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Philip Kendall

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Hailing from Liverpool in the UK, Philip Kendall made Japan his second home in the summer of 2006 after dolefully abandoning his childhood dream of becoming a ghost buster. Setting up camp in beautiful Fukushima prefecture, he brought joy to literally hundreds of junior high school children as ‘that tall, handsome teacher’ or more often ‘the one with the big nose,’ before relocating to Tokyo at the end of 2011.

Writer, foodie, gamer and eternal student of the Japanese language, Philip now works as a freelance writer and translator, submitting to Tokyo Weekender magazine and website and Learn Japanese Pod, as well as co-running Suds, Grub & Joe- a website dedicated to all things beer, food and coffee-related in Tokyo. Follow his ramblings on his personal blog or on twitter.

Posted by Philip Kendall (Page 13)

Put away your textbooks, kids – the key to learning Japanese is Minecraft

Philip Kendall
May 20, 2014
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We’ve talked countless times about how to learn Japanese. Heck, we’ve even brought you lists of essential applications and resources to help you in your quest to master the language. But we’ve always maintained that the best way to learn Japanese, or any language for that matter, is to make practical use of it and make it relevant to your own life.

And what better way to use your newly acquired Japanese than making friends all over the world while avoiding being crushed to death by spiked ceilings or knocked into a bottomless pit?

New for obsessive pet owners: A wooden box to keep your cat’s whiskers and teeth in!

Philip Kendall
May 17, 2014

Cat owners concerned that they might suddenly forget the existence of their pet or who wish to gross out potential lovers may be pleased to hear of the arrival of two new products on Amazon Japan. The “Cat Whisker Case” and “Cat Milk Tooth Case“, which retail for 1,580 yen (US$16) each, are the perfect way to commemorate your pet’s growth into adulthood and treat them as a true member of the family.

That’s right, you too can have a small box full of cat teeth or whiskers on your dressing table or mantlepiece, just waiting for some hapless visitor to stumble upon before suddenly remembering that they’ve left the oven on at home and have to leave.

Upcoming Vita game Murasaki Baby is delightfully dark and cute in equal parts 【GIFs】

Philip Kendall
May 15, 2014

There’s a word in Japanese that people use to describe things that are at once cute and grotesque: kimokawaii. Upcoming side-scrolling adventure game Murasaki Baby is just that. Featuring an adorable protagonist with an upside-down face and a world populated with enemies like giant, hairy-nostrilled noses and razor-toothed bunnies, the game is a blend of the kimochi warui, or gross, and kawaii cuteness, and is due for release sometime this year.

Ahead of the E3 trade fair, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has revealed a series of animated GIFs showing off the game’s otherworldly visuals, which we can only describe as a mix between The Nightmare Before Christmas and merciless indie platformer Limbo.

Left 4 Dead arcade edition to be trialled at four sites in Japan between May 23-25

Philip Kendall
May 15, 2014

Gore-splattered heads up, zombie fans! Left 4 Dead Seizonshatachi, or “survivors”, arcade magnate Taito’s riff on Valve and Turtle Rock Studios’ hugely popular first-person zombie shooter, is not only ready to tear through the population of Japan but is about to be trialled at four selected arcades beginning May 23.

Details and videos after the jump.

Taxi driver arrested after slipping female passengers drugs so he could watch them pee

Philip Kendall
May 9, 2014

A taxi driver in Osaka has been taken into police custody after it was discovered that he had given snacks laced with a powerful diuretic to as many as 50 of his female passengers and refused to let them exit the vehicle so that he could watch them squirm, and in some cases urinate, in the back of his cab.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the baldest of them all? Japan top for male baldness in Asia

Philip Kendall
May 9, 2014

There are a number of theories regarding the causes of male pattern baldness. Some suggest that one’s diet and stress levels play key roles. Others feel that regular exercise will help keep locks thick and plentiful until well after retirement. Most would agree, though, that our genes hold the most sway, and if a man loses his hair then chances are his son, too, will have increasingly more face to wash as he ages.

Baldness affects some more than others, however, and a survey by Trip Advisor Japan has revealed the countries where male baldness is most common, with Japan found to have more bald men than any other Asian country.

“3 bottles available” – Life’s Good when you can mail your fridge to ask if there’s any beer left

Philip Kendall
May 8, 2014

Electronics giant LG has announced that its line of “HomeChat”-enabled appliances — a refrigerator, washing machine, and Lightwave oven that can be communicated with and operated via messaging service Line — is now available to buy in its native South Korea.

By using the popular smartphone app, users can chat with their various gizmos as if they were ordinary human contacts, asking them questions as well as providing additional information to alter their functions. Thanks to the technology built into the appliances with which the app communicates, it’s possible not just to remotely check the temperature inside the fridge or put on a load of laundry, but to find out how many beers you have or delay your usual wash cycle by 30 minutes simply by telling the machine you’ll be home late.

Books meet beer – Man achieves dream of opening “night library” with help from crowdfunding site

Philip Kendall
May 8, 2014

There are few things better than curling up with a good book, but one of them is doing so with a nice glass of wine or beer. There’s something about spending an entire afternoon reading that is so much more forgivable than losing the best part of a day to video games or sitting in a darkened room watching movies, and so even the addition of a cheeky alcoholic accompaniment – so long as you put a stopper in it before the words start to swim about on the page – barely registers as a sin.

A man who knows the pleasure of getting lost in literature is Shunsuke Mori. Since his junior high school days, he has dreamed of having his own private library and being surrounded by books. Now an adult, his vision has grown with him, and he has decided to open up a special “night library” in trendy Shibuya for grown-ups only to enjoy with, of course, a tipple or two to help them unwind. And thanks to like-minded netizens, his dream will soon be a reality.

Kyoto Sanga F.C. takes the cheekiest free kick ever with long line of dummies

Philip Kendall
May 7, 2014

Football, or soccer if you will, is sometimes accused of being a dull spectator sport on account of the limited number of goals that are often scored in games and its propensity to end in stalemate.

But for every 10 minutes of dull passing, frustrating off-sides and tedious throw-ins, there’s usually at least one moment of heart-racing sporting magic to be had, and this amazingly cheeky goal scored yesterday by J-League team Kyoto Sanga FC against Yokohama FC undoubtedly provided plenty of entertainment value for supporters of both sides.

Newsflash: Attack on Titan 3DS game to get North American release?

Philip Kendall
May 6, 2014

A few months ago, we brought you news that Japanese developer Spike Chunsoft was bringing manga and anime smash Attack on Titan to Nintendo’s popular portable, 3DS. Up until now, the game seemed destined to remain a Japan-only affair, but rumour has it that its makers are searching for a publisher to bring the game to Western audiences. Get hype, kids!

Teenage rascals arrested following spate of drive-by eggings in Osaka

Philip Kendall
May 3, 2014

Japan is well-known for its low crime-rate. Only a select few are permitted to own firearms, theft is rare, and the country’s violent crime statistics are among the lowest in the world.

But while you’ll almost never hear of a drive-by shooting in Japan, it turns out that members of the public in one Osaka town have been living in fear recently after a band of rambunctious scallywags took to cruising the streets at night and pelting pedestrians with eggs from the window of a moving car, at one time even stocking up on as many as 50 eggs with which to launch their reign of tamago terror.

“Please help” – Note written by man in Chinese labour camp found in New York department store bag

Philip Kendall
May 2, 2014

While some of us get to spend our days taking selfies, slurping on Starbucks and shopping at designer stores, others are not quite so lucky.

In a crushing reminder of the disparities and injustice that exist in our world, a woman shopping at luxury New York department store Saks Fifth Avenue has discovered a note at the bottom of her bag written by a man imprisoned in a forced labour camp in China, pleading for help contacting his family and the United Nations.

Gogatsu-byou: The “sickness” that strikes Japan each and every May

Philip Kendall
May 2, 2014

As well as being the start of the new business and academic year, April in Japan also marks the time when new graduates make their first forays into the world of full-time employment and many companies rotate their staff both to keep them on their toes and help them acquire new skills. It’s a fun, frenetic time of year, and everyone from kids in their new school uniforms to fresh-faced employees wearing crisp, black suits looks tremendously smart and presentable as they hurry to their place of education or employment, eager to make the most of their day.

In May, however, it all comes crashing down. Reality sets in and people start to realise that everything is just as awful as it was before, albeit with a few quirks and a shiny new name badge or lunchbox. The fire in kids’ bellies goes out, the twinkle disappears from new employees’ eyes, and they start to approach their work with all the enthusiasm of a pot-smoking snail going through a serious emo phase.

This, dear reader, is gogatsu-byou; the phenomenon that occurs every May and affects millions of Japanese to some degree or other.

Traffic accident scammer caught on CCTV in China, ends up having to pay fine himself 【Video】

Philip Kendall
May 1, 2014

If you’ve ever wondered why so many people are mounting cameras on their car’s dashboard recently, you might want to take a look at this short video. In it, we witness an increasingly common sight in mainland China: a scammer throwing himself at a moving vehicle in the hopes of receiving reparations for (often non-existent) personal injury.

This time, though, the scammer was caught in the act by a surveillance camera positioned directly above the junction at which he chose to try his little scam, and as a result had to cough up some cash of his own.

New Asian Godzilla trailer teases with extra monsters, footage 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Apr 30, 2014

We’re now just a couple of weeks away (unless you happen live in Japan) from the launch of Gareth Edwards’ take on the classic kaiju movie Godzilla, and distributors Warner Bros have launched a new trailer for Asia which treats us to a few extra snippets of the beasts the titular monster will be going up against. Check it out after the jump.

Sony shows off PlayStation 4 augmented reality with rubber ducks, dinosaurs, and Hatsune Miku

Philip Kendall
Apr 30, 2014

As we’ve said before, the PlayStation 4’s PlayStation Camera is a woefully underused device. Gamers who enjoy streaming footage of the games they play often use their cameras to capture their own expressions and add real-time commentary, and upcoming virtual reality headset Project Morpheus will make use of the unit to provide additional head tracking, but otherwise it gets relatively little love.

Fortunately, Sony Japan looks to be working on content that will inspire a few more PlayStation 4 owners to plug in their cameras. In two videos released last week, Sony staff show off their experiments with augmented reality, which combines real-world footage with computer-generated images that respond to a number of stimuli. These may only be tech demos, but the sight of a miniature T-rex hiding in the darkness, a man decanting water (complete with rubber duck!) between two virtual boxes, and even a short performance from a tiny Hatsune Miku on the living room rug left us thirsty for more.

Cat does bizarre dance for tiny kittens【Video】

Philip Kendall
Apr 28, 2014

My family got its first cat when I myself was barely a year old. She and I more or less grew up together, her dying (at which point I was heartbroken, naturally) when I was 23. We’ve also had a couple of other cats along the way, and whenever I see a cat in my neighbourhood here in Tokyo or visit my friends who have them, I always stop to say hello.

It turns out, however, that for all my years living with and around our domesticated feline friends, I clearly know nothing about them. I mean, can you explain what on earth this cat here is doing!?

Chinese beach glows beautiful blue in the dead of night 【Photos】

Philip Kendall
Apr 27, 2014

More often than not when we come across photos of China’s rivers or sea these days, they are accompanied by tales of environmental destruction and depressing statistical data on recent pollution levels. So for once, it’s nice to see some photos being shared online here in Japan that show China looking pretty.

And it doesn’t get much prettier than a beach sparkling a magical blue at night.

“A Cyberpunk Adventure: Harry Potter The 1980s Anime” just made our day

Philip Kendall
Apr 25, 2014

Ever wondered what J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter would have looked like if it had been an anime made in the 1980s? Neither had we, but now that we’ve seen it we think it’s the <hyperbole but for good reason> BEST THING EVER </hyperbole>.

Join us after the jump for bike-based quidditch, a cat-eared Hermione, Tetsuo/Voldemort battles and more.

Japanese archery: The coolest school club ever?

Philip Kendall
Apr 25, 2014

Bukatsu, or club activities, are a big part of school life in Japan. In the majority of schools, all kids are required to become a member of a club, be it track and field, judo, or even computer club, and have to attend every session regardless of the time of year and the weather (yes, athletics club kids jog up and down the hallways when it’s raining heavily). Naturally, there are distinct levels of coolness that students are more than aware of when they sign up, with clubs like baseball generally considered to be for the jocks, and soccer-bu for those who want to look good while sharpening their shooting skills.

Japanese archery, or kyūdō to use its native moniker, may not be considered the coolest club to belong to by kids in Japan, but as this video from Japanese culture blogger Danny Choo shows, as far as non-Japanese are concerned, it’s pretty epic, and if we were somehow reincarnated as a Japanese high schooler it’s definitely the club we’d sign up for.

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