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Japan (Page 1468)

 

Japanese men hold their virtual girlfriends in high regard. Even among those who eventually find a real girlfriend and get married, there are some men who struggle to abandon their digital partner.

Especially after the release of Love Plus, an addictive open-ended dating simulator for the Nintendo DS that went on to sell over 250,000 copies in Japan, stories of men who were busted by their girlfriends or wives while playing—as well as stories of men whose wives played with them—became a common sight on the internet.

While everyone has their own level of tolerance for 2D infidelity, you’d have to be one hell of a woman to allow you husband to bring his virtual girlfriend to your most important day as a couple: your wedding.

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Picking Up Women Day, Grilled Meat Day, and Masturbation Day: Special Days in Japan 【You, Me, And A Tanuki】

You, Me, And a Tanuki is a weekly featured blog run by Michelle, a Californian who is currently one of only two foreigners living in Chibu, a tiny fishing village on one of the Oki islands in Japan. Check back every Saturday for a new post or read more on her website here!

Did you know that July 4th was Pear Day and October 8th was Tofu Day?  If you live in Japan, you may have seen special sales on Yakiniku (grilled meat) on August 29th, Yakiniku Day.   Read More

Briefs in Brief: Top Underwear Developments in Japan

Things are getting busy for the unsung hero of clothing, underwear.  In recent years developments in the underwear technology sector have been coming in fast and furious.

The following is a report of some progressive underpants that promise to cut smells, back pain and will rub your belly while you sleep.

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Weird Cosplay: When AKB48 and Resident Evil Meet AK-47 Assault Rifles

What could be better than seeing a cute girl dressing as a member of AKB48 and dancing around in a uniform? A cute girl dressing as an AKB48 member firing military-grade weapons, apparently.

The following video and images come from Hyper Douraku, a Japanese gun enthusiast website that has teamed up with otaku favourite and “image” DVD (footage of girls in skimpy outfits in various poses) star Mii Aihara.

Dressed in a variety of hugely impractical outfits from AKB48 to Resident Evil‘s Jill Valentine, Mii heads down to the firing range to squeeze off a few rounds as part of the website’s “Guam Shooting Tour 2012.”

Why? We have no idea. But we still found ourselves watching bizarre video after bizarre video on the site.

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If you were lucky enough to take a trip to Disneyland as a child, you no doubt remember the bouquets of brightly colored balloons that towered over the crowds. And if you asked your mom really nicely and flashed your best set of puppy dog eyes, added in a few “please, oh please, oh please, I’ll be good all day!” you might have been granted an inflated Micky head to bob along with you while you made your way through the happiest place on earth.

If you’re a Japanese kid in November 2012, you will never have the chance to even covet a shiny Disney themed balloon because all traces of them have been wiped out of the park.

What the heck happened?!

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  • Nov 22, 2012

Hello Kitty Now Serving Herself Up as Main Dish for Thanksgiving!

No one can accuse Hello Kitty of being a slacker. She’s constantly involved in projects with popular franchises, and we’ve seen her tackle an unbelievably wide range of jobs from appearing on anime-themed boxer briefs to being featured nude on a T-shirt. She’s also not averse to tolerating a little pain, having been through some baking and steaming in her line of work.

This time, our fearless Miss Kitty endures some roasting, just in time for the Thanksgiving Holidays!
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TV Blunder Labels Japan’s Potential Next Prime Minister a Pervert

Running for election in Japan isn’t easy. But when your face is shown alongside titles like “pervert” and “molester,” it’s probably a lot harder than it ought to be.

Japan’s political system is a mess right now and, despite having seen six prime ministers come and go in as many years, the country is headed for an election next month, with one-time PM Shinzo Abe putting himself forward to be re-elected.

The politician was made a laughing-stock earlier this week, however, when the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) early morning TV show Asazuba accidentally displayed Mr. Abe’s photo alongside a news report about a sex offender’s arrest.

Despite having no relation to the incident whatsoever, Mr. Abe’s face filled viewers’ screens along with the shocking titles, prompting the nation to spit out its corn flakes, or at the very least dribble a bit of natto onto the table.

Suffice to say, the politician was not pleased, and, suspecting this to be part of a “campaign of negativity”, took to his public Facebook page to tear TBS a new one…

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Microsoft to Have Booth at Japan’s Largest Comic Convention, Selling Limited-Edition Windows 8 PC

Microsoft Japan is getting serious about their anthropomorphic operating systems.

Until recently, these characters, also known as OS-tans, were nothing more than unofficial fan-made creations. However, as we saw last month with the popularity of the  Windows 8 DSP edition, Microsoft has begun to embrace their anime mascots, perhaps realizing their marketing potential among the otaku, or nerd, demographic. And now, for the first time ever, Microsoft will be delving into the belly of the beast and running a booth at Japan’s largest comic book convention, Comic Market.

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The Slow Rise to Success of the Stapleless Stapler, Japan’s Latest Office Trend Poised to Take the World

Get ready to say goodbye to staples.  Not the office supply chain, those little metal pins we’ve relied on for so long to fasten papers together.  Japan is currently undergoing the no-staple revolution thanks to some innovative new products that have surprisingly been around for a long time – stapleless staplers!

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Mercedes-Benz Creates Anime Series or Commercial… or Both

Mercedes-Benz seems to be pulling out all the stops to advertise their 2013 model of A-Class car, the A 180.  In fact they have created a six-minute animated feature starring the A 180, in a rollicking race for the ultimate prize titled Next A Class.

Luckily, I grew up in the era of advertisements thinly veiled as cartoons. All the Noids or Cavity Creeps in the world couldn’t sway my purchasing preferences.  Years of Chester Cheetah and Fido Dido have hardened my mind to the subliminal messages animations can carry.

So although this anime short was well made and entertaining, it in no way swayed my opinion of this sleek new A 180 that perfectly combines the high performance of a sports car with the economic sensibility of a compact.

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New Dragon Ball Z Movie Title Chosen, Limited Edition Tickets to Go on Sale

Our collective rears were tickled with the teaser trailer for a new Dragon Ball Z movie penned by its original creator, Akira Toriyama this past summer, and now a new glimpse of the new movie has arrived – the official title. Along with the announcement comes a once in a life time offer!

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From Portable Toilets to Fake Eyelashes: A Guide to Japan’s Awesome 100 Yen Shops

There’s no denying that 100 yen shops in Japan are great. They sell everything from soft drinks and chocolate to reading glasses and ashtrays, all for ridiculously low prices, and the quality of their merchandise is surprisingly good.

Of course, not everything is 100 yen (US$1.20), but it’s rare to find anything costing more than 400-500, and the variety of products available is astounding. But with so much on offer at such a low prices, it’s easy to throw things into our baskets without really thinking about how much we’re spending, and on more than one occasion I’ve found myself buying things that I didn’t even know I wanted.

A six-pack of AA batteries for 200 yen? You never know when they’ll come in handy! A pair of mugs featuring the Japanese and UK flags? How could I not? An in-car charger for my iPhone? At that price I’d be mad not to buy one, right!?

But are these things really worth buying? As cheap as they are, in the long run are we actually wasting our money?

Well, luckily for us, Japanese website Zasshi News has, with the help of an extensive consumer survey, compiled a list of items to avoid and things that we should snap up from 100 yen shops whenever we can…

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“Aaaaargh!!!” Baby Red Panda Makes his Dramatic Screen Debut

We’ve all seen those popular internet videos like the sneezing baby panda and dramatic look gopher, but in Hokkaido today a new internet phenomenon may have been born.

While filming at Murayama Zoo in Sapporo, visitors watched as a baby red panda, known as Gin, received a shock when his caretaker entered their pen to check if they had enough food left in their dish.

What might have caused most animals to simply jump a little, however, caused little Gin to fall over backwards, mouth open and limbs flailing like Sarah Connor when Arnold Schwarzeneggar comes out of the elevator in James Cameron’s Terminator 2…

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Evangelion + iPhone: Cubic Zirconia Home Button Stickers Make Your iPhone Shine

Wish you could add even more Evangelion in your life?

Now your phone can tell the world you love Evangelion even when it’s turned off with these cubic zirconia home button stickers featuring Evangelion characters.

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Tokyo University Makes Calculator Using Robot, What It Lacks in Usefulness It Makes Up for in Cuteness

Japan is well known for both its love and skill of robots.  Free of the terminator-induced prejudices of western cultures, they have blazed the way for robotic tour guides, waitresses, fish, singers, hairdressers, waste baskets, cyclists, rock-paper-scissors players, cockroaches, butts…

With so many robots, it’s hard to come up with an original one.  But they are still out there. Tokyo University’s Center for the Study of Robotics came up with Denta-kun, the calculator using robot.  Just to make it clear, the robot does not calculate. It just uses a calculator.

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The Results are in! Did The Pocky Day Challenge Defeat iPhone5 for Guinness World Record?

Last week, on 11 November, Ezaki Glico celebrated Pocky & Pretz Day (11/11) with the Try World Record campaign in which the snack maker hoped to gather the most tweets containing the name “Pocky” in one day thus entering the Guinness World Records.

The goal was set at 1.11 million tweets, for obvious visual reasons, and to defeat the previous “The Brand Name Most Tweeted in 24 Hours” record holder, iPhone5, which got 1.08 million tweets on its release day. And the winner is…

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Privacy Please?【You, Me, And A Tanuki】

You, Me, And a Tanuki is a weekly featured blog run by Michelle, a Californian who is currently one of only two foreigners living in Chibu, a tiny fishing village on one of the Oki islands in Japan. Check back every Saturday for a new post or read more on her website here!

From my experience, there is very little privacy in Japan compared to the US.  You want to take some time off during the summer break to go on a vacation?  You better write down where you’re going and for how long so that information can be distributed to not only your boss, but everyone in the office.  Make a big mistake at work?  You’re purposely going to get scolded about it in front of your coworkers.  A close family member passed away?  You’re going to have to make a public announcement about it whether you want to or not (at least that’s what I was forced to do at work when my grandmother passed away and I had to suddenly go back to America).

The oddest invasion of privacy that I have ever encountered here in Japan is always during the yearly health examinations. Since I’m a public worker, once a year I am required to have a full physical.  This sounds awesome, I get a free health check-up and I don’t even need to make an appointment.

Wrong, it is awful.

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We Visit Otaku Cooking School, Kitchen a la Mode, Find it Isn’t Just for Nerds

One of the most common stereotypes of nerds, or otaku as they’re known in Japan, is that they cannot cook and subsist on a diet of instant noodles and soft drinks.

Kitchen a la Mode is a new cooking school in Akihabara that hopes to get otaku off their chairs and into the kitchen by providing simple, hands-on cooking lessons with cute girls.

You may remember reading about Kitchen a la Mode on our site last month. Curious as to how the school has been doing since opening, RocketNews24 sent its handsomest American correspondent (me) to Kitchen a la Mode to experience moé cooking firsthand. Check out his (my) report below!

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Japan’s Newest National Stadium Design is Decided, but is it the Best Choice?

Since its construction finished in 1958, Japan’s National Stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo has served its nation proud. It was the field of play for the 1964 Summer Olympics and survived the 2011 Tohoku earthquake unscathed.

However, with the 2019 Rugby World Cup scheduled, it was time for a makeover to the tune of (pinky finger to lips) a billion dollars!

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