It’s not unusual for consumer products to suddenly explode in popularity after being introduced on a particular TV show, but when Japan’s Asahi TV introduced mackerel as a food that can be beneficial in weight loss during its home medicine program “Takeshi no Kenkou Entertainment! Minna no Kenkou Igaku” few coould have expected the overwhelming outcome.
Japan (Page 1594)
In Japan, summer is seen as the time when the line between the living and the dead becomes blurry and paranormal activity is said to be at its highest. This is the season when studios like to put out horror movies, restaurants like to put out drinks based on horror movies, and youngsters like to share ghost stories online.
Recently, one place in particular has been the setting for eerie rumors based on a tragic past. It’s also a place where you can get a good deal on a massage chair and a digital picture frame. Everyone’s talking about none other than Bic Camera, a massive electronics superstore which towers over downtown Osaka. Sit back, turn out the lights and take in some these quick Japanese summer ghost tales.
“Forgive me for asking so abruptly,” Chiharu Hatakeyama begins as she stands on a stage decked out in the familiar TED colours of black, white and red, “but who among you thinks they could wring the neck of a chicken before they ate it?”
After the events of March 11, 2011, when the largest recorded earthquake in Japanese history tore the northeast to pieces and brought with it a wall of water that smashed through everything in its path, Chiharu decided that she had to change. Realising that her entire world could be turned completely upside down in the blink of an eye and that she relied on others–most often people that she had never nor would ever meet–in almost every facet of her life, she set out to achieve a life of complete self-sufficiency. Growing her own vegetables, butchering her own meat, making accessories and clothes for herself, she is now sharing her newly acquired knowledge with as many people as she can via her blog, Facebook page, and more recently a TEDxTokyo talk. This is her story.
While there are several clever techniques for staying cool during Japan’s sticky summer, you really can’t overlook the simple tactic of just wearing less clothing. Going shirtless is one option, but unfortunately that pretty much restricts your entertainment options to swimming, boxing, and the two-for-one choice of shark fighting.
On the other hand, shorts and a shirt provide much more social leeway. As with all choices men make, though, it’s imperative to consider the question, “Will women think I look good?” A recent survey asked women to give their opinions on guys showing some leg.
The Kyoto Aquarium is offering a limited summer snack officially dubbed the “ayu salt-cooked hot dog.”
To the uninitiated, this probably sounds like a hot dog topped with some exotic, delicious spice called ayu, but adventurous expats will recognize ayu as a native Japanese fish species often served grilled whole on a stick.
How one prefers their fried eggs cooked is about as divisive an issue as whether Batman or Wolverine would win in a fight. Many a surprise anniversary breakfast in bed has no doubt ended in bitter tears due to fried eggs being prepared in the incorrect way.
But you can avoid this unnecessary situation and show solidarity with fellow runny egg lovers with this new “egg in a basket” iPhone 5 case. Just snap your iPhone inside and share the other half with your runny egg soul mate; then, by clicking the two halves together as a secret greeting, you can baffle and enrage all those cretinous fully cooked yolk lovers at the diner.
Who among us hasn’t dreamed of being a lolita? We mean the fashion conscience kind of Lolita, not the…other kind. The frilly little dresses, the bonnets, the ridiculous platform shoes, and all the cake and tea you can get in your stomach! Sounds great, right? Except for the price tag—buying all of those frilly little dresses yourself will set you back a lot of money! Well, here’s your chance to try out being a lolita for a day without breaking the bank or selling a few organs!
Feeling thirsty? MEN’S CIDER COOL PUNCH (official name, no extra emphasis from our side) will cool you down, and reinforce your extreme manliness.
This year’s finalists for the Kanto region Miss Cutest High School Girl contest were decided on August 3. Never heard of the contest before?
Miss-Con, the Japanese nickname for the contest, was started in order to figure out who was the cutest high school first year in the Kanto region. Because if there’s one thing Japan can agree on, it’s that there’s nothing cuter than a high school girl. In the past, the contest was a part of a different event “Love Sunshine” or LoveSun, meant for followers of the gyaru fashion, a form of extreme fashion in Japan, often involving heavily dyed hair, tanned skin, lots of make up, and daring clothing choices. Now in its third year, Miss-Con has two separate categories for their contestants: cutest gyaru and cutest “natural” high school girl (i.e. without the crazy hair and signature outfits).
Strokes are serious medical disturbances that we all have to live in fear of, often striking out of the blue and claiming lives or altering them drastically. For manga artist Mahiro Takura, it cost the use of his right hand, perhaps the most valuable body part for someone in his field. For many, that would be enough to send them into a spiral of depression.
However, rather than let his condition control his life, Mr. Takura decided to take control and has been rapidly learning to make use of his left hand instead. He recently tweeted the story of his recovery and we would like to share the translated version with you.
Believe it or not, a Lego Jar Jar Binks has existed for years, but the iconic DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future has only just now been immortalized in block form.
Starting out in 1949 as a seemingly simple toy set consisting of multicolored blocks that fastened together, Lego has grown into a vast toy and ever more complicated empire spanning hundreds, even thousands, of play sets depicting iconic characters and scenes from geek culture.
From 5 August, fears of another major earthquake in Japan began to spread on Twitter. The source of the unease was a screenshot from a Japanese talk show, which laid out the following series of earthquakes leading up to the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, alongside a similar series of earthquakes which have struck in recent days.
Some games make us so mad that we fling our controllers across the room in rage, forgetting for a split second that it’s rarely, if ever, the hardware’s fault that we lost.
But sometimes we get so angry with a game, at being pwned online, at losing for the nth time to that end-of-level boss, that we decide to hang up our controllers for good. Which is exactly what a number of gamers in Japan seem to have done if a collection of photos doing the rounds on Twitter today is anything to go by.
Producers of the upcoming reboot of classic anime franchise Sailor Moon have been frustratingly tight-lipped with fans. Originally set to premier this summer, its premiere has now been pushed back to winter, and to date, not a single piece of art from the new series has been released.
Merchandising giant Bandai, on the other hand, has been putting out a steady string of new goodies for Sailor Moon fans as part of the series’ 20th anniversary. New Sailor Moon-themed accessories were released in June and July, and the company has now made it three months in a row with two new necklaces plus a new pair of earrings that went on sale this month.
A decade after the OpenSky project began, Kazuhiko Hachiya and his team of engineers and artists can finally give themselves a well deserved pat on the back. Their dream of creating a working version of the glider seen in Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (named Möwe) has come to fruition.
On 31 July, Hachiya uploaded the video titled “OpenSky3.0 trailer,” which shows the jet engine equipped M-02J taxi and take to the sky by its own power.
At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, Northeastern Japan started to shake. On the Japanese shindo scale, the quake measured between 3 and 4 (overhead lights sway and objects rattle, but some people who are on the move may not notice it) in most areas, a ‘low-5’ at its strongest. Thankfully, there are thought to have been no casualties as the tremor was relatively short-lived, and with the quake of March 2011 and weeks of resulting aftershocks having been far stronger, the people of Tohoku are now fairly hardened when it comes to smaller rumbles.
Curiously though, no sooner had the earthquake passed than a few jokesters began sharing the above image from the Japan Meteorological Agency, along with messages of “LOL” and ‘Why do I suddenly feel like I want to go to Northeastern Japan?”
I’m sure I’m not alone in loving my smartphone but always wishing the battery would last a little longer. For many of us, not knowing whether our mobile phone’s battery will make it through the day can be a real problem. While mobile technology has improved in leaps and bounds in recent years, improvements in the batteries that power them have been rather more sluggish.
Thankfully, all this could be about to change. Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd recently announced that it has developed a new material for use in lithium-ion batteries that boasts capacities roughly 10 times the current standard, and is about to shake up the entire industry.
A photo surfaced on the internet recently which shows us a typical day at the office for a couple of ladies a long time ago in Japan. They look almost bored as they unload 300 kg (661 lbs) of rice each on their backs.
After being completely suspended in 2012, it seems like plans for the Akira live action movie are finally moving forward again. The Warner Brothers movie will be a Hollywood retelling of the 1988 cult anime classic, with original writer and director Katsuhiro Ohtomo acting as executive producer. This will perhaps assuage some fans’ fears that Hollywood will turn the dark, complex narrative into just another generic guns-and-explosions blockbuster.
For foreigners living in Japan, looking through DVDs can be a chore. You generally have a 50 percent chance of the title being the same, leaving you scanning through the cover designs to find what you’re looking for the other half of the time.
Sometimes the new titles that are bestowed in Japan give more insight to the film. For example, Jerry Maguire is given the less romantic but more concise title of The Agent. However, translation and localization often leaves people making judgment calls that could easily backfire. Take the DVD version of Napoleon Dynamite which Japanese cinema lovers have deemed “Japan’s worst changed movie title.”
MOST POPULAR
Today
Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
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
Same name tops lists of most popular dog and cat names in Japan, and there’s probably a reason why
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]
Weekly
- 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 bowl- Gundam 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 country- Pizza 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
Monthly
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 figurines- Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
- Japan has a new cute and clever sunblock for cat lovers
Yearly
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]
RECOMMENDED STORIES
KFC Japan’s “The American Burgers” include a pile of guilt
Same name tops lists of most popular dog and cat names in Japan, and there’s probably a reason why
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
Used chopsticks upgraded from “waste” to “valuable material” by Kawasaki City thanks to ChopValue
Own a piece of anime history with U-Treasure’s Astro Boy gold miniature figure
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”
-
