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Power of soybeans turns Bean-Throwing Festival into sexy action flick in awesome commercial

Casey Baseel
Jan 30, 2015
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Despite being centuries-old, the core traditions of Setsubun can seem as silly as its common English rendering, The Bean-Throwing Festival. Once a year in early February, households across Japan toss roasted soybeans outside their doors, with folklore saying the practice will ensure prosperity for the next 12 months by driving off the ogre-like creatures called oni.

Perhaps the oddest thing is the way the oni are depicted in illustrations and popular culture. Generally obese and clumsy, they seem to present little if any threat, and the fact that they can be undone by a scattering of legumes doesn’t do anything to help them win street cred, either.

But what if the oni improved their eating habits and started hitting the gym? Would that make them terrifying once again? Maybe, but it also just might make them dead sexy, as shown in this stylish Japanese ad.

Move over, humanoid employees: Nagasaki theme park to open futuristic hotel staffed by robots

Fran W
Jan 30, 2015

Once you’ve tired yourself out playing with your rideable 4-metre tall robot from Amazon Japan and experienced the neon assault to the senses that is Shinjuku’s Robot Restaurant show, you’ll also be able to visit a hotel in Japan with robot staff once the new Hen-na Hotel opens this summer.

As well as robot receptionists, porters, cleaners and waitresses, the aptly-named Hen-na Hotel (literally meaning “strange hotel”) in the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, Nagasaki, will also feature a whole host of futuristic technology aimed at reducing energy consumption and human staffing levels, therefore keeping room prices down.

Field testing the magic, voice-operated pendant from Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky 【Video】

ロケットニュース24
Jan 30, 2015

We’re sure many anime fans shared our excitement last May when the newest replica of the pendant from Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky was announced. Sure, there had been chances to buy a necklace modeled after heroine Sheeta’s magical levistone accessory before, but this was the first time we’d be able to get our hands on one that actually reacts when you speak one of the film’s incantations into it.

Likewise, we’re sure many of the Ghibli faithful were as heartbroken as we were when the initial shipment of the special pendants sold out almost immediately. Still, the six months it took for a restock was a just a minor addition to the 20-plus years we’ve been waiting to try the pedant out since we first saw Laputa.

Now, finally, we’ve got the levistone pendant in our hands, and we’re ready to field test its ability to respond to our mystic commands.

Which one’s your favourite Cid? The evolution of Final Fantasy’s constant character

Evie Nyan
Jan 30, 2015

What’s the first Final Fantasy game you played? I came somewhat late to the party, and my first experience of Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy VIII. After a childhood spent playing Sonic, suddenly finding myself in a semi-realistic world with massive potential for exploration really blew my tiny mind back then. In VIII, the headmaster of the military academy is a middle-aged, bespectacled dude with a paunch called Cid. But as Final Fantasy fans know, Cid is actually a character who appears in different forms in (pretty much) all of the Final Fantasy games. The dude’s been regenerated more times than the Doctor in Doctor Who! So we decided to take a look back at all of the Cids in chronological order to see how he’s changed over the years.

First Kit Kat Chocolatery shop with cafe opens in Kyoto! New Chocolatery items released too

Kay
Jan 29, 2015

Chocolate lovers around Japan were understandably thrilled when the Kit Kat Chocolatery, the world’s first Kit Kat specialty store, opened in the Seibu Ikebukuro Department Store about a year ago. Of course, we were pretty excited too, and when we visited the shop on opening day, we could see from the crowd that plenty of people felt the same way.

After a year, it seems the Kit Kat Chocolatery has been a success so far, as they’ve just opened their fourth shop in Japan, this time in Kyoto. And what’s even better, this Kit Kat Chocolatery comes with a cafe attached! Plus, they’ve released some new Chocolatery products as well, so we thought we’d share the news with all our sweets-loving readers!

Handy bath pillow doubles as a smartphone holder, might also be giving you a hug

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

After a long, hard day at work or school, there’s nothing like a nice, hot bath. But then again, a lot of people also like to unwind by kicking back and sending a few emails, watching a video or two, or perusing the Internet’s most profound sources of knowledge on their smartphone.

Rather than choose between the two options, some people opt to take their phone into the tub with them. But if you’re so tired you’re craving two indulgences at once, having to grip your phone in your hand while you soak can really put a damper on maximizing your rejuvenating/loafing time.

So instead of doing that job yourself, why not get one of these inflatable bath pillows that double as a smartphone holder to do it for you?

“Can you help meow-t here?” Twitter user discovers why his bread clock was constantly wrong

Scott Wilson
Jan 29, 2015

Even in the era of having the sum of human knowledge to date in your pocket, there’s something to be said about using a sweet novelty clock. If you’re in Japan, you have lots of options. There’s Zelda clocks, beautiful-women clocks, clocks that come for free in magazines. But that’s just scraping the surface, because apparently there’s such a thing as bread clocks too.

One Twitter user recently posted that he’d been having problems with his bread clock constantly telling the wrong time – until he found out the reason why. And no, it’s not because the clock is a piece of bread – the real reason is far more adorable than that.

World’s largest internet hub in Aomori?

Jessica
Jan 29, 2015

Twitter user @rairacp_62 spotted this building in Aomori and something about it seemed very familiar…

We’re struggling to find the Japan in Bose’s new “JAPAN CONCEPT MODEL” headphones

Fran W
Jan 29, 2015

What’s that you say? Bose headphones in two brand new limited edition Japanese designs? Well, that sounds right up our street!

American audio specialists Bose continue to lead the noise-cancelling headphone market, but at US$250-$300, their QuietComfort 25 headphones are something of an investment. So what have the designers at Bose done with these new limited-edition “Japan Concept” headphones to warrant the bumped-up 43,200 yen ($366) price tag?

Why, they’ve made them in “Japanese colours” like black and gold, of course!

Stay warm with a USB-powered, inflatable hug pillow heated to exactly human body temperature

Anime News Network
Jan 29, 2015

The problem with traditional hug pillows is they just can’t mimic the warmth of a human body. But now, with a new USB-powered hug pillow from Thanko’s Raremono shop, you can enjoy the feeling of cozying up to a perfectly-heated, just-slightly-under-body-temperature 36 °C warm body. And, because it’s inflatable, it’s also very light (740 g [~1.6 lbs]), for all those times you need to roll it up for travel, or you want control over the firmness of your pillow.

Web series’ anime arsenal expands with real-life version of Kill la Kill’s Scissor Blade【Video】

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

You really have to respect the skills of the team behind Man at Arms and its successor Man at Arms Reforged. It was impressive enough when the web series’ blacksmiths were taking on projects as iconic or massive as The Legend of Zelda’s Master Sword or Final Fantasy VII’s Masamune. The craftsmen have since moved on to even more complicated designs, such as the gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII and Fierce Deity Sword from Majora’s Mask.

Now, Man at Arms Reforged is back with what might be its most unique creation yet, the Scissor Blade from cult hit anime Kill la Kill, made from materials as unusual as the school supply inspiration of the weapon itself.

Burger Decision 2015! Which crazy Lotteria sandwich will you vote for to make a comeback?

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

Hamburger chain Lotteria has to walk a difficult tightrope. On the one hand, it’s got its reputation as the mad scientist of the Japanese fast food industry to uphold, meaning it needs a sizeable roster of unusual, outlandish, or just plain massive sandwiches on offer. On the other hand, in order to ensure each item has plenty of impact and novelty factor, the chain doesn’t want them hanging around on the menu so long that customers start to get bored with them or take them for granted.

As a result, most of Lotteria’s most interesting items are only available for a limited time, sometimes as short as a single day. But just in case you missed your chance to try one, Lotteria is bringing back just one of its special sandwiches from last year, and its letting fans decide which by tallying the number of Yahoo! searches for each of the candidates.

Hello Kitty keeping as busy as ever — this time she collaborates with…money itself!

Kay
Jan 29, 2015

We all know that Hello Kitty is one busy and extremely capable, well, business…cat, shall we say? And yes, we love her for it, too. So, what new adorable form has she taken this time?

Well, it seems she’s now gotten close and personal with money — Japanese coins, to be exact. But not to worry, she hasn’t gotten involved in the counterfeiting business. She’s come up with magnets on which she appears attached to different Japanese coins, and as always, she manages to look cool and cute in the process!

Japanese net users surprised to learn that painfully cute bento was in fact made by a teenage boy

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 29, 2015

What did you have for lunch today? If you’re anything like me, it was probably nothing special – just something to keep you going until the end of the day. Oh, how wonderful it would be to be blessed with the skills (or a skilled family member) to make outrageously accurate kyaraben, i.e. packed lunches intricately designed to look like various characters! Lunch could be so much more entertaining!

Since not all moms are adept at creating kyaraben, some kids have taken their decorative lunches into their own hands. And by kids, I don’t just mean girls…

Don’t miss these painfully cute photos of lawless cats invading your privacy【Photos】

KK Miller
Jan 29, 2015

Your home is your sanctuary. It’s a place where you can relax and just be yourself without any distractions from the outside world. So, it should be a place that feels secure and private. But, when you own a pet, you quickly come to understand that the privacy you seek completely disappears. Even the most isolated room in the house, the bathroom, isn’t safe from your furry compatriot.

This is especially the case if you are a cat owner. As much as cats are independent animals and do things as they wish, they become really needy when their owners disappear to answer the call of nature. Find out how cats pierce the veil of privacy when their owners go to the bathroom after the jump.

Cross-dressing talent Matsuko Deluxe: AKB opening the Tokyo Olympics “would embarrass Japan”

Jessica
Jan 29, 2015

Larger-than-life columnist and talent Matsuko Deluxe is well-known for her sharp tongue, particularly where pretty ladies are concerned. This week the target of her ire is idol groups like AKB48.

On a radio show Monday, she slammed the idea of them performing for the Tokyo Olympics as “embarrassing.”

Gotta buy ’em all! Whimsicott Substitute Plush Toys have taken over Pokémon Centers in Japan!

Joan Coello
Jan 29, 2015

Whenever someone mentions Pokémon, the first thing that pops up in my head is Pikachu. And then there’s Charmander and Squirtle and Bulbasaur…and Jigglypuff and Snorlax… and that’s about all the Pokémon I can name among the 700 over monsters in the multimedia series.

With more than 700 characters, one would think that fans would be spoilt for choice shopping for character goods at the Pokémon Center, but as it turns out, the Pokémon Centers in Japan have been taken over by the Whimsicott Substitute Plush Toy (Elfuun no Migawari Nuigurumi) and fans are rushing in to grab them by the basket!

Sailor Moon and team to get new adversaries in “Black Moon Clan”

Mike
Jan 29, 2015

Sailor Moon and team will be facing off against an all-new group of villains in the soon-to-air second season of Sailor Moon Crystal, the newest in the long-running anime and manga franchise, says Toei Animation.

The new threat for Japan’s most famous all-girl superhero team comes in the form of the sinister (we think?) Black Moon Clan, comprised of one female and three male antagonists. The team is primarily motivated by leader Prince Demande’s desire to obtain the “Silver Crystal” and Sailor Moon herself – although it’s unclear if he’s romantically interested or if he’s just following the guidelines of the Villain Trope Handbook.

Got a question for Haruki Murakami? Website lets you ask the author directly, and in English, too

Casey Baseel
Jan 28, 2015

Earlier this month, we talked about a piece of not-so-helpful advice celebrated author Haruki Murakami gave to a fan about what makes a great writer. Murakami just his write-in website this month, though, and given that he’s sort of new at dishing out direct advice to his admirers, maybe we should cut him a little slack while he’s still getting the hang of it.

Then again, we’re not sure even the most experienced advice columnists could come up with considerate and helpful responses to some of the oddball questions Murakami has been getting. Thankfully, even if he can’t always help out those who write to him, he can at least give a laugh to everyone else who reads his responses. Even better, if you act quickly, you could ask him a question of your own, even if you don’t speak Japanese.

Japanese educators call for twice monthly No Video Game Days, recommend kids go fishing

Casey Baseel
Jan 28, 2015

Compared to some other countries, video games enjoy a fairly high standing in Japanese society. Nintendo’s Mario is seen by many as not only a symbol of wholesome fun, but an example of how innovation and craftsmanship can lead to sustained economic prosperity. The world of Final Fantasy isn’t just a great setting for an epic quest, but for lunch or dinner, and some particularly stylish game characters even go on to leave their mark on real-world fashion.

Still, not everyone in Japan is a fan of video gaming. The Hokkaido Board of Education would rather see kids with schoolbooks or fishing poles in their hands than game controllers, and to that end is calling for parents to institute twice monthly No Game Days, and not just for the kids in the family.