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Japan (Page 1438)

【PSA】Knock knock! Check your car, save a cat

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Oct 21, 2014
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As the weather gets colder in the northern hemisphere, we humans have the privilege of hiding out in our warm abodes. Some of us are even lucky enough to have a kotatsu to snuggle into. Meanwhile, have you ever wondered, “What about those poor little cats on the streets? Where will they go in this chilly weather?”

Well, some of them would hide between buildings or cardboard boxes to take shelter from the wind, rain, and the occasional unfortunate typhoon. However, some of them will actually make their way to your cars! If you don’t catch them in time and start your engine right there, it could lead to some serious tragedy (think minced meat…). Here at RocketNews24, we pride ourselves on our eternal love for our feline friends, which is why we’re so glad that one animal protection organization in Japan created a simple campaign to save our kitty friends…and our cars!

New ‘Shrine Cafe’ in Tokyo offers fortune-telling and counseling services with your tea

Krista Rogers
Oct 21, 2014

Hey everyone, how has 2014 treated you? Did you finally get that dream job you wanted? Or maybe you moved, or found a significant other?

With only a little over two months left in the year, you might find yourself already looking forward to what the new year has to offer. If you’re especially eager to get a ‘sneak-peak’ of what 2015 has in store for you, then this new Shrine Cafe located in Tokyo’s Takadanobaba neighborhood may just be the perfect place for you. It only opened its doors on the 14th of this month, but it already promises to fill a niche in Japan’s already abundant and eclectic cafe scene.

But wait–just what the heck is a shrine cafe??

Kirishima Geopark: Trekking through a bonsai forest in the clouds 【Photos】

Jessica
Oct 21, 2014

Kirishima Geopark is a spooky place, I thought to myself, separated from my hiking group by a thick, soupy fog that dampened both sound and clothes. Despite the well-marked trails, there was something about the twisty trees and shivery sound of water drops pushed loose by the wind that suggested you might walk around a bend and disappear forever. I loved it.

“Don’t play for more than an hour a day”: Japanese video game master gives great advice

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Oct 21, 2014

Takahashi Toshiyuki, better known as Takahashi Meijin, is a renowned gaming personality in Japan. One of his famous quotes, however, says, “Don’t play more than an hour of games each day.” This sounds like a mother nagging her game-addicted child and perhaps not too convincing coming from someone who plays games for a living. You might wonder, “Why is this guy telling me that I should only play for an hour each day when he probably plays all day long? How am I going to be a world Pokémon champion if I don’t play enough?” However, it appears that there is more to Takahashi’s quote.

Small-you-can-eat: Japanese netizens are not happy with Denny’s new endless pancakes offer

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Oct 21, 2014

We really got our hopes up when we heard that Denny’s Japan is offering an all-you-can-eat pancake buffet. For 999 yen (US$9.40), we were promised a pancake paradise complete with whipped cream, a choice of different ice cream flavors, and free toppings. It sounded almost magical.

It turns out, however, that Denny’s promised land of pancakes is little more than an illusion, as a number of Japanese netizens who rushed to the restaurant to try out the buffet reported leaving feeling utterly disappointed, with some commenting that the sorry excuse for a pancake party left even their kids crying, “I’m still hungry!”

Japanese constipation survey reveals the most and least poop-frustrated prefectures

Scott R Dixon
Oct 21, 2014

There are certain topics that although you may be interested in, one just doesn’t bring up in polite company, the least of which being the regularity of a country’s bowel movements. But luckily our poop-curious friends over at Glico (as in the major Japanese snack company) recently completed a survey about constipation that gives us a very personal look at the health of Japan’s number two habits. The aptly named “Lifestyle and Constipation” survey has revealed which Japanese prefectures are keeping things downstairs regular and which ones are all clogged up.

Le Jardin de Tweed: Lunch on the roof terrace at Chanel Ginza

Oona McGee
Oct 21, 2014

Ginza is well-known for its high-end boutiques and exclusive brand name designer stores. Armani, Hermes, Gucci, Bvlgari and Chanel all have signature outposts here and the most surprising thing about them is they offer the unique opportunity to dine inside their buildings.

The iconic Chanel building has one of the most impressive locations of the lot, with a laid-back, resort-like setting up on their roof terrace overlooking the busy Ginza shopping street below. Featuring tweed accents and a lunch box put together by acclaimed French chef Alain Ducasse, you’ll have to get in quick for a chance to eat here as the outdoor area is only open for a limited time until October 31 every year.

Worst date ever! Japan’s ladies reveal the top five date ideas to avoid

Evie Nyan
Oct 21, 2014

Dating these days is a complete minefield, and nowhere more so than in Japan. There’s a lot of stress put on guys to impress a girl with their choice of date spot. Sure, you can get away with cute cafe dates with yummy tea and cake during the “getting to know you” phase, but after that the onus is pretty much always on the guy to come up with something enjoyable each time. In fact, indecisiveness when it comes to date decisions is a major turn-off for Japan’s ladies, according to a survey conducted by Livedoor. To avoid potential dating disasters next time you’re in Japan, here are the top five dates to avoid if you don’t want her to run screaming!

Get your paws on this paw-shaped back massager with cat-itude

Jessica
Oct 21, 2014

Cat lovers will tell you there is something deeply satisfying about the soft squishy feel of a cat’s toe pads, particularly as we don’t get to touch them for very long before getting swatted across the face for our presumption. But imagine how nice it would feel to get a back massage from some big kitty toe beans!

Proving that you really can find anything at a Japanese supermarket, we spotted just such a massager on a recent trip.

The Simpsons Halloween episode pays tribute to popular anime

Anime News Network
Oct 21, 2014

The Simpsons had some fun last night in their “Treehouse of Horror XXV” Halloween episode, imagining a world where multiple incarnations of the Simpsons family has been created by an evil marketing entity.

Amongst them was a tribute to some popular anime titles, including Attack on Titan, Naruto, Pokémon, Bleach, One Piece, and Spirited Away.

Poor little dog is driven into corner by owner’s terrifying new house guest

Cara Clegg
Oct 21, 2014

This dog’s owner brought home an unexpected guest which sent the poor pooch running for the nearest safe hiding place where its enemy couldn’t reach.

What kind of fearsome creature could have given this canine such a fright…?

Rising star of Japanese horse racing is as ridiculously fast as he is comically scatterbrained

Casey Baseel
Oct 21, 2014

There are two different ways “handicap” usually gets used in horse racing. One is to refer to the process of calculating which horse is likely to win, and how to profit from that intuition (also known as “being good at betting on horses”). The other is a system in which horses that have proven to be faster than the rest of the field carry extra weight in a race.

Today, though, we’re using it to refer to a horse that recently raced in Tokyo, who’s ridiculously fast but seemed to do everything he could to let his opponents pass him for the win.

Time to head north: Tochigi Prefecture’s gyoza-flavored rice topping is nothing short of divine

Audrey Akcasu
Oct 21, 2014

Tochigi Prefecture doesn’t pop-up in the news often, but when it does it usually involves food. You might remember the “First Love” flavored gyoza or the tomato-milk-lemon drink. I totally understand if you didn’t jump out of your seat to go to Tochigi just to taste those… unique… goods for yourself, but there is a new product in Tochigi that is flying off of the shelves and just might be worth that trip: “Kekeru gyoza.”

The ultimate in smartphone accessories has hopped into the market

Master Blaster
Oct 21, 2014

Get ready. Here comes a brand new way to enjoy your smartphone. This revolutionary new case not only supports all types of smartphones with a custom fit, but it comes with an incredible range of features never seen before in other cases.

Skull-shaped lollipop holders: Because liking candy doesn’t mean you’re not one bad dude

Casey Baseel
Oct 20, 2014

For the most part, we tend to think of candy as being something for kids. Sweet flavors just seem to go with the sweet era of youthful innocence.

But what if you’re an adult who craves a sugar rush, but you still want the world to know that you’re a stone-cold badass? Then you carry your candy inside a skull-shaped lollipop case.

Robot rebellion begins with a cranky Roomba, Internet users too busy laughing to fight back

Preston Phro
Oct 20, 2014

2015 is only a few months away, and while we’re still nowhere near getting the hoverboards from Back to the Future Part II, we do, at the very least, have robots to do our house chores for us! It’s such an exciting new frontier for housework that someone even made a robot vacuum simulator! While you might still have to make your own dinner, at least you can always drop your onion skins on the floor without worry, knowing your little automated vacuum buddy will clean up after you.

It’s like we really are living in the future! Unfortunately, while our robot vacuums may be automated, it turns out that they’re not much smarter than a pile of rocks, as one shocked Japanese Twitter user recently discovered.

Has a Japanese company found the fountain of youth? One man’s youthful skin suggests so

Scott R Dixon
Oct 20, 2014

The pursuit of beauty and the relentless quest to look younger is nothing new and has probably been around since the first human looked into a pool of water and realized that the disfigured beastly thing staring back was themselves. A couple of hundred thousand years and many medical technology breakthroughs later, we are spending massive amounts of money, time and pain on that quest to look younger and more beautiful. And last week a Japanese cosmetic company made an announcement that seemed to suggest they found the fountain of youth when they took 30 years off a 67-year-old man’s skin using a breakthrough technology.

When first-try character bentos go wrong 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Oct 20, 2014

The culinary custom of bento, boxed lunches, goes back for generation in Japan. What’s a little less clear, though, is how long people have been dressing up their bentos to look like cute characters.

We’re sure some creative people with both artistic and culinary talents have been making character bentos, or chara-bens, for a long time. But recently, media coverage of chara-bens has gotten intense, and it’s inspiring a wave of newcomers to try their hand at making one for the first time.

But you know the saying, “The third time’s the charm?” People say that because you’re likely to screw things up the first two times, as this collection of first-try bentos shows.

Raw, frozen eggs are the new food trend in Japan, apparently

Preston Phro
Oct 20, 2014

Japan seems like a heaven for lovers of raw food–you can even get raw horse meat, if you’re so inclined. Coming from the midwest of the US, I am seriously disinclined to touch any meat that’s not cooked well-done, especially if it comes from a formerly feathered friend. The very concept of “raw egg” is intrinsically linked to “death by salmonella” in my mind, despite the fact that raw egg dishes have been popular in Japan since long before I was born.

But knowing something logically and accepting it emotionally are two very different things. So, while I’m reluctant to try it, I’m that sure raw, frozen egg dishes are actually exceptionally tasty.

So, if you are interested in trying it, here’s some information on the dish and how to make it yourself.

Shocking footage of accident on Japanese highway reminds us of the fragility of life 【Video】

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Oct 20, 2014

A truck crashes into a smaller car on a highway, compressing it like a cola can. The heap of metal then continues to plough though a line of cars, scattering them like billiard balls. Mere seconds later, intense orange flames engulf the entire segment of the highway and thick, black smoke fills the air.

This sounds like a scene right out of a Hollywood action movie, but unfortunately this is real life. If you can stomach the intense footage, check out the following video from Japan’s ANN News channel, which shows an everyday highway scene turn into a mess of metal and flames in the blink of an eye.