Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Global (Page 24)
We have bid farewell to the year of the horse, and welcomed in the Year of the Sheep. New Year’s decorations, greeting cards, and the like are all adorned with more sweet, fluffy little lambs than you could shake one of their tails at. It almost makes you want to get an adorable little baby fleecey bundle for your own. I mean, sheep are allowed in apartments, right? Right!?
Or maybe it would just be easier to transform your dog into a sheep for the New Year instead!
It’s already kind of old news that one of gaming’s few potentially transgender characters has been hiding in plain sight since the late ’80s in the form of the adorable and misunderstood Mario villain, Birdo.
But that hasn’t stopped the Internet from debating all kinds of aspects about the character’s gender identity, from whether the whole “boy who thinks he’s a girl” thing is Mario canon or whether the character is pre- or post-op. While the Western web was shocked by this stunning news a while back, it seemed Japan was politely giving poor Birdo her privacy and staying out of it, until a recent Twitter post…
Entertainment news source Variety reported on Monday that Scarlett Johansson has signed on to star in Dreamworks‘ adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Deadline reported in October that the actress was offered the role, but she was still undecided at the time.
The film has not yet been greenlit for production, but Variety notes that Johansson’s involvement should make production more likely.
Well, folks, we’ve done it again. We’ve somehow survived yet another year without being wiped off the face of the planet or the interwebs, and I’m happy to report that our humble shrine to news, entertainment and general weirdness from Japan and Asia is now bigger, busier, and – dare I say it – slightly better looking than ever before.
Last year went by in a flash for us. Our team grew from 15 to 22, and we put out roughly twice the amount of content that we did in 2013. In return, we saw our readership positively explode, and now almost 190,000 of you kind souls allow our quirky news nuggets to appear alongside your friends’ tedious selfies and photos of their hideous children in your Facebook feed. It may sound like a bit of a cliché, but we really wouldn’t be here without you, and it’s only thanks to our readers that we’re able to keep on growing and can keep Mr Sato stocked with the Cuban cigars and exotic silk underwear he so voraciously consumes each day.
Despite our recent growth spurt, RocketNews24 is still staffed by a very close-knit team. Unlike some faceless media machine operated by corporate giants, we still get fuzzies when you like us and feel genuinely disappointed when you don’t. We read every single one of your comments (yes, even the long, ranting ones that make us want to double-check that the front door’s locked before heading to bed) and we take what you say to heart. We aim to make RocketNews24 a place that people like to come to for everything from commentary on recent news events and Japanese internet chatter to cooking tips and the latest from our Asian feline overlords, and it’s through your feedback that we know where and how we need to improve. So thank you. Your clicks and comments mean a lot.
Lest you worry that, what with all this back-patting and uncharacteristic seasonal cheer, we’re about to start slacking off, let me assure you that we have big plans for 2015. I won’t spoil any surprises, but I can say that we’ve already started work on a couple of projects that we think you’ll really like, and which – should the Internet gods be so kind as to shine their rays of benevolent fibre optic light on us – will soon become a regular part of RocketNews24. We’ll also be aiming to increase our output even further and will be striving to bring you not just better quality news and original content but to deliver it faster than ever before.
Once again, a genuine thank you from everyone here at RocketNews24 for all your support throughout 2014. No matter what your friends and colleagues may say behind your back, to us you are a vision of loveliness, and we don’t think you smell like turnips or wet suede shoes in the slightest.
Happy 2015! Here’s to a great Year of the Sheep!
What do you dread the most about growing old? Is it the aching muscles after what used to be an easy exercise routine? The need to get up and pee multiple times during the night? Or how about that distinctive “old-person smell” that sneaks into the air whenever a senior citizen is around?
Speaking of that last one, have you ever wondered where that particular odor comes from? Although many people believe that the source of the smell is behind the ears, a team of Japanese researchers have recently disproved this theory after what must have been an excruciatingly odoriferous ordeal. You might want to plug your nose for this one, folks–things are about to smell more than a little fishy around here…
We’re taking a little break today to spend some quality time with our two favorite men: Santa and Mr. Sato. But while we’re stuffing our faces with Christmas cake and taking selfies with Colonel Sanders, we’ll be sure to pause, raise a glass of whatever questionable liquor Mr. Sato brought along, and toast you, our dedicated reader. Thank you for making 2014 our most successful year yet! And even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, we hope your day is filled with glad tidings and all the fried chicken you can stomach.
Especially during this hectic holiday season it sure would be nice to get away from it all. Everyone needs a chance to refresh and get a new perspective on things. And what better way to get a new perspective than to visit an upside down house?
You might be thinking “What, are you high? There are no upside down houses where I live.” Well, you might be right about the high part, but couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to upside down houses because they can be found all over the world it seems. Here is just a small sampling of these dizzying monuments, perhaps one of them is in your very own backyard – or over it.
When your average Westerner thinks of Japan, what’s most likely to spring to the forefront of their minds? We’re betting that sushi, samurai, anime and geisha are up there in the top ten, with sushi being the best-known incarnation of Japanese food abroad. But it seems that stylish overseas consumers aren’t satisfied with simply eating their sushi – they want to wear it on their bodies, too, so everyone can see how cool and cutting-edge they really are. Join us as we take a look at some of the weird and wonderful sushi fashion items available for purchase right now.
When you picture the evolution of TVs and other electronic displays, it’s hard not to be in awe at just how far they’ve come, getting thinner, more lightweight and portable than ever, with higher definition and brightness to the point that real-life basically looks pretty dull in comparison. But they’ve never really been able to shake that same boring shape: a flat rectangle.
So when Sharp announced it had developed a “Free-Form Display” that could be manufactured in virtually any shape, a lot of people more technically oriented than I am – and thus able to more easily imagine the many uses of a display shaped like a shoe or something – instantly proclaimed it a game-changer.
And when Sharp boasted about the technology, among those companies listening was Nintendo, who promptly snapped up a license for the tech and became the first company to officially announce it would use it for a future product.
People look to Japan for many reasons, from the rich heritage of samurai or tea ceremonies to pop culture phenomenons such as anime. But the one thing I truly love about Japan is its people’s taste in film.
Classics such as Die Hard and Robocop are widely accepted as the cinematic gold they are, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger’s greatest rocket launcher-wielding performance in Commando is getting the royal treatment by 20th Century Fox Japan in honor of the 30th anniversary of its release here. Far from a simple added commentary track, this special release is chock-full of exclusive features befitting a monumental specimen of the art from such as this.
Apple’s iPhone 6 has gotten a lot of press for being very flexible in all the wrong situations. Competitors are chomping at the bit to occupy any ground the iPhone gives up. Introducing OPPO’s new entry into an extremely saturated market, the R5. Coming in at a ludicrously slender 4.85 mm, OPPO is ready to show the world what its new phone can do. In an obvious attempt to illustrate the clear differences between Apple’s phone and OPPO’s R5, they created a commercial to show just how tough it really is. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have some fruit to cut, a nail to hammer in, or need to lift a car 4.85 mm off the ground, don’t take out a multi-tool, just get out your new R5!
Take a quick look at the character-packed image above. That’s a whole lot of faces, right? And in the 20 years since Sony’s first video games console was released, they’ve all appeared on some PlayStation platform or other. Even if you’re more of an Xbox kid or a PC gamer, you have to admit that’s an impressive lineup, and for older PlayStation fans especially it’s bound conjure up a lot of happy gaming memories.
But in creating this image in honour of 20 years of PlayStation, it would seem that someone over at Sony Europe struggled to source one or two character images that really fit in with their vision. You’d think that being on the inside, an artist working for Sony would have access to a whole host of officially licensed images, but it looks like they decided to turn to the internet for help, using an image of Mega Man as he appears only in Nintendo’s latest edition of Super Smash Bros, and even borrowing a piece of fan art created by a Japanese Pixiv user, who later spotted their work on Sony’s official site. Awkward.
At an event marking the 15th anniversary of the original Digimon Adventure series in Odaiba, Tokyo on 1 August, an announcement was made declaring a brand new chapter in the human-monster buddy saga will bring back the original characters.
Along with the announcement came a special anniversary website with some Digi-Eggs containing details of the new series. However, no matter how much you rubbed those suckers nothing came out – until now.
The hatchling information included a brief rundown of the staff and a first look at all eight of the DigiDestined more evolved…I mean grown up.
What’s cute, frilly and metal all over? BABYMETAL of course! From relative obscurity only two years ago, to doing various concerts around the world in 2014, the presence of BABYMETAL has been sudden, if not shocking. It’s hard to believe that the combination of idol music and hardcore metal has created something that many people are getting fired up over. In fact, BABYMETAL has such a fan base now that their self-titled first album was voted as the Number 1 Metal Album of 2014. Say what?!?
Earlier this year Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their development of an efficient blue light-emitting diode (blue LED).
It was a well-deserved victory for the Japanese scientists whose invention continues to impact our lives in ways we often don’t even notice. It could be in the display you’re looking at right now or it could be helping some of the millions of people in parts of the world without electrical infrastructure get affordable lights for their homes.
And now in a report published in Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from Tohoku University have found a new use for blue LED. When used in the right frequency it can be an effective, safe, clean, and cheap way to kill insects. For the first time, they showed that visible light around the blue part of the spectrum is lethal to insects such as mosquitoes and fruit flies.
Before his passing in 1994, 10 dan Aikido master Gozo Shioda was living proof that size truly doesn’t matter. At a height of about 156cm (5’1) and weighing in at around 45kg (106lbs) he could still be seen overpowering several larger men at the same time through his training and skill of manipulating his attackers’ own power.
One particular high point of his career was during a visit by then United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy in 1962. During the demonstration he invited one of Kennedy’s bodyguards to take part as well.
Great stories make great games. But when all is said and done, when you have finished the game, saved the world and beaten down the bad guy, the thing that sticks with you the most is the music. Especially in roleplaying games, a grandiose soundtrack will elevate your game from memorable to unforgettable. There has been a trend in the past decade or so to perform live symphonic versions of famous video game music. These concerts have been incredibly popular around the world, but how would you like to hear the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra whisk you away to a fantasy world? Now, you don’t have to wait for their next concert!
We love awesome art here at RocketNews24, especially when it features characters that are close to our hearts being re-imagined in different and striking ways. Recently, we brought you some pretty sweet fan art depicting a scene from Princess Mononoke. Now we’d like to continue the Ghibli theme by sharing this piece that re-imagines Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as an action movie! There’s Nausicaä in her Ghibli form above, but the fan art itself can be viewed after the jump!
With the popularity of the Disney film Frozen still going strong, Anna and Elsa are sure to feature heavily among Christmas gifts this year here in Japan. Yes, the Japanese public can’t seem to get enough of the movie, with both the young and old singing “Let it go …” (or “Arino mama no…” in the case of the Japanese version) and endless books and tie-in products appearing on the market one after another.
So it didn’t come as a surprise when we heard that a Japanese jeweler had come up with a collection of Frozen-themed jewelry and ornaments for the Holiday Season. What did catch our attention, though, was that the collection from this particular Jeweler, the GINZA TANAKA, apparently included a huge calendar made of pure platinum which came with a price tag of nearly US$1 million! And when we found out that the calendar was going to be displayed for a limited time at their shop in Ginza, we just had to go see it for ourselves — it’s not everyday that you get to see a million-dollar calendar, after all. Join us as we take a look at Anna and Elsa’s beautiful world recreated not in ice but in precious metals!
Every year a brand consultant agency called FutureBrand comes out with a report of the Country Brand Index (CBI). The “country brand” (think “Made in Japan”), is measured similarly to consumer or corporate brands (Nike, Toshiba, etc).
The index is a measure of the global perception of each country’s “brand,” not just for the quality and popularity of their export products and big name businesses, but also taking into account social aspects of the country. Having spent the last few years cozily in the top ten, Japan took the number one position in the 2014-2015 CBI report.
Foreign traveler caught trying to sneak into Japan by climbing down rope from cruise ship
Starbucks at Shibuya Scramble Crossing reopens, but is it really bigger and better than before?
Studio Ghibli unveils new goods that tip the hat to The Cat Returns
All-you-can-drink deal for US$4 in Shinjuku is one of the best finds in Tokyo
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
Orange Juice Crisis ’24 – Japan’s OJ supplies drying up
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
FUK COFFEE?!? Japanese cafe has a perfectly innocent reason for its startling-looking name
Spring Mos Burger x SpongeBob lucky bags bring us fun under the sun【Photos】
Foreigner’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
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screens
Orange Juice Crisis ’24 – Japan’s OJ supplies drying up
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
FUK COFFEE?!? Japanese cafe has a perfectly innocent reason for its startling-looking name
Spring Mos Burger x SpongeBob lucky bags bring us fun under the sun【Photos】
W.T.F. Japan: The top five “sora” references of all time! 【Weird Top Five】
Two things to do, and two things not to do, when leaving a traditional Japanese inn
History’s largest force of Samurai Colonel Sanders deploying to KFC Japan branches
Crossdressing photography book hopes to improve transgender awareness in Japan
A visit to the ordinarily forbidden hall of Nara’s Hasedera Temple【Photos】
Japanese company starts project to restore Nakagin Capsules to capsule hotel
Japan’s new wearable air conditioner belt is here just in time for the Tokyo heat wave
Ghibli Park opens final area to first visitors, with stunning new attractions and shops 【Videos】