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Japan (Page 1156)

Even though Japan has been widely enjoying green tea for centuries and Western-style desserts for decades, it’s really only in the past 10 or 15 years that green tea sweets have really exploded in popularity. Out of the many varieties of green tea, matcha is considered to be the most luxuriously gourmet, with a richly deep aroma, flavor, and color.

The problem, though, it that matcha can be strongly bitter, which is why it’s usually served with Japanese confectionaries to take a little of its edge off. As such, a lot of sweets are billed as matcha fumi, or “green tea-taste” to show that while they’ve got a hint of matcha flavor, they’re not so heavily loaded with the stuff.

But if you want to unleash the full, unbridled force of matcha on your palate while you satisfy your craving for dessert, this shop in Shizuoka Prefecture boasts it has the most matcha-intense ice cream in the world.

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Got cat tongue? Tongue tip training tip claims to help you drink the hottest of liquids

Japan has a zillion proverbs involving cats, probably because cats are awesome and add flavour and colour to everything in life. One such proverb is “nekojita” which literally means “cat tongue” and describes people who are unable to handle hot drinks and liquids making contact with their precious pink taste buds.

It’s pretty easy to see where the proverb came from – offer anything hot and edible to a cat and watch the look of horror on their face. But did you cat-tongued-people know that there’s a secret method you can use to train yourself to slurp the hottest of liquids with grace and ease?

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In modern-day Japan, entering into the marriage or dating market without any prior experience puts ladies at a serious disadvantage from the start. With many women living with their parents until they get married, and with people getting married later in life, there’s a rise of women who remain virgins into their thirties.

Now, there’s apparently a service whereby women can hire someone to take their virginity in order to raise their market appeal to future potential husbands…

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“Pop” daruma dolls so popular you’ll have to wait three years to get one

Daruma are a kind of roly-poly wishing doll in Japanese Buddhism. You draw one eye in while making a wish, and then fill in the other when your wish comes true. Given their sweet purpose and blob-like shape, traditional daruma are already pretty charming, but a woodcarving shop in Kagawa Prefecture has found a pop makeover makes them even more attractive, so much so that there is a 3-year waiting list to get one!

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Combine your love of Godzilla, ukiyo-e and fashion with these fresh kicks from TeeFury

Recently, we brought you the news that you can now view an online animated sketchbook version of works by famous Japanese Ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. But what if you’re not content just looking at beautiful art online? What if you could see it every time you look down at your feet? Well, with these awesome printed sneakers from TeeFury.com, you can get some culture into your wardrobe while still looking cool!

Oh, and as an added bonus, they’ve stuck Godzilla’s ugly monster mush into the design, too!

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Last year, some anime fans with extremely specific tastes hit upon the idea of taking a picture of their favorite character, whether male or female, and subtly sliding a positive pregnancy test into the image. Not everyone is attracted to the healthy radiance of approaching motherhood, though, so now there’s a new burgeoning trend for those who want to dance on the razor-thin line between otaku creativeness and creepiness: using photo editing software to slip a chained collar around an anime character’s neck.

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Author Haruki Murakami’s Q&A blog closes, posts hint at his own incredibly sad marriage

Haruki Murakami has answered many questions from readers on his blog since it opened in January, ranging from the meaning of life to nuclear power to TV addiction, but now it has closed up shop. Murakami will be selecting the best questions and answers and publishing them plus some extras in a new book in the near future.

With the full corpus of questions and answers still available online though, some fans have gone through and discovered an interesting part of Murakami’s life that was unknown up until now: his sad marriage.

Murakami makes numerous comments directly and indirectly about his wife and their life together, and after reading all of them you really start to feel sorry for the guy.

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Move aside ham and eggs; breakfast potato chips are here!

What is the first thing you want to eat when you wake up in the morning? Rice? Granola and yogurt? Toast and jam? If the potato chip company Koikeya had it their way, your answer would be “morning potato chips.”

The potato snack company, known for their wild flavors like mandarin orange, truffle and avocado cream cheese, have decided to break into the breakfast market, announcing the release of their two new flavors: Peach and Banana. 

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The most crowded place in Tokyo? Might be the Kanda Matsuri festival, but it’s still awesome

Even in a city as packed with people as Tokyo, some places, and times, are more crowded than others. So when and where can you find the largest, densest mass of humanity? Some would say the Yamanote loop line during the morning rush hour. Others would vote for Shibuya’s scramble crosswalk intersection on a Saturday night.

But before you go awarding the crown to either of those two candidates, take a look at the massive crowds that came out for the Kanda Matsuri festival last weekend.

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The Penguin Train: The one time passengers going to Tokyo will wish the train was more crowded

The opening of the Tokyo Sky Tree did a lot to revive the surrounding Sumida neighborhood of Tokyo. Not only does having the highest structure and observation platform in all of Japan put the district squarely in the spotlight, the Sky Tree is surrounded by a number of other attractions that draw visitors both foreign and domestic.

In addition to the Solamachi shopping and dining complex, you’ll also find a planetarium and aquarium at the base of the tower, making it a one-stop center for anyone interested in the sky, stars, or sea. And to celebrate the third anniversary of the Sky Tree’s opening, a group of travellers will be riding the train to Sumida with some very special company: a group of adorable penguins.

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Manga creator Akira Toriyama is a busy guy these days. First, there’s the recent announcement of an all-new anime continuation of his most beloved work in Dragon Ball Super. The Dragon Ball film franchise is also going through a revival, with Resurrection of F, its second movie in two years, having just had its theatrical premiere.

But apparently Toriyama’s creative juices are flowing strong, as publishers have announced a brand-new manga series coming from the Dragon Ball creator, who’s teaming up with another famous manga icon with a heavy nostalgia factor for the project.

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Japanese farming simulator rewards players with actual crops delivered to their door

Remember back in the day when all of your older relatives and the kids you knew from school but never speak to any more would send you invites to play Farmville? Remember how seeing a new notification on your Facebook toolbar that just turned out to be yet another invitation to play f’$%ng Farmville would fill you with impotent rage?

Well think about how different your reaction might have been if your “friends” hadn’t been backhandedly asking you to help them raise their not-actually-existent virtual ducks and cabbages, but were in fact asking you to help them put real, actual food in their mouths.

One Japanese startup, Telefarm, is hoping that the future is online games that reward players for good performance with actual products delivered to their door. And they’ve been running a farming simulator prototype for a little over a year now to test that model’s feasibility.

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Young Japanese artist crafts exquisite animal-shaped candy at his shop in Asakusa

Remember those traditional Japanese sweets from last summer that were simply divine? Oh, and let’s not forget those cupcakes that were almost too beautiful to eat!

Japan sure knows how to elevate its food to an unparalleled level of art, and today we’d like to introduce you to the works of another master Japanese craftsman of sweets. His life’s passion is creating exquisitely detailed animal-shaped candy, which are so astoundingly intricate that it probably won’t be long before a museum asks to put them on display!

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12 eggs, 24 yolks? Woman in Japan receives batch of extraordinary eggs

Pretty much every man, woman, and child in Japan works hard. Professionals throw themselves into their jobs, homemakers take on just about every domestic responsibility by themselves, and kids are expected to not only keep up with their regular studies, but also attend cram schools after their normal classes get out in the afternoon.

But is the Japanese work ethic so infectious that it caused a group of industrious chickens to lay an entire batch of double-yolk eggs?

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Fan art of new Digimon cast in old style sparks debate on what qualifies as “f***ing disgusting”

With Digimon Adventure tri. representing the first new animation for the franchise since 15 years ago, fans whose passions for the series has continued burning bright for the last decade and a half were no doubt excited by the announcement of the new movie series. But being passionate doesn’t always mesh with being easy-going, and some fans who aren’t enjoying the new art style have taken it upon themselves to redo tri.’s as-yet released visuals in the manner of the original Digimon Adventure. Along the way, they’re also giving more relaxed animation fans an eye-opening lesson in how razor-thin the difference between acceptable and “f***ing disgusting” can be in the eyes of some long-term Digimon fanatics.

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For chivalry, Japanese man tells female store clerk “I aint got nothing to say to you!”

Japan has a reputation for outstanding customer service, and as such you’ll usually find courtesy and pleasantness on both sides of retail transactions. As polite as clerks are, most shoppers are just as respectful towards the hard-working individuals who’re ringing their purchases up.

Still, not every customer is a joy to deal with, and one young women working at a convenience store thought she was encountering an extremely rude male customer who refused to be served by her. As it turns out, though, the man she’d mistaken for a chauvinist was simply following his own particular code of chivalry.

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Turn your old PlayStation console into a light-up clock 【How-to】

If you’ve been a PlayStation fan from the very beginning, chances are you still have an original console collecting dust somewhere in the house. Sure, it’s outdated now, but who wants to throw all those fond gaming memories away?

Now there’s a creative solution that will let you get some use out of your old grey console and give you an excuse to look at it regularly throughout the day. It’s time to feast your eyes on the PlayStation clock. Unavailable in stores, but easy to make in your very own home!

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Japanese net users react to online survey results about how men store their naughty files

Wait, what’s that? Men have naughty files saved on their computers?!

The MyNavi Woman web surveys have touched upon pretty much every topic imaginable, and this time around is no exception. During two weeks in April, the site surveyed male readers aged 22 to 39 about how they hide their scandalous pictures and videos from prying eyes, receiving 104 responses within the specified time frame. So just what kinds of schemes do they use to conceal adult content? Believe it or not, some of the men surveyed actually dished their actual techniques!

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Got a great recipe that requires soy sauce? Enter this competition to win 100,000 yen!

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a soy sauce connoisseur or if you enjoy dabbling in Japanese fusion cooking, we’ve found a perfect way for you to earn some easy prize money.

The Japan Soy Sauce Association is currently accepting entries for two special contest categories: Washoku, for Japanese-style recipes and Your Country’s Cuisine, for food that incorporates the use of soy sauce into traditional dishes from your homeland.

With the top prize being 100,000 yen (US$834.87), if you’re a foreigner living in Japan, now’s the time to get that apron on and get cooking!

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Tokaido ukiyoe series by Hiroshige now free to share, we celebrate with five favourites

Lovers of Japanese art and history will be familiar with the world-famous set of ukiyo-e woodblock prints known as “The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.” Created in the 1800s by famed artist Utagawa Hiroshige, the collection is a series of landscape paintings from each of the post stations on the ancient coastal walking route from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto and is frequently praised for the way it captures the spirit and essence of old Japan.

While the masterful works have garnered fans around the world, when it comes to sharing the images online, things haven’t been so easy. Now, limitations have been lifted and the beautiful series is free to share without copyright restrictions. What better way to celebrate the good news than to share some of the best with you, our dear readers?

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