Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Japan (Page 1587)
As the birthplace of modern anime culture, Japan has more than its fair share of hardcore anime fans, or otaku. But what starts someone out on the potential path to wall-to-wall DVD box sets, shelves of figures, and a bed full of love pillows? An online survey asks Japanese people to reveal the series that showed them the light.
According to a study by the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare, 518,000 teenagers are “strongly addicted” to the internet. In the eyes of the ministry, such a level of addiction can lead to irregular sleep patterns and unhealthy eating habits.
However, in an age where online access can be found everywhere, an addiction to the net can be one of the hardest to kick. So the Japanese government, in what it calls “an urgent need for action,” is looking into the effectiveness of “net fasting” which, as the name suggests, is an extended break from any online activity.
For those who don’t know, parkour is a non-competitive sport where people propel themselves through their environment by running, climbing, and flipping their way across city structures like a giant jungle gym. A couple of days ago, Nintendo of America released a documentary-style video called “Finding Luigi: Legend of Parkour,” likening the amazing jumps and flips that the character can perform to the real-world practice of parkour.
Around the same time, fans of Nintendo put together their own parkour video, “Mario Bros Parkour,” wherein two sporty guys play the parts of the famous plumbing brothers as they flip their way through a 3-D enhanced world. Read on for a peek at both of these awesome videos!
Despite having been downloaded more than a million times in North America, GungHo Online Entertainment’s RPG/puzzle blend Puzzle & Dragons, or Pazudora as it’s more commonly known in its native Japan, is still considered something of a niche title in the Western world. The game combines elements of traditional tile-matching puzzle games such as Puyo Puyo and online favourite Bejeweled with the trading and stat-building elements of classic Japanese RPGs, topped off with a sprinkle of Pokémon-esque companion monsters to collect and trade.
The game is currently one of Japan’s most played mobile games and is almost entirely responsible for its makers’ US$763 million of total sales in the first half of 2013 alone, with more than 17 million active players in Japan today. Following on from this success, a 3DS version of the game was recently announced and is due to go on sale on December 12 this year. Reports suggest, however, that the 3DS version will be slightly different in order to protect younger gamers from the microtransaction system that the game has become synonymous with.
So you’ve slain the mighty King of the Sky Rathalos in one or all of the Monster Hunter series of games, and you probably felt pretty satisfied the first time you did it. But something was missing, wasn’t it? Being simply a mere video game you couldn’t feast on the dragon’s meat like a true hunter should.
Now website Premium Bandai and cake maker Chara Shoku Net are offering monster hunters a chance to live that dream with the King of the Sky Rathalos Cake which comes with a knife in the likeness of the Epitaph Blade.
Kurumaya Ramen is a peace-loving chain restaurant in Eastern Japan where you can enjoy a nice Kimchi Miso Ramen and the staff appear to be dressed like Super Mario. However, on 27 August it was the scene of an armed robbery.
Luckily in this day and age everyone is carrying a phone. As this potentially violent robber had his back to group of customers one of them pulled out their phone and did the first thing that came to mind in such an emergency.
So let’s say you spend all day staring at a screen–computer screen, TV screen, smartphone screen, Death Star targeting screen. It doesn’t really matter what screen, since they all emit a lot of blue light–which can be hard on your eyes. So, you want to protect your vision, but what do you do? You should get some eye drops!
Unfortunately, as you probably know, getting the eye drops from the bottle into your eyeballs is one of the most difficult tasks in the world. Almost as difficult as getting Comiket attendees to bathe. But have no fear! Omocoro, the Photoshop wizards, are here to save the day with a Pythagorean device!
There’s a saying in Japan that you should have both eyes open before you decide to get married, and one eye shut after you walk down the aisle. It’s sound advice, as you definitely need to know what you’re getting into before you pledge to share your life with someone. At the same time, spending every day together is bound to bring to light the little imperfections that people naturally have (Mrs. Baseel excepted, of course), and it’s important not to get too worked up over them.
Of course, the inevitable result of trying to keep one eye perpetually closed is a wicked eye-cramp, so eventually you’re going to have to open it back up and notice something about your partner that drives you up the wall. Japanese firm Neo Marketing recently surveyed married women on the things their husbands do that they just can’t overlook.
Sometimes, despite the director’s best efforts otherwise, the villain of a movie or TV series ends up stealing the show. Luke Skywalker became the archetypical example of a pure-hearted but bland hero, while dark side practitioner Darth Vader went on to become a true cultural icon.
Similarly, you’ll be hard pressed to find any viewers of long-running anime mecha franchise Gundam who name its original hero, Amuro, as their favorite character. His nemesis Char, on the other hand, has legions of fans, even though his last on-screen appearance was way back in the 1988 motion picture Char’s Counterattack. Despite his occasional attempts to drop space colonies onto Planet Earth, fans are drawn to the stylish Char, who has always had cool robots and a cool mask. Now, he’s got a cool car, too.
There has been a lot of latte art featured on the Internet lately, but the coffee created by Japanese barista, Yuuichi Ito, are some of the best we’ve seen. Mr. Ito is serving works of art by the cupful at Belcorno, an Italian restaurant located in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture. Taking on the role as owner, chef, and barista at Belcorno, Mr. Ito is able to recreate popular characters from Disney, anime and manga out of foam, adding colorful accents and shading. Much like chalk drawings, it’s understood that latte art is not permanent, but it still seems a shame to destroy such beautiful masterpieces. At least we have the following pictures to enjoy!
This must be a summer for fake funerals. In July, Hatsune Miku found herself interred in Nico Nico Douga videos following a politician’s speculative remarks. And now a Lexus car is at the center of a new round of Internet amusement after some commenters noted that the company’s “car delivery ceremony” is oddly similar to a funeral.
The Kyoto subway was swarmed by mobs of cosplayers last weekend, alarming some commuters and intriguing others. Though Japan may be thought of as the “land of cosplay,” it’s actually extremely rare to see this many layers (shortening of “cosplayers”) out and about in public. Cosplay is all well and good at certain events, but a major no-no in areas where it can cause trouble for the uninitiated.
So what were all these guys (yes, mainly guys) doing on the subway? Why, promoting the upcoming Kyoto Manga Anime Festival and it’s connected cosplay event, GO-TAN! of course!
There are many highly touted health benefits associated with Japanese-style toilets. But who would want to get down to business with a glorified hole in the ground when they have the option of a wonderful Washlet, complete with heated seats and a butt-cleaning water spray?!
Thanks to a new American company that cares a lot about colons, there’s no need to choose the health benefits of one over the comfort and familiarity of the other. This very special team has created a stool to ease the release of your stool and give you perfect poo from atop your porcelain throne. They call their product the Squatty Potty.
The humble stormtrooper. Shot, blown up, punched and jeered at on a near daily basis while the rebels–whom some would call “terrorists”–get all the fame and glory. It’s in their very nature to remain inconspicuous in their plain white armour, marching along in neat lines and even dying with a regimented clatter of boots on the cold metal Deathstar floors, and for that reason are rarely given a second thought by either their merciless dispatchers or the movie-going public.
But there comes a time when even the loyalest of the Empire’s helmeted servants has to get their groove on, and Japanese car maker Nissan’s newest ad campaign is allowing them to do just that.
In the never-ending debate about which country makes the best cars, it’s common to derogatorily refer to a Japanese automobile as a “rice rocket,” “rice burner,” or “rice runner.” Really anything with rice.
But with a new product from Saitama-based company JPN, you can own that insult, and turn it into a positive.
Poor Ronald McDonald (known as “Donald” in Japan). He got all dressed up in his floppy red shoes and white makeup, put on his biggest smile, and marched down to a McDonald’s restaurant for a meet and greet, only to find that not a single child showed up to see him. And now, the people of the Internet are laughing at his tired, worn out expression.
As the proverb goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and nothing produces necessity like war. For better or for worse—mostly for worse—war and military conflict have played a large role in technological progress throughout the history of humankind. While we seem to finally be calming down a little bit as a species in some regards, it is obvious that war is not over and will probably be around for many years to come. And, of course, no one wants to be the country that got left behind in the arms race, right? Still, when you see some of the predictions about the future of aircraft carriers from this Chinese news site, you might wonder if they haven’t mistaken “possible future” with “science fiction TV show.”
Earlier this week, we told you about the Yamanote Line train that will be decked out with the characters from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle (coming to PS3 on August 29). At the time, we could only provide you with a few artist renditions of what the train might look like. But now, may we proudly present to you 31 photos of the actual JoJo train, inside and out!
Though Ted may be the most-well-known naughty teddy bear in the world, he is by no means the only one. We imagine that Monokuma, of the murder-mystery game/manga/anime Dangan Ronpa, may be a close Japanese second with its cackling and murderous tendencies. For fans of both of the animated characters, it might seem like a perfect match to have these black-humored bears on the screen together.
Alas, there’s probably no one mad enough to approve that combination, right?
Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
Same name tops lists of most popular dog and cat names in Japan, and there’s probably a reason why
Tokyo restaurant offers lunches for less than 1 U.S. cent…if you’re good enough at rock-paper-scissors
Two new Sailor Moon art manhole covers are coming to Usagi’s real-world Tokyo neighborhood
What makes the Starbucks Japan chocolate terrine so popular?
Krispy Kreme releases new limited-edition fox doughnuts at only four stores in Japan
KFC Japan’s “The American Burgers” include a pile of guilt
Gundam teams up with 300-year-old daruma maker for wood-carved anime mecha figures[Photos]
Government says 5.7 trillion yen of Japanese media was pirated last year, thinks AI could help
Pizza Hut Japan’s drinkable curry pizza is here – Is it all we dreamed it would be?[Taste test]Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
Tokyo’s new extra-expensive ramen restaurant is dividing opinions, so we tried a bowlGundam teams up with 300-year-old daruma maker for wood-carved anime mecha figures[Photos]
Japan’s izakaya pubs closing at record pace, failing to attract foreign tourists
Japan has a new cute and clever sunblock for cat lovers
Japanese temple burns to the ground, fire burning inside for 1,200 years unharmed
Japan’s instant ramen snack theme park features an athletic course even adults can enjoy
Krispy Kreme Japan is bringing two special donuts to the most-forgotten big city in the countryPizza Hut Japan’s drinkable curry pizza is here – Is it all we dreamed it would be?[Taste test]Krispy Kreme releases new limited-edition fox doughnuts at only four stores in Japan
Tokyo’s life-size Gundam anime mecha statue will be removed this summer
The average age of Japan’s hikikomori shut-ins is getting older, survey shows
Japan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Ichiraku Ramen-inspired ramen sets from Naruto anime pay homage to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura
Kanji ice cream becomes a sell-out hit in Japan
Japan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Japan now has gyoza doughnuts, and they taste like no other doughnut we’ve tried before
Studio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurinesJapan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]Japan has a new cute and clever sunblock for cat lovers
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
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
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Krispy Kreme releases new limited-edition fox doughnuts at only four stores in Japan
KFC Japan’s “The American Burgers” include a pile of guilt
Gundam teams up with 300-year-old daruma maker for wood-carved anime mecha figures[Photos]
Government says 5.7 trillion yen of Japanese media was pirated last year, thinks AI could help
Pizza Hut Japan’s drinkable curry pizza is here – Is it all we dreamed it would be?[Taste test]
Japanese temple burns to the ground, fire burning inside for 1,200 years unharmed
Tokyo’s new extra-expensive ramen restaurant is dividing opinions, so we tried a bowl
Japanese government to allow desecration of flags on kids’ meals
Japan’s izakaya pubs closing at record pace, failing to attract foreign tourists
Own a piece of anime history with U-Treasure’s Astro Boy gold miniature figure
Used chopsticks upgraded from “waste” to “valuable material” by Kawasaki City thanks to ChopValue
2021 Salaryman Poetry Battle showcases some dark but hilarious poems
Japan’s instant ramen snack theme park features an athletic course even adults can enjoy
Bizarre Japanese vending machine sells “Peace and Equality” and “Angels and Demons”
