The official YouTube channel for girl idol group Momoiro Clover Z (Sailor Moon Crystal, Bodacious Space Pirates) began streaming a full animated and live-action music video for “Yume no Ukiyo ni Saitemina,” the group’s collaboration song with American rock band KISS. Masatsugu Nagazoe (Momoiro Clover Z‘s “GOUNN” video) directed the video and Sushio (Kill la Kill) handled the animation
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GAINAX, the animation powerhouse which has spawned massive hits such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nadia:The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann among others, has confirmed plans to open a studio and in-house museum in the town of Miharu, Fukushima. Specifically, the company will move into a refurbished school building that was closed two years ago.
Keep reading after the jump to find out what motivated this latest development!
In the never-ending battle to be the next big thing, a new idol group made their debut on January 15–with “big” being the operative word. Featuring the same singing and dancing you’ve seen from the hundreds of idol groups before them, these five girls are trying to prove that even those who aren’t paper-thin can make it in the idol world.
What separates this group from the “marshmallow girls” before them? For one, they actually are plus-sized, and they are OK with that! Please welcome to the stage: Pottya.
Let’s begin with a bit of linguistic trivia: How many of you know that Japanese has an expression for the area of exposed skin between the top of knee-high socks and the hemline of a skirt? No, this is not a joke, people–the actual term is 絶対領域 (zettai ryouiki), which literally means “absolute territory,” but I’m sure some of you already knew that.
If you didn’t, now is as good a time as ever to add that phrase to your mental lexicon, with LED light-emitting skirts about to enter the world of fashion and all!
It was revealed in December 2013 that the Captain EO ride at Tokyo Disneyland will be replaced by the interactive attraction Stitch Encounter. The wait is now over as the Oriental Land Company which owns Tokyo Disneyland announced that the much-awaited new attraction will open in July 2015, right in time for the summer vacation this year!
If you’ve been following behind-the-scenes entertainment news for a while, you’ve probably heard the reputation that animators have as low-paid peons that, despite providing a valuable and necessary service for both the obvious animated films as well as any movie that relies heavily on computer animation, often get paid meager wages and work hellishly long hours.
Some, then, might reverse that logic to assume this is all because animators are basically the burger-flippers of the entertainment world; cranking out a desirable product through simple, mindless repetition. Hence the low pay, right?
Well, if this Touei Animation employment exam “question” – among myriad other evidence – shows us anything, it’s that animation is hard work that requires creativity, sure, but also a fair bit of mental agility in addition to all those long hours.
Between the futuristic Blade Runner-esque toilets and the slightly terrifying (but healthier for you) traditional squatters, Japanese restrooms can be a bit intimidating for a first-time user. And even for those who have lived in Japan for a while, using a public toilet can still be a daunting task. So to better understand restroom woes for those coming from overseas, Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto recently surveyed 600 foreigners living in Japan about toilets in the country and what confuses them most.
Although we just told you about why Japan is an unpopular tourist destination, if you are planning on visiting in 2015—and we really recommend you do!—there are some landmark events going on that you might want to consider as you make your plans. Here’s our list of five places you’ll want to visit in Japan in 2015.
Over the last two decades, email has evolved to be one of the primary ways business people communicate. That makes having a good email address all the more necessary. That Hotmail email address you chose when you were in junior high school–something like “Offspring4EVER,” probably–isn’t really what you want on your business card, even if Smash was one of the best albums of 90s. Fortunately, it doesn’t take most of us long to realize that a proper email address is part of growing up, just like deleting all those embarrassing Facebook photos from spring break.
Unfortunately, it looks like not everyone got that memo (maybe it’s in the spam folder), which prompted iResearch to take a poll of 100 Japanese men to find out more about Japan’s embarrassing mail addresses.
We live in a world of innovation and inspiration. Every day, we see new products riffing on older ones, and apps that are purporting to be the next Instagram for Snapchat inspired by Vine.
But when does something cease to innovate and become a simple knock-off? Would you consider “Word・Press” a different web service from “WordPress”? How about if someone opened up a hamburger joint called “McDonalds” instead of “McDonald’s”? Well one izakaya in Hiroshima, Japan tested out this first example for us, and found that simply slipping a dot into its name didn’t allow it to get around copyright and trademark laws.
A bizarre death occurred in the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku, Tokyo recently as a 22-year-old woman died after falling nine stories during a visit to the restroom. Although suicide hasn’t been entirely ruled out, this appears to be a case of highly unusual building practices as a door opening onto a sheer drop was also present in the room.
Uzura (quail eggs) are a popular food in Japan, as their relatively tiny size makes them perfect for snacking or adding to bento. As a result, you can find them in pretty much any supermarket over here. But it turns out that some shoppers out there aren’t interested in eating the little speckled eggs – they’ve been trying to hatch them instead! When reports first started popping up from netizens claiming to have hatched their own quails, we thought this was just an urban legend, but now a YouTube clip and blog post has appeared, showing different people seemingly hatching actual, live baby quails from supermarket eggs. Join us for some adorable pics and videos!
Do you know what the creator of Naruto, Masahi Kishimoto, looks like? How about Hello Kitty‘s artist, Yuko Shimizu? Despite their drawings being prevalent all over the world, most people have probably never seen the true faces of these famous artists. With this in mind, amateur artists around Japan have been tweeting #イラストと描いた人 (an illustration and the artist who drew it), including their own picture beside a work of their art.
Unfortunately, a lot of people choose to hide their faces behind cosplay masks, editing techniques or just facing away from the camera. Some don’t even post a real photo! However, the artist behind the really cute drawings above decided to post a real, unhindered picture, but it might not be what you’re expecting…
If you’ve ever visited Singapore, you’ll know that the country has an incredible range of culinary delights to offer. And if you enjoy seafood in particular, one of the county’s numerous signature dishes you’ll definitely want to try when you’re there is the savory Chilli Crab. So when we heard that Nissin was going to come out with a new cup noodle in Chilli Crab flavor, well, we just knew that it was time for another RocketNews24 taste test! So, how did the famous seafood dish taste as a cup of instant noodles?
Sports anime remains popular in Japan, despite its checkered history in the West. Stories of characters overcoming emotional and physical obstacles to bring their team to victory or rooting for the underdog against the better funded team resonates with genre fans. Charapedia asked 10,000 fans which sports anime “moved” them the most. Here are the results!
Since the release of Wagakki Band‘s first original song “Hanabi” last year, we’ve been holding our breath waiting for more. Okay, that’s not completely true–we’ ve been sneaking little gasps since then–but we were definitely excited to hear the the group was recording both the opening and closing song for the new anime Sengoku Musou, based on the game of the same name. But unless you actually tuned in to watch the show you’d be hard pressed to find the songs–until now!
Today, the band released a music video for “Ikusa,” the show’s opening theme song. Check it out below but be careful that you’ve cleared your room of pointy objects first so you don’t hurt yourself headbanging.
When it comes to regional cuisines, Japan has a lot to offer. But what if you are short on time and can’t make it to far-flung parts of the archipelago to sample artisan cheeses or gut-burning awamori? Not to worry, you can get a taste of most prefectures in the heart of Tokyo at so-called satellite shops, supermarkets which specialize in food and products from a particular region.
We’ve picked out five of our favorites for you to enjoy, with a not-to-be-missed item from each.
Staying warm during Japan’s chilly winters can be tricky, especially when it’s time to hit the sack. A lot of Japanese apartments don’t have the best insulation, so if you don’t want to blast the heater on high all night long, a nice warm blanket or down comforter is essential.
Unfortunately, six months later the weather becomes hot and muggy nationwide, so all those blankets need to be put away. And while you could just wrap them in plastic garbage bags and stick them in the closet until next winter, the far cuter option is to use a specialized case that looks like a snoozing bear, panda, or wolf.
Even though Japan may not have the highest suicide rate in the world, unfortunately it’s still quite common. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Japan, and the most popular place to commit suicide in the world, Aokigahara Forest, is located in Japan as well.
The Japanese National Police Agency and Cabinet Office recently released statistics on the suicides that occurred in 2014, and while they’re continuing the downward trend of the past five years, they’re still quite high compared to other countries.