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Japan (Page 1654)

 

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…

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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!

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Cute Bipedal Robot Rides a Bike All By Itself

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.

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Japanese Windows 8 Promotion Misleads Many to Think their Monitor will Magically Become Touch Screens

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.

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Pizza Hut/Evangelion Collaboration Offer Fans Chance to Win an Entry Plug Cushion!

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?

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Coffee, coffee everywhere but not a drop to drink (that’s any decent)【You, Me, And A Tanuki】

You, Me, And a Tanuki is a weekly featured blog run by Michelle, a Californian who is currently one of only two foreigners living in Chibu, a tiny fishing village on one of the Oki islands in Japan. Check back every Saturday for a new post or read more on her website here!

You can get coffee just about anywhere in Japan thanks to the millions (yes, millions) of vending machines littered around the country.  ”How convenient,” you must be thinking.  Yeah, if you like drinking awful coffee.

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Successfully Propose to Your Girlfriend! Secretly Confirm Her Ring Size Online with Ring’s Note

Before my husband proposed to me, he was faced with the seemingly impossible task of confirming my ring size without me noticing.  Since I didn’t own any rings at the time, he was forced to come up with something craftier than simply stealing my jewelry box.

His solution was to ask his sister to have me try on a bunch of her rings.  Never showing any interest in jewelry to begin with, it seemed odd that my husband’s sister would storm into my room and demand me to put on her rings.  What’s more, she blatantly stared at my fingers, scrutinizing how well each ring fit as I tried them on.

Since I’m not an idiot, I knew a proposal was brewing.

This situation isn’t unique for men who finally decide to pop the question.  But fellas, you’re in luck, there’s now a solution to your pre-proposal anxieties: Ring’s Note, an online notebook that records women’s ring sizes.

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A Very PokeChristmas: Pokemon Center Announces 2012 Christmas and New Year’s Goods

Pokemon Christmas and New Year’s goods will soon be on sale at all seven of Japan’s official Pokemon Center stores.  Pokemon Christmas goods will be released on October 27 followed by Pokemon New Year’s goods on November 3.

Here’s a sneak peak!

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Pokemon + Nintendo, Limited Edition Charizard 3DS XL Only Available For Lottery Winners in Japan

Back in September, Nintendo released a limited edition Pikachu 3DS XL that was only available in Japan.  The rest of the world was left staring longingly at the pictures of lucky residents of Japan lining up for four hours to purchase the adorable 3DS.

This week, Nintendo announced a new limited edition Charizard 3DS XL.  Unfortunately, just like the limited edition Pikachu 3DS XL, the Charizard version can only be purchased in one of Japan’s seven Pokemon Center retail stores.

However, this time, even those who live in Japan will have a hard time getting their hands on this ultra-exclusive limited-edition 3DS XL because it will only be available to the winners of a lottery drawing.

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A 28-year-old single mother from the town of Fuchu, Hiroshima was arrested earlier this month after causing the death of her 10-year-old daughter, exposing a long history of abuse and neglect in the family.

Over at NicoNico News, a heart-rending story reveals the broken family’s background and details the sad details of the girl’s early years. Perhaps even more tragically, though, we learn that the girl– who spent much of her life in care– once sent her abusive mother a letter in which she states how much she loves her.

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Japanese Man Arrested For Attempted Extortion of Sex and Songs

In recent years, Japan has been inundated with phone scams like one known as Ore Ore Sagi (“Hey it’s me!” Con).  This involves a young man calling an elderly woman pretending to be her son.  He then claims he was in some kind of trouble and asks her to send money via bank transfer.

In a completely new take on this well-known scam, Shigeyuki Goto was arrested on suspicion of extortion and attempted extortion by phone. However, instead of the typical monetary gain he was hoping his victims could sing him a song.

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The clever minds at prestigious Keio University in Tokyo have created a new device that makes the rear seat “disappear” when reversing, and have released a new video demonstrating how, with its help, the sometimes arduous task of reversing into a space could soon become a breeze.

Tinkering around with a modified Toyota Prius, the university’s graduate research team have been putting their latest technology through its paces by having a driver with a particular fear of reverse parking give the maneuver a shot both with and without the device installed…

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Middle-Aged Man Reviews Cute and Girly DS Fashion Game: “This Game Opened My Eyes to Style!”

While browsing online store Amazon, you’ve no doubt stumbled upon a few interesting or downright strange reviews of products written by fellow shoppers. Some of the reviews are both well written and informative, helping us make the best purchasing decisions possible; others, meanwhile, might cause us to wonder how the human race has survived this long, or make us consider contacting the authorities.

One review on Amazon Japan, however, has caught the attention of hundreds of shoppers and has become something of a talking point online.

The review, written by a self-professed middle-aged man, is of a videogame that sees gamers select clothes for, dress and style young women as fashionably as possible, and is intended mainly for the younger female audience.

This male reviewer, however, was incredibly taken with the title, going so far as to say that it has changed the way he sees the world…

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Japanese Man Perfects, Battles Most Useless Machine 【Video】

In the early 1950s, American mathematician and engineer Claude Shannon built a device that looked like a simple wooden casket with a single switch on the side. When the switch was thrown, the lid would rise slowly and a mechanical hand would emerge from beneath. The hand would slowly reach over to the side of the box, flip the switch off and retreat back　into the box, whereupon the lid would snap shut.

Shannon called the device the “Ultimate Machine,” and since its invention, it has been reconstructed and revised under a number of different names, such as the “Useless Box”　or “Leave Me Alone Box.” While all of these iterations are entertaining in their own right, a recent video by a Japanese university student has the internet buzzing that, more than 50 years later, Shannon’s Ultimate Machine may have finally been perfected.

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Mister Donut Limited Edition Lamb French Cruller Doughnut

Mister Donut is the largest doughnut franchise chain in Japan with over 1,300 stores nationwide.  Even more popular than Krispy Kreme and Doughnut Plant, the chain has been serving sweetened, fried pieces of dough to the people of Japan for over 40 years.

Starting October 22, Mister Donut fans are able to enjoy a limited edition French cruller doughnut featuring a smiling white chocolate lamb. Named “French Ura,” this adorable doughnut will only be sold at the chain’s Tokyo Solamachi shop for 189 yen (US $2.37).

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Have you ever looked at a guy and thought: “Gee, he looks loaded!  He must make a lot of money!”

It’s often the case that guys like these aren’t as well off as they seem. While they look like they live lavishly, they may not necessarily have the finances to support such a lifestyle.  Japanese website Niconico News recently did a survey inquiring into why guys make some costly lifestyle decisions even if they know they should be trimming the fat. Read More

Revolutionary Speakers Made Entirely of Rubber, All the Bass without those Pesky Magnets

At this year’s CEATEC Japan, Tokai Rubber Industries Ltd. unveiled the first ever speaker made entirely of rubber – or should I say “smart rubber.”  With this technology what appears to be an ordinary strip of latex can be wired into a speaker.

There already is a range of modern products such smartphones using miniature speakers to produce decent quality sound. However, smart rubber speakers stand above with one thing they don’t have – good bass.

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In a news story over on the Asahi Shinbun Digital, despite the Japanese coastguard coming to the aid of a Chinese freighter that had caught fire, the Chinese government has yet to issue a statement of thanks.

Chinese netizens, however, have taken to their keyboards to show their gratitude and express their joy upon hearing about the act of humanity despite relations between the two countries being so bad at this time.

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Starbucks Japan Unveils Posh Leather Cup Sleeves as Part of Charity Drive

Starbucks Japan has teamed up with Spanish luxury leather designer Loewe to produce a range of sexy leather sleeves for its paper coffee cups, it was announced yesterday.

The limited-edition sleeves are part of a programme designed to provide financial support to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami that stuck north-eastern Japan in March last year.

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ANGFA Co Ltd is a Japanese company that develops health and anti-ageing beauty products like medicinal shampoos for the scalp.

Wanting women to know the importance of good scalp care, which is reported to help keep hair beautiful five and ten years down the line, on October 19th this year the company launched a campaign called “Scalp D Hair Care ‘Scalp Revolution”.

The first part of this project focused on, would you believe it, the smell of women’s scalps.  The research included verifying the strength of the smells of the scalps of 500 men and women between the ages of 20 to 30.  They also took part in surveys and interviews with body odour care specialists.  The results were posted on a special site. Read More

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