Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1396)
One of Japan’s leading dictionaries has made a significant (and arguably long overdue) step towards acknowledging and normalizing homosexuality by revising the entries for words relating to love and sex. They have removed restrictive references to these feelings existing only between a man and a woman, opening up the definition of love to everyone — gay, straight, or otherwise.
If you were paying attention during history class, you’ll know all about wartime propaganda and the role it played in “motivating” people during the war effort. It seems like most countries involved got in on a piece of the propaganda action to some degree or other, with anti-Japanese propaganda being just one example.
But what do you think of this picture that has recently been uncovered showing two geisha holding their noses over a picture of former UK prime minister Winston Churchill? And what’s the joke behind it?
Life as a retiree isn’t exactly easy. Sure, you don’t have to get up and go to work every morning, but that also means you don’t have a very substantial income. While your retirement checks might help you put food on the table, they’ll probably seem a bit underwhelming as you get even older. And in Japan, you can’t even go out and get a depressing job as a greeter at Wal-mart.
But there’s always Yahoo! Auction, where you can sell any manner of things you might have lying around the house. Old instruments, old clothes, old dolls, or even, what the heck, how about some old pornographic photos? Any of those are sure to fetch a tidy sum online, but you might want to be careful about those explicit photos–they could very well end up with you getting arrested, as one 83-year-old Tokyo retiree learned!
A lot of ’80s-era kids probably entertained the fantasy of meeting their biggest childhood heroes in the flesh at one point or another. And no, we’re not talking about Michael Jordan or other sports stars of the time. We’re talking about someone far less, uh… athletic: Mario.
Of course, had kids met the real-life Mario and/or Luigi depicted in this goofy and sort of frightening Mario x Mercedes collaboration commercial, they probably would have run for their lives and sworn off Nintendo games forever. But, beneath all the ugly prosthetics and hulking physiques of these game heroes come to life, there may have been, at least according to Japanese netizens, some far more approachable real-life athletes.
The Tokyo metropolitan subway system is notorious for being incredibly crowded at rush hour, with commuters packed into narrow train carriages like sardines in a can. You’re probably familiar with images of white-gloved train conductors literally pushing people onto trains in an attempt to squeeze just one more body on before departure.
It can be very scary being squished into a mass of people like that, and this particularly holds true in case of sudden incidents such as the one that occurred this week when the window of a train literally broke due to the pressure of all of those heaving bodies. Join us after the jump for images of crushed glass and scenes of utter chaos! Okay, it’s actually only a few cracks, but still…
It’s a big month for Attack on Titan. Between an art exhibit opening in Tokyo, a crossover with Marvel’s Avengers, and at least one of the naked giants finding a proper job, the biggest anime and manga hit of the last decade is even more in the spotlight than usual these days, which makes it only fitting that we’re getting our first in-costume glimpse of the cast of next summer’s live-action Attack on Titan movies.
Leading trio Eren, Mikasa, and Arumin are all present and accounted for. But while they’ll be joined by several new characters specially crafted for the films, one fan favorite apparently isn’t making the transition to live-action.
A trip to Japan is never complete without sampling the random chocolate and candy the country has to offer — the ultimate treat is trying all the different Kit Kats! But with so many flavors, it’s always hard to choose which ones to bring back as a souvenir. That’s why we suggest buying the newest one, created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the very first Shinkansen in Japan. (And no, it doesn’t taste like train).
If you’ve ever visited a Shinto shrine, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the ethereal sound of gagaku, or traditional Japanese court music. It’s not exactly something that you’d throw in a club mix after “Turn Down For What,” though at one point it was used to accompany dances at the imperial palace. While Lil Jon may get your body shaking, with gagaku, which literally means “elegant music,” shaking isn’t really the goal.
Still, that didn’t stop DJ Krush, one of Japan’s most famous and respected turntablists, from getting together with a few gagaku musicians to play one of the most beautiful sets you’re ever likely to hear–and at a Tokyo Red Bull Music Academy event, no less!
With the aggressive pick-up tactics of Julien “the most hated man in the world” Blanc all over the news this week, it only makes sense that we here at RocketNews24 do our part in educating readers about self-defense. And being as this is Japan, we thought we should start with a method for dealing with that particularly Japanese act of violence-infused wooing: the kabe-don.
A little over a year ago, one of my good friends in Tokyo got a job teaching philosophy at a university in Kagoshima, the prefecture at the southernmost tip of the island of Kyushu. Being that he’s now a seven-hour series of train rides, or a two-and-a-half-hour flight, away, we don’t get together so often anymore, but on the plus side, now I have a reason to take a trip to Kagoshima.
Well, actually, I’ve got about a dozen reasons to take a trip there, if you add in all of the nature trails, hot springs, scenic coastline, and more shown in this video of some of Kagoshima’s most achingly beautiful travel destinations.
Remember the Chinese character phase? Back in the early 2000s you could see Chinese characters everywhere from T-shirts to tattoos. While the trend still continues to some extent today, once people started realizing that you should probably double-check the meaning before going out in public, it has definitely slowed down.
Maybe Chinese symbols have a sort of stigma now, but that is not stopping major designers from branching out into the other styles of Japanese writing, namely katakana. This new trend is being used by brands all over the world, from Adidas to Stussy.
We’d like to think that all things sweet and beautiful have a certain universal appeal, regardless of country and culture. Japan is no exception, and the Japanese public certainly loves sweets in all shapes and sizes, so much so that the word pâtissier, French for “pastry chef,” has become an established part of the Japanese language. From that viewpoint, an event that brings delectable desserts, beautiful fashion and entertainment all together in one package is something of a dream experience, at least for this writer. And just recently, we were fortunate enough to attend exactly such an event — the Tokyo Sweets Collection 2014!
Join us as we take you along on a sweet journey through this unique show in which six renowned pastry chefs serve up heavenly plates of desserts in a fantastical setting complete with lights, music, dancing and models in beautiful clothes, all designed to tantalize not just your taste buds but all of your senses!
You’d think the art of flip book animation had seen its apex by now. The medium’s emotional limits have already been pushed by the works of Japanese comedian and surprisingly talented artist Tekken, and others have recreated famous anime almost perfectly, but it seems there isn’t much else to do with the medium of flicking pieces of paper to create a moving image.
Or so we thought, until witnessing a line of flip books by Japanese company Another Laboratory (Mohitotsu no Kenkyujo). These brief but beautiful works not only breathe life into the format but make it superior to film or computer animations through clever use of the book itself as part of the imagery.
An Osaka man convicted of rape three and a half years ago and sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence has been released after new evidence revealed the man’s accuser had provided false testimony.
The man – whom Japanese news outlets are not naming – was accused of raping the same woman in both 2004 and 2008, and sexually assaulting her once again later in 2008. The guilty verdict was apparently based largely on the woman’s testimony and that of at least one eyewitness, but the trial seems to have lacked any physical evidence provided by prosecutors.
Between their furry coats and ability to stake out the warmest spots in the home, cats seem to be pretty skillful at warding off the cold. But while you can probably squeeze in next to your pets in front of the space heater, you can’t really borrow their coats, can you?
Of course, you won’t need to if you have a cute, cozy kitty pullover of your own.
Here at RocketNews24, we’re all about expanding our horizons. That means we’re always on the lookout for new places to visit, new burgers to eat, and most of all, new spheres of craziness for our intrepid Japanese language correspondent Mr. Sato to wade into.
Now, though, we’re ready for our beautiful, ambitious, tenacious, stylish, hygienic, innovative, trend-setting reporter to go someplace he’s never gone before: your home, in the form of charming Mr. Sato stickers that we’re giving away.
Read on to find out how to get your hands on a set.
Just in case you haven’t had a dose of creepy in a while, we bring this to you to keep you sober and careful in the future.
Being an adult female and an avid reader of news, I’ve come to realize over the years that there are a lot of creepy people in this world of ours. Within the past two years in Japan alone, for example, two stories that made headlines involved a man who was arrested for throwing cups of urine on women and another for kidnapping a girl to raise as his “ideal wife.” And now, another similarly creepy case has come to light, with four men being arrested in Tokyo for activities that I would rank pretty high on the creepy scale.
Mario Kart. We don’t know a single person who claims not to like it at least a little bit, and with its 22-year history and eight (11 if you count the arcade iterations) distinct outings to date, pretty much everyone has zipped around at least one of Nintendo’s crazy cartoony tracks at some point in their life.
News site MyNavi Woman recently polled gamers all over Japan about their most memorable Mario Kart experiences, 13 of which we’ve listed after the jump for your reading and reminiscing pleasure. Honestly, we don’t think there’s a single one here that didn’t have us nodding in agreement.
If the thought of a cat spinning tracks fills your heart with immense joy, then this will be the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season.
With a rotating turntable and a deck covered in trash-talking stickers, even demure felines can try their paw at scratching tracks, thanks to this hilarious cat DJ deck. Now any cat can be the cool cat who makes all the humans smile and all the kittens bounce.
If you’re a proud cat owner, odds are you’ve got pictures of your favorite feline on your smartphone. We also know that plenty of people like to keep up on the latest developments on cat-related cuteness by surfing the Internet with said devices.
But if that’s still not enough, now you can keep your electronics upright with an adorable cat coming out of your smartphone.
Japan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Japan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Studio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurines
Retro-style Evangelion T-shirts coming to Uniqlo sister brand GU[Photos]
Japan’s Mister Donut Japan tries its hand at Taiwanese-style street food donuts
Bandai cancels gacha/blind-buy system for anime cosmetics, will let fans choose what they buy
Shinto shrine will bless your bike helmet and give you a sacred bike helmet stamp
Only five branches of Japan’s beef bowl giant Matsuya serve milk shakes, but how do they taste?
Dorayaki from 89-year-old Japanese confectionery shop is one of the best sweets hidden in Tokyo
Live-action Ghibli Princess Mononoke stage play tickets are now on sale
New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feetJapan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at homeJapan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Tifa’s Final Fantasy VII bar is going to pop up in real-world Tokyo
Studio Ghibli launches huge new anime movie T-shirt collection with special design details
Brand-new Square Enix Cafe to open in Tokyo…and in Los Angeles too!
Japanese convenience store gives away free ice cream with creative ad at Shinjuku StationStudio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurines
Hello Kitty is now a transforming truck robot[Photos]
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visaJapan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to TokyoNew Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Brand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Japan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now openJapan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Injuries on stairs in Tokyo highlight an overlooked design flaw
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency saysJapan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Bandai cancels gacha/blind-buy system for anime cosmetics, will let fans choose what they buy
Shinto shrine will bless your bike helmet and give you a sacred bike helmet stamp
Only five branches of Japan’s beef bowl giant Matsuya serve milk shakes, but how do they taste?
Dorayaki from 89-year-old Japanese confectionery shop is one of the best sweets hidden in Tokyo
Live-action Ghibli Princess Mononoke stage play tickets are now on sale
Tifa’s Final Fantasy VII bar is going to pop up in real-world Tokyo
New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Police in Japan summoned to deal with bank intruder…who is also a deer[Video]
War in Iran threatening Japan’s pudding production
Tokyo store makes you to pass a quiz in order to buy Pokémon cards as part of anti-scalper policy
McDonald’s and Gundam team up for customized anime mecha and fried chicken sandwiches[Video]
Brand-new Square Enix Cafe to open in Tokyo…and in Los Angeles too!
Second-generation sumo burger coming to Burger King Japan with return of Baby Body Burger
Japanese sweets souvenirs don’t get more beautiful than this