Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
With nothing better to do in his native Ohio, Mike took a leave of absence from all responsibilities in life and came to Japan for the first time in 2006. After several years of what amounted to an extended vacation with occasional Japanese lessons, circumstances led Mike to finally settle down in Tokyo and get serious about life in 2009. He’s worked at magazines, a Japanese ad agency, and currently works in the entertainment industry. He also co-founded and writes for the humorous Japan news website Tokyodesu.com.
Posted by Mike (Page 21)
We’ve all got bizarre excuses for cheating on a diet. You know, like how donut holes don’t count because they technically don’t exist? And we all know ice cream is mostly air anyway. Now, men, at least, are going to have to add a new ludicrous excuse: “Certainly calories don’t count if you eat them in midair.”
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II recently made a Mie Prefecture man an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire, which we think means he’s some kind of knight now or something. That or “Hand of the Queen” if standard Game of Thrones rules apply.
What did the lucky man, Sir Isao Toji, do to deserve such a distinction? Well, for the past 20 years, Toji has held an annual memorial service for 16 British servicemen who died in Japan as prisoners of war during World War II.
A recent Ameba News Japanese blog post asked a 37-year old American woman her thoughts on Halloween in Japan, and based on her answer you’d think Halloween in Japan was somehow expressly responsible for all the unhappiness in her life.
The woman asked the blog author, “Why do adults in Japan get drunk together and wear costumes on Halloween? Don’t they know it’s a holiday for kids?”
Her response seemed to be dripping with condescension, which inspired us to dig into just what Halloween is about in Japan and how it differs from the US, and if our research is any indicator, the holiday has really come into its own out here over the past few years.
Beauty in Japan is serious business. This might be the explanation for why “beauty salon” in Japanese shares a kanji character with both “graduate school” and “hospital.”* The treatment you’re liable to get at a Japanese beauty salon often far outpaces that of Western salons; typically you can expect a thorough scalp massage and drink service at the very least, and shoulder and hand massages and in-depth style counseling are not uncommon either.
And that’s just scratching the surface. Here is a list of differences between Japanese and Western hair salons:
Oh boy, look at that thing. Just, wow. What is even happening here? There are so many colors, and this Escher-esque perspective trick where you’re looking down at the sushi conveyor belt but seeing the customers head-on all at the same time…
As the title of this bizarro infographic suggests, this is ostensibly a guide to using a kaiten conveyor belt sushi establishment. We’re actually very appreciative someone took the effort to make this since it’s pretty easy to accidentally commit a crime if you don’t follow the kaiten sushi rules perfectly.
An advance word of warning: this recipe seems both extremely difficult and extremely time consuming, so we’d advise you only try it if you’re a master chef or incredibly bored. Or if you need to consume a disgusting amount of calories in a short space of time.
Still, in the spirit of Halloween, this sweet cake and gelatin “Ramen Cake” masquerading almost perfectly as real ramen, is a clever, cute substitute for the usual chocolate eyeballs, brain Jell-o and other grotesqueries of the season.
Without getting into our personal opinions of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel (ahem, Conan is better, ahem), he’s had a string of pretty successful viral videos featuring kids and their crazy antics.
So, sensing more comedy gold, Jimmy dressed a bunch of kids up like politicians and asked them their thoughts about US current events, hoping for some adorable responses. After some initial cuteness, Jimmy asked how the kids thought America should take care of its debt to China, which is where the fun stopped for most of us, because one kid blurted out a disturbing proposal for solving the problem: kill everyone in China.
Who knew that hip hop dancing could be such serious business? An American hip-hop dance team – or crew as they’re called in dance circles – is so miffed that another dance crew allegedly stole part of their routine that they’re taking the fight to the rival team half a world away.
The apparent ripping off occurred when a Korean dance crew busted out a brief but complex choreographed dance move that is exactly the same as a move pioneered by the American dance crew I.Am.Me on the MTV show America’s Best Dance Crew (side note: the show is hosted by none other than A.C. Slater, a well-known expert on 80s-style dance numbers).
We’re so jealous of cats. They get virtually all of the attention on the Internet, they’re allowed to lounge around convenience stores day and night like they own the place, drinking cat wine, and generally being doted on.
Finally, though, Japan’s obsession with cats and cat paraphernalia is making it possible for us to become the cat. Behold, the hooded cat blanket from online retailer Felissimo.
There’s never been an easier point in history to waste time than now. Especially with the advent of video games and their gradual evolution into slot machine-like addiction engines, more and more kids are electing to forgo homework, jobs and even college to sink more time into their favorite title.
And parents should let them go ahead and keep doing it, according to Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of the epic space opera anime franchise Gundam.
Takashi Yanase, renowned manga artist and creator of one of Japan’s most widely beloved children’s characters, Anpanman, passed away in the early morning hours of October 13 at a Tokyo hospital. A spokesman named heart failure as the cause of death.
It’s no secret that RocketNews24 writers are big fans of McDonald’s Japan, with its selection of artery-clogging novelty menu items providing endless amusement and article fodder at price ranges that even an Internet “journalist” can afford day after day.
Every once in a while, though, we find it necessary to dish the dirt on McDonald’s Japan so that our readers don’t think we’re on the Golden Arches’ payroll. So, fortuitously, an anonymous Netizen recently leaked McDonald’s Japan’s base costs for its most popular menu items and we have to admit, we found the dangerously low – sometimes single digit – yen values to be alarming and disturbing at the same time.
Doraemon, that loveable robotic, time-travelling kitty, may have inadvertently inspired an early Qing Dynasty cult of Doraemon worship during his travels through the space-time continuum, if this bizarrely similar idol of a grinning cat discovered by a Chinese tourist is to be believed.
We’ve already elaborated on how much food-themed characters freak us out, but until now we thought we were pretty much fine with food based on characters. When we saw this photo of a Rilakkuma birthday cake being served at a Japanese restaurant, we found ourselves suddenly overwhelmed with melancholy, plus a touch of revulsion.
We can all agree that there are few things more embarrassing than sudden, public diarrhea.
If forgetting to zip your fly is a one on the scale of public embarrassment, and tripping down an entire flight of stairs is maybe a four, explosive diarrhea has got to be an 11 or 12. With this in mind, you’re really taking your social life in your hands when you eat this bizarre but incredibly delicious fish in front of friends.
Anime meat looks delicious and grotesque at the same time. It almost always makes you hunger for a big turkey leg because of how perfectly it’s drawn – like how hamburgers look on the McDonald’s menu – but then it’s got the two bones sticking out of it, as though someone just savagely tore the leg off of some poor, frightened animal, bone and all.
Which seems entirely possible considering that everyone in an anime universe is as strong as an ox. Maybe they gain their power by killing and eating the hearts and leg bones of said oxen.
Anyway, a baumkuchen manufacturer in Japan realized that with the sweet, dense cake dessert popular throughout Europe and Japan, they could almost perfectly recreate a cartoony anime meat shank and the below “Manga Niku” baumkuchen was born.
The old saying in Japanese gamer circles used to go “Bei game wa Kuso game” (“Western games are sh&%ty games”), but the tables may have turned in a big way if this year’s Tokyo Game Show turnout is any indication.
Western publishers were out in spades this year. In fact, the very first thing attendees saw when entering the gates of this year’s TGS were a bunch of armed soldiers and (tastefully) military-garbed booth girls promoting the newest entry in the Battlefield series of online multiplayer military shooter games.
If you’ve never actually been to Japan and had a Yukimi Daifuku recommended to or forced upon you, you probably have no idea what that headline means.
Yukimi Daifuku is an ice cream treat that wraps the Japanese candy staple, mochi – rice pounded to a gooey consistency – with ice cream. It may be one of the few ice cream desserts in Japan that is popular outside of the summer months, most likely because it combines so many different flavors and eating experiences: The gooey, sticky mochi – which is slightly savory – contrasts with the sweet, creamy ice cream to create a totally unique treat you’d be hard pressed to find outside of Japan.
A Nagaski area public toilet is proving that the future that Blade Runner envisioned is now, and it’s in Japan.
The public toilet in question is apparently about a 10-minute walk from the station proper, at an unassuming location near a pedestrian underpass. To even gain access to the toilet requires you to figure out a complex series of buttons and probably pass a retinal scan to ensure you aren’t a Replicant.
Edible art is kind of a thing these days, especially in Asia, where seemingly every dish is so artfully crafted and cute you couldn’t possibly eat it – especially when it takes the form of a cat poking out of your latte.
This admittedly somewhat wasteful art form may have reached its pinnacle with these mind-boggling works of makizushi magnificence.
Visiting Japan’s one-and-only, and only-for-a-limited-time, Dragon Ball noodle restaurant[Photos]
Japanese government planning higher ticket prices for foreign tourists at Tokyo National Museum
Mister Donut unveils new sakura doughnuts for cherry blossom season 2026
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Silicone testicle covers banned from Japanese sauna following cups being left behind and on shelves
Beyond sakura: How to tell a cherry blossom from a plum or peach flower
Candy from Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies disappearing as manufacturer goes out of business
Japanese video 18-Year-Old Grandpa has important, moving message behind its silly-sounding title
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Mr. Sato dons full pilgrim fashion to escape the summer heatStarbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Is Tokyo Station’s startlingly expensive wagyu bento boxed lunch worth its high price?[Taste test]
One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world oceanJapanese government planning higher ticket prices for foreign tourists at Tokyo National Museum
Live-action One Piece’s Luffy teaches Sesame Street’s Elmo a Japanese word for friendship[Video]
Studio Ghibli now sells Ursula’s backpack from Kiki’s Delivery Service at its anime shop in Japan
Sakura Festival in Chiyoda mixes illuminations, boats, music, and Rilakkuma in the heart of TokyoSilicone testicle covers banned from Japanese sauna following cups being left behind and on shelves
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to localsTake a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your homeJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Beyond sakura: How to tell a cherry blossom from a plum or peach flower
Candy from Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies disappearing as manufacturer goes out of business
Japanese video 18-Year-Old Grandpa has important, moving message behind its silly-sounding title
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Mr. Sato dons full pilgrim fashion to escape the summer heat
Disney villain-themed eyeglasses in four styles up for presale in Japan
Death Spray from Japan causes buzz online for powerful ability to cut ties with bad energy
7-Eleven Japan now sells bagels…cooked in bamboo steamers
Searching for Japan’s “river of the dead” in Tottori Prefecture【Photos】
Tokyo restaurant’s mega pasta is so huge they’ll pay you US$455 if you can eat it all by yourself
Is Tokyo Station’s startlingly expensive wagyu bento boxed lunch worth its high price?[Taste test]
The mystery of the phantom “sake pass card” at Japanese alcohol vending machines
Japan asked to vote on what to officially call insanely hot days
Which of Japan’s main coffee shop chains is best for a caffeine-free life?