Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
China (Page 36)
Owning a Roomba or other automated cleaning robot to take care of floor dust can be such an awesome convenience. But you’d better take care and show them some appreciation, because these handy tools have been known to escape when overworked and left unattended. Remember the rogue Roomba that restlessly cleaned the streets around Tokyo’s Kanda train station? Well, it’s happened again in a different part of the world, but this time it’s the owners who sounded the alarm.
For those who have lost a part of their body either through illness or after being involved in an accident, plastic surgery offers not only the hope of repairing any physical damage but also restoring self-confidence. One phenomenal case of life-altering plastic surgery currently receiving a lot of attention here in Asia is that of a surgeon in China who is growing a replacement nose on the forehead of a man who lost his during traffic accident.
America throws the best linguistic hissy fits when political relationships sour. Remember when Congress tried to change French fries to “freedom fries” because France didn’t want to come along on the Iraq invasion? Or how about when sauerkraut became so unpopular during World War I that makers suggested changing the name to the less Germanic “liberty cabbage”? Good times.
Well, it may be that the Yanks aren’t the only ones who want suitably patriotic cabbage. In Korea, it looks like Chinese cabbage, the vegetable used to make the most common variety of kimchi, is now being referred to as “kimchi cabbage” or just “cabbage”.
Perhaps many of our readers are aware of the Mid-Autumn Festival which is celebrated each year around late September in China and other parts of Asia. The festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, and as such, the actual date varies slightly from year to year, but it is usually around the time of the autumn equinox and is timed to coincide with the full moon. Traditionally a festival to give thanks and pray for a bountiful harvest and also to worship the moon, it is still today a huge event involving the gathering of family and friends, viewing the moon and, of course, sharing the special confectioneries known as mooncakes.
As it happens, just last week, I had the chance to visit Singapore right at the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which was on September 19 this year. Now, I knew that the festival would be going on during my trip, and also that the celebration involved mooncakes, and lots of it too — I just had no idea how much! Read More
A Taiwanese man who was walking in the Alishan National Scenic Area in Taiwan was mobbed by a group of Chinese tourists after he cautioned them not to spit or throw their cigarette butts on the ground, Taiwanese media reports. The incident is believed to have taken place on September 9 when one Mr. Chin, himself a Taiwanese national, was enjoying a stroll with a female friend. The accused Chinese tourists, however, maintain that it was in fact they who were assaulted.
Shejiu is a traditional type of liquor that is made by pickling a venomous snake in a bottle of alcohol such as baijiu. The venom of the snake is neutralized by the liquor and, thanks to the essences of the serpent, is said to have energizing and healing properties.
It is widely drunk in various parts of Asia to treat problems or maintain health, but for one unlucky woman in one of China’s most northeastern cities, brewing the drink ended in a trip to the hospital when the snake awoke after three months and attacked.
Smartphones on the market today allow users to do all sorts of things that would have otherwise been unimaginable even a decade ago. You can listen to music while surfing the net or writing an email, watch movies, get live weather reports, and let’s not forget the phone’s original purpose of talking to people.
The bane of the average smartphone user’s life, however, is their device’s short battery life. And anyone looking to save their beloved device from a sudden black screen of death has to either cut down on the heavy-duty apps or carry a charging cable or battery charging unit with them. But what if we told you that you could cut out the middle man and attach your phone directly to the power outlet whenever and wherever you were?
As many of you may be aware, China has had some serious pollution problems in recent years with contamination spreading far and wide, affecting people’s health and everyday lifestyles. With all this negative publicity, it is of no surprise that China’s tourism industry has seen a decline in visitors to the country.
However, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has come up with a rather clever and, shall we say, peculiar scheme that guarantees to get rid of the smog, at least for all the tourists who want to capture a special photo for the occasion. It comes in the form of a picturesque banner of the Hong Kong landscape that is substituted for the real, polluted background. It’s just a case of standing in front of it, saying cheese and you’re done. Granted the picture may look good but it still doesn’t solve the actual problem of pollution.
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Over the past few years, China’s animation industry has greatly expanded and produced many all-new domestic works. However, these “original” animations have been placed under a lot of suspicion from sources both domestic and foreign for their blatant mimicry of Japanese and American animation sources. Many accuse China’s fledgling animation industry of relying on rip-offs to sell.
In response to these claims, an opinion piece titled “How Chinese Animation has Progressed Through ‘Imitation,’” was posted on one of China’s major cartoon and comics information sites. The column insists that China’s domestic animations should not be thought of as rip-offs but as inspired copies made for the sake of further developing their infant cartoon industry.
China is increasingly becoming a real-life Maximum Overdrive with machines and items such as mobile phones, toilets, bus windows, buses, cans of cola, and cigarettes have all lashed out at their fleshy masters.
And now, at around 2:00 a.m. in Fujian Province, the automated teller machine of a credit union exploded blowing out nearby windows but injuring none. It would appear the joke was on this machine as it didn’t know most people sleep at that time of day.
For those of you who are fans of Dragon Ball, what would you call Piccolo’s most defining feature: the turban, the heavy-set brow line, or perhaps the long, pointy ears? If you ask us, the first thing to register when staring at a screen shot of the awesome alien warrior is his undeniable Hulk-like greenness.
Late last month, a man from Western China managed to achieve this startling shade of green skin, though not of his own volition and not without consequence, either. And what was the cause of his seemingly alien ailment? Snails.
As the proverb goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and nothing produces necessity like war. For better or for worse—mostly for worse—war and military conflict have played a large role in technological progress throughout the history of humankind. While we seem to finally be calming down a little bit as a species in some regards, it is obvious that war is not over and will probably be around for many years to come. And, of course, no one wants to be the country that got left behind in the arms race, right? Still, when you see some of the predictions about the future of aircraft carriers from this Chinese news site, you might wonder if they haven’t mistaken “possible future” with “science fiction TV show.”
On the evening of 4 August, the Liu family returned home at around 9:00pm to the smell of something burning. Thinking the house might be on fire they began to inspect from room to room but found nothing aside from some water dripping from the ceiling.
“I wonder if someone put it out” someone said as they made their way to the second floor still seeing no sign of a fire aside from the stench. Then upon opening the door to the bathroom, they saw the devastation.
Remember that scene from The Mummy where what seems like a million scarabs pour out of every little crack and crevice, creating a sea of writhing beetles? Yeah, that actually happened in real life. With cockroaches.
In the Kwun Tong district of Hong Kong stands a special ice cream factory. Though the summer treat may not be one of the first things that crosses your mind when you think of that busy region of China, the internet has latched on to this particular manufacturer like cats on cheeseburgers!
Why, you ask? For their truly original flavors of ice cream, most particularly the newest addition: snail ice cream!
While the Guillermo del Toro ode to tokusatsu (Godzilla, Ultraman, etc.) films had a reasonable opening in its home country, the box office take was rather low to cover its $190 million dollar budget. However, thanks to an astounding foreign release Pacific Rim can be considered a big success – the highest grossing foreign film of the year so far to be exact.
A large part of that success can be attributed to the might of the massive Chinese film going population. As of 18 August, the Chinese revenue was reported to be 618 million yuan (US$100M) surpassing even what Pacific Rim pulled in its home country. But there’s another reason why people are paying attention to the film’s Chinese release.
Recently Shenzhen, Guangdong announced a new bylaw against “non-civilized” behavior in public toilets of the city. This means that guys for whom the act of urination turns into a Sunday afternoon with a wacky water weasel may face fines if caught.
It would appear that China is experiencing an unforeseen side-effect of a one child-policy: overbearing parents. Thankfully, this isn’t quite at the embarrassing level of Japan’s monster parents making demands of all unfortunate souls who come in contact with their children.
No, in China it seems it’s just the wives who are bearing the brunt of their in-laws suffocating ways. It’s believed that the number of divorces filed due to irreconcilable differences between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are on the rise, but this book, which is packed with real-life wife-versus-mother-in-law accounts, might help.
One of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keep
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screens
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Foreign traveler caught trying to sneak into Japan by climbing down rope from cruise ship
All-you-can-drink deal for US$4 in Shinjuku is one of the best finds in Tokyo
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Japanese city encouraging visitors and locals to cosplay as ninja for annual Ninja Festa
Starbucks at Shibuya Scramble Crossing reopens, but is it really bigger and better than before?
Japanese-style accommodation at the new Premium Dormy Inn hotel in Asakusa will blow your mind
Studio Ghibli unveils massive T-shirt collection featuring top anime movie charactersForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of societyBad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screensMcDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotesOne of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keep
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Two things to do, and two things not to do, when leaving a traditional Japanese innMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese thingsJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutions
Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in Tokyo
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social mediaMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label designForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Japanese city encouraging visitors and locals to cosplay as ninja for annual Ninja Festa
Starbucks at Shibuya Scramble Crossing reopens, but is it really bigger and better than before?
Japanese-style accommodation at the new Premium Dormy Inn hotel in Asakusa will blow your mind
Studio Ghibli unveils massive T-shirt collection featuring top anime movie characters
Orange Juice Crisis ’24 – Japan’s OJ supplies drying up
Studio Ghibli unveils new goods that tip the hat to The Cat Returns
Icon’s Mac & Cheese Burger contender for best burger in Tokyo【Taste test】
Two things to do, and two things not to do, when leaving a traditional Japanese inn
W.T.F. Japan: The top five “sora” references of all time! 【Weird Top Five】
Star of Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service now comes as a doll with four cute accessories
Who wins in a battle of McDonald’s and Komeda Coffee’s chicken tatsuta burgers?【Taste test】
Advice from Japanese women on dealing with your boyfriend’s anime girlfriend
Osaka’s creepy cute mascot speaks for first time, adds more fuel the creepy OR cute debate【Video】