Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1525)
On a late night light rail train in Phoenix, Arizona on what authorities believe to have been October 6, a man rescued another passenger from a fight by wielding his samurai sword towards the assailants.
The incident was caught on video and uploaded to YouTube. None of the parties involved have been identified and the police are currently investigating.
Tokyo’s Skytree was to be the answer to radio interference for broadcasting companies. Up until Skytree’s completion in May, Tokyo Tower was the tallest tower around, standing at 333 meters. Skytree, nearly double that height, stands at 634 meters.
The transfer of radio wave transmission from Tokyo Tower to Tokyo Skytree was originally planned for January of next year, but has been delayed due to an unexpected level of radio interference that will take time-consuming measures to be dealt with. Read More
Okay, who likes pandas?
Of course you do! How could you not? They’re fuzzy and cute, they walk around eating bamboo all day, they rarely maul people to death when they bump into them in the woods like their bigger brown relatives… That said, with fewer than 3,000 pandas estimated to be in existence across the globe, the chances of running into one while out for a morning stroll are pretty slim…
So thank goodness that Ueno Zoo in Tokyo– home to two of just 11 pandas in the country– has installed a set of cameras in its panda enclosure, allowing the public to take a sneaky peek at the pair from the comfort of their own home.
On October 29, Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said that since its release on Friday, Windows 8 has been selling at a higher rate than Windows 7, the best-selling version of Windows to date.
Despite confusion over alleged magic touch screen-imbuing capabilities, Windows 8 seems to be doing well in Japan as well— so well, in fact, that limited-quantity DSP editions of the operating system, which feature two unofficial Windows 8-themed “moe” mascots, are already beginning to sell out, proving once again that the Japanese will buy anything with a cute anime girl on it (not that there was a lack evidence).
My Navi News, a Japanese news website, polled 1000 of their members to find out just how many people dislike creepy-crawlies. A whopping 63.1% said they can’t stand the little guys. Take a look at their reasons why and find out Japan’s most hated bug.
Winter is approaching fast and it looks like Japan’s romance with the color black is finally fading away into softer shades with Pepsi’s newest seasonal flavor, Pepsi White.
There are a variety of fashion select shops in Japan, Beams being one of them. With over 70 shops nation wide, Beams is a good place to go for a fashionable selection of shoes and clothes. This spring, Beams opened a new branch called B:ming Life Store, a family oriented fashion shop.
At the B:ming in Kichijoji, Tokyo, they’ve created an exciting way to have some fun while you shop. Embedded on the wall is a huge display which instructs you to make various poses and uses Kinect to doll you up and turn you into a fashion ad on the spot!
Paris: city of love, romance, food and… mental anguish?
In an article over on Gold Rush, writer Senya talks about the devastating psychological condition that has come to be known as “Paris Syndrome”; a condition that, bizarrely, seems to affect Japanese people in particular, with many visiting the city suffering from symptoms similar to depression that, in rarer cases, results in suicide.
What is it about Paris that has such a debilitating effect on Japanese? What could they do to avoid it or lessen the symptoms?
We delve a little deeper to find out…
Settling in a comfy chair with a nice cup of tea or coffee and a tasty snack (or two) at a cafe either by yourself or with some friends can be bliss. But what may be a problem if you’re in even a half-way large city is choosing which cafe to go to, as there seems to be a cafe on every street corner nowadays.
Well, we certainly have one interesting cafe that we can recommend to our readers, the Kasoyo in the Mejiro area of Tokyo, which one of our reporters from Pouch visited following the recommendation of a friend who also is very fond of cafes. A recap of what made the experience so enjoyable follows below: Read More
A 32-year-old man in the town of Hino, Tokyo, was arrested late last week on suspicion of having entering a woman’s apartment and demanding that she hand over her underwear.
According to an FNN News report, the man crept into the premises before brandished a knife and telling the resident to surrender her panties, but was apprehended soon after.
Our fearless foodie correspondent Kuzo is traveling the world and tasting everything he can like the cafeteria food of Chernobyl, Melt-Proof Popsicles in China, and Gasoline Clams in North Korea.
However, Kuzo’s greatest challenge may in fact lie in his home country of Japan at a ramen restaurant in Hiroshima which is said to serve a ramen so disgusting it’s completely inedible. Even the staff serving it is said to gag merely at its malevolently malodorous stench – all for the low, low price of 1,800 yen!
Could he finish his lunch without loosing it? The following is his report.
While walking home from the station last weekend, eyes glued to my mobile phone as is my own particular vice, I suddenly found myself enveloped by vast plumes of cigarette smoke. Looking ahead of me, a guy in a business suit walking in the same direction had lit up a cig and was merrily puffing away, obviously in need of a hit having just disembarked a train himself.
While I’m definitely one of the anti-smoking set, I have absolutely no problem with other people smoking if they want to- just so long as it doesn’t affect the people around them. For me, smoking is like farting; go ahead and enjoy your own, but please don’t share with everyone else.
Breaking into a little jog, I overtook the smoker- a man in his late fifties wearing a business suit- and, once again able to breathe freely, walked up-wind of him.
No sooner had I done so that a second man, a little older this time, emerged from a side street. He blew his nose noisily on a handkerchief and stuffed it into his coat pocket, at which point he coughed, sniffed and, with what sounded like a tremendous physical effort, spat something brown out onto the pavement just a few feet ahead of me.
Quite forgetting myself, I muttered “kitanai naa” (“man, that’s dirty…”) a little too loudly, but received little more than a quick, disinterested glance from the man as he passed by.
So when I came across an article over on NicoNico News titled “Senior Citizens Have Worse Manners Than Young People”, I couldn’t help but feel that it might be on to something…
Has anyone living in Japan noticed an upgrade in quality of convenience store food lately?
One of our Japanese reporters frequents his local convenience stores twice daily and, as an avid fan of their food, tells us that he has been pleasantly surprised by the recent rise in quality of convenience store food.
How many times have you ever been running to school late in the morning, rushing to get to class before the bell rings, only to turn the corner and bump into someone of the opposite sex, who you consequently fall in love with?
If your answer is more than “none,” chances are you’re either an anime character or an extremely well-organized stalker. Let’s face it: while there are plenty of situations found in anime or manga that seem like they could play out in real life, most are unlikely to ever naturally occur unless by some bizarre fluke.
Niconico News recently asked 500 of their readers to brainstorm some of the most common examples of such situations. Check what they came up with below!
We all had a good laugh at some of the people who frequent China’s internet cafes recently but Japan is not without its share of nuts either. One just needs to step on one of the hundreds of trains across the country to get a nice spoonful of anti-social behavior.
Some of these folks make Cornman look like a piker.
Japan has the robot market covered pretty well, with a robot for almost every occasion. We’ve already seen a restaurant filled with fembots, a 24-fingered hair washing robot, and a $1.25 million boardable mecha.
This time, Japan brings the world a tiny bipedal robot that can ride a bike and balance all by itself.
When I saw some early images of the new Windows 8 desktop, I wasn’t crazy about the change in appearance. It looked fine for a tablet device or smartphone but those new windows/buttons seemed too clunky and primitive for my liking.
But then again, maybe I just don’t like change and after using it, it’d grow on me. However, this new layout combined with some ambiguous promotion has led many in Japan to believe that it suddenly transforms your regular old computer monitor into a touch screen.
With weather having turned cold, our intrepid Hyper Cool Biz Gentlemen Mr. Sato and Mr. Tashiro can finally put away their mankinis and start to pig out again. It’s good timing seeing as Pizza Hut and Evangelion are joining promotional forces to give Eva fans a chance to win never before seen merchandise.
From now to 16 December, if you buy Pizza Hut’s new “Hut Onebox” pizza combo with chicken nuggets and fries you get a chance to win Evangelion goodies such as a cushion shaped like an entry plug.
※“Entry plug cushion” might sound disgusting to non-fans. An entry plug is the capsule that people control the giant Eva cyborgs in.
Follow our gentlemen as they excitedly order their pizzas like two kids in a… pizza and Evangelion shop. What will they win?
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Super Mario Bros. Wonder insulated cups coming to 7-Eleven Japan
Studio Ghibli releases watercolour greeting card collection featuring artwork from anime movies
Mister Donut, Japan’s favorite donut chain, is now making instant ramen too
How to eat well at a cheap Japanese house in the countryside with no electricity【SoraHouse】
New Super Mario lifestyle line wants to help you save money with coin-sound Warp Pipe bank
Details of the Pokémon/Van Gogh art museum crossover are just as adorable as we’d hoped【Pics】
Meet the the 90-year-old Japanese woman who is McDonald’s Japan’s oldest female employee
This ice cream cake has been sold in Japan for 40 years, but it’s almost unknown here
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Late-night vending machine find in Japan leads to a midnight party
Ghibli-themed dating event organized by government in Japan gets flooded with applications
Real-life pilotable anime-style robots now on sale in Japan【Video】
McDonald’s ad in Japan causes controversy overseas
Japanese vending machine at Shinjuku Station is a rare gem hiding in plain sight
The best Japanese curry in Japan isn’t eaten at a restaurant
Howl’s Moving Castle is now a die-cast car in Studio Ghibli anime toy line, and Calcifer too!【Pics】
Häagen-Dazs brings back its popular mochi ice cream line with two classic, luxurious flavors
Death Spray from Japan causes buzz online for powerful ability to cut ties with bad energyMeet the the 90-year-old Japanese woman who is McDonald’s Japan’s oldest female employee
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
Studio Ghibli cookbook teaches how to make beautiful, super-easy Laputa Levistone candies【Recipe】Late-night vending machine find in Japan leads to a midnight partyJapanese vending machine at Shinjuku Station is a rare gem hiding in plain sight
Become snoozing Pikachu Snorlax with new Pokémon Sleep line from Japan’s coziest sleepwear brandGhibli-themed dating event organized by government in Japan gets flooded with applicationsReal-life pilotable anime-style robots now on sale in Japan【Video】McDonald’s ad in Japan causes controversy overseasHowl’s Moving Castle is now a die-cast car in Studio Ghibli anime toy line, and Calcifer too!【Pics】
Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki gives up driving, donates beloved car to Ghibli Park
Manga artist wants Japanese teachers to feel, for two seconds, how dumb their girls’ dress code is
Travelling to Japan soon? Beware the “Three Small Hells” awaiting tourists upon arrival
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Pokémon Center apologizes for writing model Nicole Fujita’s name as Nicole FujitaOne Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
New Studio Ghibli humidifiers breathe anime magic into your home
Message to foreigners at Japanese convenience store sparks controversy online
How do you split two apples for three people using one knife? Japanese Twitter’s violent ideas
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
New Super Mario lifestyle line wants to help you save money with coin-sound Warp Pipe bank
Details of the Pokémon/Van Gogh art museum crossover are just as adorable as we’d hoped【Pics】
Meet the the 90-year-old Japanese woman who is McDonald’s Japan’s oldest female employee
This ice cream cake has been sold in Japan for 40 years, but it’s almost unknown here
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Edible culture shock: Our Japanese reporter tries American barbecue for first time【Taste test】
Mock-up Nike x Dragon Ball shoes look so awesome, we wish they were real
Studio Ghibli cookbook teaches how to make beautiful, super-easy Laputa Levistone candies【Recipe】
We get a taste of Starbucks Japan’s new coffees and sweets, including one that’s here to stay
Five of Japan’s best locations to ski and snowboard
Hoisu: The phantom Japanese sake that can’t be purchased in stores
The new Bake Off Japan on Amazon Prime is everything we ever wanted (aka more Bake Off!)【Review】
McDonald’s ad in Japan causes controversy overseas