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Rachel Tackett

Despite being born and raised in one of the more sparsely populated regions of the U.S, Rachel has found her true home in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, where all of the narrow truths that she grew up with no longer apply, and she is free to experiment with a wealth of exciting new pastimes. Highly qualified as a “Dabbler in Many Things,” Rachel’s hobbies include reading, blogging, singing, cosplaying, attending theater productions, and drawing for her doujinshi circle, Amyused. She also does work translating and typesetting manga for a number of (legal, I swear) digital distribution sites and boosting their popularity through social networking management.

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Posted by Rachel Tackett (Page 6)

There are both good and bad things about being a single woman later in life, though living free is not always the lady’s choice. Years and years may pass, and relationships fail to find us. That doesn’t mean we don’t want companionship, it just hasn’t happened to us yet. Often, the time and place just never feel right for establishing that love connection, or maybe a worthy companion has yet to appear.

Regardless of the circumstances, there’s one thing that single women never want to hear, and that’s relationship advice. Sure, it’s fine if we ask for it, but otherwise, do us all a nice favor and keep your opinions to yourself. Your intentions may be noble, but your assumptions and attempted assurances are really just reminders of exactly how lonely we single women are. Trust me. Whatever you have to say, we’ve heard it all before. Here’s a list of 30 things you really shouldn’t say to a single woman, as told by the lovely ladies over at our Japanese sister site, Pouch:

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The principal of an elementary school in Osaka recently resigned under pressure from the city’s board of education after using physical violence as a disciplinary measure against seven of the school’s students for enacting and concealing the event of a knife threat within the school.

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Cosplayers let loose behind the scenes before the World Cosplay Summit championships

Every year the city of Nagoya plays host to the World Cosplay Summit (WCS), a large-scale competition between cosplay representatives from around the world. Teams of two from 20 different countries are all brought to Japan to take part in this life-changing opportunity. The championship finals will be held on the outdoor stage of Oasis21 on Saturday, August 3, starting at 7 p.m. Japan time. Tickets are available, though they are not required to watch the event. In fact, you don’t even have to be in Japan to watch this year’s world-class cosplay performances. It’s been announced that for the first time Niconico Douga will be stream the entire event on the World Cosplay Summit’s official channel.

But you know, not everything to do with the WCS involves competition. Cosplay itself is about bringing together people of similar interests and building a sense of community between those who like to dress up as Japanese characters. These cosplay teams must prepare not only as performers but as representatives of cosplay culture in each of their respective countries. Before the finals even take place, teams must take part in a week’s worth of parades, photo shoots, and official meetings. it’s a good thing there are some opportunities to relax worked into the schedule as well.

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Of the many things that China is known for, one of them is most certainly bootlegging. Sometimes it works to our smalltime benefit by introducing us to almost familiar films and imitation iPhones, but only trouble can be bought when China’s system begins circulating bootleg bills.

Recently, counterfeit money in China has reached a point where not only are people being fooled by fake cash, money-checking machines are too, as Chinese ATMs appear to be distributing bogus bills to honest civilians.

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Westernized kimono resemble cosplay more than actual clothes

Summer is the season for festivals here in Japan. Every weekend some district or other is putting together a party for locals and tourists to come and enjoy. There are food stands, game stalls, temporary toy shops, and people all around. Most come with a parade event of sorts and end with an explosion of amazing fireworks. But above all, something you’re always going to find at any self-respecting festival are people dressed traditionally in lightweight yukata (a summer kimono) and jinbei (robe-style shirt and shorts) as they wander the streets.

But what about in Western counties like America? In early September of every year, Saint Louis, Missouri, holds a large Japanese-style festival in the city’s botanical gardens. Despite the lingering heat of late summer, somewhere between 20 to 30 thousand people attend this great cultural event each year. But what do they wear? Judging by the array of kimono and yukata available at the English shopping site A Fashion, people hoping to model some Japanese styles might find themselves in what resembles a crazy costume more than actual clothes.

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Newest Ghibli film brings 40-year-old tune to the top of the music charts

Studio Ghibli’s latest work, The Wind is Rising (Kaze Tachinu), created under the supervision of Hayao Miyazaki, is proud to be represented by its lovely theme song, Hikouki Gumo. The name literally means “airplane cloud” and it was first released a full 40 years ago by the talented singer and songwriter Yuming. Ghibli’s claim over the sweet, old tune has caused a surge of interest in the piece, bringing this 40-year-old forgotten classic to the top of Japan’s Recochoku Daily Ranking and earning it the title of iTunes top song for Saturday, July 20. Studio Ghibli and Yuming are now collaborating in many wonderful ways to celebrate their successes over the past 40 years.

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Mr. Sato participates in beer company’s mysterious “escape game”

On July 16th, the Japanese beer company, Kirin, released an all-new brand of gin-based alcohol called Kirin Dry Rickey. To build up hype for their new product, Kirin ran a very unique sort of promotional event on Tokyo’s Yamanote train line. When most companies would have thrown their entire advertisement budget into posters, billboards, and commercials, Kirin organized a special event known as nothing more than an “escape game.” Our very own Mr. Sato, lured in by the mystery and the smell of booze, decided to take part in this very special game and discover what it takes to “escape” from a train on the Yamanote Line.

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Unique interpretations of sushi found around the globe

A couple of weeks back we posted an article here about the unique interpretation Ukraine has given Japan’s most iconic dish, sushi. Now, having read the insightful observations of Mr. Masayoshi Kazato, chairman for the World Sushi Cup, a competition between sushi chefs from around the world, we think it’s safe to say that not only has sushi gained footholds in all corners of the globe, each country has established its own set of regional recipes.

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Are blue foods as cool as the color implies? We try blue curry, ramen, and beer

Under normal circumstances, Japanese people have an open aversion to unnaturally colored foods, especially blue. This is true even of sports drinks and birthday cakes. Without even addressing the never-ending debates over artificial food colorings and health, something about the color blue appears unappetizing to their taste buds.

However, in the overwhelming heat of summer, the color blue also carries with it the connotation of something cool and calm. Could the implicative promise of a refreshing counter to the summer sun override this instinctual revulsion against imbibing something blue? After hearing about a certain Thai food restaurant that serves bright blue dishes, we decided to send one of our more adventurous culinary reporters to check it out.

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On Wednesday, July 16, reports came from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announcing that two women had been arrested on suspicion of violating the Japanese Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956. Those apprehended are thought to have been running a prostitution ring for men with a fetish for fleshy females. The average weight of the women they dispatched to paying customers was a good 100 kg (220 pounds)!

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Just because playing video games is the preferred hobby of many nerds and otaku-types (like us!) doesn’t mean they lack class. Game music in particular has improved in leaps and bounds over the years, almost as much as the graphics themselves. These days, many big-budget games contain fully orchestrated scores by famous movie composers, and even those that don’t can be arranged to fit a symphony.

This weekend at San Diego Comic Con, a performance of symphonic video game music called Video Games Live will be taking place. And, for the first time ever, this highly anticipated show will be broadcast around the world, thanks to the live streaming web services at Twitch.

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Japan’s version of the widely popular online video streaming site, Hulu, has just announced that starting this summer they will be making themselves available on the Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL. Not long ago, Nintendo announced its intention to branch out and turn their 3DS systems into an eBook reader. Now, they are expanding into the streaming video market as well, by pursuing a kid-friendly collaboration with Hulu Japan. The app’s release is scheduled for mid-August. Read More

In Thailand there is a chain of conveyor belt sushi and shabu shabu restaurants called Shabushi, operated by the company Oishi Group. Shabu-shabu is a Japanese dish similar to fondue, where vegetables and wafer-thin slices of meat are cooked in a pot of boiling broth at the table. One week ago, on July 4 at the Central World trade facility in Bangkok, Oishi Group held the opening ceremonies for their second annual Shabu Lympics, a shabu-shabu eating contest taking place at select branches of Shabushi nation-wide.

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Last month a man was caught red-handed groping an innocent office lady on a train in Kyoto, in violation of the region’s laws against causing public disturbances. The man was put under immediate arrest, and while this admittedly unfortunate event may seem a bit too tame to be newsworthy, the offender was none other than the head patrol officer of Osaka’s police force! Apparently, this groping incident was far from the first for this once-respected officer.

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Anticipated anime, Little Witch Academia 2, blows by its $150,000 goal after one day on Kickstarter

Remember back in April when we brought you news of the explosively popular anime, Little Witch Academia? The short movie received such an overwhelming abundance of positive feedback from the online community that its creators Studio TRIGGER have decided to create a sequel to their highly acclaimed magical girl anime. And, in order to procure the funds for some extended running time, the team has turned to the American crowd-funding site Kickstarter.

The project began accepting pledges on Monday, July 8, and amazingly surpassed their desired US$150,000 mark after just one day!

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You call that sushi? Ukraine’s take on the Japanese classic

Whenever foods specific to a certain culture make appearances in foreign restaurants, something almost always gets altered along the way. For example, I’ve been living in Japan for years, and yet I still shake my head whenever I see an “American-style” pizza topped with eggplant, potato and mayonnaise. It’d be one thing if everyday consumers realized that the “Western” food they eat is actually unique to Japan, but as far as they are concerned, all of us Americans put taters and mayo on our pizzas!

But of course, Japan is in no way the only country to confuse traditional ingredients for those suited to their local tastes. Recently, one of our RocketNews24 correspondents, Natasha from Ukraine, wrote up a fine report on the sad state of sushi in her country. Here’s the gist of what she had to say.

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History has a way of creating awkward situations for future generations. I can’t think of how many times I’ve attempted friendly conversation by asking a Japanese local where they’re from and been blindsided by the answer, “Hiroshima.” I, with my American perspective, will then fall into this comically long pause as I wonder how appropriate it would be to apologize on behalf of my country for turning their city to dust, but the fact of the matter is that most Japanese people bear absolutely no grudge towards America for the atomic bombings of World War II.

Apparently this is difficult for some Internet users in China to comprehend, as there was recently a thread on one of the country’s most popular bulletin board sites asking “Why doesn’t Japan hate the USA for bombing them with two atomic weapons?” Interestingly, the answers that the thread received probably say more about Chinese people’s lingering disdain for the Japanese than Japan’s view of America.

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In Chinese restaurants from America to Brazil, Britain, Australia, and much of the western world in between, there’s one thing we’ve all come to expect at the end of our meals. Aside from heartburn and maybe an upset tummy, we expect a tray full of fortune cookies to be delivered with the check. You know, those crisp, folded cookies with a paper slip inside telling you your lucky lotto numbers and the importance of friendship in your life. But did you realize that you’ll never encounter these kinds of cookies at restaurants within China itself? Investigations show that Chinese fortune cookies have absolutely nothing to do with China! The truth, it would seem, lies a little bit further east.

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Nintendo announces eReader system for children’s books on 3DS

This Tuesday, Nintendo announced via Japan’s economics newspaper, Nikkei, that they will soon begin releasing e-books geared toward children on their 3DS platform. Over the years, Nintendo has had notable success with the grade school demographic within Japan, and so, in order to take advantage of this popularity, they have amassed a collection of approximately 300 Japanese children’s books and will begin releasing them this fall.

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When leaving the house for days on end, whether it be for work or for pleasure, those who have pets face an additional problem in planning. Someone has to feed the critters and make certain that they don’t leave any stinky surprises. Japan offers a number of different services for traveling pet owners, but one man, Mr. Haruna from Okazaki City in Aichi Prefecture, hated to see how upset his pet became after being left in a pet hotel.

In order to limit the stress of lonely pets, Haruna quit his job as a salary man and started the Pet-Sitter Gentry. “It’s the pet version of a babysitter,” he explains, and although the business has seen some hardships, the recruitment of additional staff has now allowed him to expand his pet-sitting service area into eastern Nagoya City.

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