Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Even if you’re happy to share your home or workspace with a cat, there are still certain boundaries you want to maintain. In the past we’ve looked at special products designed to keep your feline companion off your chair or keyboard, and to make sure everything stays tidy most people want their desk to stay cat-free as well. However, with this new line of kitty-shaped pencil stands you can have a whole team of organizational felines adorably holding everything in its proper place.
If there’s a menial task that takes up a substantial amount of time, you can bet Japan is developing a robot for it. So far we’ve seen gems like the 24-fingered hair-washing robot, the floor-cleaning bot and the robot that feeds you tomatoes while you run.
Now, a new generation of self-automated robotic assistance is set to make life easier for families in the very near future, with an amazing new machine that folds your laundry.
Adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers, are you up for a challenge? Soon you’ll have another record-breaking roller coaster to add to your list!
Universal Studios Japan has just announced details of its newest attraction: a roller coaster called The Flying Dinosaur, which promises to have the world’s longest track and the deepest drop ever for a flying coaster!
It’s time for another installment of “Beautiful Women Doing Ordinary Things.” These shots of a teacher at an all-boys school in Korea have been setting more than just her students’ hearts racing now that they’ve hit the internet.
Oh, Keanu, it’s so obvious by now that you’re a big ol’ Japanophile. In fact, Hollywood mega-star Mr. Reeves seems to be spending most of his time in Japan these days. There was the time he tried to be a regular tourist in Akihabara, despite being followed by crowds of adoring fans. And there was that time he flew all the way here just to meet his idol, Kumamon. We think Keanu should just move to Tokyo permanently!
Yep, everyone here loves Keanu, so much so that when he appeared on Japanese TV this week to promote his action movie John Wick (which is finally coming out in Japan this month) they surprised him with a special gift – a surprise appearance by Sonny Chiba, Japanese martial arts movie star and one of Keanu’s biggest influences!
They say that dogs are a man’s best friend; they’re companions that will protect you, comfort you and even do you the big favor of eating everything off your plate that you don’t want, no matter what it is. Some dogs will even go to the extreme…by being extremely lazy for you!
You might remember Japan’s Cocon, the adorable Shiba Inu that has a major problem getting up in the morning. She’s been working even less since we last saw her half-in and half-out of her bed. Luckily, she’s just as cute if not cuter in this new set of photos.
Get ready for some seriously lazy dog posing!
Since 2001, the Google Street View truck has been rolling through neighborhoods all over the world, taking photos of our towns and city streets in order add to its parent company’s enormous library of 3D street-level images. In the search for the perfect panoramic image, however, Google doesn’t always have time to wait around for the streets they’re mapping to clear, leading to the occasional unintentional photobomber.
Luckily, Google also has a pretty advanced facial technology recognition system, used to blur out the faces of those caught on camera as a way of protecting their privacy. The only caveat is that sometimes it works a little too well, and to hilarious results.
In these days of modern video games, people seem to be losing sight of what gaming is all about. In all the glitz and glamour of motion control and Hollywood actors lending their voices and likeness to games, it sometimes feels like we’ve forgotten that games are meant to be incredibly difficult, repetitive tasks performed for an arbitrary and intangible reward system of “points.”
This is incredibly valuable experience to prepare young minds for entering the workforce, but thanks to free-roaming environments and checkpoints-a-plenty, we’ve gone from a generation of Mr. Do!‘s to bunch of Mr. Don’t!‘s.
But this nine-year-old kid, whose art class project based on a classic arcade shooter is shown above, gets it. And mark my words, he will become the future leader of this nation.
Google’s self-driving cars have gone from being a quizzical project that only the geekiest of geeks cared about to a very real possible future. Of course, Google isn’t the only company making forays into automated transportation, so it’s hardly a surprise that Japanese companies are also working on such technology.
But where Google’s self-driving cars basically look like tiny adorable bugs, Japan’s Robot Taxi is looking to solve the various transportation issues facing Japan—both urban and rural—with one magic bullet. Will they be successful? We have no idea, but this touching commercial will definitely have you rooting for them!
It’s been 30 years since Studio Ghibli began producing the adorable characters, inspiring storylines and amazing animated scenes that we all know and love. The warmth of the animation house’s distinctive style has created worlds so captivating it’s almost as if our favourite characters might continue on their journey after the credits finish rolling to live in an alternate animated Ghibli universe alongside our own.
So what if there were a way to catch up with all our Ghibli friends to see how they’ve been getting along? Which stories would fans like to explore further, decades after they were originally created? If semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki ever needed a reason to come back to making movies full-time, he might like to consider the following list of five Ghibli sequels Japanese moviegoers would most like to see.
An energetic cat can sometimes seem less like a fuzzy animal and more like a spring bouncing wildly around the house. Fortunately, not every cat is so hyperactive, but there certainly plenty that are — and they love attention too! But nothing shows the dichotomy of excitable kitties and lazy cats like these tweets of one Twitter user’s adorable rescue cats.
From carrier pigeons to messages in bottles, there’s something uniquely appealing about using the forces of nature to carry a passage of prose between two human beings. With Japan’s long history of archery, messages once travelled through the air in the form of yabumi (lit. arrow text), a folded letter attached to an arrow that acted as a speedy delivery service between individuals or warring clans.
Sadly, the culture of yabumi dwindled and gradually disappeared as we moved slowly towards the world of much less dangerous (though sometimes just as impactful) emails and instant messaging. One traditional artisan is keeping the culture alive though, with a new letter set that contains everything you need to create your own yabumi, this time with adorable, user-friendly arrows.
Whenever we see something that’s cute, huge and blows our minds, we generally look to Japan as the source behind the creation. While they’ve proved they can be design innovators in oversized sushi, and the creation of fluffy giant cats, there’s one area where Japan has a lot to learn from other countries, and its something that exists around the country in abundance: power lines.
Often seen towering over rice fields, propped up on the side of mountains and jutting out beyond the high rises, wouldn’t it be significantly more amazing if the ordinary-looking transmission tower had the occasional smiley face or pair of gigantic arms like a colossal Titan? We take a look at some amazing electricity pylon designs from around the world, in the hope that one day, Japan will turn its keen design eye in their direction.
From an engineering standpoint, Japan’s famed Shinkansen is already a work of art. Recently, though, the country’s bullet trains have been putting a renewed effort into their appearance, taking inspiration from centuries-old tradition and science-fiction anime.
The latest Shinkansen to be unveiled, though, incorporates design cues more modern than tatami reed floors yet not as futuristic as giant robots. Instead, it’s envisioned as a travelling gallery of contemporary art, allowing for what operator East Japan Railways calls “the world’s fastest art appreciation.”
Even if you’re not a fan of baseball, you’ve probably heard of Ichiro Suzuki. He was a starter for the Seattle Mariners for a number of years before heading to New York to play for the Yankees and then to the Miami Marlins for the 2015 season. He’s broken a number of records, received dozens of awards and is widely known to be a charismatic and respectful player. Since his debut as a professional baseball player, he’s played almost exclusively in the outfield because of his wicked throwing arm.
As one of Japan’s most prolific baseball stars, the country and the Internet collectively lost its mind when Ichiro pitched one full inning on the last day of the Major League Baseball regular season.
Japanese inventions have a reputation for being incredibly awesome, incredibly bizarre, and, um, even more incredibly bizarre. And this latest creation is no exception: say hello to the chair-umbrella.
Ever needed a seat but all you had was a stupid, useless umbrella? Well never again! Just turn this amazing invention upside-down, open it up, sit on down, and prepare to be stared at and asked if you need to be taken to a hospital.
Have you heard of the LifeStraw? It’s a small water filter designed for one person that removes virtually all bacteria and parasites from unclean water. It has saved lives all over the world during natural disasters, helped areas with unclean drinking water, and even won awards for how effective it is.
But of course we had one question for the LifeStraw: can it make pee drinkable? If it’s truly such an amazing device, can it make drinkable water during the worst possible circumstances?
We put it to the test, so read on to see if a LifeStraw will need to be part of your zombie apocalypse kit.
Last February, we had the opportunity to combine our loves for Japanese food and ice cream when Häagen-Dazs released a line of ice cream topped by mochi rice cakes and flavored like traditional Japanese confectionaries. We got our hands on one flavor and were blown away by how amazing it tasted, and so was the rest of Japan.
Before long, the supplies of both flavors of mochi ice cream were exhausted, and the freezer sections of convenience stores and supermarkets across Japan has always looked a little lonelier in their absence. Now, though, Häagen-Dazs has announced that its kinako kuromitsu and mitarashi kurumi mochi ice creams, featuring roasted soybean flour, black sugar syrup, sweet soy glaze, and walnuts, are making a triumphant return.
Unlike in the U.S., legal adulthood in Japan doesn’t begin until the age of 20. But while that means an extra two years to enjoy the benefits and protection society affords to minors, everyone has to grow up sometime, and for one Japanese Twitter user the transition was especially abrupt.
On his 20th birthday as his parents presented him with a written notice congratulating him on graduating from childhood and celebrating his newfound freedoms, while spelling out exactly what they, and the world, now expected of him as an adult.
When we first met Marutaro the hedgehog last year, he was just about the cutest thing we’d seen in months. Now, over 12 months later, we have to say that’s still the case! And it looks like the adorable little spike ball is only getting more and more popular—popularity that we’d say is well deserved.
In case you haven’t been following Marutaro on Twitter, we’ve decided to round up a few of our new favorite photos and videos of the little guy being adorable, as well as some family photos. Get your fill of loveable cuteness below!
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Japanese government wants to acquire original anime and manga art for creation of national archive
Osaka zookeeper caught stealing chimpanzees’ food
KFC Genshin Impact fried chicken combo meals now on sale in Japan
Dragon Ball anime replaces Yamcha’s voice actor for first time in 38 years
Support Hayao Miyazaki’s real-world Totoro forest with hoodies featuring exclusive anime art
Japan voted Best Country in the world for second year in a row in Condé Nast Traveler poll
Starbucks Japan releases first flower drink in exclusive, hard-to-find chilled cup series
The official cosplay booth models of Tokyo Game Show 2024【Photos】
Animated video looks at 40 years of women’s fashions in Japan as Tokyo landmark gets set to close
Pizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited time
Right now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases new Totoro and Jiji blankets to keep you cosy this winter
Game over for Classic Mini Famicom and Super Famicom as Nintendo announces end of repairs
This Tokyo rice ball takes 20 years to make and 2,000 yen (US$14.30) to buy, but is it worth it?
Give yourself a Totoro belly with Studio Ghibli’s Marshmallow Haramaki belly wraps
Ultimate lazy sukiyaki – Can you make the king of Japanese hot pots in a rice cooker?【Taste test】
New Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
Japanese chanko ramen restaurant contains a moving relic from the World Trade Center
Japanese woman subdues convenience store thief with headlock, credits anime for technique
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Studio Ghibli lets you cosplay as Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle with cosy anime fashion range
New Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the set
Starbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
One of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing seasonPizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited timeRight now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
Matsushima restaurant offers all-you-can-eat sashimi in as many ways as you can dream it【Photos】
Super budget-friendly retro Tokyo hotel feels like having your own 1960s Asakusa apartmentNew Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Support Hayao Miyazaki’s real-world Totoro forest with hoodies featuring exclusive anime art
Japan voted Best Country in the world for second year in a row in Condé Nast Traveler poll
Starbucks Japan releases first flower drink in exclusive, hard-to-find chilled cup series
The official cosplay booth models of Tokyo Game Show 2024【Photos】
Animated video looks at 40 years of women’s fashions in Japan as Tokyo landmark gets set to close
Totoro and No-Face Okiagari Boshi figures are adorable reminders to never let life knock you down
Low price, free booze and curry, late check-out, and great location — Akihabara capsule hotel has it all
New Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
Rage against the smoothie machine with this 7-Eleven drink hack【Taste test】
Studio Ghibli releases new Totoro and Jiji blankets to keep you cosy this winter
Starbucks Japan releases a Chocolate Mousse Latte and seasonal desserts to celebrate autumn
Elementary school student’s “wish to become a smartphone” breaks Japanese internet’s heart