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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 40)

Sadistic Super Mario World is Back with New Levels, Made by Friends for Friends…

If you’re anything like me, you spent tens, if not hundreds of hours during the 1990s in front of a TV set playing Super Nintendo games like Super Mario World.

The game is often heralded as the greatest 2-D Mario game ever made, and is still played even 22 years (feel old yet!?) after its original launch.

You’d be wrong, though, if you thought that people were still playing just the levels that Nintendo crafted for its consumers decades ago; throughout the world there are entire groups of people with ROM files and hacked versions of the original game code who are regularly creating new levels, sometimes entire worlds, of their very own.

But why create nice, gentle levels filled with dancing flowers and 1-up mushrooms when you could create the most sadistic, mind-bending stages ever conceived of and force your friends to play through them?

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Incredible Flip-Book Animation Adopted by English Band Muse as Official Music Video

Regular RocketNews24 readers may recall an article we did back in March this year that introduced us to Furiko (Pendulum), the flip-book animation hand-drawn by eccentric Japanese comedian Tekken that had us all welling up with tears.

The video, set to English band Muse’s symphonic track Exogenesis, told the story of a young couple’s life together, following them from the moment that they first met through middle-aged marital hiccups before they meet their inevitable mortal end. The video received deservedly high praise, not just because every one of the 1,038 pages that make up the animation were hand-drawn, but because the video managed to pack as much genuine feeling and emotion into three minutes as most hollywood blockbusters in two hours.

Months later, Furiko has caught the attention of none other than Muse themselves, who were so moved that they decided to make it the official music video for their beautiful track.

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Ueno Zoo’s Panda Enclosure Goes Big Brother, Installs Real-Time Cameras for All to See

Okay, who likes pandas?

Of course you do! How could you not? They’re fuzzy and cute, they walk around eating bamboo all day, they rarely maul people to death when they bump into them in the woods like their bigger brown relatives… That said, with fewer than 3,000 pandas estimated to be in existence across the globe, the chances of running into one while out for a morning stroll are pretty slim…

So thank goodness that Ueno Zoo in Tokyo– home to two of just 11 pandas in the country– has installed a set of cameras in its panda enclosure, allowing the public to take a sneaky peek at the pair from the comfort of their own home.

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Paris: city of love, romance, food and… mental anguish?

In an article over on Gold Rush, writer Senya talks about the devastating psychological condition that has come to be known as “Paris Syndrome”; a condition that, bizarrely, seems to affect Japanese people in particular, with many visiting the city suffering from symptoms similar to depression that, in rarer cases, results in suicide.

What is it about Paris that has such a debilitating effect on Japanese? What could they do to avoid it or lessen the symptoms?

We delve a little deeper to find out…

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A 32-year-old man in the town of Hino, Tokyo, was arrested late last week on suspicion of having entering a woman’s apartment and demanding that she hand over her underwear.

According to an FNN News report, the man crept into the premises before brandished a knife and telling the resident to surrender her panties, but was apprehended soon after.

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While walking home from the station last weekend, eyes glued to my mobile phone as is my own particular vice, I suddenly found myself enveloped by vast plumes of cigarette smoke. Looking ahead of me, a guy in a business suit walking in the same direction had lit up a cig and was merrily puffing away, obviously in need of a hit having just disembarked a train himself.

While I’m definitely one of the anti-smoking set, I have absolutely no problem with other people smoking if they want to- just so long as it doesn’t affect the people around them. For me, smoking is like farting; go ahead and enjoy your own, but please don’t share with everyone else.

Breaking into a little jog, I overtook the smoker- a man in his late fifties wearing a business suit- and, once again able to breathe freely, walked up-wind of him.

No sooner had I done so that a second man, a little older this time, emerged from a side street. He blew his nose noisily on a handkerchief and stuffed it into his coat pocket, at which point he coughed, sniffed and, with what sounded like a tremendous physical effort, spat something brown out onto the pavement just a few feet ahead of me.

Quite forgetting myself, I muttered “kitanai naa” (“man, that’s dirty…”) a little too loudly, but received little more than a quick, disinterested glance from the man as he passed by.

So when I came across an article over on NicoNico News titled “Senior Citizens Have Worse Manners Than Young People”, I couldn’t help but feel that it might be on to something…

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A 28-year-old single mother from the town of Fuchu, Hiroshima was arrested earlier this month after causing the death of her 10-year-old daughter, exposing a long history of abuse and neglect in the family.

Over at NicoNico News, a heart-rending story reveals the broken family’s background and details the sad details of the girl’s early years. Perhaps even more tragically, though, we learn that the girl– who spent much of her life in care– once sent her abusive mother a letter in which she states how much she loves her.

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The clever minds at prestigious Keio University in Tokyo have created a new device that makes the rear seat “disappear” when reversing, and have released a new video demonstrating how, with its help, the sometimes arduous task of reversing into a space could soon become a breeze.

Tinkering around with a modified Toyota Prius, the university’s graduate research team have been putting their latest technology through its paces by having a driver with a particular fear of reverse parking give the maneuver a shot both with and without the device installed…

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Middle-Aged Man Reviews Cute and Girly DS Fashion Game: “This Game Opened My Eyes to Style!”

While browsing online store Amazon, you’ve no doubt stumbled upon a few interesting or downright strange reviews of products written by fellow shoppers. Some of the reviews are both well written and informative, helping us make the best purchasing decisions possible; others, meanwhile, might cause us to wonder how the human race has survived this long, or make us consider contacting the authorities.

One review on Amazon Japan, however, has caught the attention of hundreds of shoppers and has become something of a talking point online.

The review, written by a self-professed middle-aged man, is of a videogame that sees gamers select clothes for, dress and style young women as fashionably as possible, and is intended mainly for the younger female audience.

This male reviewer, however, was incredibly taken with the title, going so far as to say that it has changed the way he sees the world…

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In a news story over on the Asahi Shinbun Digital, despite the Japanese coastguard coming to the aid of a Chinese freighter that had caught fire, the Chinese government has yet to issue a statement of thanks.

Chinese netizens, however, have taken to their keyboards to show their gratitude and express their joy upon hearing about the act of humanity despite relations between the two countries being so bad at this time.

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Starbucks Japan Unveils Posh Leather Cup Sleeves as Part of Charity Drive

Starbucks Japan has teamed up with Spanish luxury leather designer Loewe to produce a range of sexy leather sleeves for its paper coffee cups, it was announced yesterday.

The limited-edition sleeves are part of a programme designed to provide financial support to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami that stuck north-eastern Japan in March last year.

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Our Team Sample a New Strawberry Rice-Cake Flavoured Milk Drink: “Tastes Like Green Peppers…”

Japan is no stranger to exciting, original or downright odd beverages. Just 20 feet from this writer’s apartment, in fact, there’s a vending machine that sells cans of grape jelly or caramel pudding flavoured “drinks”, and convenience stores stock an enormous array of beverages from green tea or chilled coffee to butterscotch milk and melon soda.

Still, it’s better than row after row of tremor-inducing caffeine-packed cola and the illegitimate offspring of child’s cough syrup and lemonade that is Dr Pepper, I suppose…

On the 15th of this month, however, dairy experts Meito brought Japanese consumers something altogether more challenging- a milk-based drink that’s designed to taste not just like strawberries, but classic Japanese favourite strawberry daifuku mochi rice cakes!

But no sooner had the delicious-sounding beverage found its way into stores than internet users starting leaving rather odd comments on message boards about the drink’s taste…

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Towel Jenga: Super Patient Pooch Lets Owners Stack Towels on His Head

Before I was five years old, I’d been chased, bitten and cornered by dogs no fewer than three times.

From then on, whenever we went on to the park or were out for a family stroll, the mere sight of a dog– be it leashed, unleashed, right in front of me or 100 metres away– would have me clinging to my parents’ legs, begging them to turn back.

If only we’d had a dog like this loveable little Shiba-inu, who lies patiently while his master rests towel after towel on top of his head, I’m sure it would have taken me far less time to get over my fear of dogs.

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Any anime or manga fan will tell you that the sight of characters suffering sudden, sporadic nosebleeds when they’re sexually aroused is not uncommon in Japanese-created works.

A male character catches a glimpse of a girl undressing, a girl has the object of her affection wink seductively at her, a character trips and finds his face inches from a female character’s ample bosom; the result is always the same- a flushed face followed by a gushing nosebleed.

The idea is that sexual arousal causes an increase in blood pressure, which in turn sets off a nosebleed. It’s certainly true that arousal or embarrassment can cause us to flush– I can clearly recall my face bursting into flames when I was 12 years old and the girl in my class whom I was madly in love with was dared to kiss me on the cheek– but could it really cause a nosebleed?

NicoNico News turned to a medical professional to find out whether there’s any truth to the anime phenomenon, or whether it’s just an old wives’ tale…

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Food Fight: We Compare Yoshinoya and Sukiya’s Pricey New Dishes

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Times are tough in Japan, and, as reported here on RocketNews24 earlier this week, the country’s two biggest gyūdon chains, Sukiya and Yoshinoya, are tightening their belts after seeing financial losses in the first half of the tax year.

The restaurants’ response to the decrease in profits? Stop cutting costs, end the focus on dirt-cheap dishes and instead launch new, fancier menus in the hope of enticing new customers and squeezing a few extra yen out of regular patrons.

Both Yoshinoya and Sukiya’s new dishes that are more than twice the price of their regular gyūdon staples, but the restaurants claim that they are a cut above the rest as a result. But will the average salary-man, with just 500 yen per day to spend on lunch, want to pay extra for a fancier menu? And if they do, which dish should they choose?

Armed with a camera and grumbling stomachs, we headed out to both restaurants on two seperate days to try the new dishes for ourselves.

Let the New Gyūdon Wars begin!

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“Spare Some Change, Guvnor?” Photo of Distinctly Impious Monks Causes Outrage Online

In pretty much any major city around the world, you’re bound to run in to a person collecting money for some cause or other. It could be in aid of curing a deadly disease, cutting world hunger, protecting the environment or even animal rights activists PETA asking for donations when they’re not making online videogames…

In Japan, it’s not uncommon to encounter Buddhist monks, standing still in the street with a bowl in hand, asking for donations. This is a tradition that has existed in Japan for centuries, and, while few busy city-dwellers stop to drop a few yen in the bowl, even fewer would begrudge the monks for doing it since they have scant income and bring a lot of comfort to many people.

A photo that appeared online earlier this week, however, showing what appears to be two monks sitting in a side-street laughing and smoking while counting their takings for the day, has caused quite a stir among Japan’s internet users…

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French Commentator’s “Radiation” Joke Angers Japanese Government

Following Japan’s 1-0 victory over France in the friendly football (soccer to our North American readers) match last week, a French variety show host made a joke that has touched a nerve here in Japan.

Alluding to Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima’s impressive skills on the field, the show presented an edited image of the player, showing him with four arms.

The show’s presenter then suggested that Kawashima’s additional limbs might be the result of “the Fukushima effect” and that they had grown after exposure to radiation leaked from the nuclear plant damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. While the joke went down well during the show, many Japanese are understandably very upset…

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Japan’s Armed Forces Show Their Playful Side: Moé-Style Attack Helicopter Wows Crowds

“It just goes to show that we really do live in a peaceful country.”

A quote from an internet user sums up the mood perfectly after Japan’s Self Defence Forces unveil a unique attack helicopter covered with manga-influenced designs and colours.

Presented as part of an air show in Chiba prefecture last weekend, the quirky new helicopter quickly stole the show, with hundreds of people taking photos and video to share on the internet.

Whether we’d ever see a helicopter like this fly into battle or not, there’s no denying that it has an awful lot of charm.

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