Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1499)
Oh Japan, you never disappoint in the robot department. This one in particular may look a little plain compared to the femme bots in Shinjuku or a $1.25 million giant robot, but it’s still really cool. Created by two students at Tohoku Gakuin University in Japan, this little guy is able to perfectly balance on a ball while carrying a load and moving.
Your drink’s icy cold but the manga ice cubes in your glass are h-h-hot! Now taste the palpitating sound effects from your favourite comic books thanks to these new Manga Kōri, Comic Ice silicone molds from Runa Corporation.
Toast in Japan is taken seriously. If you order the “breakfast set” at a restaurant in Japan, you will probably be confronted with one of the thickest slices of toasted bread you’ve ever seen. If you manage to peer over it, you might spot a boiled egg and a small, sad amount of salad cowering there.
At the supermarket, some popular toast spreads which come in a squeezy tube are chocolate, cinnamon, melon and “french toast” flavour, but for many people, toast means butter, and the more butter, the better. For butter-lovers, the new Easy Butter Butter-Former will transform hard butter straight from the fridge into soft and cotton-like butter threads, ready and easy to be used. Sound too greasy to be true? It probably is.
Jumping into an increasingly crowded morning menu market, starting May 15, some Subway’s in Japan will start selling bran muffin sandwiches and breakfast sets for the morning crowd.
Three different types of sandwiches using healthier, high-fiber bran muffins will be offered: soft-boiled egg, tuna and mayo, and ham and cheese.
On April 13, 33 people on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture were injured in a magnitude-6.3 earthquake. Japan is fairly accustomed to earthquakes, but the talking point surrounding this one if the fact that the time and place of the sizable tremor seem to have been predicted in advance. Read More
Since 2007, Hikaru Nakamura’s Saint Young Men manga comic series has followed the daily lives of two young men who just happen to be the revered central figures of Christianity and Buddhism. The divine figures have reincarnated, not so save the souls of humanity, but to spend some time enjoying a low-key lifestyle while sharing an apartment in the comparatively sleepy town of Tachikawa in West Tokyo. The story follows their day-to-day lives, including Buddha’s fascination with the manga based on himself and Jesus’ long locks and wispy beard getting him mistaken for Johnny Depp by schoolgirls at a local convenience store.
To celebrate the upcoming theatrical animated adaptation of Saint Young Men, publisher Kodansha is allowing the free reproduction and use of a portion of the series.
Do you have a favorite sushi topping? Well, raw fish may not be for everyone, but like most people in Japan, I absolutely love sushi, from simple tuna to more lavish creations using unusual ingredients. In fact, some of the best tasting “sushi” I’ve ever had has been of the unorthodox variety, like “grilled foie gras sushi” and “minced tuna and green onion sushi roll tempura” (yes, they actually deep-fried a sushi roll whole)! But now, a story on the Byokan Sunday site has brought to our attention an even more unbelievable sushi dish, and it’s pictured right on the menu above — can you guess what kind of sushi it is? Read More
When Akio Toyoda took the helm of Toyota Motor Corporation in 2009, he was faced with a collapsing economy and a recall scandal that now seemed to have been blown out of proportion.
Still, he was able to steer the company through these stormy waters by being something more than just the founder’s great grandson who took over the company. He was a guy who truly loved cars.
As proof, it came to light on 30 April that he will participate in this year’s 24 Hours Nürburgring, a grueling endurance race on one of the most challenging circuits in the world.
It as been reported that engineers at Japan’s fast breeder reactor plant Monju made a mistake during testing of the plant’s emergency power generator, which subsequently resulted in the release of black smoke and the ringing of the plant’s fire alarm.
Remember Espressoda? Neither did we until a recent news release from Suntory reminded us.
Suntory’s innovative carbonated coffee drink hit the market under a year ago, and a quick search around town by yours truly revealed that, at time of writing, convenience stores are no longer carrying the item, ostensibly suggesting it was a commercial flop.
Crank up the Black Sabbath to 11 and bust out your iPhone, this one’s for all you Iron Man fans out there.
For the past few years, Kyoto Animation has been one of Japan’s hottest anime producers. With hit titles such as K-ON! (a story of cute girls occasionally playing rock music) and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (a story of cute girls occasionally bending the fabric of reality), the studio’s fans have been eagerly waiting to see what Kyoto Animation’s next offering would be.
Earlier this year, Kyoto Animation started a firestorm by producing a short animated teaser focusing on the members of a high school swim team, all male with delicate facial features and ripped abs. Some cried foul that Kyoto Animation would produce even a short clip that didn’t showcase a single cute girl, but others were excited by the prospect of watching a group of guys strip down to Speedos and work their lithe bodies through the water, going so far as to start petitions begging for more.
Kyoto Animation recently answered their prayers by announcing the production of a TV series adaptation of the swimming story, and fans around the world gushed with enough emotion to fill a pool. Read More
UNESCO’s advisory board has released the results of their analysis of Mt. Fuji’s bid for World Heritage Site status. The mountain and its surrounding area have been deemed “fit for certification,” with the title expected to be officially given in June. Read More
As we have been monitoring the peculiar efforts that make up McDonald’s Japan’s marketing it seemed as if the fast food chain could do no right (with the exception of the spectacular fries holder). However, their upcoming campaign looks like something everyone can get behind: an all-day breakfast menu!
Well, one sandwich at least.
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
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.
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.
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
The My Melody ♡ Kuromi Anniversary Party is in full kawaii swing at the Ikebukuro Parco store
One of Japan’s craziest stores filled a swimming pool with used CDs【Photos】
Young Japanese adults show lowest dating experience level yet in annual survey
Japan’s wildest Seijinshiki Coming-of-Age ceremony celebrates new adults in Kitakyushu 【Photos】
What happens when you leave a pair of jeans hanging in the Japanese mountains for seven months?
These nine Osaka restaurants are the newest to receive Michelin guide recommendations
Traveling with taste: Try one of Tokyo Station’s top ten ranked ekiben
Dog-killing waves create spectacular views on this remote Japanese island
Our writer of Korean descent weighs in on using Korean names in Japan
Super-detailed cherry blossom forecast maps for 2025 show warm winter doesn’t mean early sakura
Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?
Anime Industry Report shows overseas anime market is bigger than Japanese one, but is this a cultural tipping point?
“I overdid it.” – Man in Japan fired after ditching work 633 times to go to the gymThe My Melody ♡ Kuromi Anniversary Party is in full kawaii swing at the Ikebukuro Parco storeSuper-detailed cherry blossom forecast maps for 2025 show warm winter doesn’t mean early sakura
Starbucks Japan reveals new Valentine’s Day goods for 2025
Starbucks unveils new Valentine’s Day Frappuccino in Japan
The etiquette rules for visiting Shinto shrines in Japan
Overseas Uber driver and anime fan gets the Cowboy Bebop surprise of a lifetime【Video】
The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】Anime Industry Report shows overseas anime market is bigger than Japanese one, but is this a cultural tipping point?
Bear breaks into house in Japan, quickly begins spending winter exactly like Japanese people do
Hayao Miyazaki says Happy New Year to Studio Ghibli fans with new art for Year of the Snake
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
McDonald’s Japan has a fukubukuro lucky bag that everyone wants to get their hands on
What’s in Starbucks Japan’s fukubukuro lucky bag for 2025?
Station of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid Line“I overdid it.” – Man in Japan fired after ditching work 633 times to go to the gym
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018Japan’s deadliest food claims more victims, but why do people keep eating it for New Year’s?
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
These nine Osaka restaurants are the newest to receive Michelin guide recommendations
Traveling with taste: Try one of Tokyo Station’s top ten ranked ekiben
Dog-killing waves create spectacular views on this remote Japanese island
Our writer of Korean descent weighs in on using Korean names in Japan
Super-detailed cherry blossom forecast maps for 2025 show warm winter doesn’t mean early sakura
Japanese convenience stores have tasty, diet-friendly meals, like these three under 500 calories
Tokyo governor wants to start study abroad grant system, includes monthly activity allowance
How to write “sakura” in Japanese (and why it’s written that way)
Japanese man grabbed by wild monkey, chased for hundreds of meters while jogging
The future of smoking: USB-powered Jii Lighter is here! (And it’s kind of insane)
Tokyo Space-out tournament draws nearly 100 competitors, finds who’s the best at doing nothing【Video】
Japan’s most competitive neighboring prefectures are revealed in a recent survey
Godiva’s Tokyo bakery is FINALLY easy to get into and shop at
We try making a low-calorie katsu with tofu instead of pork【SoraKitchen】
