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We try chucking our lunchtime bento into a pan of soup, result is doubly delicious

Fran W
Feb 24, 2014
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The cutesy home-made lunches that lucky Japanese children take to school are famous worldwide. For the time-pushed or culinarily challenged among us, though, store-bought bento (boxed lunches) can offer great value for money. Convenience store bento, which are hugely popular all over Japan, contain all kinds of delicious goodies like fish, meat, stewed vegetables and pickles, along with rice. When one bento-loving Japanese university student threw caution to the wind and sunk her entire lunch into her miso soup, she discovered that the resulting soupy concoction was even more tasty than she could have imagined! Thus, convenience store bento soup was born!

Here at RocketNews24 we love to try out rice-augmenting recipes and other wacky food combinations, so when a writer from our Japanese sister site heard about this amazing invention, made by heating the entire contents of a convenience store lunchbox in a pot of miso soup, she just had to give it a try! Let’s see how she got on.

Heroes in Japan post harsh reviews for a Hero’s Sword on Amazon Japan

Oona McGee
Feb 24, 2014

Tales have oft been told of the mythical items to be found when journeying through the maze of shopping aisles in Japan’s online realm. From unusual manga characters to riot shields, it seems anything might be possible once you’ve entered through the magical portal known as Amazon Japan. Now it seems that visitors who stop by to make purchases are just as interesting as some of the items on offer, as self-proclaimed heroes and brave warriors from across the nation are buying swords from the marketplace and providing feedback on the efficacy of their items. Latest reviews are aimed at an innocent-looking plastic sword, which is said to be under-performing when it comes to vitality levels and magic ability.

Japanese netizens praise Starbucks’ move to promote 800 temp workers

Scott R Dixon
Feb 24, 2014

With just over 1,000 stores covering practically every prefecture, Starbucks is a coffee powerhouse in Japan. Since opening its first store in Tokyo in 1996, the company has managed to adapt its business model to suit Japanese tastes with seasonal flavors, expanded (alcoholic) menu options and utilizing Japan’s unique architecture. Last week, Starbucks went one step further in its Japanese expansion plan by announcing that it would promote 800 temp workers to full-time positions, which netizens applauded as a move to create pressure on the Japanese market to provide better benefits to workers.

Is Japan overworking its teachers? One exhausted educator says, “YES!”

Preston Phro
Feb 24, 2014

Japan has a reputation for overworking its employees, though it’s hardly the only country! But when it comes to education, you’d expect Japanese teachers, whose students often score among the top in the world on standardized tests, to be solely focused on their classroom materials. But you might be wrong!

One public middle school teacher has recently gotten a ton of attention online for a blog post about her impossible-to-manage duties as a “club leader” and her desire to actually change occupations due to the intense schedule. Read about her experience and the intense reactions below.

Celebrate the release of live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service with these limited edition treats!

Oona McGee
Feb 24, 2014

With the live-action version of Kiki’s Delivery Service set to hit cinemas in Japan on March 1, it’s time for the celebrations and tie-in promotions to commence! Japanese bakery chain, Little Mermaid, is one of the first to step up to the plate, paying homage to the movie with this collection of delightfully cute offerings. Available only for a limited time, the three new baked varieties are named in honour of Kiki, her black cat Jiji, and Ms Osono, Kiki’s mother-figure and resident baker. Can you guess which design is which?

We try to get the first PS4 sold in Japan, and so does this guy dressed like a Move controller

Master Blaster
Feb 24, 2014

For many 22 February was Cat Day in Japan, but for video game fans it meant something much greater. This was finally the day Japanese gamers could get their hands on Sony’s next-gen console, the PlayStation 4.

Prior to this, at the Sony Building in Ginza a celebration was to be held where 100 people who purchased their consoles in advance would get a chance to be the first person to own a Japanese-sold PS4.

The tickets were handed out at 11:00 in the morning of 21 February for the event which took place that evening. Our own first Docomo iPhone5 buyer in Japan, Mr. Sato was hoping to make lightning strike twice and got in line for tickets two days in advance.

3-D printing in the palm of your hand! The 3Doodler comes to Japan

Preston Phro
Feb 24, 2014

Of all the new technologies currently emerging, 3-D printing seems to be the one with the most potential. Though you still can’t download and print a car, the applications for a well-designed and properly calibrated three dimensional printer are seemingly endless!

We’ve previously told you about a Japanese company that will turn your child’s doodles into 3-D works of art, but there’s a new product on the market that lets you skip the initial doodling and go straight to literally drawing in the air. Cleverly named the 3Doodler, the “3D Printing Pen,” as described by its Kickstarter page, completed funding in March of last year and is coming soon to the shores of Japan!

Check out this Smart car with a Suzuki Hayabusa engine!【Video】

Preston Phro
Feb 23, 2014

If you like motorcycles, or motorsports, or even just going really fast, then you’ve probably heard of the Suzuki Hayabusa–the world’s fastest production motorcycle. With a reported top speed of around 190 miles per hour for production models, the Japanese-made bike is sure to help put miles between you and any problems you might have–like figuring out how to pay back the US$14,500 price tag.

But it turns out that you don’t need the entire motorcycle to have a good time. For an ambitious gearhead, all you need is the machine’s massive engine and a light car!

Splish-splash, kitty taking a bath! Cute videos to help you enjoy the weekend

Preston Phro
Feb 23, 2014

There’s a long-lived stereotype that cats love to eat fish–particularly the fish we like to keep in bowls in our homes. For a house kitty, a fish bowl is like having an ice cream truck in your living room–but never having the change to get a cone.

Of course, no one wants their pets–furry or scaly–to get eaten! But keeping a house full of cats entertained is a tall order…and whipping a laser pointer around the living room might turn it into a disaster zone. Fortunately, one cat gentleman has found a way to keep a room of cats both docile and engaged: Letting a mechanical toy fish swim circles in the bathtub!

But just how well do you think that’s going to work out for all the munchkin kitties gathered to watch?

Evangelion license plates sure to add visual impact to your ride

Casey Baseel
Feb 23, 2014

The very first time she came over to the swinging bachelor pad/pitiful bunker I used to live in back when we were dating, my wife immediately noticed that the one and only interior decoration I had was a California license plate mounted on the wall. To me, the blue on white design is immediately nostalgic and reassuring.

In Japan, though, ordinarily the only thing that differentiates plates issued in different parts of the country are the kanji characters written across their tops, so they don’t provide quite the same immediate visual shorthand of local pride. Unless you happen to live in the city of Hakone, where motorists can show their love of their hometown and giant robot anime all at once with new Evangelion license plates.

Square Enix announces new Romancing Saga project! Don’t fire up your PS4 just yet though

Casey Baseel
Feb 22, 2014

Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest may be video game developer Square Enix’s two biggest series, but the Saga franchise could make a solid case for the company’s third-most important intellectual property. While the initial title in the series was the Game Boy’s Makai Toshi Saga, or Devil World Tower Saga, the more eloquently named Super NES follow-up, Romancing Saga, is where the series really took off, and 10 games are now counted as part of the Saga saga.

2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Saga franchise, and in celebration Square Enix is collaborating with a partner that’s at once completely unexpected and totally obvious: Saga Prefecture.

New Godzilla towers over San Francisco in poster

Anime News Network
Feb 22, 2014

The Yahoo! Movies website posted a new American poster for Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla film remake. The poster features the King of the Monsters towering over the San Francisco skyline. (The Transamerica Pyramid to the right is 48 stories tall, although the poster is not necessarily to scale.)

Eat not like a king, but like a cat at this cat food-themed restaurant in Japan

Kay
Feb 22, 2014

Each year, cat lovers in Japan celebrate annual “Cat Day” on February 22, based on the fact that the number 2 sounds somewhat similar to the sound of a cat’s meow (pronounced “nyaah“) in the Japanese language. Well, this year cat fans will have an extra special way to celebrate all things feline — by feasting like a pampered cat! For a very limited time, Nestle Purina, the makers of popular “luxury” cat food Mon Petit will be operating the “Restaurant Mon Petit”, and while the restaurant is named after cat food, it’s most definitely a place for humans to eat, and in fine style too!

Befitting an establishment operated by a famous cat food manufacturer, the Restaurant Mon Petit is offering beautifully executed dishes that are recreations of actual cat food products. And not to miss such a special opportunity, one of the reporters from our Japanese site rushed to the restaurant to find out first hand what it feels like to dine like a cat!

Happy Cat Day! (=^･^=)

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Feb 22, 2014

February 22, aside from looking really cool with triple twos, is officially known as Cat Day (Neko no Hi) in Japan. The Japanese word for “two” (ni) sounds similar to the word for “meow” (nyan), and so a day commemorating Japan’s favorite felines was born. It’s well known that Japan is home to cat cafés and a cat island, and almost everyone has seen at least one of Maru’s videos, so it’s no surprise Neko no Hi exists. So in honor of Cat Day in Japan, let’s celebrate by watching adorable videos of Japanese cats.

Our Japanese reporters actually like the Eggstractor, deem it an important step in egg technology

Master Blaster
Feb 21, 2014

Like many people in Japan, the editing department at RocketNews24 recall an episode of the family-themed anime Sazae-san where Sazae’s father brings home an automatic egg cracking machine. It was a wonderful fantasy and kind of depressing that in this age of smartphones and reusable candles we can’t have an automatic egg cracker.

Then word came of such a device from the distant shores of America which could easily shuck the shells from hard-boiled eggs. Although lambasted as a “stupid cheap flimsy product” online, the temptation was too great for them to resist. They quickly placed an order and started boiling some water.

However, in hindsight they probably should have waited a week or so for it to arrive before boiling.

Tokyo hamburger vending machine has a human touch

Casey Baseel
Feb 21, 2014

Japan is a wonderland of vending machines, and in many ways they’re great. They’re well-maintained, almost always take bills on the first try, and never judge you as pay for a bottle of hard liquor entirely in 10 yen coins.

Sometimes, though, doing a complete end run around human contact can make the purchasing process feel a little lonely. So when we heard about a restaurant where the vending machines had a human element, as well as delicious yet cheap hamburgers, we knew we had to check it out.

Mr. Sato shows us how a real man opens his snacks 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Feb 21, 2014

The intense competition in the Japanese snack food market means that every week some product is getting kicked off convenience store shelves to make room for another one. Somehow, though, the puffed corn snack umaibo has remained consistently popular for over 30 years.

Umaibo’s biggest fans are elementary school kids, and the tasty little cylinders were a major component of some of our writer’s childhood diets. Recently we came to the realization that it’s time for us to grow up, though. Not by giving up our umaibo, of course, but by learning to open our snacks like a man.

Kendama master takes the game to a whole new level 【Video】

Krista Rogers
Feb 21, 2014

Almost everyone in Japan has played kendama at some point in their lives. Most people learn how to play it as a pastime during their childhood, then eventually move on to other activities after they get the hang of it and become bored. A select few, however, go on to hone their skills to perfection and actually compete in organized competitions similar to yo-yo tournaments. Enter 22-year-old Hiroki Iijima, who has not only mastered all the regular tricks in the book but has also combined his love for street dancing to create a new freestyle activity: “kendama street dancing,” if you will.

Skeptical? We’ve got video proof of Hiroki’s awesome skills right here. Prepare to be dazzled!

Manga encourages kids to eat healthy

Anime News Network
Feb 21, 2014

Study shows that manga can be used to promote good eating habits.

There’s an unwritten rule that seeing food in anime makes seem even more appealing than it would in real life. Now it seems that there may actually be some scientific evidence supporting that idea. A pilot study conducted recently in Brooklyn, New York found that manga can be used as a tool to encourage children and teenagers to increase their fruit intake.