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 193)
23 June, 2012, marked the 30th anniversary of the Tohoku Shinkansen Line. Its original first stop, Omiya Station, acted as a lightning rod for Japanese railfans called toritetsu (lit. Photographers of Iron). A normally peaceful trainspotter, when packed into small spaces the toritetsu can become noisy and obnoxious to those around it.
Glasses maker JINS have announced that on 2 July they will sell a limited release of 1,500 pairs of their confusingly named JINS PC for Hackers, which are glasses tailored to meet the needs of hackers.
JINS makes it clear on their website that they are referring to hackers in the traditional sense of someone with a lot of experience and skill using computers and networks, rather than the criminal sense often used in the media.
Although we are currently going through our rainy season here in Japan, other parts of the world face sever threats from drought, and desertification. Luckily, Tsukuba University research team has announced the on 23 June their attempt at making rain was successful. All they had to do was use an ingredient found in a can of Coke.
At a recent auto show Toyota had unveiled its latest concept car, the Camatte (pronounced like latte), which they boast as the first ever true family car. Not only can mom and dad use it for their daily transportation needs, but little Susie can get a kick out of playing dress-up with it and little Johnny can practice driving it himself in the back yard.
It’s certainly become a widespread belief that dog is eaten in some Asian countries, most notably China and Korea. However, it never caught on in Japan, which is why we were blown away to learn that there’s a restaurant in Ikebukuro, Tokyo that offers a selection of dog meat dishes.
The name of the restaurant is Fun Fun Shop and despite the signboard that reads “Chinese Cooking” they actually offer a range of dishes into Korean and Japanese as well. Having none of us ever eaten dog before, we sent our most iron-gutted reporters to see if the taste could possibly justify the unpleasant act of eating man’s best friend. And we answered your three most likely questions, before you ask them!
Since its release on April 28th people have been flocking to toy stores across Japan to get their hands on toymaker Takara Tomy’s Kuru Kuuuuru Eco-Fan (Round and Rooooouuund Eco-Fan), so much so that their original 60,000 units had to be upped to an additional shipment of 120,000 to meet the demand.
It seems since abandoning much of the nuclear power in Japan, people’s minds are set on alternative means of keeping cool while saving electric costs or during potential black outs. The reason everyone wants this particular toy fan is because of the sheer wind power it has. For every one turn of the hand, the fan blade spins 100 times.
Anyone who’s played one of those music based games, be it Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or even Donkey Konga, surely enjoyed it but also felt that mild pang of guilt. The reality that if we spend the same time and effort learning a real instrument we could actually have a skill we would be proud of.
But learning a musical instrument is a long hard practice that often lacks the pizzazz and gratification the games offer. Perhaps, karaoke company Xing’s new Joysound f1 can help in that area, as their new karaoke system offers support for guitars and bass guitars.
Summer seems to get hotter every year. For those of us who like spicy food it can be too burdensome to eat after working up enough of a sweat from the cooking alone.
To help this dilemma, a popular Korean Barbeque restaurant, Gyukaku, has announced that it will start selling a new style of frozen kimchi from 20 June.
One of the best parts of the Olympics is when a world record is broken, but with the 4 year gap between Olympic summer games it’s easy to forget what has happened before. So RocketNews24 would like to offer you a quick recap of the greatest achievements from the best of the best athletes from around the world in Olympic events and beyond.
To make these statistics more accessible we compared some of them to various zoo animals and everyday objects.
Have you ever watched a movie where a group of unbelievably attractive looking hackers broke into some government organization by constantly typing on their keyboard like they were typing an essay? Yet according to the display they were opening and closing executable files.
Sadly when alleged cyber-attacks occured during the South Ossetia War there were probably no fancy CGI effects showing neon blue wires interacting with each other while Scarlet Johansson with a poor Slavic accent convinces a Putin-looking Sean Penn to move all the nuclear data to a back-up server – constantly typing all the while.
No, the reality is probably just a bunch of sweaty Russians crowded around a blinking DOS prompt. That is, until now, as Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have developed a new cyber-attack alert system called Daedalus. And let me tell you, cyber warfare has never been sexier!
Coca-Cola is probably the most popular brand name beverage on Earth, and as a result it pops up seemingly everywhere you go. A fun side effect of this level of popularity is to see the metamorphoses the product goes through as it crosses borders around the world.
Our correspondent has traveled to the birthplace of the Arab Spring end unearthed such a treasure. Behold the Tunisian can of Coca-Cola Zero (the calorie-free version of Coke).
The other day, I was walking through sunny Hollywood on my way to a job when, right before my eyes, I spotted everyone’s favorite rodent, Mickey Mouse. I had met Mickey once before in New York, but now he looked different – a little gaunter.
Thinking, “something’s not right” I approached him to ask for a photo like I did in NYC.
“Okay! But don’t forget to tip! Haha!”
I can’t recall how many times mobile phones and mp3 players have slipped out of the front pocket of my shirt. Always ending with that cringe inducing thud as my precious device hits the cold hard ground. There was even one incident involving a turtle pond and now-gone iPod Classic that I can’t bear to go into.
If someone was videotaping all these moments in my life it would have made an excellent opening to a commercial for K-Pocke (pronounced like pokemon), a pocket designed so that nothing slips out.
It’s safe to say Evian is the most popular brand of bottled water one the market today. It’s also well known that the water is said to come from various collection points of a spring around Évian-les-Bains (Evian for short).
However, the metaphysical question of the day is, do people in Evian drink Evian? Rumor has it that all through the town, the water is readily available for free, and no one ever buys it. RocketNews went in to answer this and deeper questions.
A bookstore called Sanseido, in the Jinbo book selling district of Tokyo, on 1 April announced that they would be selling custom-made notebooks, and it wasn’t a joke. In fact, they have been flying off the shelves, which is good because these books are ready to take away moments after ordering them.
Good news for users of smartphones and other portable devices constantly frustrated by batteries that don’t seem to last the day. A new type of energy saving memory has been successfully developed that can extend your battery life from 5 to 10 times.
Following the opening of Evangelion Store Tokyo-01, and with the release of the third installment of the reboot series, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, a new Evangelion souvenir shop is scheduled to open in the town of Hakone on 14 July.
Hakone, which serves as the backdrop for the Evangelion story (where it’s renamed as Tokyo-3), is happy to be home to the second official Evangelion store, called “Eva Shop” but is also hoping they don’t get a repeat of what happened two years ago.
A research group headed by Professor Kazunari Komuro at Osaka University believes they have found the chemical responsible for effects of aging like deterioration of muscles.
The nasty chemical responsible for making us old and frail is called C1q. Being able to regulate it in our bodies can possibly lead to treatments and prevention of more serious health problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Legend has it that in China there exists a frozen treat so incredibly powerful that it never melts, even if left in room temperature. RocketNews sent a reporter into the mysterious country to learn more about this potent popsicle of the gods.
The following takes place between 3:40pm and 6:50pm. Events occur in real time… if you’re really slow at reading.
If you’re an iPhone user you probably are very familiar with its Messages app which allows you to easily send instant mails to friends and family. Even if you don’t have an iPhone you’ve probably seen it in one of the many funny pictures of auto-correct gone wrong floating around the net.
Here’s a little trick that’s also been circulating the internet on how to make a cute little whale using the iPhone Messages speech bubble format. It’s so easy anyone can do it.
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning seems to be affecting Osaka’s Namba and Dotonbori neighborhoods
Nintendo’s Kirby now delivering orders at Kura Sushi restaurants, but not in Japan
Nintendo releases Metroid-shaped ice cube/cooking tray and Samus arm cannon pillow【Pics】
Major Japanese noodle chain is closing on Christmas Eve so workers can spend time with families
Popular Japanese ramen restaurant Ichiran’s lucky bags are great value for money
Japanese company selling bear-proof automatic doors
When is the right time for a love confession in Japan?
One Piece devil fruit ice cream coming back to Baskin-Robbins Japan
Cup Noodle mystery meat instant rice returns to Japanese stores after a seven-year absence
Sailor Moon Sanrio partnership adds pairings for Sailor Starlights in new crossover merch line【Pics】
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in TokyoNintendo’s Kirby now delivering orders at Kura Sushi restaurants, but not in Japan
Japan considering raising international traveler departure tax even more than previously reported
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting tourist crowds in Shibuya’s Don Quijote?
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting tourist crowd sizes in Nara?
Studio Ghibli stamps lift your spirits with motivational phrases from Totoro
Japanese town suing resident for being a jerk
Is Kyoto less crowded with tourists after China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning?【Photos】
You can now buy a Japanese train station clock in Japan
Japanese police attempting to clamp down on “zombie cigarettes”Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan unveils new Christmas goods and a rhinestone tumbler that costs 19,500 yen
Real-world Nausicaa Ghibli anime glider completes its final flight in Japan【Video】
Brand-new Pokémon park opens in Japan with larger-than-life-size Lapras【Photos】
Japanese train company is letting fans buy its actual ticket gates for their homes
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting tourist crowds in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood?
The 10 best day trips from downtown Tokyo【Survey】
Naturally brown-haired Osaka student sues government for forcing her to dye her hair black
Japanese government considering tripling departure taxes to combat overtourism
Unique inclined elevator in Japan leads to a town that inspired Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answerJapan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Japanese company selling bear-proof automatic doors
When is the right time for a love confession in Japan?
One Piece devil fruit ice cream coming back to Baskin-Robbins Japan
Cup Noodle mystery meat instant rice returns to Japanese stores after a seven-year absence
Sailor Moon Sanrio partnership adds pairings for Sailor Starlights in new crossover merch line【Pics】
Japan has vending machines that put protective film on your phone for you — Here’s how to use them
What’s in the KFC Japan fukubukuro lucky bag?
We buy chocolate fish in a can from a store in Akihabara
One of Tokyo’s most useful subway lines for travelers is about to get more convenient
Nara unveils new vending machines that sell deer crackers
McDonald’s Japan’s Gurakoro burgers, like a cup of hot soup in sandwich form, return this month!
Japanese Arita ware porcelain converted into jewelry to reduce waste from the traditional art