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An article published in a special edition of Japanese weekly Shukan Bunshu has suggested that  potentially hazardous chicken sourced from China may be finding its way into fast food in Japan. The article, composed by writer Shuuji Okuno, begins by posing the following question:

“Would you still be willing to put a chicken nugget in your mouth if you knew the real story? The hazards of China’s domestic chicken meat!”

Our attention well and truly grabbed, we delved inside. Read More

OBJECTION! The Prosecution is Pitching a Tent!

Ace Attorney (or Gyakuten Saiban in Japan) is a popular lawyer video game series that has found success in Japan and overseas. One hero of the games, Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo) takes the role of defense attorney versus the iron clad prosecution of his long time rival Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi).

As one would do when their games become successful, Capcom has merchandised it up and down the block releasing items such as mugs, key chains, and the stylish plastic folders you see above.

But one Twitter user discovered something rather unsettling about them.

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Canned Ice Blasts Let You Literally Stop Cockroaches Cold

Japan is a great place to be in the summer. For the culturally minded, there are festivals at centuries-old shrines, dazzling fireworks displays, and neighborhood folk dances with everyone wearing summer kimonos or yukata. If your thought process is a little baser, the all-you-can-drink beer gardens on the rooftops of department stores, along with much higher socially-accepted hem lines than in many other parts of the world, aren’t half-bad either.

But there’s one thing no one likes about summer here: the hordes of cockroaches.

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There are a lot of counterintuitive things about working in a Japanese company. When you come in the door, you always say, “Good morning,” even if you’ve been at a conference all day and it’s 4 p.m.. Office romances are accepted, if not expected and encouraged.

And one of the best ways to put yourself on the fast track to promotion is by getting blotto with the boss. Read More

Here at RocketNews24, one of our reporters’ duties is chronicling the intriguing or shocking culinary options we come across. Whether it’s giant cheeseburgers in Japan or gasoline-roasted clams in North Korea, we’re happy to taste test them for the entertainment and edification of you, our readers.

But not this time. Read More

Japan’s Newest and Cheapest Good Luck Charm: Bread Crust

Remember when you were a kid, and your mom would check for monsters under your bed, put band-aids on your scraped knees and elbows, and cut the crusts off your sandwiches? Wouldn’t it be great if someone would still do that for you?

No matter how much you offer them for the service, the employees of Japanese bread and snack producer Yamazaki Bread won’t come to your house and protect you from the Boogey Man, because seriously, have you seen the guy? Way too scary. They do have your bread needs covered though, with their popular series of crust-free Lunch Pack sandwiches.

But despite the lack of crust being a major selling point for Lunch Pack, people in Japan aren’t complaining when one with a bit of brown on the edge slips through, because fans say it’s a sign of good luck. Read More

 

On April 23, the Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo hall in Tokyo underwent a massive makeover on Google Maps. Now, the street view reveals a line-up of smiling sumo wrestlers. Once you get past them, you’re free to explore the entire building inside, from the seating area, to the food and souvenir stands and even the sacred dohyō, the ring where the bouts are held. We bring you all the best parts to explore, in easy to navigate clips straight from our page, after the jump.

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Famicom Creator Masayuki Uemura Had No Faith in the Game System’s Success, Colored it After His Boss’ Scarf

This year Nintendo and fans celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Family Computer (Famicom) game system originally released in 1983.  It was the machine that revitalized home gaming worldwide with its later incarnation, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In a story of shocking success, no one was more shocked perhaps than the system’s head developer, Masayuki Uemura who revealed the details of the Famicom’s rocky beginnings in an interview with Shupure News.

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How to Make a Hatsune Miku Bento

Hatsune Miku is now coming to a bento near you (that is if you have to time and patience to make her). The folks over at Japanese culture website, Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi, have just created a step-by-step video explaining how to make an edible version of everyone’s favorite vocaloid.

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Schick Brings us Limited Edition Evangelion Goods For Rei-zor Sharp Enjoyment

It’s a good time to be an Eva fan in Japan right now. With Lotteria campaigns and Sega giveaways to coincide with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Evangelion 3.33, we’ve been running around town with some serious Eva fever. And the only cure… is more Eva!

Coming to the rescue is Schick, joining the tie-in celebrations with four different razor holder figurine sets, seven earphone jack accessories, and a chance to win an Eva clock. Plus, an animated interview with Gendo, to get his take on the razor series.

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In April 24, Kanagawa prefectural police sent papers to prosecutors concerning a pub operator in Yokohama city on suspicion that two of its female staff members violated the Entertainment Business Act by serving beer and other alcoholic drinks to a group of young girls, including a 6th grade elementary school student.
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Tsukiji Fish Market Vendor Releases Tuna For Home Assembly

If you’ve ever been to Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo (the largest seafood market in the world), then you’ve probably dodged speeding forklifts, gotten lost in a maze of stalls, and seen professionals wielding metre-long knives, filleting expensive tuna according to traditional methods that go back centuries.

Well now you can take the Tsukiji experience home with you (minus those pesky forklifts) thanks to a special bluefin tuna designed and manufactured by Yamawa, a third generation fish wholesaler from the markets.

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Imagine you’re a comic book fan, browsing for something new to read. Intrigued by what you’ve heard about Japanese manga, you pick one up and open it to the first page. And wow, there’s a dead body in the first panel! What an intense opening. But wait, why is the corpse getting stabbed again, then suddenly standing up and running about? Is the character a zombie or something?

No, you’re just reading the panels out of sequence. Unlike the left-to-right flow of comic panels in the English world, manga are designed to be read from right to left, then top to bottom, starting on the right-hand page before continuing to the left.

Confused? Manga creator and critic Kentaro Takekuma says you shouldn’t have to be, and he has a plan to change all that. Read More


  • Apr 29, 2013

Love Cats? Then These Adorable “Cat Tights” May Be For You!

With cherry blossom season over in Tokyo, the weather here is definitely turning warm and pleasant (at least for a little while, until the rainy season starts and then the hot and humid summer). Women across Japan are eagerly shedding their coats to enjoy colorful, spring fashion, and to our delight, one of our reporters at Pouch has found the purr-fect item to combine fashion and fun — “cat tights”! Read More

Burn Rubber with Competition-Spec Mario Kart Erasers

As any professional road racer or weekend canyon carver can tell you, nothing gives a bigger boost to a car’s performance than a great set of tires. Taking that idea to its illogical conclusion, toy manufacturer Takara Tomy figured the hottest ride must be an eraser car. And one styled like a Mario kart, no less. Read More

Time to Get Rid of Those Ugly Radiation Suits, Teijin to Unveil Radiation-Proof Fabric

It’s often sad to see the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant or any other radioactive site around the world. It’s a dangerous job that requires brave workers, and brave workers deserve a cool looking uniform. Firefighters get those axes and huge trench coats, police often have cool looking bulletproof vests, but workers in areas of high radiation have to wear those white or yellow suits that look like trash bags.

Thankfully, this sad state of affairs may soon change with the development of a fabric which blocks x-ray and gamma-ray radiation.

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Yahoo! Japan president Manabu Miyasaka announced at a press conference on the 25th that the company would introduce a new system by the end of the current fiscal year which allows employees to take up to one year off from their jobs. The system, which is based on the concept of sabbaticals, allows employees to spend up to one year freely pursing whatever they desire, albeit without pay. Though fairly common in the west, offering such a system of leave is very rare for a Japanese company.
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The number of Japanese women who are struggling with food and living expenses is reported to be on the rise. While most women try to increase their earnings by taking on an extra part time job or even changing occupations completely, there are others who resort to some rather unscrupulous methods. One such method is to use interactive smartphone games to trick men into buying them dinner to reduce the burden of their food costs.

All the men out there, brace yourselves as what is about to unfold will leave you squirming!

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Imagine you’re a young buck at a singles’ party at a swanky Tokyo restaurant. As you regale the ladies with your testosterone-dripping tales of regular shark wrestling, frequent motorcycle racing, and occasional motor-shark racing, you mentally calculate whether or not you have enough protein powder in the kitchen cupboard to make two breakfast shakes, because you know there’s no way you’re going home alone tonight.

Unless, of course, the guy next to you starts talking about his collection of Sword Art Online Blu-rays. Read More

“Customer growth is stronger now compared to immediately after the quake,” said G, an organized crime group affiliate familiar with the illegal drug market. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 proved there was a good post-disaster market for illegal drugs among temporary housing residents and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As a result, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, dealers from major urban centers swiftly loaded up and headed north to disaster-afflicted areas in the Tohoku region in search of quick profits.

According to G, “First on the scene were the stimulant drug pushers who began selling out of their cars on the back streets and in pachinko (pinball) parlor parking lots. Customers were wide-ranging, from high school students and young bar hostesses to grandfathers and grandmothers. Inferior grades of speed which couldn’t be sold in Tokyo and Osaka were offloaded there.”
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