Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1570)
They may not have the swoon-inducing power of 14 baby pandas in a row, but hedgehogs are nevertheless incredibly cute, and they make great little pets. They’re passive, clean, ideal for those who are out during the daytime, and, as this video proves, hugely entertaining to watch wrestle with the inside of a toilet roll.
Unlike America and other Western countries, Japan is only starting to get into the swing of Halloween. Over the past few years the country has come a long way toward embracing this eerie Western holiday. Now when fall comes around, it’s a lot easier to find stores bedecked with black cat posters and ordinary restaurants festooned with orange pumpkin garlands. Most department stores have a token costume section on display, and sometimes bigger cities will have events for kids to wander around in costume with their parents. One district in Kanagawa Prefecture has really gone the extra mile to give people a frightfully good time this October!
Rainbow Bridge, which spans across Tokyo Bay, is usually lit up with the colors of the rainbow at night. This October, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (called “Pink Ribbon Festival” in Japan), the usually multi-colored bridge will get a pink make-over to raise awareness of breast cancer.
Japanese beauty product manufacturer, Creer Beaute, has just come out with a new line of professional-grade hair wax with the strength to hold your hair nice and stiff, even in the midst of an hours-long death match. Their Dragon Ball Z Hair Wax promises to hold your spiky hair chunks in place throughout even the most rigorous battles and is a real must-have for any fist-fighting, world-saving hero.
Apple’s iPhone 5S went on sale in Japan on September 20, with electronics aficionados, including our own Mr. Sato, lining up days in advance in order to purchase one on launch day.
Obviously, you have to love your electronics to be willing to camp out on the sidewalk, especially with a typhoon hitting the Tokyo area right before the new model’s release. Blogger Junichi Suzaki wondered if there might be something other than the promise of shiny new tech convincing people to spend multiple days and nights in line, though, and found a surprising motivation for the people at the head of the line.
You know that line careers guidance counsellors often use: “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have”? Well it looks like one bacterium with its eye on a gig in the bowl of a toilet has perhaps taken that advice a bit too literally…
Each prefecture in Japan has its own claim to fame when it comes to locally produced products. Whether it’s lemons or sea salt, you’re sure to find something delicious sprinkled around the country. With this in mind, the Lawson chain of convenience stores has just announced eight roll cakes that each feature two different flavors from across Japan.
We have all experienced it before. You’re too tired to cook, but also too tired to go sit down at a restaurant. You want a quick meal that takes no effort at all and you want to just veg out on the couch while you eat. Off to the McDonald’s drive-thru you go to order yourself a BigMac meal. You finally make it home, park yourself in front of the TV and peel open the greasy bag only to find that THEY FORGOT YOUR FRIES!!! Exhausted and completely famished, you bitterly bite into your BigMac which somehow doesn’t taste as good without a fry chaser.
But if you are in Japan, you can call up the McDonald’s you ordered your meal from and they will deliver the missing item…for free.
Kentucky Fried Chicken announced that they are opening up a new line of stores selling Japanese-style fried chicken called karaage. Karaage involves marinating the meat beforehand, usually in soy sauce, and then frying in small chunks.
The first store is set to open on 1 October in Meguro, Tokyo called KFC Niwatorikaratei. Although still decorated with the familiar logos of KFC including the Colonel, the store front has the feel of an elegant Japanese restaurant.
The old saying in Japanese gamer circles used to go “Bei game wa Kuso game” (“Western games are sh&%ty games”), but the tables may have turned in a big way if this year’s Tokyo Game Show turnout is any indication.
Western publishers were out in spades this year. In fact, the very first thing attendees saw when entering the gates of this year’s TGS were a bunch of armed soldiers and (tastefully) military-garbed booth girls promoting the newest entry in the Battlefield series of online multiplayer military shooter games.
On 22 September at around 10:40 a.m. a 77-year-old man was caught driving at high speed in the wrong direction along the Takamatsu Expressway in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture. According to police, the unidentified man was trying to retrace his steps after traveling one kilometer the wrong way.
Let’s say you’re looking for a job, and someone offers you a position as the vice president of human resources in a global logistics services company. That’s a pretty plum position, and most of us would jump at the chance.
However, offer a nine-year-old kid the same job, and he’s likely to turn it down and say he’d rather be an ice cream salesman instead. The point is kids don’t always have the most concrete handle on what professions entail, so if you ask them what they want to do for a living someday, you might not get the most sensible answers. This was definitely the case when a number of elementary school boys in Japan recently said that when they grow up, they want to become anime characters.
Being the most earthquake-prone country in the world, earthquake drills are as common in schools in Japan as fire drills are in the West. Knowledge of what to do and how to prepare for big quakes is essential, but many foreigners visiting or living in Japan are simply not used to larger tremors and have little or no idea how to respond should the earth start to rumble. Thankfully, even in Japan the chances of being hurt or killed in an earthquake are relatively slim, but it’s important to know what you can do to prepare. Combining our own first-hand experience with the expert advice of a seismologist from the California Institute of Technology, the following article not only discusses how best to respond in the event of an earthquake, but also lists the essential items that anyone living in Japan or any other earthquake-prone country should have stowed away in their earthquake preparedness kit.
Talking safety is never the most exciting subject, and no one’s asking you to go all Dwight Schrute and build a nuclear fallout shelter here, but it pays to be ready. And if the thought of tooling up in the name of earthquake preparedness fails to get your heart pumping, simply substitute the word “earthquake” for “zombie outbreak” and the process will become infinitely more fun.
This past summer on August 12, the city of Shimanto in Kochi Prefecture experienced a record-setting temperature of 41 degrees Celcius (105.8 Fahrenheit), the highest ever recorded in the country. But the little city on Japan’s southern island of Shikoku took the less than ideal title in stride, using it as a new way to promote the area. The city’s “41℃” campaign has been received positively by tourists and citizens alike, boosting the area’s tourism industry and bringing a little fame to the relatively unknown city.
Fashion can be…confusing at times. Especially for those of us whose wardrobe consists of a black T-shirt and a white T-shirt, in case a fancy event comes up.
But there’s no denying that fashion, as an art form, takes its inspiration from the world around us. While not every design will become a permanent fixture or even necessarily work really well, we have to respect the creativity and thought that goes into making fashionable clothes. Though maybe this particular concept should have stayed on the drawing board…or in the dog park!
Currently, the new arrivals section of the Evangelion Store, an online shop filled all our favorite robot-driving, angel-fighting merchandise, lists a very special lingerie set based directly off of a camisole worn by Asuka in the second new Evangelion movie. Unfortunately for fans of the second child, the item is already sold out and in need of restocking. We’ll try to pretend that’s not creepy, considering the character is only 14… Read More
Smartphones and tablet devices have proven themselves to be viable gaming platforms… as long as the game suits it. While games like Angry Birds work perfectly, old school gamers (which is probably all of us in this instance) can’t help but struggle with the virtual D-pad and buttons we’ve grown accustomed to in other genres like action games.
So along comes Buttons Anywhere to bring us back that loving feeling of 3D plastic buttons to games like Street Fighter and GTA on the touch screens of newer devices.
We’ve all no doubt heard of the polite deer in the city of Nara that have learned to bow their heads to tourists in order to get food, but did you know that they also obey the law and know how to cross the road properly?
Check out these photos for one incredibly cute example of how to use a pedestrian crossing!
Osaka prefectural police announced on 20 September the arrest of 48-year-old Masumi Nishino for the attempted murder of her husband and arson of their home and office. This arrest was made possible only after Nishino’s allegedly intended victim/husband saved her life by pulling her from the very same building she set on fire.
Japan is a country with a lot of cute characters. Starting with the obvious ones from anime and manga like Totoro and Doraemon, there’s also ones featured in video games like Pikachu or Sonic, and corporate symbols like Hello Kitty. Going further we can delve into the deep ecosystem of costumed mascots that can be found everywhere throughout Japan. Finally we can pile on all of the imported characters from North America and Europe.
All these cuddly animals and monsters running around beg the question: Which one is the most popular amongst children? To answer that, we have the semiannual Characters and Children Marketing Survey results which were recently published in Japan. Let’s take a look.
Studio Ghibli launches huge new anime movie T-shirt collection with special design details
New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Japan is so hungry for workers it used up its five-year visa quota in record time
The dream of riding Final Fantasy Chocobos is coming to Tokyo VR centers
Häagen-Dazs Japan releases new ASMR ice cream called “Rocky Crunchy!”
Japan now sells…sake made with moth poop?!?
Paired Sailor Moon bracelets are femininely eye-catching and represent all 10 Sailor Senshi
Two new Pokémon parks coming to Oshawott’s prefecture, plus new Pokémon manhole covers【Video】
Ramen restaurant in top Tokyo tourist neighborhood skips price gouging, but how does it taste?Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Brand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Japan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now open
Move aside, convenience store egg sando – there’s a better version of the iconic sandwich in JapanNew Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Pokémon hot spring footbath opening in Japan this spring
Studio Ghibli croquettes not to eat, but to keep your stuff in, going on sale in Japan[Photos]
Japan’s popular bead bonsai kit is as beautiful as it is gruelling to make
Secret staff cafeteria in Tokyo is a hidden gem you won’t find in travel guides
Tinder just opened a convenience store in Japan, aimed at adults only
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to TokyoBrand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthdayJapan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now open
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Häagen-Dazs Japan releases new ASMR ice cream called “Rocky Crunchy!”
Japan now sells…sake made with moth poop?!?
Paired Sailor Moon bracelets are femininely eye-catching and represent all 10 Sailor Senshi
Two new Pokémon parks coming to Oshawott’s prefecture, plus new Pokémon manhole covers【Video】
Ramen restaurant in top Tokyo tourist neighborhood skips price gouging, but how does it taste?
On the short side? Lucky you! Japanese women describe what they love about shorter men
The mystery of the phantom “sake pass card” at Japanese alcohol vending machines
Hello Kitty gets a new job — this time appearing on Converse sneakers!
These beautiful cakes not only taste like strawberries, they look like strawberries too!
Burger King Japan’s All Heavy customisation hack may not be all it’s cracked up to be
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Interview with a “happening bar” customer: “I was getting repulsed by the whole atmosphere”