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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 42)

Help Pikachu and Pals Fight for Their Freedom! PETA’s Pokémon Parody Sends a Powerful Message

Hot on the heels of its highly successful Super Mario spoof animal fur campaign, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has launched a brand new flash game that centres on kids’ videogame favourite Pokémon, exposing the cruel truth behind the trainer / pocket monster relationship and prompting us all to think a little harder about how we treat animals.

The game, which mimics the style of the hugely popular videogame, has seen thousands of visits since its launch, and asks players to take on the role of captive pokémon as they battle with their abusive trainer for freedom. Read More

Journey to Toilet Heaven: Our Writer’s Cheeks-On Experience of the World’s Most Spacious Public Toilet

With every man and his dog having heard tales of Japan’s heated, butt-cheek-massaging, water-squirting thrones or experienced them firsthand by now, the country’s space-age toilets are nothing new.

Why the contraptions haven’t quite caught on overseas yet still amazes me, but Japan continues to do toilets exceedingly well, and few things on this earth please this writer more than opening a stall door and being greeted by a sensor-activated toilet whose lid opens to greet me with the fondness of a dog whose master has just return from a weekend away.

But with all those buttons, dials and functions, Japan’s toilets seem to have peaked. Today’s toilet enthusiasts demand something more! Luxury, ladies and gentlemen, does not come from mere electronics; it comes from spacious, tranquil privacy.

In search of just that, our lucky writer over at RocketNews24 Japan headed out to Chiba prefecture, the home of the world’s most spacious public restroom, documenting the entire process on our behalf. Well, maybe not the entire of the process…

Before we set off, does anyone need to pee?

Read More

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A Week After McDonald’s Removes Menus from Counters, Customers are Still Not Happy

Just over a week ago, McDonald’s Japan took the sudden and seemingly unnecessary step of removing menus from its counters, instead asking customers to make their selection before stepping up to order.

As reported here on RocketNews24, this very minor change had a strangely jarring effect on us when we visited the restaurant, perhaps conditioned by years of frequenting fast food joints and coffee outlets where the menu is, usually, right next to the cash register to at least glance at.

According to recent reports, that feeling of confusion is not limited to this us alone… Read More

 

Stereotypes; you have to love them.

Americans all own guns; every Brit has bad teeth; Asians make bad drivers; Koreans all eat Kimchi.

Usually stereotypes are utter nonsense- none of my American friends have ever held a real gun, let alone own one; a Japanese friend of mine once piloted my car along possibly the narrowest mountain road known to man when I was too freaked out to do it myself; and, as far as I can tell, my teeth are not in need of any urgent dental work.

But with 18kg (40lbs) of kimchi consumed per person in Korea each year, there might just be a grain of truth to that last  stereotype.

So when news broke earlier today that Korea now imports more of its own national dish than it makes, it’s understandable that there were a few raised eyebrows… Read More

Face-Blurring Tech Goes Rogue: Google Maps Shows Its Respect For Colonel Sanders’ Privacy

Remember the first time you zoomed in on Google maps and realised that you could see actual photos of your street? When you discovered that you could take a virtual stroll down pretty much any road in the world, or check out the street in front of that new apartment you just spotted an ad for?

While all of the images taken by Google’s magical multi-direction photo car were technically taken on public property, there have been numerous complaints over “invasions of privacy” as, in the process of snapping the world’s streets, many ordinary people going about their day- be it gardening, walking the dog or leaving a sex shop with an armful of porn mags- were caught on camera and immortalised forever for the entire world to see.

Naturally, Google took steps towards protecting the privacy of the unlucky few caught in embarrassing situations and blurred out the faces of those who happened to be out and about, so it’s not unusual to see shots of busy cities like Tokyo populated by people who look like they could be in a Japanese Adult Movie.

But when they go so far as to blur out KFC’s Colonel Sanders’ face, it just looks weird…

Read More

 

Maybe Jackie Chan was wrong after all?

Amid the reports of demonstrations, mob violence and damage to property in the name of protest over the rightful ownership of the Senkaku islands, it has been difficult to focus on the facts and keep a clear head.

Yesterday, however, the Japanese government took a step towards legally resolving the dispute, producing official documentation that refutes the Chinese government’s claim over the islands, and suggesting that the Chinese side is “contradicting” itself.

Read More

 

While there are still a few kinks to be straightened out, and it’s not quite the life-changing service that Apple have been claiming it to be, the iPhone’s PA program Siri is still capable of making a few users chuckle.

Perhaps just seeing what their new iPhone’s electronic assistant could do can do, or perhaps just immensely bored one day, a Japanese iPhone user told Siri something about herself–

“Tomorrow’s my birthday…”

Read More

Creepy, Creepy, Creepy: Technology Forces Smiles on Sad-Faced Humans, Wins Award

Ah, so this is how Skynet starts…

Scientists at the University of Tokyo Sony CSL (Computer Science Labs) have come up with an ingenious way of cheering people up- forcing them to smile in exchange for easy access to their food.

Attaching a device called as a “Happiness Counter” to a regular refrigerator, Sony’s scientists are hoping to make us happier people.

The technology, which scans a person’s face as they stand in front of their food treasure trove, detects whether or not they are smiling and, reading anything other than a big, cheesy grin, makes the door difficult to open.

Read More

 

When I was a kid, there was a period of about a week in school when everyone became obsessed with making “jokes” using “What’s the definition of…?” set-ups.

As well as failing to make anyone laugh, they rarely made much sense and were always both immensely long-winded and contrived…

Allow me to share an example:

“What’s the definition of ’cheeky’? Throwing a brick through someone’s window, then knocking on the door and asking for it back!”

Oh my sides….

Thankfully, though, a 16-year-old in Wakayama prefecture, Japan has done us all a favour and made an example of himself, putting an end to the eternal mystery “what’s the definition of ‘stupidity’?”

Read More

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New Playstation 3 Commercial Packs a Nasty Little Surprise, Small Children Now Wary of Plastic Boxes

Just before this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony lifted the lid on its newly-modelled Playstation 3 console.

While many of us were hoping for even a tiny snippet of news on the next generation of consoles, Sony is still busy squeezing the few last drops of juice out of its multi-million-selling game machine, and, in an effort to cut production costs and shift a few more units before going next-gen, has somehow managed to shave a few more inches off the console’s size, giving it a facelift in the process.

Eager to show off their newest toy, a brand new ad campaign for the console hit Japanese TV late last week, drawing consumers’ attention to the machine’s snazzy new lines and bragging about its smaller size.

And then something a little bit unexpected happens. Read More

 

Haruki Murakami, the award-winning essayist and critically-acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore and many others, has spoken out about the recent troubles between Japan, China and Taiwan in a startlingly down-to-earth essay over on the Asahi Shinbun Digital’s culture section.

Motivated in particular by the recent news of China’s bookshops removing titles by Japanese authors, the essay focuses on the importance of cultural exchange in our societies and how, through all forms of media, we are able to communicate our very souls over seas and across borders. Read More

 

With the debate over the ownership of the Senkaku islands remaining heated, tensions continue to run high across mainland China. There have been numerous instances of attacks on those being seen to support Japan, and Japanese-owned businesses have been hit hard, with many, including world-famous fashion store Uniqlo, ordering their Japanese staff to remain at home for the time being.

On this side of the water, however, both Japanese and Chinese alike are going about their daily lives with relatively little conflict or stress… Read More

Life-Saving Multitasking Made Possible: Massage Your Face While Playing Nintendo DS Games!

Have you ever wanted to increase your productivity? Do you, like me, save time by brushing your teeth in the shower, ironing a shirt while eating toast, or taking your horses out for a morning canter while penning a poem about clouds?

Today’s your lucky day!

Japan Trust Technology (JTT) is now marketing a time-saving, relaxing beautification tool that every Nintendo DS owner should have- The Germa Roller Touch Pen! Read More

Hilarious Comic About Room-Sharing Jesus and Buddha, “Saint Onīsan”, to Become Animated Movie

It was revealed yesterday that Saint Onīsan, quite possibly this writer’s favourite manga right now, is to become an animated feature film.

For the unfamiliar, Saint Onīsan (lit. Saint young man), is Hikaru Nakamura’s serial comic that tells the tale of Jesus and Buddha, who come down to Earth from heaven for a little rest and relaxation, setting up camp in a small apartment in Tachikawa, Tokyo.

Constantly on a budget but always keen to explore, Jesus and Buddha do their best to keep their true identities secret while experiencing as much everyday human life as possible. Doing everything from experiencing local festivals to shopping for a rice cooker, the pair often find themselves getting into genuinely hilarious mishaps. Read More

 

Even putting current tensions between the country and Japan aside for the moment, China has seen a great deal of civil unrest in recent months. With citizens losing faith in their government, and the gap between the poor and the wealthy seemingly growing ever larger, it is little wonder that protests and riots are occurring more and more frequently.

At the end of June, pictures emerged of clashes between residents and armed police in the Canton region. It later become clear that the riot occurred following little more than a scuffle between two boys from neighbouring towns that got out of hand. Angry that men from the first boy’s town had entered into the argument, adults from the second boy’s town also became involved, and the spat quickly grew out of hand with thousands of locals eventually becoming involved in the fray. Read More

From Utter Chaos to Perfect Order: 32 Metronomes Magically Come Together in Sync

If you’re the kind of person who likes to arrange your Skittles candy by colour, or who refuses to get out of bed until the clock displays a round number, the start of this video might be tough to watch. But stick with it- everything falls into nice, neat, regulated order soon enough!

In a recently-released video from Saitama University’s Ikeguchi laboratories, 32 metronomes are placed in even (phew!) rows and set off one by one, creating a horrendous cacophony of clicks and whirrs.

At first, there’s nothing but visual and audio chaos as the pendulums swing back and forth at their own pace. Although the human brain naturally searches for patterns and rhythms, there are none to be found here, which is perhaps what makes it so uncomfortable for the more OCD-oriented of us to watch.

But then… Read More

RocketNews24 Original Scatch and Sniff: Aaah, That New Game Console Smell!!!

At 00:00 a.m. on March 1, 1997, a 14-year-old version of this writer- extremely lanky and awkwardly dressed- was standing outside a videogame store alongside his mother and a few slightly bedraggled-looking young men, clutching the pocket-money he’d saved for nearly 18 months, absolutely desperate to give it away.

This was undoubtedly the nerdiest moment of my life, and I’ve never since gone to a midnight launch of a videogame console, despite owning about a dozen since. But when I’d waited more than a year for the UK launch of the Nintendo 64, and, having convinced my infinitely-patient mother to drive me into town in the middle of the night, I was excited. Incredibly excited. Perhaps more excited than a night before Christmas with Santa, Willy Wonka and a dozen sugar-rushing puppies, even.

Back at home, opening my new console on my bedroom floor (it’s called “unboxing” now, and people post painfully long videos of it online…), I was hit by that curious smell of new electronics. But not just any old electronics smell; this was the smell of a new Nintendo 64. Clean, new, professional, yet somehow extremely welcoming…

Up until now, I had thought I was the only one who noticed these things- that videogame consoles, new mobile phones, whatever- had a distinct smell of their own, not just ‘electronics’.

But over at our Japanese site, Mamiya-san has written a great little article about his own experiences with much-loved games console the PC Engine (perhaps known to some as TurboGrafix-16), and, in particular, its own very special smell. Since the machine remains relatively unknown outside of its native Japan, I can’t help but share his experiences with our English-speaking readers. Read More

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