-bit Nintendo Famicom (NES) console with a pair of controllers! Aside from a few alterations, the body is nearly to scale with the game machine.

Let’s take a look to see how the designer going by the name Mitsumatsu made this monster musical machine.

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Here at RocketNews24 we are no strangers to excessive consumption of ordinary foodstuffs. We even once constructed a bowl of gyudon with 10 raw eggs on top.

Still, we have to doff our caps to this gent who dreamed a dream and successfully cooked 50 egg yolks in a rice cooker.  We say “successfully” because the end result actually looks pretty good – if not lethal.

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SRF’s Earthquake Protection Strips Give New Meaning to “Band-Aid Solution”

Dr. Shunichi Igarashi has surprised even himself with his line of Super Reinforcement with Flexibility (SRF) technology. SRF basically involves wrapping the columns and walls of building in adhesive strips.

The idea of gluing fabric on a building to protect it from the sheer force of an earthquake doesn’t sound very comforting. However, when Dr. Igarashi’s SRF was put to the test in the Great Tohoku Earthquake on 11 March, 2011, it passed with flying colors.

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Sakura Mikuman Too Cute to Eat, We Do So Anyway

The long standing collaboration between Japan’s premier virtual pop star and ubiquitous convenience store continues this spring with the Hatsune Miku de Sakura no Uta campaign.

Unfortunately, the campaign has been having a bit of a rocky start with the sexually suggestive Sakura Style Strawberry Cream Bread. So now it’s time to bring out the heavy artillery: Family Mart’s second version of a Hatsune Miku-themed nikuman (steamed meat bun), Sakura Mikuman.

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Forget Filthy Fingers, Soon Your Smartphone Can Check Your Pulse Just by Looking at You

Fujitsu Labs recently announced it is finalizing technology which lets you check and monitor your pulse just by pointing a camera at your face. The company claims results can be achieved in as little as five seconds and doesn’t require complicated procedures or extra equipment.

The technology is compatible with ordinary smartphones as well as tablets, laptops, or desktops as long as they’re equipped with a camera.

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You Asked for It and Now It’s Here: See-Through Paper! You Did Ask for It, Right?

On 18 March an announcement was made that shook the world of manufacturing. For centuries man has had to endure white paper for writing down notes, works of art, or fake telephone numbers from girls met in the bar.

Sure, there was the development of colored paper, but that’s just putting lipstick on a pig. The real innovation will come in the not too distant future when we will be able to enjoy paper the way it was truly meant to be – nearly invisible!

Think of the applications! Seriously, think about it, because we had to for a really long time.

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It looks like winter is behind us in Japan now and we can soon look forward to taking a dip outdoors. However, it looks as if these people jumped the gun by a month or so and took the plunge early… with all their clothes on… carrying bags and sinking to the bottom like a stone…

What on earth is going on here?

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In Search of Osaka’s 11 Cent Vending Machine

Legend has it that in the urban center of Osaka there sits a vending machine so cheap that it boggles the mind. Here a tasty beverage can be purchased for a measly 10 yen (US$0.11).

RocketNews24 had sent a reporter, Usagi Yumeno, to Fukushima Ward in the port town in search of this machine.

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5-4-3-2-1 Thunderbirds and Japan’s Self Defense Force are Go!?

Word has been circulating that the famous British sci-fi puppetry program Thunderbirds and Japan’s pseudo-military, The Self Defense Force (SDF) are teaming up for a promotional campaign.

A series of posters will be released explaining the similarities between the missions of the fictional IRO (International Rescue Organization) and functional SDF: “international peace cooperation activities and disaster relief.”

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10 Yen Coin Takes Out Entire Shinkansen Train, Passengers Evacuated and Delayed

JR Central may want to consider banning the use of 10 yen coins from their mighty Shinkansen bullet trains due to the potential hazards they pose.

On 12 March a 400-meter, 715-tonne shinkansen train capable of 300 km/h speeds was pulled off duty because of a single 2.4-centimeter 10 yen coin.

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Plumbing dealer Sunrefre Plaza opened a Facebook page this year called Love X Toilet which shares various tidbits of information regarding the world of toilets. On top of that, they held a survey asking around 2,500 Japanese people about their toilet habits. The results were enlightening to say the least.

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Rintya Miki Aprianti and Dwi Nailul Izzah are the proud recipients of gold medals in the Indonesian Science Project Olympiad (ISPO) held last February in Jakarta. It’s no surprise, though, as these two high school students have achieved a marvel of fragrance engineering: they turned a pile of cow crap into a “pleasant smelling” air freshener.

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