Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1246)
And now for your daily dose of “awwww.” This Shiba, called Ichigo (Strawberry), just wants attention, but her owner is watching TV. I don’t think she can make herself anymore conspicuous, but she just can’t hold his attention. Poor puppy! Come over here, I’ll play with you!
Sometimes, less is more. For example, earlier this year we heard the happy news that Denny’s in Japan was offering all-you-can-eat pancakes. But as enticing as that deal was, there’s an easy way to improve on an unlimited supply of pancakes, and that’s by losing that “pan” restrictor.
So when we heard a popular Japanese bakery has an all-you-can-eat cake deal, we were ecstatic, and then we were out the door to try it for ourselves.
How do you feel about the state of anime nowadays?
That question is likely to draw some strong opinions from our readers. There’s no question that the past few years have produced a number of works critically acclaimed for their innovative plots and characters. But then there are some series that have built up huge fanbases for their…wait, why was that again? As one Chinese anime fan so eloquently put it, it’s almost as if these “mass-produced series” are on par with fast food…
While the Hakone Turnpike is usually enjoyed by slow-driving families catching a glimpse of the natural beauty of the area’s mountainous landscape, some Japanese drifting enthusiasts last month turned a portion of the public toll road into a white-knuckle race to the top.
Shutting down the two-lane road, the drivers zoomed through the windy (and thankfully empty) roads, reaching speeds that would land normal citizens a pretty hefty fine. It may not be the first time a high-performance car has been seen on Japanese roads, but it’s pretty amazing that the Ministry of Transportation would approve this flashy display of speed, horsepower and roaring engines.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Technical Research & Development Institute (TRDI) appears to be nearing completion of the Throwable Type Reconnaissance Robot. It’s a little black orb about 50 percent bigger than a softball that Self-Defense Force members can simply toss into environments otherwise hazardous to humans and have a look around before taking action. It looks kind of awesome.
Subway may be as popular in Japan as it is in the US–which isn’t really surprising, since the company advertises itself as a healthy meal option. We’re not sure how healthy the sandwiches actually are, but that’s marketing for you. Nevertheless, it is true that a Subway sandwich certainly contains a lot more vegetables than, say, a Big Mac and fries.
And if you’re one of these Japanese Twitter users, your sandwich is literally bursting with vegetables! We’re not sure if this really a lifehack or not, but it is a way to get a sub sandwich and a salad all for price of the just the former.
Thousands of otaku stagger home yenless and struggling under the weight of the doujinshi, illustration books, games and other goods they’ve snapped up in a frenzied three days of pushing, shoving, and waiting in endless lines. Yep, Comiket 87 is over for now, until the whole ordeal begins again next summer.
Most people agree that the event is more arduous than fun, and the volunteer staff are in the unenviable position of keeping things under control, trying to keep the hordes moving, and looking anyone who collapses from the excitement of it all.
Below we have a collection of inspiring quotes from these heroic men and women. Some of them are simply priceless.
Boy, have we ever got a treat coming up for all of you loyal Rocketeers!
To help ring in the new year, our staff is busy putting the finishing touches on a 2015 calendar featuring the classy men of our sister site, the Japanese language edition of RocketNews24. Not wanting to be outdone by all the other “eye candy calendars” out there, our team of Japanese writers have truly gone all out to show their appreciation for all the love and support they’ve received from our readers over the past year.
Get ready to feast your eyes on a sneak preview of what’s about to become the sexiest 2015 calendar ever to grace the internet!
It’s no secret that ladies in Asia have become the masters of makeup in recent years, with shocking before-and-after transformations popping up online pretty much on the reg. In Japan in particular, makeup trends tend to follow a very different format to those in the west, with plenty of tips and tricks designed to highlight features we wouldn’t even consider, such as the angle of an eyelid crease, or the puffiness of eyebags. There’s even makeup that’s designed to make you look a bit ill.
This new makeup palette seems at first glance to be nothing more than a cute product themed around a fairytale character. In actuality, it’s the perfect tool for creating one of the past year’s most unusual trends, “undereye blush”.
The New Year season is often a peak shopping time in Japan, and as such stores pull out the big guns in what are known as fukubukuro (lucky bags). These are bags full of the merchandise a particular shop peddles. Sometimes it’s random which means you could end up with a laptop for fifty bucks, other times the contents are known but you can still get a decent deal on a bulk purchase. And sometimes, in the name of publicity, shops will throw in some unusual item or offer remarkably great deals to celebrate the new year.
It appears the winner for 2015 will be Keisei Department Store who are offering what must be a very large fukubukuro containing a two-meter-tall functional robot suit!
2015 is the Year of the Sheep! If you live in Japan or in the vicinity, that means your life is going to get flooded with sheep-themed merchandise for the next 12 months. We’ve already gotten Disney sheep stuffed animals, sheep ice cream, sheep stamps, and there’s plenty more to come.
But there’s one item that rarely gets the Chinese zodiac-themed touch each year: cat costumes. Thankfully Japanese Twitter user @hizashi414 put an end to that by creating a sheep outfit for their cat and taking plenty of pictures to prove it.
Christmas may have come and gone, but the fun doesn’t stop here at RocketNews24 – today we’d like to share with our readers a heartwarming tale of two lonely male internet writers who, facing a dateless Christmas Eve (a sad state of affairs indeed for any Japanese male), decided to strike back against societal norms and… book into a love hotel together…
Read on as we explore an enchanting evening involving massage, saunas, and fundoshi (Japanese traditional loincloths) aplenty! Disclaimer: you must be 18 or over to view this potentially NSFW, kind of frightening post!
To someone raised in an area that receives little to no snow in the wintertime, living in a snowy region might seem like a lot of fun, what with all the sledding, snowball fights, and easy access to ski resorts. But it’s not all fun and games when you need to shovel through feet of snow just to leave your house or to get your car out of your driveway.
But maybe to someone who hasn’t grown up having to shovel heaps of snow each winter, snow-shoveling could be a fun experience too. At least, that’s what the Akiota-cho Sightseeing Association in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, seems to be hoping as they try to lure city-dwellers to their 4th annual “Heavy Snow Region Experience Tour“. However, this tour has some net-users questioning why anyone would want to pay 5,000 yen (approximately US$50) to shovel snow for someone else.
What is the best way to learn a language? Many foreign people in Japan will tell you living here and being immersed in Japanese is a pretty good way to pick up the lingo. When you realize you have to be able to speak and understand the language in order to live your daily life, it certainly becomes a huge motivation to make the Japanese language your own.
Do you know what isn’t a particularly good method of learning a language? Four classes a week of language learning taught in your native language with little to no chances to utilize what you’ve learned.
As the whole world knows, the Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo in 2020, and Tokyo wants to be as prepared as possible. The city is trying to do everything it can to improve its citizens’ grasp of English, and there is now talk of plans to create an “English Village” where everything will be conducted in the language so many Japanese wish they were fluent in.
Pets are expensive to feed and keep, which is why it’s important to make sure you’re financially able to support a little furry life for the next 10-15 years before making the decision to adopt an animal.
Sometimes, though, life throws you financial curve balls, and you may find yourself struggling to cover the cost of kitty’s food and litter. Today, we’d like to share with you the funny yet kinda sad tale of a kitty-owner whose struggle to make ends meet led to their furry little pal making a drastic suggestion of self-sacrifice (although, it’s a cat, so we’re pretty sure it was being sarcastic…)
No matter what culture you come from, you have probably played a game of tag or a similar game by a different name at least once in your life. It’s a childhood pastime that quite possibly dates well back into prehistoric times in one form or another.
In Japan it is well-loved and goes by the name onigokko (“play demon”) wherein on player takes the role of the oni (demon/”it”) and tries to touch the other players which will turn them into oni.
I say “well-loved” because in recent years the country has held the largest games of tag in the world and has currently evolved the game into “sports onigokko” an organized team-based version of the of what you may know as tag.
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 had a great time at Comiket this weekend and saw enough to fill a few photo books! Of course, it’s impossible to talk about everything, but one of the more eye-catching things we noticed were the cosplay photography rules. There’s a good chance you remember this little tweet from this past summer, showing a cosplayer surrounded and photographed at low angles. And probably not for better lighting…
Well, it turns out, that kind of photography probably isn’t within Comiket rules!
The Kyaraben trend is still going strong in Japan, and even though winter has prompted some to make the temporary switch to deco-nabe, the demand for adorable packed lunches shows no signs of abating. Today we’d like to take a look back over the best of the past year’s Kyaraben. What can we learn about 2014 in Japan from studying these perfect works of edible art?
With Japan trying to figure out how to handle its issue of a declining population (predicted to decrease by one-third over the next half century if the current trend in birth rates continues), the country has been working to raise awareness of the problem and implement more resources for children and parents.
However, with a recent increase of new day cares, preschools, and kindergartens, there has also been an increase of complaints about noise, particularly from elderly residents.
Some of these cases have even gone to court, and have resulted in some schools having to restrict outdoor playtime for the children and keep their curtains closed.
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Flying dango: Unique tourist site where Japanese sweets are flown to you over a gorge
History’s highest sumo wrestling and geisha dance to take place at Tokyo Skytree observation deck
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
Turn clear files into works of art with cleverly designed Japanese scroll
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Domino’s Japan has all-you-can-eat pizza isn’t an Internet rumor, but it is hard to find
The Japan Poop Society is making movements to protect people’s health
Do bears strike first with their left paw when attacking people? Japan wants to know
Mickey Mouse in now a transforming robot created by the designer of Gundam【Photos】One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippersGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
New Ghibli papercraft kit gives you a little Princess Mononoke forest on your desk【Photos】
Beautiful Japanese garden green tea crepes waiting in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood
Tokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Samurai ritual suicide contest cancelled by organizer in west Japan
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a rowOne of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle themeGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
What’s the deal with akebi, the perfectly purple, alien-like fruit that’s in season now in Japan?Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve tooJapanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Domino’s Japan has all-you-can-eat pizza isn’t an Internet rumor, but it is hard to find
The Japan Poop Society is making movements to protect people’s health
Do bears strike first with their left paw when attacking people? Japan wants to know
Mickey Mouse in now a transforming robot created by the designer of Gundam【Photos】
One of Tokyo’s most famous meeting-spot landmarks is closing for good
The results are in! One Piece World Top 100 characters chosen in global poll
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Is Japanese language becoming less discriminatory towards women?【Women in Japan Series】
Japan’s super-cheap corn snacks apologize for second-ever price increase in 45 years
Japanese government wants to acquire original anime and manga art for creation of national archive
Cheeseburger rice bowls arrive at Japanese beef bowl chain Matsuya, and in our stomach【Taste test】