If China ever goes to war with a species made predominantly out of building materials, it’ll definitely win.
Philip Kendall
Editor
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 2)
Whether or not it turns out to be the game-changer we’re hoping for, 2016 will be the year of virtual reality. Unfortunately, some people will be finding out the hard way how intense this new technology can be…
In Japan, you don’t “like” something on Facebook, you “ii ne” it. But what about the five other “reactions” that Facebook has just added?
Always be prepared, or so the boy scouts’ saying goes. And with this bizarre spring-loaded, condom-dispensing belt, you will be!
A beloved mushroom travel companion lost in transit, never to be seen again? Not on our watch!
If you work in an urban hub like Tokyo, you can pretty much forget about seeing everyday countryside sights like rice paddies and plump red tomatoes. That is, unless you work here…
“Hello? Yes, my truck seems to be on fire… No, don’t worry, I’m bringing it to you. See you in five!”
You can learn all the words and practice all the kanji, but there’s one little Japanese language quirk that will almost certainly trip you up when you first encounter it.
Former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who died suddenly in July last year, is to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award.
Built with wooden frames and light materials, the majority of Japanese homes are torn down and rebuilt from scratch once they begin to age. But one architect in Chiba had a slightly different idea…
Well, that’s one way to bring all the boys to your well-raked yard…
Even if you haven’t caught Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, you’ve probably heard about Commander of the First Order Kylo Ren. And his temper…
Someone crashing into the side of your car is rarely a fun experience, but one man in the Philippines forgot all about his fender bender when he realised who was driving the other car…
And just like that, 2015 was no more! It’s now January 1 all the way across Asia, which means it’s officially the Year of Monkey! Happy New Year, everyone!
We’ll be putting our feet up for the rest of today, but we promise we’ll be back tomorrow with more of the news, cuteness, cats, food, fukubukuro, Mr Sato and all the weird and wonderful stuff from Japan and Asia that you know—and hopefully love—us for.
Thank you for continuing to visit our site, share our stories and follow us on Twitter and Facebook (281K and counting!!), and for helping us to grow and grow. 2015 was very good to us, but here’s hoping that 2016 will fill us all with the sprightly energy of a whole mess of merry monkeys and that we can continue to make our little site even better—although hopefully without any poo-slinging.
Stay tuned, Rocketeers, and have yourselves a great New Year’s Day!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s December 25, and that can mean only one thing: we’re currently either lying on our couches watching Die Hard on loop or are slumped over a table somewhere, breathing heavily and sweating a combination of chocolate Santas and Colonel Sanders’ secret mix of 11 herbs and spices.
We’ll be slowing things down a little over the next for days to get in some much-needed R&R, but rest assured there will still be plenty of Japan and Asia-related news, weirdness, cats and hamster bottoms to keep you going over the year-end break, so be sure to check back soon!
So from me and all of our sexy, hard-working writers here at RocketNews24, have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Fantastic Festivus, or whatever else you want to call this time of year. Thank you, as ever, for stopping by our site. Now go and spend some time with the people you love or, failing that, eat some more fried chicken.
RocketNews24
xxx
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