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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.

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Posted by Philip Kendall (Page 21)

Young woman saves time, does her best Friday the 13th impression on the subway 【Video】

In Japan, it is still considered “rude” to do things like talk on the phone or apply makeup on the train. Although the latter is becoming far more common as people come to realise that a girl touching up her war-paint in public is hardly the most scandalous act one can engage in, there are still many, mostly of the older generation, who believe that it should not be done in shared spaces and to be so openly “vain” is simply shameful.

We wonder, then, what the average older Japanese citizen would think if they saw a commuter like the young lady in the following video, who has thrown caution to the wind and slaps on a cleansing face mask during her travels.

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Pimp out your PlayStation with these free Vita skins from Dengeki Magazine

Is your PS Vita a little too pedestrian? Looking for something to brighten your portable PlayStation up? Well if you’re in Japan or happen to know a decent importer, you might want to grab the latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation as the magazine comes with a free set of skins based on Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi’s Tenya Wanya Teens and Alphabet games.

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Tokyo station turns commuters’ discarded umbrellas into sparkling Christmas trees

Remember all of those umbrellas that were abandoned in train stations in October and November this year during the typhoon season? Well at least one station in Tokyo definitely does, but thankfully they’re putting a few of them to good use: by turning them into surprisingly pretty Christmas trees!

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The very hungry Kittypillar: Two childhood favourites combine

If you or someone you know is expecting or has just given birth to a tiny person, and you’re looking for a gift that’s both cute and a little bit quirky, we may have the perfect item for you right here: Japanese online retailer Akasugu has just announced that it is now stocking baby and maternity items featuring collaborative designs between Japan’s Hello Kitty and classic kids’ picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

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Amazon Japan teases gamers with shots of PlayStation 4 stockpiles, warns of inflated prices

Gamers in Japan who have yet to place an order but are hoping to pick up Sony’s newest console when it finally launches next February may well be disappointed come launch day. Amazon Japan is already reporting that it has sold out completely, and although it is hoping to guarantee more units soon might not be able to meet demand.

As with most new must-have items, numerous retailers offering the console at considerably inflated prices are already starting to appear online. Whether or not for its own gain, Amazon Japan has urged its customers via Twitter to be aware that those paying more than 40,000 yen (US$385) for a PlayStation 4 are being ripped off.

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Twitpics show sumo wrestlers getting health checks… in spaaaaaaace!

Now here’s something you don’t see every day – a bunch of enormous men in their underpants sitting in fiberglass pods that look like something NASA might fire out of a space shuttle.

Shared on Twitter earlier today by the Japan Sumo Association, these photos show some of the sumo community’s most famous faces attending a health check session prior to a series of upcoming bouts. They’re also kind of hilarious.

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“Damn it human, help me!” One cat’s epic battle with an empty plastic bag

Perhaps we were wrong about cats being secret geniuses plotting to overthrow the world. This video, which is receiving a lot of attention in Japan today, suggests that there is at least one member of the feline federation that is perhaps a few strands short of a cat’s cradle.

When two-year-old Chai here spots a plastic bag on the floor of her owner’s apartment, she is naturally keen to investigate. Little does she know, though, that once she climbs inside it, the bag will simply refuse to let go…

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New Studio Ghibli movie revealed for 2014: When Marnie Was There【Newsflash】

Seemingly not content with having two brand new movies out this year in the form of Kaze Tachinu and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Japan’s Studio Ghibli has just announced that a new animated feature, Omoide no Maanii (When Marnie Was There), based on the novel of the same name by English writer Joan G. Robinson, will be hitting screens in Japan in summer 2014.

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12 culinary delights from Japan that you can find in New York City

As much as we at RocketNews24 love talking about Japanese food and introducing our readers to new places to eat or our own crazy culinary creations, we appreciate that for many, popping over to Tokyo or Osaka for a week of washoku dining bliss simply isn’t on the cards. But thankfully, great Japanese food can be found all over the world – if you know where to look!

For those of you to whom New York is a heck of a lot closer than Tokyo, Susan Miyagi Hamaker, one of our friends from JapanCulture•NYC, has prepared a fantastic list of 12 authentic Japanese foods that are available within the city, even sharing some tips on which restaurants to check out if you’re in town. Yup, the real just got that little bit closer!

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Japanese special edition Metal Gear Solid V buyers get a Diamond Dogs jacket

Well now here’s an odd little promotion. Japanese gamers planning to pick up a copy of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, one of the prequel chapters in Hideo Kojima’s convoluted-plot-’em-up/stealth espionage action game series, are now being offered a special edition bundle that comes with a track jacket emblazoned with the logo of in-game mercenary unit “Diamond Dogs”.

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Cute The Legend of Zelda plushies could be yours in time for Valentine’s Day

Is your cuddly toy collection lacking a little heroism? Is your troupe of Hello Kitties, freaky mushrooms and squeezable squid in need of a genuine princess? Well you’re in luck: a series of plushies featuring Princess Zelda, sword-brandishing Link and creepy wannabe elf Tingle from Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series is due to go on sale early next year.

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Beijing man caught on camera groping commuter from beneath her seat 【Video】

Displaying all the skill and grace of a two-year-old holding a cushion over their face and shouting “You can’t see me!”, a man in Beijing was recently captured on video lying beneath the seats of a subway train and stroking the legs of a female passenger as they appeared in front of him.

Prepare for your day to get that little bit creepier.

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Chinese man leaps to his death during five-hour shopping trip with girlfriend

A man from China’s Jiangsu Province has reportedly leapt from a seventh-floor shopping mall balcony following a heated argument with his girlfriend during a five-hour Christmas shopping trip. When the young woman said that she wanted to visit one more store, the 38-year-old threw the bags he was carrying to the floor and jumped over the rail, horrifying shoppers.

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Does Xbox One’s new Kinect camera work in a tiny Tokyo apartment?

With its new home console, Microsoft is hoping to make Kinect – the motion-sensing camera that comes bundled in the box – one of the main features of the Xbox One experience. Far superior to the original Kinect camera released in 2010, the new unit is noticeably more accurate and can be used in almost complete darkness, also boasting a field of vision 60 percent wider than the original.

But for many Japanese gamers, Kinect simply isn’t a device that works for them. Compared to Western residences, Japanese homes are much smaller, in closer proximity to others, and in some cases with walls so thin that you might wonder whether you could punch through them during moments of nerd rage.

Can Kinect for Xbox One offer the same exciting, controller-free experience in Japan that it does in America and Europe? Our man went hands-on.

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Behold: the saddest Christmas tree in all of Japan

Lonely this Christmas? Shiga Prefecture’s Pieri Moriyama shopping mall most certainly is.

Although technically still operating, the once thriving shopping centre is now home to just 14 stores after the local economy took a nosedive and businesses started pulling out in their droves. In the spirit of Christmas, however, the mall’s operators evidently decided to pop a tree up for visitors to enjoy. But as this Twitter user’s photo shows, when surrounded by naught but vast expanses of nice shiny floor, this tiny tree is possibly the loneliest Christmas ornament we’ve ever seen.

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Akihabara’s otaku: Fans of anime, idols, and… eating bananas on the toilet?

Tokyo’s Akihabara is known the world over as a haven for all things otaku. Whatever your nerdy penchant, be it J-pop princesses, moe-style hug pillows or plastic Gundam models, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for in one of the thousands of outlets surrounding the station, and the enormous UDX complex, which is home to dozens of shops, restaurants and event spaces, is arguably the most sophisticated nerd-catering venue ever built.

Like many smarter establishments, UDX’s public restrooms are kept spick-and-span pretty much all of the time, and politely worded signs ask patrons to refrain from certain types of behaviour while making use of the facilities. Until today, though, we’d never imagined that an entertainment complex would have to ask visitors not to block up their toilets with banana peels…

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MiniShock: Check out these insanely detailed PlayStation 2 controller smartphone straps

The rest of the world may currently be in love with Sony’s newest controller, the DualShock 4, but gamers in Japan evidently still have a big soft spot for the ageing PlayStation 2 control pad, the DualShock 2.

What you can see in the image above is not, in fact, a row of the now 13-year-old controllers as viewed from a great height, but a new set of earphone jack plugs, and the level of detail is simply astounding.

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This Thai ad for popular chat application “Line” will break your heart 【Video】

Although still relatively unknown in the West, instant messaging application Line is pretty huge in Asia. Developed by the Japanese division of South Korean internet content gurus Naver Corporation, the application allows free digital voice calls and text messaging, and is loved by both Android and iOS users, no doubt in part thanks to the dozens of cute “sticker” icons that users are able to share.

When promoting the messaging app in Thailand, however, Naver seemingly decided to take an altogether different approach. Tugging at our very heartstrings, this ad tells the story of a recently bereaved father and daughter and how through “more LINE, Much closer” they become able to communicate their feelings more effectively. Clever marketing or not, this is a real tear-jerker.

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Say goodbye to cramped commutes with the new “Spike Away” proximity vest

Industrial designer Siew Ming Cheng has evidently had enough of being pushed and shoved on the Singapore subway. Those space-invading commuters have brushed up against, knocked and pushed her one too many times, and now the young creative is declaring war on space snatchers with special body armour: the Spike Away vest.

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Girl builds herself a boyfriend out of soap bubbles

“I’m taking a bath with my boyfriend,” tweeted one Japanese netizen going by the name of Machiko, uploading a photo with her message. Despite the suggestion of sauciness, however, rather than being something that moderators would quickly remove or fellow users would tag as inappropriate, the image was retweeted and favourited thousands of times in just a few short minutes.

After all, it’s not every day you see a life-sized boyfriend made entirely out of soap bubbles…

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