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Japan (Page 1477)

Check out these super-ultra-teeny-tiny bonsai! 【Photos】

We’ve showcased some pretty impressive photos of bonsai here recently, but this new batch takes the tiny proverbial cake. You probably know that bonsai is the traditional art form of sculpting miniature trees in pots, but these photos raise the question, “Just how miniature can you get?”

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Fallen cherry blossoms make gorgeous “sakura carpet” at Hirosaki Park 【Photos】

Seeing a park full of cherry trees in full bloom is remarkable, much like walking through a cotton candy wonderland, but even after the delicate pink petals begin to fall, they continue to offer new perspectives, many so beloved they’ve got their own word in Japanese. There’s hanafubuki, or the blizzard of petals that engulfs you when the wind picks up. There’s hazakura, the young leaves of the tree revealed once the blossoms have fallen. And there’s hanaigata or flower raft, a gathering of fallen petals on water.

At one of the most famous sakura-viewing spots in Aomori, Hirosaki Park, the little pink petals from the park’s 2,600 cherry trees gather so thick and fast on the waterways that they’ve stopped resembling rafts and completely covered the surface of the water, leading to the coining of a new phrase: sakura no juutan or the cherry blossom carpet.

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We try churros from McDonald’s Japan

Churros are especially popular in Spain and Portugal, but those in Japan have encountered the delicious deep-fried snack at Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, and more recently, Mister Donut. Because of Japan’s familiarity with churros, the new McChurro from, you guessed, McDonald’s, has caught consumers off guard as it looks more like a flaky pastry. And so we headed to McDonald’s to check it out ourselves. Read More

The tiniest, most detailed Kamen Rider you have ever seen!

In the US, some of the most common roadside attractions are the “World’s Largest Whatever”: World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle, World’s Largest Ball of Rubber Bands, World’s Largest Rocking Chair, World’s Largest Golf Ball, World’s Largest Ball of Twine, all real and all in the United States.

But why go big, when you can go small…like, really small. How about a 1.5cm (0.6 inch) tall Kamen Rider figure? What’s more, you’ll be able to get one of them in Japan really soon!

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Japanese fashion magazines seem to be serious in declaring the high-waist bikini the hot look for the upcoming swimsuit season. Of course, we’ve had unique fashionistas try to sell us on keyboard hats and sausage gloves, neither of which turned out to be the next big thing.

So, with just a little over a month before it’s time to hit the beach, how does the Japanese online community feel about the high-waist bikini?

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Delicious fried chicken or adorable puppies? You decide

Take a quick look at the picture above. Does it make you hungry? Or did you uncontrollably scream out “cuuute!”? One Twitter user has been gaining a lot of attention for getting a bit of a grumble in his stomach at the sight of this image. But we really can’t blame him…they look so delicious!

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Toy maker offers new toy storage and safekeeping service so you can buy more toys

Bandai is giving otaku (especially of the fourth category) all over Japan yet another reason to be grateful. The mother of all toy, video game and anime distributors is introducing their new figure storage service. That’s right, if your living space looks like an anime convention storage locker, Bandai’s got your back.

For a small monthly fee, you can now store your goodies by the box, which means you no longer have to sleep with your beloved figures in your bed—that is, unless, you choose to.

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Denny’s Japan to serve ‘the most delicious food in the world’

From May 27 you will apparently be able to eat ‘the most delicious food in the world’ at family restaurant chain Denny’s! Are they just blowing their own horn here? Well, not exactly.

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Preorders begin for Attack on Titan iPhones cases

We can’t imagine a more dedicated way to show off your love of hit anime Attack on Titan than by strapping on a pair of replicas of the heroes’ giant-killing swords whenever you step out of the house. What we can imagine, though, is the blades clashing with the rest of many peoples’ wardrobes, not to mention earning them the unwanted attention of their local police department should they happen to live in a municipality where defending yourself from 60-meter tall monsters isn’t a daily concern.

Thankfully, if you’re looking for anime accessories that are less bulky/deadly, the makers of the Attack on Titan iPhone case have announced they’ve started taking orders.

Price, details, and lots of delicious photos after the jump!

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Believe it or not, the anime with a character named Full Frontal isn’t an animated porno, as Mr. Frontal is actually the villain in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

As with most installments of the Gundam saga, Unicorn isn’t really a direct sequel to any of the more than two dozen pre-existing anime to bear the Gundam name. Still, there’re plenty of winks and nods to fans who’ve been around since the franchise’s start. Full Frontal’s blond hair, penchant for masks, and complex psychology closely mirror that of the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam’s antagonist, Char.

So it’s only fitting that since last year Char got his own car, now Full Frontal has a customized ride too.

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VR setup now lets you kiss Hatsune Miku, sort of

An enterprising engineer has tinkered with the Oculus Rift, a head-mounted virtual reality device, to make it possible to kiss Hatsune Miku… or at least, a CGI version of her. By attaching infrared sensors to each side of the device, the engineer made it possible to communicate with the Wii remote’s infrared sensor bar. Four infrared lights attached to each corner of the device track your head movements. Two servomoters beneath the device let Miku’s face move in tandem with yours. And as for her lips… those are approximated by a gummy replica between the motors.

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Edward Snowden’s work in Japan motivated his leak of classified material according to new book

The Japanese translation of a recent book by Glenn Greenwald covering his involvement in the events surrounding Edward Snowden’s release of thousands of classified US government documents is set to hit stores on 14 May. As a result, an excerpt from the book was released to the Japanese media, whetting readers’ appetites by mentioning the role Japan played in his decision to turn himself into what some consider an enemy of his state.

On the surface, Japan’s role was fairly incidental. However, the slightly new info helped to reignite an older dispute over the nation’s lack of any sort of substantial anti-espionage laws.

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Canadian fans’ live-action Akira is better than many expect Hollywood’s to be

Although Warner Bros. acquired the rights for a live-action version of legendary anime and manga Akira more than a decade ago, the studio has yet to produce even a minute of its promised version of the psychic cyberpunk epic.

Recently, the project has been hit hard by a fan backlash to alleged deviations from the source material, such as moving the setting to New York. The reaction has also been less than positive to rumors of changing the ethnicities (but not the names, curiously) of Akira’s originally entirely Japanese cast. With Zac Efron, James Franco, Justin Timberlake, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Oldman all at some point rumored to be attached to the film, I was starting to feel a little left out, as I suspected I might be the last non-Japanese guy not being offered a chance to portray motorcycle gang leader Kaneda or his mentally unstable pal Tetsuo.

But while Warner Bros.’ Akira looks to be stalled for the foreseeable future, a group of Canadian fans has out together a trailer showing what they’d like a live-action version of the anime to look like.

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Hello Kitty melons are back in Japan for the same high price

Japan is home to some mighty tasty and unbelievably expensive melons, but the absolute cutest ones come from Furano Melon in Hokkaido. No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, that is indeed the mouthless face of Hello Kitty etched into the rind. We showed you similar melons last year, but there are a few small changes in celebration of Japan’s most famous cat turning the big 4-0.

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The 1993 action film Hard Target is notable for three reasons. First, it was Hong Kong action director John Woo’s American debut. Second, it starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as perhaps cinema’s most physically fit and combat-ready homeless man. And third, its story was one of the finest examples of the rich film genre known as “jaded and wealthy individuals hunting men for sport.”

One man from Saitama Prefecture apparently wasn’t quite up to the task of stalking the kickboxing Muscles from Brussels, though, and aimed his sights a little lower: hunting the otaku nerds of Akihabara.

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Attack on Titan may be best known for its iconic giant monsters and cool weaponry, but among the many secrets to the hit anime and manga’s success is its extremely compelling setting. With its cast of human characters forced to live within the confines of their walled city, fans have only been provided with fleeting glimpses of the outside world. Does the story take place on Earth? Is it set in the distant past, or maybe the far-flung future?

As part of walking that fine line, when signs, books, and other writings pop up in Attack on Titan, they’re not rendered in anything that looks like a real-world language. Although actually, some eagle-eyed fans found a way to decipher a portion of the series’ text, and what they found was rather like the Titans themselves: one part shocking, one part baffling, and just a little bit comical.

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Despite its well-deserved reputation as an extremely hard-working nation, Japan is also a country that knows how to relax. Every city has a number of cafes where you can stop, sip a drink, and soak in the soothing ambiance.

Some of these establishments style themselves after a comfy living room, while others feel more like a stylish library or lounge. Or, if you happen to be in Tokushima Prefecture, there’s the café built into what appears to be a crumbling castle.

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80% of Japanese women report being hit on by strangers, indicate dudes need to try a new strategy

In one of the most obvious conclusions since that survey that found people tend to buy potato chips in grocery stores, a new Japanese poll found that 80% of women have been hit on by strangers on the street at least once.

It’s really not surprising given that most guys have tried the random on-the-street approach at least a few times in their lives, either because of peer pressure or through a fleeting, spur-of-the-moment impulse. It seems to us as long as you’re polite and not overly aggressive, it doesn’t hurt to try, but apparently Japanese women disagree, since the poll also found that 65% of women reject those proposals outright. Why? Well…

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Kawasaki donut shop goes beyond cat sweets with cute alpacas, penguins, and killer whales

If we’re speaking honestly, we don’t really need much of an added incentive to eat a donut. Really, a sweet, inexpensive indulgence that we can eat with our hands is pretty much a laser-guided strike on our willpower.

Still, we can usually muster enough self-control that we don’t plow through a half-dozen in one sitting. But when you take donuts’ numerous preexisting merits and add the visual appeal of shaping them like cats, penguins, alpacas, and even killer whales, that’s when we stop even trying to resist them.

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Mr. Sato celebrates Gokusen Day with one of 59 Premium Gokusen Bananas

Happy belated Gokusen Day!

What, you forgot that the first ever Gokusen Day was held last Friday (5/9 [“go-ku”]) after being created by fruit brand Dole? It’s okay, I’m sure after reading our previous announcement that little tidbit of trivia fell into the recesses of your memory banks along with the dates of International Lefthanders Day (8/13) and World Wetlands Day (2/2).

That’s sad news, however, because you missed the chance to pick up one of the limited edition 59 Gokusen Premium Bananas sold for one day only. Of course, if it’s limited our own Mr. Sato will be there to get one. He even goes out in search of certain strains of influenza that are available for a limited time only.

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