Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Calling all movie-goers, animation fans and literature enthusiasts! It’s not often that we get the chance to pique the interest of individuals from these three groups all at the same time, but the animated version of The Little Prince, one of the most famed pieces of French literature of our time, is set to hit the big screens in the later half of this year! If you haven’t already seen the trailer, read on and get ready to be mesmerized!
Obviously, if you love sushi, Tokyo is probably your number one foodie vacation destination, but Tokyo is a big place! There are plenty of excellent sushi restaurants–and plenty of great ones at that. But for seriously fresh sushi, there might be no better place than right off the boat.
And if you want sushi right off the boat, you’ll want to head to Tsukiji-shijo, also known as Tsukiji Fish Market, the “biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world.” While that might sound a bit daunting, worry not! Today, we’re going to visit four Tsukiji-shijo sushi restaurants with none other than our very own Mr. Sato!
Over the past few months, there’s been a string of stage adaptations of hit anime and manga announced. But while we’re sure plenty of fans are psyched about the upcoming Naruto play and One Piece kabuki performance, fans of girls’ comics, or anime series with fewer than 600 episodes to wade through, might be feeling a little left out.
Luckily for them, there’s a more female-oriented, reasonably concise franchise about to become live performance theater, with the opening in March of a stage version of the Mysterious Play, or as it’s better known, Fushigi Yugi.
Aside from the costumed characters and colorful parades, one of the things that makes Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea so popular is the stellar customer service they offer. Even in a country where service is almost universally prompt and polite, the Tokyo Disney Resort goes above and beyond the norm in providing an unrivaled level of hospitality to guests.
As a matter of fact, Tokyo Disney Resort employees are so dedicated that not only will they make sure you enjoy yourself during your stay, they’ll even help ensure you have a safe trip home, as one park attendee recently found out when the parking lot staff performed a spot check of her car and alerted her to a potential safety hazard.
When it comes to food, I’ve always placed a higher emphasis on texture rather than the actual taste of it. While I love peanut butter or finely chopped almonds, for example, the nuts themselves in their natural form usually make me gag.
So it was with great excitement that I learned about ChocolaTexture, which is a range of nine chocolates all using the exact same recipe but crafted in different shapes and textures. As a result each chocolate is said to have a distinct “taste” despite being made from the exact same ingredients.
The folks from YouTube channel TMD Shanghai are back with yet another quirky observational video about life in China. After nailing the differences between girls in the north and those in the south and mercilessly sending up both single white and Chinese men, this time they’re here to talk about what it’s like to be black in China with a video titled, well, Being Black in China.
Japanese homes are notorious for being poorly insulated, in the wintertime often leaving you feeling just as cold indoors as you do outside.
Despite having permanent fur coats (lucky them!) our pets can still feel the chill and will do what they can to stay cozy. We’ve already shown you cats and space heaters, and dogs in kotatsu, but now we bring you some adorable hamsters in sleeves.
MOVIE LIFE KYOTO is a video series which aims to introduce Japanese culture to foreigners in a light-hearted and humorous fashion. With English narration and Japanese subtitles, they’re filled with little factoids and hilariously on-point observations that will be of interest to foreign visitors and a source of much ‘that’s so true!’ amusement for Japanese people, too!
While Islam is practiced worldwide, many of us tend to only think of the Muslims in the Middle East, looking past those in Southeast Asia. However, with over 87% of its people identifying as Muslim, Indonesia actually has the largest population of Muslims in the world.
The young adult Muslim culture in Indonesia is not that much different from youth culture anywhere else in the world these days: everyone has smartphones and, like them or not, selfies are the norm. A previously celebrated young Muslim cleric, however, has recently proclaimed that the act of taking a selfie is a sin – a claim which many young Muslims in Indonesia have taken great offense to.
How did they respond to the condemnation of their smartphone snaps? By taking even more selfies than ever before.
Ever since her 2009 debut, debates have been swirling around video game character Bayonetta. Was her first, eponymous outing really worth the perfect score it got from notoriously strict video game magazine Famitsu? Is the character’s constantly provocative flaunting of her sexual and violent leanings empowering the character or pandering to juvenile gamers? Was making the sequel exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii U a wise choice? And does the gun-toting witch look better with her original beehive, or the shorter pixie cut she sports these days?
Just in case you’ve already decided which side of those discussions you’re on, here’s one more question to find your own personal answer to: Do you want to buy Bayonetta’s earrings?
The legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki and the Studio Ghibli films have amassed a huge following from an incredibly diverse and very loyal fan base (some more than others) around the world. Famed Italian jazz pianist Giovanni Mirabassi is one such fan and tapped into his inner Miyazaki fanboy to release an album last week featuring jazz covers of 10 popular songs from Studio Ghibli films as well as other classic Japanese anime like Cowboy Bebop and Lupin III. The album, named after the French title of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, is Mirabassi’s homage to Japanese anime and a beautiful take on the iconic songs.
Japanese animation studio Nippon Animation is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by releasing a theatrical film titled Sinbad: The Flying Princess and the Mysterious Island (シンドバッド 空とぶ姫と秘密の島). The studio has recently confirmed a release date of July for the film at movie theaters across Japan.
Want to know more about the upcoming movie, which is being backed by a team of some of the most illustrious names in the Japanese animation industry? We’ve got all the inside info, right after the jump!
San Francisco design agency Pictogram has reimagined several Pokemon as corporate logos, joking that “since the Pokémon Corporate Personhood Act of 2015, as spearheaded by Professor OAK, Pokémon became free to start their own companies, mandating the design of Pokémon brand identities.”
Here are some of our favorites:
Fans of Naruto, the hit manga series that graced the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine every week, were dealt a heavy blow back in November 2014 when the epic series ended after 15 years.
While they may have closed the book on the manga series, thankfully it’s not the last chapter in the Naruto franchise, as all our favourite characters will be returning, this time on stage in a live action spectacular set to tour Japan from 21 March 2015.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…an enormous franchise was born, and with it a clearly ludicrous amount of merchandise. Perhaps the most coveted kinds of “merch” were the Star Wars toys. Thousands of figures and collectibles were made for children, although, many were snapped up by teen and adult fans. The smartest of whom would keep them in their original packaging to preserve their mint condition and value. But what good is a toy if you can’t play with it?
With a Star Wars new movie heading to cinema screens in December 2015, hundreds of new toys will be hitting the market. Just like before, the toys are aimed, at least partly, at children, but that won’t stop the grown-up fans from wanting them too.
The key difference between being an idol singer and a pop diva is warmth. Even if you’ve got perfect pitch and unshakable rhythm, if you want to succeed as an idol, you still need a heart-melting smile. Really, as long as you’ve got the smile, idol fans will even cut you a lot of slack on not having the other two.
So it’s a little unusual to gaze upon this trio of anime idols and feel a chill run down your spine, and not just because they’re made of snow.
When Sony released a special 20th Anniversary edition of the PlayStation 4, online pre-order slots were filled in minutes. Limited to a run of 12,300 consoles, gamers had to move quickly to secure a piece of gaming history.
The one thing missing from the December 2014 release, however, was the most important and prized possession of all: console number 00001/12300. That particular machine made its grand appearance at an online auction last weekend and sold for a price that is, frankly, jaw-dropping.
While adults visiting the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo may have fun reliving their childhood memories, there’s no doubt that the majority of the exhibits are geared towards the younger crowd. But did you know that the museum’s cafe offers a special something that only the grown-ups can enjoy?
We’ve got all the inside info about the cafe’s “Valley of the Wind” beer–a perfect treat for anyone who loves both beer and Ghibli!
With famously low crime rates and an honest society that returns wallets full of cash, Japanese cops usually have it a bit easier than their overseas counterparts. But while they may have some extra time on their hands, Japanese police officers still are put in the line of danger catching the bad guys and keeping Japan safe.
One cop in Saitama Prefecture was reminded of this reality when he was got banged up pretty badly and broke his expensive Rolex watch a couple of years ago while pursuing a man suspected of exposing himself to a young girl. This cop shocked his colleagues and the public last week when Japanese media reported that, after arresting the suspect, the police officer took the man to court and sued for him for damages including more than 700,000 yen (US$5,949) to repair the watch!
Sixteen-year-old Yap Hanzhen of Malaysia apparently suffered through a childhood in which even the most simple of communications was difficult. Hanzhen’s parents say he barely spoke through most of his adolescence.
Like many children who display difficulties communicating during early development, Yap turned out to have a form of autism – a fact that his parents struggled to convince doctors and child psychologists, who were apparently quick to presume simple bad parenting as the source of young Yap’s speech difficulties.
In taking the special needs care of their young son into their own hands, Yap’s parents gave him a sketch book and pencil to help him associate thumbnail drawings with words for everyday objects, inadvertently nurturing a latent talent that would eventually see Yap touring the world, showing off his extraordinary drawings.
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Harajuku Station’s beautiful old wooden building is set to return, with a new complex around it
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Sandwiches fit for a sumo served up in Osaka【Taste Test】
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Starbucks Japan releases new mugs and gifts for Mother’s Day
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo to KyotoRed light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Studio Ghibli glasses cases let anime characters keep an eye on your spectacles
Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center
Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour TotoroJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
New Japanese KitKat flavour stars Sanrio characters, including Hello KittyAll-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutionsMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
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
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Sandwiches fit for a sumo served up in Osaka【Taste Test】
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Starbucks Japan releases new mugs and gifts for Mother’s Day
Science Breakthrough! Japanese Engineers Develop Lunch That Cooks Itself
Kyoto may be getting more modern, tall buildings as city relaxes development limits
Japan’s massive matcha parfait weighs 6 kilos, contains hidden surprises for anyone who eats it
It’s like the samurai era never ended at this beautiful Japanese mountain town
Turn a persimmon into a pudding with one simple ingredient
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
We try some chicken ramen-flavored ice cream at Chikira-House in Osaka
Meet Hololive’s brand new adorable VTubers, designed to win you over with English
Gyoza ramen! Two of Japan’s best comfort foods in one bowl at innovative restaurant【Taste test】