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Metal Gear movie finds scriptwriter, presumably prepared to write dialogue including “Snaaake!!!”

Casey Baseel
Apr 2, 2015
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For decades, the Metal Gear franchise has been teaching video game players to be patient. In contrast to other games, where the hero can just load up on firepower and go charging in with guns blazing, Metal Gear is all about staying hidden, carefully infiltrating enemy territory, and only striking when the time is right.

Fans have been putting that patience to use as the most popular branch of the franchise, Metal Gear Solid, keeps inching towards its long-discussed live-action film adaptation. The production seems to have finally hit another checkpoint, though, with reports that the movie now has a scriptwriter.

Singer Gackt claims he was victim of racial discrimination in Paris hotel, handled it with class

Evie Nyan
Apr 2, 2015

Singer, musician and occasional actor/author/jack of all trades Gackt has had a long and successful career on the Japanese music scene, and also enjoys considerable popularity abroad. During an overseas trip recently, he encountered an unsettling example of what he claims to be blatant racial discrimination in a Parisian hotel. But just what happened?

Sony chooses today to announce “PlayStation Flow” goggles, body sensors and post-swim dryer

Philip Kendall
Apr 1, 2015

Hot on the heels of its Project Morpheus virtual reality headset, Sony has announced a series of brand new gaming accessories that are sure to make a splash. Say hello to PlayStation Flow, a set of swimming goggles, arm and leg sensors, and even a full-body dryer.

These things almost seem too bizarre to be true…

Morioka Station’s sweet message to recent high school graduates causes passersby to tear up

Krista Rogers
Apr 1, 2015

As people in different parts of the world change their calendars to April at this very moment, the class of recently graduated Japanese high school students are getting ready to embark on their next journeys in life. For many of them, this time marks a major turning point as they move away from home and head to even bigger cities for college or careers.

The recent graduates in at least one Japanese city can take comfort in knowing that their community will be waiting patiently for their return home at vacation. The staff at Morioka Station in Iwate Prefecture recently left a heartfelt message inside the station wishing their local high school graduates the best of luck as they set out in life, and it seems that more than one passerby has teared up at the sight of it.

Never lose focus on April Fools’ Day, you never know who will surprise you next

KK Miller
Apr 1, 2015

There’s nothing like kicking back in a theater and watching the latest movie release. With so many new flicks coming out every month, it’s hard to choose the best ones. That’s why the humble movie poster is really handy. Every once in a while a poster will jump out at you and catch your attention. Maybe it features a sexy image, or it shows a cool movie star, either way, the movie it is advertising wins a small spot in your memory.

In the case of this movie, the studios are having a little bit of fun at your expense, however. Behold, Will Smith’s new movie, Focus, starring NOT Will Smith! Who could possibly pull off the swagger of the former Fresh Prince of Bel Air?

Tokyo, Osaka limited Gintama shops to sell limited edition merch for a limited time

Master Blaster
Apr 1, 2015

In honor of the return of historical-sci-fi-comedy anime Gintama to television screens across Japan, Namco announced the opening of three shops in Tokyo and Osaka starting on April 18.

The limited-time shops will be selling both limited Gintama merchandise as well as some super-limited items. Yes, it’s a collector’s dream and a civil-rights enthusiast’s nightmare as there are so many limitations to these stores you’d think you’d lost a few of your inalienable rights in the process!

Evangelion and Attack on Titan directors team up to create 2016 Godzilla movie

Scott Wilson
Apr 1, 2015

Do you like Evangelion? Do you like Attack on Titan?

Well then good news! It’s just been announced that the directors of both those movies, Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, are working on the upcoming 2016 Japanese Godzilla reboot film. With both of them having plenty of experience creating huge mechs and huge Titans, we can only expect that this Godzilla movie is going to be… well, huge!

Google knows you’re no April Fool, so they offer you Pac-Man playable in Google Maps

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 1, 2015

You may remember Google’s April Fools’ challenge last year, since it was pretty epic. If you missed it, Google came out with a game where you could search for Pokemon on the Google Maps app on your mobile device. It got rave reviews and it’s such a shame that it was only available for a limited time.

This year, Google is reaching out to a slightly older generation of video game lovers, letting us play Pac-Man on real streets of Google Maps!! Of course, being Google and April Fools’ Day, there is a catch, but more or less, you can transform neighborhoods into Pac-Man game screens.

KanColle? More like ManColle as real Japanese men parody anime opening 【Video】

KK Miller
Apr 1, 2015

If the Internet isn’t about showing off your own original skills and talent, then it’s for parodying what’s already well-known and liked. The constant stream of anime and games from Japan is a gold mine of parodies just waiting to be made.

The Kusarine Project has had an active YouTube channel since 2009 where they’ve taken some of the world’s favorite anime and video game openings and turned them into live-action works of “art”. Their 17th and newest cover tackles the KanColle opening, with their signature masked men taking on the role of the anthropomorphized battleships turned school girls. Were you expecting anything else?

Tokyo’s busiest train lines to get luxury “one-man” express pods by next April

Philip Kendall
Apr 1, 2015

Japan is well-known for its packed commuter trains. For decades, smartly dressed men and women have shuffled wordlessly into train cars each morning, all painfully aware that they will soon be getting up-close and personal with total strangers and have nowhere to run, hide, or even breathe freely until their stop. Glove-wearing station staff pack passengers in as tightly as they’ll go without them popping out the other side, each firm shove accompanied by a polite word or phrase thanking passengers for moving all the way inside the car or warning them to keep their various appendages clear of the (just barely) closing doors.

But earlier today, Japan was given a glimpse of a much more civilised, luxuriant commuting experience that may soon put an end to these sardine-can shenanigans. Better yet, this logistical revolution is coming soon: not twelve months from now, commuters will be able to zip into Tokyo in style, lying back in comfortable faux-leather chairs inside sleek, aerodynamic private pods that resemble something out of Minority Report.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the next generation of luxury travel, and its name is Kosoku.

Narita Airport attempts to woo international travellers with ‘Omotenashi’ welcome program

Fran W
Apr 1, 2015

‘Omotenashi’, the spirit of Japanese hospitality, became something of a buzzword at home and abroad when Christel Takigawa used the phrase in her speech to the International Olympic Committee in 2013.

And it’s in this spirit that Tokyo’s Narita airport plans to extend an especially warm welcome to international visitors this year, as it renews its Omotenashi Program of special offers and cultural events for transferring passengers.

Japanese start-up invents faucet gadget to reduce water usage by up to 95 percent

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 1, 2015

Although over 70 percent of the Earth is covered in water, over 96 percent of that is salty. As anyone who’s gotten a mouthful of ocean water knows, we can’t drink that, and bathing in it is a big no-no. So, we are dependent on the limited fresh water supply, 70 percent of which is used for agriculture. That doesn’t leave much for us, so water conservation has been a hot topic for years, especially in places like Southern California that are suffering from droughts.

Companies all over the world have been coming out with water-efficient faucets and toilets to help, but they have barely made a dent in mitigating the problem, that is, until one Japanese entrepreneur set their mind to the problem. In 2009, a Japanese start-up created a water-saving nozzle that is purported to reduce water usage by up to 95 percent. This could be a life-changing and world-changing invention.

I see dead Pikachus! Fashion magazine reader comes up with dark take on freebie Pokémon pouch

Casey Baseel
Apr 1, 2015

We’ve talked before about some of the cool extras that’ve come bundled with girls’ manga anthologies in Japan, but they’re not the only publications that dangle the offer of freebies to help drum up sales. In Japan, fashion magazines for adults also occasionally come with promotional items, such as day planners, scrunchies, or other goodies they think their readers might be interested in.

Women’s fashion magazine CanCam recently ran a special feature on Pokémon-related apparel and accessories, so the publishers thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to package the issue with a Pikachu-shaped fuzzy cloth pouch. To make it seem extra special, they decided to pass on his usual vibrant canary yellow and instead produce a chic monochrome version of the series mascot.

But “unique” doesn’t always mean “good,” at least according to one reader who came up with a morbid interpretation of Pikachu’s lack of color.

Otaku ears-New line of earphones is designed specifically for listening to anime songs with

Casey Baseel
Apr 1, 2015

For anime music fans, the appeal of the songs is more than just their connection to the shows they serve as anthems for. Over the years, anime songs have evolved into a genre in and of themselves, often employing fast, even frantic tempos and an even greater proportion of young female vocalists and electronic sounds than Japanese pop music in general.

So now that there are certain baselines the anime music scene has established for itself, it’s time for the hardware end of the musical experience to catch up, which is the promise made by these new sets of earphones specifically designed for listening to anime songs with.

What do you eat when you catch a cold? We asked 11 of our Japanese reporters

Krista Rogers
Apr 1, 2015

The answer to the question “What do you eat when you catch a cold?” is probably different depending on where you live in the world. For me, nursing a cold conjures up images of sitting in bed wrapped in blankets and sipping chicken noodle soup.

But we were curious to know which foods and other remedies are commonly consumed in Japan when someone gets sick, so we asked 11 of our colleagues over at the Japanese edition of RocketNews24 and our sister site Pouch to share what they eat when the sniffles start creeping up on them. Think you can guess how they answered? Some of their responses might surprise you!

Aussie/Kiwi ATMs come out of the closet as fabulous GayTMs

Jessica
Mar 31, 2015

It’s nice when something invisibly quotidian is tweaked in a way that grabs your full attention. Previously we’ve talked about slightly altered street signs and artistic renderings of subway maps, and now the humble cash machine gets an eye-grabbing makeover in the interest of LGBTQ inclusivity.

Monjayaki, the popular Tokyo dish you’ve probably never heard of 【RocketKitchen】

Amy Chavez
Mar 30, 2015

When people think of Japanese food, most think of sushi, sashimi or even some of the more popular Japanese comfort foods like okonomiyaki or udon noodles. If you’re a tourist, however, you’ve likely never experienced one of Tokyo’s most popular dishes: monjayaki. But don’t feel bad; even some Japanese people who don’t live in the Tokyo metropolitan area (75 percent of the population) have never tasted it. This is one reason why Tsukishima Monjadori, a street with over 100 monjayaki restaurants, ranks in the top five sight-seeing spots in the capital for Japanese tourists (FYI, the other four are Harajuku, Tokyo Disneyland, Odaiba and Tusukiji Fish Market).

Monjayaki is simple but complicated: it has just a few easy ingredients and can be made in under three minutes yet it requires instructions to make, and even eat, properly. It helps to know, for example, that monja is not usually eaten with chopsticks, and that there’s a good reason why.

Read on to learn more about this unexpectedly delicious fare: watch a how-to video showing you how to make it, check out photos that show you how to eat it, and get tips from a master monjayaki chef.

We sample blue Drift Ice Curry from the India of the Okhotsk Sea

Master Blaster
Mar 30, 2015

Earlier this month our reporter Mr. Sato paid a visit to the northern land of Hokkaido and their Adashiri Prison Museum. There he sampled of their pickles and prison beer but also found a bevy of other souvenirs for the region.

One item in particular stood out among those various trinkets and snacks. Its name is Drift Ice Curry and it was inspired by the tranquil beauty of ice that flows through the Okhotsk Sea from mid-February to early March. It’s a phenomenon that’s you’d probably least expect be depicted in a curry, which is exactly why Mr. Sato had to try it.

New Sailor Moon cafe in Tokyo has live public anime viewing and themed food and drinks

Kay
Mar 30, 2015

Last year, we brought to you all the excitement surrounding the broadcast of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime, coming some 22 years after the original series it rebooted was released. The new anime has so far been streaming on Japanese video sharing site Niconico, but starting April 6, Sailor Moon Crystal will finally air on Japanese TV.

To commemorate the TV broadcast of the new anime, a Sailor Moon themed cafe will appear for a limited time at the Anion Station, a unique cafe and bar located in Shinjuku that caters to fans of anime songs. For one month, the Sailor Moon cafe will be offering special treats and drinks inspired by the anime, as well as live public viewing of the TV broadcast. Now, that’s bound to attract some ardent Sailor Moon devotees!