Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1258)
Tokyo is so massive and bustling that sometimes it’s hard to remember that it doesn’t have a monopoly on urban splendor in Japan. Take Osaka, for example. Long Tokyo’s rival, in everything from business to baseball to samurai warfare, Osaka is known for its economic ambitiousness, comedic sensibilities, and tasty grub, but there’s one thing that’s often overlooked in media coverage of Osaka.
It looks absolutely beautiful at night.
On 13 November, a tweet went out from Kyoko Shimbun which read “AAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Generally, such single-letter interjections don’t yield much of a response, but in this case they got over 400 retweets.
That’s because on this day, Kyoko Shimbun which translates to “Fabricated News” learnt that their fictional Infojar, a next-gen rice cooker with several smartphone capabilities, was in the research and development phase by the very company they were spoofing at the time, KDDI.
Everybody wants to be a cat. You get to lie around all day, eat tuna brought to you by your human minions, and generally get worshiped and adored. And the best thing is that you don’t even need to be a pedigree show kitty to raise a few “aww’s” – even fugly kitties are still cute! That’s the premise behind Canon Japan’s Busakawaneko (cute-ugly kitty) Grand-Print photo competition. Cat owners from across Japan sent in photos of their adorably ugly balls of fluff in the hopes of scooping the grand prize of a holiday worth 100,000 yen (US$10,000). The winner and the runners-up will all be displayed on the JR Yamanote line train in Tokyo for around two weeks, starting on November 18. Or, you could also check them out right here!
There are two important things to bear in mind regarding Japanese fashion. First is that, since so many people use public transportation, they almost always need some kind of a bag or backpack to carry their stuff in when they go out. Second, after spending all week wearing a mandated uniform or bland business suit, come the weekend, some people are overcome with the urge to express their individuality to the fullest with their clothing and accessory choices.
With that in mind, just about the fastest route away from your button-down Monday to Friday look is to slip on a backpack that’s the exact shape and size of a tiger’s head.
The Attack on Titan and Marvel crossover comic that Magazine House‘s Brutus magazine is publishing on Saturday features characters from Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers as they battle the Female Titan, Colossal Titan, Armored Titan, and others in New York City.
As fictional (sorry, I mean completely real and definitely not made up) creatures come, furry forest spirits like Studio Ghibli’s Totoro are pretty rare to begin with. Heck, even the theme song to My Neighbor Totoro tells us that we can only see them when we’re “very young”, so it’s not like we’re tripping over the things in the street.
But if you’re the kind of person who simply must have every piece of high quality Ghibli merch, the rarer the better, then this limited edition plush is definitely one you’ll want to look out for.
The major train stations in urban Japan almost seem like small cities, packed with restaurants, hotels, and shopping space. Things are usually pretty different out in the countryside, though, where many rail stops are little more than an awning with a short bench to sit on while you wait for the trains to roll in.
We say rural stations are “usually” simple, though, because in one town up north in Aomori Prefecture, you’ll find a station guarded by what looks like a massive alien.
It’s amazingly easy to find good food in Japan, which is largely due to how hard many food industry professionals work when choosing ingredients are and preparing their dishes. Every now and then, though, the country stumbles across some new delectable that, by any logical standard, has no right tasting as good as it does while being so quick and simple to make.
For example, this week Japan discovered a delicious cheese snack with just one ingredient that you could be enjoying in literally two minutes.
Over the last decade, anime has seen a steady rise in the number of slice-of-life series with mundane settings. Still, even when set in the real world, anime tends to operate under very different rules from reality.
Or does it? In a story that sounds like something out of a manga for teen boys (or girls, provided you draw everyone with wavy, pastel-colored hair), police in Tokyo are forcing members from two rival, frequently rumbling gangs to get along by forming a sports team together.
It seems that regardless of the place, age, or circumstance, vigilantes will always be met with some sort of resistance from the officials. That was the case this week when the Chiba Prefectural Police Department announced that they would not be allowing the mysterious masked citizen, known as “Chibatman,” to participate in next year’s Chiba Kenmin Marathon.
Being an imported holiday, Christmas in Japan is special. They don’t do things quite the same way that many of us do when celebrating the secular side of the holiday. And while Christmas trees are a common sight Japan nowadays, sometimes they skirt a bit below the line of normal.
The Kyoto Aquarium’s annual Christmas tree is right on the edge, and we’re not sure if it’s awesome or just plain weird.
Halloween may be over for this year, but the weather gods in Saitama clearly hadn’t got the message on Wednesday morning this week, as the city was shrouded in a mysterious thick fog – with an even more mysterious name!
When eating sushi, it’s customary to dip each morsel into a small dish of soy sauce before popping it into your mouth. True connoisseurs hold that the proper way to do this is to first turn each piece over so that just the fish, and not the rice, comes into contact with the soy.
However, gripping the piece firmly enough to pick it up, yet gently as to not crush the rice, rotating it 180 degrees for the dip, then spinning it back again to eat can be tricky, especially if you’re not used to chopsticks (or if you’re not used to the sake you’ve paired with your sushi). So if you’ve got a cultured palate but lack manual dexterity, this special sushi soy sauce spray is seemingly the solution.
Every place in Japan wants to be famous for something or other; to have one specific dish or product that nowhere else has as much of or does quite as well. And while the port city of Yokohama might be known for its vast and varied Chinese cuisine, when it comes to gyoza – those bitesized Chinese dumplings that have been so tweaked by the Japanese that they’re often considered home-grown – Tochigi Prefeture’s Utsunomiya City is undoubtedly the place to be, with its residents proud to call their prefecture the Japanese capital of gyoza.
After taking a trip to the prefecture, we think they might just be right. Along with the dozens of delicious gyoza stalls and restaurants we encountered, we quickly stumbled upon a number of unusual gyoza-infused offerings, three of which we just had to try for ourselves. Join us after the jump for our taste test of Tochigi Prefecutre’s Gyoza Burger, Gyoza Chips and Gyoza Bread!
Ramen is an amazing food, and nothing beats traveling around Japan and eating all the different kinds. Some are certainly better than other (tonkotsu FTW!) but they all are fighting for the top spot of “best bowl of ramen ever eaten“. Some bowls of ramen you can’t wait to go back and eat again, others are categorized as “one time is enough“. But there are some bowls of ramen that you shouldn’t even taste…let alone look at. Beware; these next pictures are not for the faint of heart.
Earlier this year as the Japanese government enacted a sales tax hike, the cost of mailing a letter also increased. As a result a new 2 yen stamp had to be issued to fill the price hike, and in an effort to quell public anger, Japan Post put a picture of a cute fluffy bunny on it. Surely that’d do the trick, right?
Of course it did! In Japan, cuteness is a rock-solid commodity and the bunny stamp was a huge success. It was so popular that people came out to buy some even though they had no mail to send. And so, Japan Post set a mandate to make all of their stamps pretty before fiscal 2015.
Here’s one you don’t hear every day – a man was arrested in Daisen City, Akita Prefecture last weekend on charges of entering the hotel room of a female acquaintance through the window before proceeding to strike her about the buttocks with a shoehorn that he found in the room. But just what could prompt such behavior?
All of Japan was thrilled when traditional Japanese cuisine, or washoku in Japanese, became a registered UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in December last year. And one thing that is for certain when it comes to Japanese food is that we Japanese love our rice with a passion. We have various brands and classes of rice, with differing flavors and prices depending on where it’s grown, much like what you might expect with fine wine, and we all have our favorites. It’s simply an irrefutable fact that rice holds a very central place in Japanese cuisine and in the hearts of the Japanese as well.
Yes, there’s nothing quite like the sensation of inhaling the scent of steaming hot freshly cooked rice when you open the rice cooker, and as fond as we are of rice, we were delighted to have the opportunity this week to attend a reception for foreign media titled “Celebrating Worldwide Recognition of Washoku and Rice“. And when we heard that it included being served a traditional Japanese meal by a master chef from a renowned Japanese restaurant and also a chance to try making some unique sushi rolls ourselves, we knew this was definitely a reception we couldn’t miss!
For many newcomers to anime and manga, it can be hard to tell characters drawn by the same artist apart. In general, Japanese designs use fewer lines, especially in the faces, than those of Western comic books, and even some artists themselves, such as Touch creator Mitsuru Adachi, have been known to get their own cast members mixed up.
That’s not a problem with Atom, though. Also known as Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka’s beloved mighty robot is instantly recognizable, whether in the pages of the manga where he debuted, onscreen in one of his many anime adaptations, or, in his most recent appearance, a pedestrian walk signal in Kanagawa Prefecture.
There are a number of upsides to Sailor Moon Crystal, the recent reboot of the smash hit anime from the 1990s. Aside from benefitting from 20 years of advancement in animation technology and technique, the franchise’s proven record of success means that Crystal has a higher budget and sticks closer to creator Naoko Takeuchi’s manga than the previous adaptation did.
Still, a reboot is a reboot, and if you’ve already watched all 200 episodes of the original Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon Super S, and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, then you’ve got a pretty big head start on many of the places Crystal’s plot is going. So if you’re the kind of person who snacks when you get bored, maybe some Sailor Moon tortilla chips will help you pass the time.
Right now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
New Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
Eat Japanese prison food at this unique cafeteria in Abashiri
Pizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited time
We go looking for the best natto (fermented soybeans) in all of Japan【Taste test】
All 47 Starbucks Japan’s local Jimoto Frappuccinos, ranked by calorie count, plus what each one is
New Hello Kitty x McDonald’s Japan collaboration is like a life lesson to live by 【Video】
10 things you should buy at 7-Eleven in Japan
With hand-painted faces, no two Totoro kamikogei traditional papercraft figures are the same
Find a red envelope on the ground? Here’s why you should never pick it upNew Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
Some of the best Japanese fried chicken in Japan comes from this shack in the middle of nowhere
Japanese cat island reveals all its cats will soon be gone
Starbucks Japan releases a new Matcha Latte with Reusable Cup for the tourist market
One of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing season
New Japanese Food Sample Making Cafe opens in Asakusa, Tokyo
The perks of drinking root beer at A&W in Japan
Tokyo Skytree to be lit up in Jujutsu Kaisen colors on Halloween in months-long art collaboration
New Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the set
Starbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Studio Ghibli lets you cosplay as Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle with cosy anime fashion rangeNew Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the setStarbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
Japanese government suspends plan to pay Tokyo women 600,000 to move away to get married
Starbucks Japan unveils new limited-edition Frappuccino for autumnOne of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing season
Matsushima restaurant offers all-you-can-eat sashimi in as many ways as you can dream it【Photos】
Super budget-friendly retro Tokyo hotel feels like having your own 1960s Asakusa apartment
Support Hayao Miyazaki’s real-world Totoro forest with hoodies featuring exclusive anime art
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
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
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
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
All 47 Starbucks Japan’s local Jimoto Frappuccinos, ranked by calorie count, plus what each one is
New Hello Kitty x McDonald’s Japan collaboration is like a life lesson to live by 【Video】
10 things you should buy at 7-Eleven in Japan
With hand-painted faces, no two Totoro kamikogei traditional papercraft figures are the same
Find a red envelope on the ground? Here’s why you should never pick it up
Japanese science museum in deep doo-doo after displaying false facts about poop
Japan’s Vampire Smoothie arrives with semi-coagulated blood looks for Halloween【Taste test】
South Korean media wants the world to know that “cherry blossoms originated there”
After 10 years of secrecy, anime song duo ClariS finally remove their masks and show their faces
Four lucky towns in Fukushima Prefecture will receive a Chansey Pokémon Park
Japanese design company creates world’s most badass…sewing supply box?!?【Video】
The 5 best Iwate foods and drinks to buy at the prefecture’s antenna shop in Tokyo
Tokyo Skytree to light up in Pokémon colors for summer-long art event!
Japanese schoolkids to be able to carry their books in official Harry Potter randoseru backpacks