Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Michelle always seems to find her way back to Japan, having been there for vacation, study abroad, and work. During her time on the JET Programme, she lived on the island of Chiburi in Shimane, Japan’s “least popular prefecture.” In her heart, she will always be a member of that sleepy little fishing village she once called home. When she’s not swearing like a sailor while playing video games, Michelle enjoys playing soccer and “studying” Japanese.
Posted by Michelle Lynn Dinh (Page 15)
I remember the days of Tamagotchi (and the far less cool NanoPet) and how our teachers always struggled to keep us from feeding or picking up after our little digital creatures during class. The Japanese gadget was a hit with us 90s kids and will forever be one of the coolest toys of our childhood. And now, Bandai is back with a new version of Tamagotchi. But this new installment of the portable digital pet, called Tamagotchi Friends, has a new social media twist.
There’s something so romantic about rows of wisteria swaying in the breeze. Although you can find the purple plant in various places around the world, there are three particular spots in Japan that are home to dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of wisteria plants. They just might be even more beautiful than Japan’s famous cherry blossoms.
Stained glass is typically seen in cathedrals or castles, sending cascades of colors into the elaborate interior. Images are usually biblical or inspired by the Renaissance and were made centuries ago. But what about modern stained glass art inspired by current trends and events? That’s where Martian Glasswork steps in, creating beautiful glass artwork with a video game twist.
The first version of Square Enix’s Lady Lora-saving slime-battling RPG, Dragon Quest, is now available on your smartphone…for free! But hurry up and download it fast, it’s only available to the first one million downloaders.
Japan has invented some pretty cool things; Mario, the Nissan Skyline, and PlayStation to name a few. Sure, sexy cars and even sexier game systems are great, but what would you choose as the truly exceptional Japanese inventions that influenced the world? Chinese media site, Xinhua Net News, weighed in on this question, giving us their top 10 list of most influential inventions from Japan.
Japan is full of beautifully crafted desserts of natural green, subtle pink and pure white. You’d be hard pressed to find the lime greens and neon blues of many Western snacks, especially those found in the United States. That’s why when Ikea Japan announced their lineup of food to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their Shinmisato branch, many Japanese net users were surprised by their choice of colors. Some are even saying that the unnatural colors are enough to make you lose your appetite.
Lady Gaga is the queen of unique when it comes to music and fashion. Now she has a Yahoo! Japan page that’s every bit as bizarre as she is (in a good way, of course!). The Gaga-ed version has a background filled with praise for and facts about Mother Monster in Japanese. It also features a picture of Lady Gaga herself in a white pantsuit filled with clickable links to articles and other pages usually found on Yahoo! Japan. How’s that for a homepage?
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: McDonald’s Japan has the best Happy Meal toys. In case you haven’t heard, the fast food chain created Mario toys for their “Happy Set” kids meals and they’re awesome. Lucky for those abroad, Japanese fans of the franchise have already uploaded videos of their McDonald’s Happy Meal Marios (say that five times fast). Take a look at just a few!
Sony’s PlayStation 4 has been out in North America for over a week now, and is finally heading to Europe this coming Friday. Thanks to the efforts of our game-loving staff in the US, we managed to pick up a few units, and have been tinkering with them for about a week now, so felt it was time to share our thoughts on the new hardware.
Rather than getting all techy and giving you lists of stats or focusing on frames per second, however, we decided to take a slightly more human approach, and talk about how Sony’s newest console rates in the eyes of both a self-confessed Sony fan and a long-term Xbox lover.
Let the mud-slinging begin!
It’s Monday again and you know what that means! Your Monday Kickstart video is here to get you going through another week.
This week’s video features a corgi who’s so happy he just can’t contain himself. With a short stubby tail, the little dog shows his excitement the only way he can: by wagging his entire backside. Shakira’s “hips don’t lie” and twerking jokes aside, it’s an adorable video!
Super Typhoon Haiyan caused unspeakable damage to the islands of the Philippines. Homes were lost, but even more heartbreaking, many lives were lost in this tragic disaster. One of our Japanese reporters wanted to experience the damage in the Philippines for himself, so he headed to Ormoc City on the island of Leyte. He didn’t just want to report on the tragedy, so he decided to get to know the people on a personal level and donated food and volunteered his time to help the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan. This is his story.
Goya champuru, unlike its name, is extremely simple. The dish consists of only a few main ingredients: goya (bitter melon), tofu, egg and spam. It’s a homey comfort food from Okinawa, Japan that highlights the island prefecture’s long history with the United States. Susan Hamaker, writer and editor over at JapanCulture•NYC, an online resource for “all things Japanese in New York City,” let us know about a wonderful booth they ran at Japan Block Fair showcasing this down home dish. Let’s take a look!
Thursday Throwback is your peek into the archives of RocketNews24. We’d hate for you to miss any of the quality quirky news from Asia and Japan just because you recently stumbled on our site. And if you’re a devout RN24 reader, thank you for your continued readership! Enjoy this blast from the past!
(Originally posted on April 19, 2012 by Steven)
Well that didn’t take long. Just yesterday we shared the story of how our own Mr. Sato capitalized on Burger King Japan’s current 15 bacon strips for 100 yen (US $1.20) promotion by ordering a Whopper with 105 bacon strips. While Mr. Sato managed to finish the burger, he didn’t seem to be in the best shape afterwards, falling into a meat-induced coma and then suddenly breaking out of it only to run out of the room with his hand covering his mouth.
Surely we thought Mr. Sato had finally learned his lesson that consuming stacks of bacon is a task better left to professionals. So imagine our surprise when he came in the office holding a plastic bag sagging under the weight of a 1,050 bacon strip Whopper.
If you’ve ever lived in Japan, chances are you’ve seen a little three-year-old climbing around the inside of their parent’s car…while the vehicle was in motion. To those in other countries where seatbelt and child safety harness laws are strictly enforced, this might be shocking to hear, but this situation happens more often than you might think. In fact, Japan didn’t have a mandatory seat belt law for rear passengers until 2008.
But even an official law doesn’t seems to deter Japanese drivers from not buckling up when it comes to the backseat. That’s why the Japan Automotive Federation along with the National Police Agency published the results of a 2013 survey detailing exactly how many people use their car’s most important safety device.
Super Typhoon Haiyan left a trail of destruction as it made its way across the island nation of the Philippines on November 13, 2013. In the wake of the disaster, one of our reporters traveled to the Philippine island of Leyte to talk to the victims of this massive storm and give a firsthand description of the damage. Please enjoy his humble account of the situation in Ormoc City, Philippines.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! …and Hello Kitty.
As a kid, whenever you heard the TMNT theme song, you knew it was on! What’s better than pizza-loving, Japanese weapon-toting, “cowabunga dude” catch phrased mutant turtles who also happen to be ninjas? That’s right, nothing’s better. Except maybe this TMNT/Hello Kitty collaboration. We know they’re not Pokemon but we just gotta catch them all!
Girls und Panzer is a popular anime, manga and light novel series following a group of girls who live in an alternate universe where women participate in “the art of battling tanks” and young girls attend schools where they learn to operate WWII-era tanks as a martial art. The series is extremely popular in Japan as well as abroad and will soon be turned into a video game for PS Vita.
It’s Monday again and you know what that means! Your Monday Kickstart video is here to get you going through another week.
This week’s video features a cat’s up-close encounter with a popular coin bank found at stores in Japan. Watch and prepare to say, “Awww.”
Kids nowadays have it rough. Sure, they have the Internet, sophisticated video games, and more electronics than fingers, but their McDonald’s Happy Meal toys are awful. I remember the days when you’d get a quality, hard-plastic toy that would withstand anything your imagination could throw at it. Now it’s half-heartedly put together pieces of garbage that are strewn alongside your mini pouch of fries (or apple slices if your mom isn’t cool). But in Japan, everything is different, especially this Christmas. Not only do you get a toy that blows all other modern day Happy Meal toys out of the water, your entire meal comes in a real cardboard golden arches box, just like old times. Read More
It may sound like the start of a bad joke, but when your boss says, “Bring me three PS4s!” you say, “How many games would you like with that?”
And so I found myself in uncharted territory, standing in line at 7am the day before the release of Sony’s next-gen console. I honestly didn’t know what to expect and admittedly grumbled at the thought of living on the street for 17 hours, but after Hooters girls, free swag, and a PS4 presented by the CEO of Best Buy, I’m pleased to report that I came away richer from the experience (although my bank account would beg to differ).
The Purple Lucky Bag from Village Vanguard is an extra-large waste of money
Private booths are coming to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains even sooner than we’d thought【Video】
Rakuten randomly offers 58 New Year’s osechi feasts in Japan, but did we get a star or a dud?
Top Japanese cosplayer Enako returns to Comiket after 6 years, creates mayhem with admirers
The oldest tunnel in Japan is believed to be haunted, and strange things happen when we go there
Yokohama restaurant serves fried axolotl, along with giant isopod, camel, and crocodile
Cosplay costume room tour by Japan’s number-one cosplayer Enako is an eye-opener【Video】
Japan’s new frozen sushi DIY kit – Great foodie fun, or cold-hearted abomination?【Taste test】
Collect ’em all! New Pokéfuta accessories now available at Village Vanguard
AKB48 and South Korean idol groups perform hits at music awards, turns out to be a disaster
Starbucks Japan ready to get Year of the Horse started with adorable drinkware and plushies【Pics】
Hayao Miyazaki says Happy New Year to Studio Ghibli fans with new art for Year of the Horse
Japanese beef bowl chain Sukiya’s 2026 Smile Box lucky bag basically pays for itself
We found possibly the quietest Japanese-style hotel in Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district
Cup Noodle tries an authentic Jiro-style ramen, but something’s not quite right
The best Starbucks Japan Frappuccinos we want to drink again in 2026
We revisited Sweets Paradise after a decade to see if Japan’s dessert buffet still delivers
That time Seiji called JASRAC to ask why he didn’t get paid royalties for his song being on TV
Japan’s oldest largetooth sawfish in captivity back on display in Mie Prefecture
Pizza Hut Japan’s hot lucky bags are perfect for a New Year’s pizza partyStarbucks Japan ready to get Year of the Horse started with adorable drinkware and plushies【Pics】
7-Eleven Japan starts new temporary luggage storage service in over 300 branches
Disillusionment at Tsukiji’s tourist-target prices led us to a great ramen restaurant in Tokyo
Starbucks teams up with 166-year-old Kyoto doll maker for Year of the Horse decorations【Photos】
Tokyo considering law requiring more trash cans following litter increase in heavily touristed area
Tokyo’s Tsukiji sushi neighborhood asks tour groups to stay away for the rest of the month
Tokyo event lets you travel back in time, for free, to celebrate 100 years since Showa era start
Japan may add Japanese language proficiency, lifestyle classes to permanent foreign resident requirements
Sanrio theme park in Japan announces plans to expand into a Sanrio resort
Stamina-destroying “Paralysis Noodles” are Tokyo’s newest over-the-top ramen innovation
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’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】
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
Updated cherry blossom forecast shows extra-long sakura season for Japan this year
Yokohama restaurant serves fried axolotl, along with giant isopod, camel, and crocodile
Cosplay costume room tour by Japan’s number-one cosplayer Enako is an eye-opener【Video】
Japan’s new frozen sushi DIY kit – Great foodie fun, or cold-hearted abomination?【Taste test】
Collect ’em all! New Pokéfuta accessories now available at Village Vanguard
AKB48 and South Korean idol groups perform hits at music awards, turns out to be a disaster
Four Shinto shrines to pray for love at in Japan to start the New Year
Original Totoro plush toys from 80s and 90s re-issued for Studio Ghibli exhibition
Japanese spoon puts electrical field in your mouth to trick you into tasting salt, now on sale
Dragon Quest Burgers and Slime drinks are coming to McDonald’s Japan【Video】
Is it rude to sing along at concerts in Japan? We ask a pro musician for his take
Starbucks Japan adds cult drink to its permanent coffee menu due to popular demand
Tokyo fish market breaks New Year auction record as single fish sells for over 500 million yen【Vid】