Last weekend, Tokyo’s two most famous structures switched their usual lighting to blue, white, and red in a showing of solidarity with the French people.
Japan (Page 1079)
Winter is settling in and the nights are getting colder. Fortunately, that means you’ll soon be able to slumber snugly in a Rilakkuma sleeping bag!
In the small town of Inakadate, Shota Kawasaki was both employed at a straw-crafts workshop and a member of his local volunteer fire department. However, this village of 8,000 people was far more famous for its rice paddy art than fires breaking out, and while making straw art is charming in its own way, it can get to be a drag day in and day out.
That’s why Aomori prefectural police are suspecting Kawasaki of starting a series of fires over the past six months; so that he could allegedly feel the rush of putting them out.
Japan is famous for fast trains, but one new line crawls along at 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) per hour! Can the ultra-slow Snow Turtle save an endangered company?
In the past few months the Japanese word mottainai, which conveys a sense of regret over waste, has begun to spread into the Western world, and the concept of mottainai can be seen most clearly in every bowl of rice.
Transplanting yourself into another country can help you learn the language, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll absorb every bit of the culture. This image is a perfect example of that: Your understanding will depend entirely on how familiar you are with Japanese culture and history. So, we’ve broken this package down into five degrees of cultural awareness! And don’t feel bad if you don’t “get it,” because quite a few Japanese people were lost as well.
Get ready to double your cuteness level! Japanese company Clearstone has partnered up with Sanrio for two new cute-as-a-button sailor-style school uniforms in their “Neo Graphic Sailor Uniform x Little Twin Stars” dreamy collaboration!
For their 10th anniversary, Wazigen Shizukuya is providing gorgeous modern hakama and yukata styles for all the men.
With the advent of cellphones, wristwatches have become less and less common, meaning makers have had to get more and more creative capture the attention of customers. One perfect example is this Japanese watch company that has started selling watches that use transforming metal kanji characters to tell the time!
We’ve got some fantastic news for children of the ’90s who once made it (and still make it) their quest to catch ’em all: The original first-generation Pokémon games are coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console early next year!
The most recent episode of Nintendo Direct included some exciting news for fans of the soon-to-be 30-year-old Legend of Zelda video game series. In the broadcast, Nintendo executives announced that a high-definition version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess would be released for the Wii U on March 4, 2016 internationally, and on March 10 in Japan.
It’s estimated that people lose an average of 50 to 100 strands of hair a day. Most of those will probably go unnoticed, but if throwing those fallen hairs away in the garbage seems too boring a task, you could find some other use for them.
What we don’t recommend doing, though, is lighting your fallen hair on fire like this Japanese university student, for some reason, decided to do…
If you’ve ever wanted to turn back time and step into the clothes of a well-dressed geisha, a pipe-smoking courtesan or a sword-wielding samurai warrior, we’ve found the perfect place for you!
With retail outlets pushing seasonal holiday merchandise earlier and earlier every year, it’s perhaps not too surprising that there are already signs of next year’s goodies.
Japanese airlines All Nippon Airways (ANA) has teamed up with Disney to create an in-air experience that’s perfect for the ultimate “Star Wars” fan.
Covered in an R2-D2-like designs and a “Star Wars” logo on the outside, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft also has some fun galactic details inside, such as customized headrests, cups, and lighting. While in the air, passengers can even stream all six of the currently released “Star Wars” films.
With enough hard work, anyone can learn to speak and read Japanese. But you know you’ve truly made it as a Nihongo master only when you can effortlessly break out a few yojijukugo, or four-kanji idioms. Join us after the jump for 10 of our favourites!
The Tokyo International Film Festival (from hereon, TIFF) started on Oct. 22 and is being held for 10 days. This year’s anime feature is none other than Gundam. The show’s creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino, appeared at the talk show hosted as part of this special project and also found time in his busy schedule to give a combined interview to overseas media.