Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Half-Japanese Oona McGee hails from Sydney, Australia, where she worked as a journalist and copywriter before making the move to Japan over a decade ago. Now she spends her days exploring the streets of Tokyo with her laptop and camera, always in search of new cafes, restaurants, events and stories to share with our readers. As an experienced food and travel reporter, Oona has travelled extensively through all 47 prefectures of Japan, and is constantly researching new destinations and drawing up itineraries for her next adventure.
Posted by Oona McGee (Page 205)
Parking can be tricky sometimes, but when you’re trying to manoeuvre a large vehicle around tight spaces in a Japanese carpark, things can get a little scary.
Thankfully nobody was hurt in the accident pictured above, yet after the photo was posted on Twitter there was one thing everyone wanted to know: how come the rear wheels were hanging in mid-air?
There’s a lot of freedom and innovation when it comes to dining in Japan. For every Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo, there’s an equally impressive place where you can dine with maids, hang out with cats or even watch boys make out.
Now there’s another must-visit eatery to add to Tokyo’s ever-growing list of unique cafes and this time the star of the show is the humble slice of bread. At Centre the Bakery in Ginza, you can choose your own toaster, take it back to your table and enjoy freshly made toast.
Japan has some awesome food pairings: sushi and wasabi, red beans and green tea, and fish and grated white radish. While these food combinations tickle the tastebuds, they’ve actually been eaten for centuries to offset negative health effects and promote healthy digestion. But that doesn’t mean things have to be boring!
One creative twitter user has taken inspiration from their pet cat to show us just how amazing a staple Japanese dish can be. Gone is the obligatory mound of plain, grated radish that sits beside grilled fish dishes and in its place is an adorable white cat lovingly caressing a fishy prize from the sea!
OK Go, the alternative rock band who blew us away with their unique treadmill choreography in the music video for their 2006 hit Here It Goes Again, have come out with an even more impressive video, this time featuring dozens of Japanese girls, a drone and a motorised unicycle from Honda.
Filmed in Japan and inspired by the group’s trip to the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo, this latest music video was released on October 27 and has already reached close to two million views on YouTube. Check out the video after the break to see just how awesome these boys can be when they team up with a leading director and choreographer from Japan.
Japan has come out with some pretty awesome ideas over the years. Pocket calculators, instant noodles, even CD players were all born here, and while they were developed in response to the needs of the local market, their popularity quickly spread far and wide around the globe.
Now Japan is set to revolutionise the way we travel with a new product called the Walking Bicycle Club. Touted as the first big breakthrough in 200 years of the cycling industry, the new vehicle is powered by stepping, rather than pedalling, and is designed to make walking more fun. But how does it feel to ride a bicycle that looks more like a mobile step machine? We dropped by the store to find out.
If you thought you’d have to travel to the African continent to rub ankles with a meerkat, you’ll be happy to know that they’re closer than you think. Just take a stroll down the Ginza boulevard on any given weekend and chances are you’ll run into three friendly meerkats soaking up the sun on the side of the street.
Ginza is well-known for its high-end boutiques and exclusive brand name designer stores. Armani, Hermes, Gucci, Bvlgari and Chanel all have signature outposts here and the most surprising thing about them is they offer the unique opportunity to dine inside their buildings.
The iconic Chanel building has one of the most impressive locations of the lot, with a laid-back, resort-like setting up on their roof terrace overlooking the busy Ginza shopping street below. Featuring tweed accents and a lunch box put together by acclaimed French chef Alain Ducasse, you’ll have to get in quick for a chance to eat here as the outdoor area is only open for a limited time until October 31 every year.
There’s so much to love about Japanese customer service. Whether you’re shopping at an expensive department store or perusing the shelves at the local supermarket, you can rest assured that everything has been thought through and tailored to meet your needs and desires.
The same attention to detail will be there for visitors to the upcoming National Treasures of Japan exhibition at the Tokyo National Art Museum in Ueno this month. Clearly aware that visitors will want to dig up a national treasure of their own after viewing the exhibition, the gift shop has some unusual souvenirs for customers to take home – including chocolate artefacts.
Japan is known for having a unique culture that perfectly balances two extreme worlds of tradition and fun. From cat cafes to cosplay-clad posers in Harajuku, it’s the light-hearted, anything-goes attitude on the streets of Tokyo that brightens the serious, traditional side of society which likes to rein in anything different and out of the norm.
It’s little surprise then, that people have been drawn to one of the newcomers to the street scene in Tokyo, a recently retired man who goes by the name “Kyushu Neko Ojisan” (lit. The Cat Man from Kyushu). Retirement for this gent means he’s now free to walk his nine adorable cats in a baby buggy around Tokyo. And his crowds of admirers are growing with every stroll he takes.
Fast food chains are always on the lookout for ways to steer us into their open arms, with limited edition burgers, unusual collaborations and exclusive accessories all weakening our will at some point, despite quiet pleas from our inner selves to look the other way.
Lotteria is one of the unabashed leaders in the field, offering us burger towers of mammoth proportions that have us handing over money just to lay eyes on the meaty beasts. Now they’ve unveiled two life-size versions of their famous multi-patty behemoths. But this time, they’re adorable USB memory sticks.
While some of us may recall our childhood lunches as a series of soggy sandwiches in boring brown paper bags, two lucky children in Singapore are bound to look back on all their meals as miniature worlds of cute and delicious fun.
It’s all thanks to their mother, who decided to expand her skills beyond the humble bento lunchbox, and bring the cute to any meal of the day. Check out her amazing collection of healthy meals after the jump. It’s the best collection we’ve seen yet!
Apple iPhone releases have been known to make people do crazy things. Whether it’s dressing as a blue slime and sleeping on the street for days or using your nipple to unlock your phone, there’s a sense of excitement and ceremony surrounding each new model that makes us want to push the boundaries and just have fun.
The latest release on the weekend was no different, and in our excitement to test out the much-anticipated ‘Digital Image Stabilization’ (DIS) on the iPhone 6, it seemed entirely sensible to line up two different models side-by-side and give them both a good shake. And how better to do that than by strapping them onto a vibrator?
Ah, the wonders of learning a second language. There’s much to be said for the sense of satisfaction and achievement that comes from communicating effectively in another tongue. There’s also much to be said about the head-scratching and sense of humility that comes from tripping up and sounding like a buffoon.
We’ve found 10 tweeted tales of confusion from Japanese people who’ve had amusing encounters with foreigners in Japan. Some strike such a chord with Japanese that they’ve been retweeted and shared hundreds, sometimes even thousands of times.
So what is it that we foreigners do that’s so amusing?
Life can be tough in Japan when the weather starts getting cooler and cravings for baked comfort foods start taking hold of our thoughts. With full-size western ovens an absolute rarity in the common Japanese home, roast dinners and home-baked pies become more like lost friends from a bygone era; somewhere else but still etched in our hearts and never quite forgotten.
If the Japanese kitchen is lacking in the stove department, it makes up for it in volumes with a marvellous piece of wizardry known as the rice cooker. Its mettle has only recently been put to the test with some surprising recipes like fast food dinners and enormous pancakes of epic proportions. And now as the weather cools, there’s another easy recipe to try – soft baked cinnamon honey apples.
Fauchon, the long-established luxury food brand from Paris, is well-known throughout Japan as a purveyor of high quality teas and cakes, but it’s their famous éclairs that are considered the créme de la créme of the sweet world.
To celebrate Éclair Week, Fauchon has opened a pop-up café for a limited time in Shibuya, Tokyo. Pictured are two of the éclairs on offer, one celebrating the deep pink colour that’s come to be associated with the French brand, and one that’s a jaw-dropping edible rendition of a traditional woodblock piece by famous Japanese artist Hokusai.
As a kid, playing with crayons always guaranteed hours of fun. The array of exciting colours, combined with an ergonomic design perfect for young hands meant endless artistic possibilities on paper, walls, compliant siblings…
Now Crayolas are providing hours of fun for adults too, thanks to a dedicated artist who’s created dozens of unique crayons that are so adorable and true-to-life you have to see them to believe.
Japan is well-known around the world for its enormous variety of vending machines, dispensing everything from eggs to flowers to batteries at the touch of a button. But did you know there’s a machine that dispenses gold Coke cans?
We’ve been bringing you news of the BL craze in Japan, with cafés, books and even university courses featuring homoromantic male relationships, commonly referred to as Boys Love. With more and more people becoming exposed to the trend, what began as an underground sub-culture is becoming more well-known and popular, with men and women alike.
Now it seems the boys have gone mainstream, as stars of a major campaign for supermarket chain Ito Yokado. Only they’re not advertising beauty products or clothing lines. They’re advertising meat.
From Paris to New York to Tokyo, a city is nothing without its street signs. Leave a place for too long and the special little signifiers we take for granted everyday will make a beeline for our hearts and strike nostalgia in even the most hardened city dweller when we see them again.
If you’ve walked the streets, been on a road trip or taken a license test in Japan, you’ll love this special collection of earrings from the land of the rising sun.
Now that she’s hit the big 4-0, Hello Kitty has been getting up to all sorts of mischief. She’s posed for the god of manga, been caught in hotel rooms and even joined the mile-high club.
However, Ms Kitty once had more cerebral pursuits in mind, having conquered the Rubik’s Cube by becoming one with it…literally. We take a look at the unique Hello Kitty puzzle – an awesomely cute mind-bender that offers a great sense of accomplishment to those who want to reconstruct the deconstructed cat.
New Hello Kitty and friends summer kimono are perfect for Sanrio-loving parents, kids, and sisters
Cup Noodle maker’s super-easy recipe turns instant noodles into quick okonomiyaki【Recipe】
McDonald’s Japan’s new Cheese Cheese Double Cheeseburger makes a different ingredient stand out
Hayao Miyazaki has secret concept for next anime, considers all animators his rivals, son says
Boxed sake is now a thing in Japan, thanks to one of the oldest breweries in the country
Studio Ghibli passport cases are here to keep you company while you travel
Japan’s first-ever Yakult cafe serves a rare probiotic ice cream in the shadow of a famous castle
Starbucks releases an official green tea chai latte with special Japanese ingredients
Kyoto study finds nearly 500 translation errors for foreign tourists, new guidelines released
Japanese cosplayer creates amazing outfit: Sailor Moon’s transformation sequence!【Photos】
2nd line of Casio watch rings hits Japanese capsule machines and we got the secret one!
Practical Zelda Tears of the Kingdom merch is here to be Hyrule-helpful in your daily life【Pics】
Starbucks releases special matcha Frappuccino made with Japan’s first matcha leaves of the yearStarbucks releases an official green tea chai latte with special Japanese ingredients
Japanese man tells friend to wear suit to wedding party, so he comes as Mobile Suit Gundam
Mt. Fuji-blocking screen installed as response to bad tourist manners to be in place by next week
Yes, our new smartphone looks like at least two Studio Ghibli anime characters, Sharp says
Tokyo’s beckoning cat temple asks foreign tourists to stop writing on the beckoning cats they buyKyoto study finds nearly 500 translation errors for foreign tourists, new guidelines released
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of societyLife-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】Yes, our new smartphone looks like at least two Studio Ghibli anime characters, Sharp says
New Tokyo restaurant charges higher prices to foreign tourists than Japanese locals
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
“Mt. Fuji convenience store” issues apology for bad tourist manners, adds multilingual signs2nd line of Casio watch rings hits Japanese capsule machines and we got the secret one!
Tokyo’s famous Lost in Translation hotel is closed
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screensMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950sForeigner’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
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Studio Ghibli passport cases are here to keep you company while you travel
Japan’s first-ever Yakult cafe serves a rare probiotic ice cream in the shadow of a famous castle
Starbucks releases an official green tea chai latte with special Japanese ingredients
Kyoto study finds nearly 500 translation errors for foreign tourists, new guidelines released
Japanese cosplayer creates amazing outfit: Sailor Moon’s transformation sequence!【Photos】
Japanese public toilet tours become popular with foreign tourists in Tokyo
2nd line of Casio watch rings hits Japanese capsule machines and we got the secret one!
Japanese man tells friend to wear suit to wedding party, so he comes as Mobile Suit Gundam
10 +1 Japanese-Style Fonts For Typing English That Will Confuse Your Friends
McDonald’s Happy Meals in Japan now come with Shinkansen robots
Ultra-cheap, convenient Tokyo hotel is a great place to stay…if you pay extra for earplugs
Travis Japan members compete with the best dancers in Japan at Red Bull’s national dance finals
Completely unmanned 24-hours clothing store found in Tokyo
The town with Japan’s best castle also has one of Japan’s best breakfasts. Here’s where to eat it