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30 hours of pumpkin carving! The making of my anime fan art jack-o’-lantern【Photos & video】

Megumi Matsuki
Nov 14, 2014
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Every year for Halloween I carve a pumpkin for myself and for the trick-or-treaters to enjoy, usually based on a popular Hollywood movie with costume potential. To commemorate my post at RocketNews24, however, for this year’s jack-o’-lantern I chose my first ever anime theme! I went with one of my favorites from this fall’s line-up, Gugure! Kokkuri-san (繰繰れ！コックリさん), available on Crunchyroll.

Both heartwarming and twisted (for the non-anime-initiated), the series is an outrageously wacky, slice-of-life comedy adapted from a four-panel comic strip by Midori Endō. The large cast is led by Kokkuri-san and the young girl Kohina; the former is a motherly, lonely fox spirit (originally from Japanese folklore) with both human and animal forms, and the latter is a hardcore bocchi (loner) with a cup noodle addiction who claims to be an emotionless doll.

Read on to learn a little more about the show and the design process, as well as to get a nicer view of the lit-up pumpkin. There’s also a time lapse video that condenses 30 hours of carving into just over 11 minutes!

Cute cat warms harbles, achieves Nirvana in front of heater

Jessica
Nov 13, 2014

We posted earlier this week about how Japanese cats survive the cold winter months by bogarting the sweet, sweet warmth of the space heater, but this cold little fellow is lucky enough not to have to share his oasis of warmth with any other felines or even a pesky human. How happy does that make him? Photos of kitty bliss after the jump.

Akiba Stealth: Assassin’s Creed brought to Akihabara in “real-life” prior to game release【Video】

Audrey Akcasu
Nov 13, 2014

Imagine yourself walking through the busy streets of Akihabara (or Akiba), Tokyo’s electronics and gaming haven (a.k.a. otaku central), when suddenly, a nerdy guy busts his way out of a dark alley and does a flip over a passer-by, with guards tailing him by only inches. Surprised? Welcome to “Akiba Stealth.”

In preparation for the November 20 Japanese release of the newest game in the Assassin’s Creed series, “Unity,” the creators, Ubisoft, came out with a promotional video, entitled “Akiba Stealth,” to get the attention of the Japanese fan base. The video is supposed to be a “real-life” Assassin’s Creed in Akihabara, lovingly dubbed “Ota-ssin’s Creed.” (Get it? Otaku + assassin… otassin. No?)

Attack on Avengers! Attack on Titan’s female giant heading to New York to fight Marvel heroes

Casey Baseel
Nov 13, 2014

Fans of Japanese manga and American comics alike have spent the past few weeks wondering what exactly the upcoming crossover between Attack on Titan and Marvel has in store for us. Spider-Man and the Survey Corps exchanging tips over the best ways to zip around cityscapes? Deadpool and Levi fighting side by side with a combined four blades, as the merc cracks wise and the manga heartthrob sighs in annoyance?

Actually, we’re getting a fight between Earth’s mightiest heroes and anime’s tallest pantless woman, as Marvel has announced the project is titled Attack on Avengers.

【TBT】Your favorite Nintendo games as traditional Japanese prints

ロケットニュース24
Nov 13, 2014

Ukiyo-e Heroes are a group of artists who work in the medium of tradional Japanese woodblock printing (ukiyo-e), a style most strongly associated with Japanese culture. This group has turned their facebook page into a virtual gallery displaying their favorite muse: video games.

“Nomad actor” Dean Fujioka makes his American debut in ‘The Pinkertons’

Fran W
Nov 13, 2014

Whatever your job entails, the strongest support is usually closest to home. But actor Dean Fujioka is better known in Taiwan and Hong Kong than he is in his native Japan.

The actor, musician and director, who made his American debut earlier this month in the wild west detective series The Pinkertons, calls himself a “nomad actor” – as long as there’s an international airport, he’ll go wherever his work takes him.

East meets West in this beautifully detailed 18th century star chart

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Nov 13, 2014

While here at RocketNews24 we pride ourselves on bringing you the latest funky news from around Asia, sometimes we also like to dig into the historical archives where we often find fascinating pieces of trivia. This time, we came across this elaborate, delicate piece of functional art from 18th-century Japan. It’s a detailed star chart that combines astronomy from both the East and West.

Isn’t it fascinating to think that even back in the Edo era there is such a forward-thinking piece which combines different cultures and systems? It looks stunning too!

Big shrimp for dinner! Food’s greatest oxymoron taken to its most moronic level

KK Miller
Nov 13, 2014

Japan loves to wow you with cute and tiny food. Sometimes the food is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to truly appreciate its beauty. Other times the food is so cute you can barely stand to eat it. However, you don’t often hear about the opposite end of the spectrum in Japan. The “Land of the Rising Sun” isn’t known for its gigantic foods and proportions. (You can leave that to the United States.)

But perhaps some restaurants are trying to separate themselves from the pack by adopting some more “Western” ideas. A restaurant in Nagoya is selling a dish of three humongous shrimp, and it’s definitely a sight to be seen! If you’ve never seen the largest shrimp in the world before, they make jumbo shrimp look, well…shrimpy!

Three kotatsu-boosting items to turn your home into a toasty fort against winter’s cold

Casey Baseel
Nov 13, 2014

Even though Japan is a great place to live, not everyone likes every aspect of life in the country. Dishes like grilled eel and organ skewers are pretty polarizing, as is the public transportation system, which is clean and punctual, but crowded and shuts down early.

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone, though, who doesn’t love Japan’s heated tables, called kotatsu, so more than a few people will be happy about these three ways to get even more out of Japan’s coziest piece of furniture.

Shima City needs your help in naming its tastefully swimsuit-clad anime mascot

Casey Baseel
Nov 13, 2014

When creating a local mascot in Japan, there are basically three styles to choose from. You can go the traditionally cute route, like Gunma Prefecture did with its adorable horse, national popularity contest champion, and confectionary model Gunma-chan. Option two is to make something so weird it puts a smile on peoples’ faces, like Funabashi City’s unofficial spokepear Funasshi.

Or, you can just draw a picture of an anime girl, like the town of Shima did. Yes, she of course has a nice smile and attractive proportions, and so far every picture that’s been released of the tourism ambassador has her posing in a swimsuit. But before you go blasting the designers for making that wardrobe choice before even giving her a name, bear in mind there’s a good reason for her attire.

Public baths in Japan add some extra fun with hundreds of rubber duckies

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Nov 13, 2014

Rubber duckies make any bathtime lots of fun, but what does a tub full of one thousand tiny yellow quackers have the power to do?

We’ve found three public baths that provide guests with the unique experience of bathing in a sea of rubber duckies. Check out the surreal photos after the jump!

What happens when you mistake the brake for the accelerator in Japan

Oona McGee
Nov 13, 2014

Parking can be tricky sometimes, but when you’re trying to manoeuvre a large vehicle around tight spaces in a Japanese carpark, things can get a little scary.

Thankfully nobody was hurt in the accident pictured above, yet after the photo was posted on Twitter there was one thing everyone wanted to know: how come the rear wheels were hanging in mid-air?

Japan’s “cat island” Aoshima is being overwhelmed by tourists

Krista Rogers
Nov 13, 2014

Aoshima (青島), which is incorporated into Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture, is a small, unpretentious island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan (which one of our English-language correspondents has covered extensively). However, the 0.5 km² island does have one unique claim to fame–it’s known as a paradise for cats and cat lovers.

We actually featured Aoshima on our list of the 11 top cat islands in Japan back in April. After one Japanese Twitter user shared photos of the island’s hordes of cats online, Aoshima has experienced an unprecedented influx of tourists, leaving the local residents baffled and unprepared to deal with the flood of people streaming in.

Mario Kart’s Mercedes-Benz collaboration enters the real world with TV spot

Anime News Network
Nov 13, 2014

Car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz had previously collaborated with Nintendo on in-game car models for the company’s Mario Kart 8 video game. However, now Nintendo is helping out Mercedes-Benz by lending its characters and themes for the company’s latest commercial, “GO!GLA.” This week, the company posted the Peach and Luigi versions of the commercial:

The originator of the strawberry daifuku, Tamaya continues to be a step ahead of competition

Master Blaster
Nov 13, 2014

Daifuku is a widely popular type of Japanese confection consisting mainly of an outer layer of mochi (gelatinous rice paste) with an anko (sweet bean paste) filling. The result is a mildly sweet treat with a comfortably smooth texture.

There are many variations of daifuku including ichigo daifuku containing a whole strawberry inside of the mochi and anko, which have become hugely popular all around Japan. However, do you know where this trend started?

Our hungry reporter Mr. Sato does, and he went down to the first store ever to sell ichigo daifuku, Tamaya, to try their wares himself. He found that not only are they the original, but they may just make best ichigo daifuku in all of Japan.

Happy Pocky Day! Japan celebrates with huge towers and crazy art featuring the beloved snack

Casey Baseel
Nov 13, 2014

The vagaries of reading in Japanese mean that often the same text or numbers can be said a variety of ways. For example, some of the many readings for 2 and 9 and “ni” and “ku,” which combine to form niku, the Japanese word for “meat,” which is how November 29 became known in some circles as Meat Day. Going from the carnivorous to the carnal, 8 can be read as “hai,” making both November 28 and February 8 observed as Knee-High Socks Days.

Sometimes, though, you don’t need pun-filled pronunciations for an excuse to start a pseudo-holiday. Writing November 11 all in numerals gets you 11-11, and all those vertical lines look to some like a handful of enticing Pocky sticks. And so, this week Japan celebrated Pocky Day by not only devouring boxes of the stuff, but by turning the chocolate-covered treats into works of physical and photographic art.

Clever Japanese pet owners find perfect cat beds…at IKEA! 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Nov 12, 2014

One of the great things about IKEA is the broad appeal of its furnishings. With understated styling, reasonable prices, and adequate quality, the Swedish-based megastore is the perfect place to find sofas for recent college graduates, dishes for newlyweds, and work desks for telecommuters.

And also, as clever Japanese pet owners have learned, adorable beds for cats.

Things to pick up at 7-Eleven: Milk, melon bread, Evangelion sports car

Casey Baseel
Nov 12, 2014

Last summer, we thought the heat might have been getting to the executives at 7-Eleven. Sure, offering two-meter (six-foot, seven-inch) tall Evangelion statues as special promotional prizes was a cool idea and all, but did they really expect anyone to pony up the 1,836,000 yen (US$16,000) they were asking for the 25 more giant figures they was selling outright?

Well, not only did all 25 of those Eva statues find homes, they sold out in just two minutes. Emboldened by that success, 7-Eleven has teamed up once again with the hit anime franchise to release the most expensive item the convenience store has ever sold: the Evangelion car.

Make (lots and lots of) room for this enormous new Taiko no Tatsujin controller from Hori

Philip Kendall
Nov 12, 2014

Drumming game Taiko no Tatsujin has become something of a poster child for Japanese video arcades over the years, with pretty much every piece of movie or TV footage which shows a Japanese game centre including shots of either smiling schoolgirls or wildly flailing pros thumping away on one of the game’s giant plastic taiko drums in time with the cutesy on-screen icons and J-pop beats.

Up until now, diehard fans of the series had to make do with flimsy miniature drum controllers for their phones and games consoles whenever they couldn’t make it to an actual arcade to challenge their top scores, but peripheral maker Hori has just unveiled the ultimate home taiko experience in the form of the Taiko no Tatsujin Controller Pro – an enormous drum controller being rolled out for the launch of upcoming Wii and Wii U title Taiko no Tatsujin: Tokumori!

15 years of wonderfully wacky bras from Triumph Japan【Photos】

Fran W
Nov 12, 2014

It is the year 2000. You run the Japanese division of one of the world’s biggest lingerie brands, and are looking for an original way to promote your company – and your country – on the world stage. What do you do? Well, if your company is Triumph International, you begin launching concept bras like last week’s Frozen-inspired sisterhood bra – amazing and ridiculous underwear guaranteed to push the world’s ‘WTF Japan’ buttons.

We can see in Triumph’s creations the Japanese art of ‘chindogu’, inventions that, while they appear to solve a particular problem, are simultaneously useful and useless. Join us as we rifle through the underwear drawer for 21 of the best!