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Japanese Internet baffled by culturally confused Hollywood adaptation of 47 Ronin legend

Hollywood is carrying on its tradition of making white people the lead protagonists in movies about samurai with the 2013 47 Ronin, headed by Keanu Reeves.

But while the Japanese didn’t seem to bat an eyelid when it was revealed (spoiler) that Tom Cruise was literally the last samurai, the 47 Ronin trailer is raising eyebrows in Japan for its weird comic book treatment of the famous national legend that is said to be the most revered example of the samurai code of bushido.

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Westernized kimono resemble cosplay more than actual clothes

Summer is the season for festivals here in Japan. Every weekend some district or other is putting together a party for locals and tourists to come and enjoy. There are food stands, game stalls, temporary toy shops, and people all around. Most come with a parade event of sorts and end with an explosion of amazing fireworks. But above all, something you’re always going to find at any self-respecting festival are people dressed traditionally in lightweight yukata (a summer kimono) and jinbei (robe-style shirt and shorts) as they wander the streets.

But what about in Western counties like America? In early September of every year, Saint Louis, Missouri, holds a large Japanese-style festival in the city’s botanical gardens. Despite the lingering heat of late summer, somewhere between 20 to 30 thousand people attend this great cultural event each year. But what do they wear? Judging by the array of kimono and yukata available at the English shopping site A Fashion, people hoping to model some Japanese styles might find themselves in what resembles a crazy costume more than actual clothes.

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We brave the Tokyo heat to munch on these limited edition Krispy Kreme summer doughnuts

‘Tis the season of the “Summer Gentei” (“Summer Specialties”) in Japan; an exciting time of year where near every food vendor in the country offers up some sort of cold, frozen, or energy-packed  limited edition summer-themed menu. And even the foreign chains are getting into it, with Krispy Kreme Japan currently offering three new summer-only doughnuts and two summer-themed drinks. Because we love you, we went and stuffed our faces.

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Dozens of new Nintendo games available to play for free at Comic-Con 2013!

Nintendo has announced that it will be giving visitors to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con event the chance to get their hands on a number of as-yet-unreleased Nintendo games for Wii U and 3DS.

Being based in Japan, the spiritual home of video games, we’re used to feeling smug about getting our sticky fingers on most of Nintendo’s titles before many in the West, so you can be sure this news has left us greener than Luigi’s cap with envy!

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Japan’s Twitterverse is abuzz with the news that US-born psychic Ron Bard has predicted a huge natural disaster in Japan with major loss of life by the end of 2013. Bard, who calls his work “parapsychological consulting”, is well-known in Japan and counts major players at companies like Sega and Merrill Lynch Japan among his clients.

Bard took to Twitter yesterday with a series of translated messages for his fans in Japan including one that read: “I predicted March 11, but no one believed me. You can save lives this time by retweeting this!”

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It can take a while to wrap your head around the concept of “character goods” in Japan. It’s a term used to refer to licensed merchandise such as notebooks, stickers and figures featuring the likenesses of fictional characters. What sets character good apart from plain old cartoon or movie merchandising, however, is that its characters generally don’t appear anywhere else, and are created solely for the purpose of having an excuse to produce their associated knick knacks.

It’s a tradition that was firmly established by Hello Kitty, and carried on by newer characters such as Rilakkuma. A blending of the words “relax” and “kuma” (Japanese for “bear”), Rilakkuma is exactly what you’d expect, a bear who loafs around, usually depicted in the prone position.

But what if the world had greater things in store for Rilakkuma than just yawning and eating stack after stack of pancakes? If humanity needed a savior and destiny called, could he be bothered to pick up the phone?

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History has a way of creating awkward situations for future generations. I can’t think of how many times I’ve attempted friendly conversation by asking a Japanese local where they’re from and been blindsided by the answer, “Hiroshima.” I, with my American perspective, will then fall into this comically long pause as I wonder how appropriate it would be to apologize on behalf of my country for turning their city to dust, but the fact of the matter is that most Japanese people bear absolutely no grudge towards America for the atomic bombings of World War II.

Apparently this is difficult for some Internet users in China to comprehend, as there was recently a thread on one of the country’s most popular bulletin board sites asking “Why doesn’t Japan hate the USA for bombing them with two atomic weapons?” Interestingly, the answers that the thread received probably say more about Chinese people’s lingering disdain for the Japanese than Japan’s view of America.

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Don’t let Takeru Kobayashi’s slight build fool you. That guy vacuums up food faster than a Hoover. In his most recent feat of voracity, the Japanese competitive eater gobbled down a whopping 67 hot dogs in 10 minutes. The next closest contender only managed 34!

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Four solid reasons why America’s In-N-Out Burger deserves to be checked out

There’s a fast food chain in a small number of the western states in the US that is popular among the locals for its ridiculously tasty burgers. It goes by the name of In-N-Out Burger and is a place that our Japanese reporter Yoshio makes a point of visiting whenever he’s in the US. Join us below as Yoshio lists four solid reasons why, even for a man who grew up on Japanese food, In-N-Out Burger shouldn’t be missed.

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Our reporter visits anti-aging diner in US, feels 20 years younger

The endless influx of American hamburger and pancake chains onto Japanese shores is perpetuating the stereotype that the American diet is basically nothing but an artery-clogging combination of grease and lard peppered with artificial flavors, but for American expats sick of being asked “Do you love hamburger?” by Japanese acquaintances, help may be on the way.

Rumor in Japanese foodie circles has it that the next American food chain to come to Japan may just be True Food Kitchen, an Arizona restaurant focusing on so-called “anti-aging” recipes made from healthy, natural ingredients.

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KFC Japan president Maseo “Charlie” Watanabe surprised and angered the front page of the Internet itself, Reddit, yesterday when he won Colonel Sanders’ iconic white suit at auction for US$21,510 and promptly tried it on for all to see.

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Japanese reporter visits ice cream vending machine… at Walmart!?

On a recent trip to the US, one of our Japanese reporters, Yoshio, heard about an unusual vending machine that serves up ice cream. Excited to see how the icy treats would be delivered, our reporter made a beeline for the machine’s nearest location: the local Walmart. We filmed the machine in action and got his take on the automated ice cream experience first-hand.

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Our Japanese reporter freaks out after trying crappy Domino’s pizza in the US

Since there is a large mix of people from many different countries living in the United States (and because of the country’s relative youngness), it’s hard to identify a truly “American” food. Regardless, there are those dishes you simply must try when venturing over to the US for a trip. Our Japanese reporter recently tried what he considers to be a “must have” food from the USA: Domino’s pizza. To us Americans, Domino’s is hardly a delicious meal; it’s more of a cheap disk of sauce and cheese to keep hopeless college students alive. But to our reporter, who has already been exposed to Domino’s pizza in Japan, eating pizza made in the company’s homeland was a true treat. The following is our Japanese reporter’s glowing review of crappy Domino’s pizza in the United States.

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We try McDonald’s new burger with sauce 20 times spicier than Tabasco

Long ago, American automobile manufacturers dominated the industry, until Japanese producers started steadily offering superior products through the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. But following years of eroding sales, U.S. companies have finally stepped up their game and returned to competitiveness, with luxury marquee Cadillac recently recording its biggest sales spurt in decades.

Likewise, fast food restaurants from the U.S. initially dominated the hamburger field in Japan, but Japanese brands such as MOS Burger and Freshness Burger have been progressively eating into their market share. Will history repeat itself with a resurgence of quality American burgers? We sent one of our reporters, on assignment in the U.S., to McDonald’s to try its latest creation, the Bacon Habanero Ranch Quarter Pounder. Would it prove too much for the Japanese palate?

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RocketNews24 at E3: So much merch!

Ever the video game fans and hungry for news of upcoming titles and hardware, we sent our reporter extraordinaire Kuzo over to L.A. to check out the games event of the year. It wasn’t long, though, before he became distracted by the swathes of official swag on sale.

Thankfully, before he found himself completely over encumbered Kuzo was able to get a few snaps from the trade show floor. Check this little lot out!

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To live and dine in L.A.: we find marshmallow ramen in the City of Angels

Among the extensive pantheon of ramen varieties is tsukemen, in which the noodles are served on a dish with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side. My first experience with the dish was in college, when a buddy took me to a tsukemen place that had opened up near our campus in Tokyo that was famous for their sauce made with fish stock. At the time it seemed like a wildly exotic concoction, but little did I know that years later my hometown of Los Angeles would produce an even more outlandish version of the dish: marshmallow ramen.

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Good guy Luigi: Even picks you up at the airport!

That magical time of year when game companies throw themselves a giant party and start spilling family secrets like your drunk aunt is finally upon us. That’s right, E3 starts Tuesday! And all this week, excited fans will be glued to the blogs, chomping on the bits for new info from Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, and many other major publishers. One company that won’t be giving a massive, blow-all-the-fuses presentation, though, is Nintendo.

Even so, that doesn’t the company is skipping the event entirely.

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United States Vice President Joe Biden came under fire late last month after a number of Chinese students took offence at comments he made during a congratulatory speech at the University of Pennsylvania, a China Smack report has said.

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America has hot springs too! Our Japanese reporter puts one to the test

There’s no nation in the world that loves hot springs more than Japan. Known as onsen (lit. warm 温, and spring 泉), there are very few Japanese alive who could ever claim to having never taken a dip. If you’re tired, you head to the onsen; if you’re going on holiday, you visit an onsen; you go to the onsen to hang out with your friends, on a date, to relax with the family – anything is an excuse to strip off and let the hot water soak your aches, pains and worries away!

But onsen actually exist all over the world, even in America. Today our Japanese reporter Yoshio reports on his stay at a hot spring hotel in America, and his experiences in their natural sulfur spa. Let’s find out if the US’s version of the hot spa stands up to our reporter’s rigorous testing…

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The only McDonald’s in the world where the golden arches aren’t golden

Everyone knows the famous golden arches of McDonald’s. Wherever you go in the world, you can be sure you’ll spot that big yellow M, calling out to you with promises of juicy burgers, greasy fries, and gallons of soda pop.

But did you know that somewhere out there is a lone blue M? That’s right, blue!

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