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The 6 volcanoes most likely to destroy, like, everything (guess which country has the most)

Mike
Jan 21, 2015
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If volcanoes were comic or fantasy villains, they’d be more akin to Marvel’s cosmic entities or Lovecraftian horrors than the puny likes of Magneto or, uh… The Slug (I don’t know many Marvel villains). They strike only every few thousand years before slipping back into a long slumber, lurking for centuries as humanity slowly forgets the horrors they can inflict, inching closer to the looming mountains with each passing year, setting up cities at their very feet. Then, when mankind least expects it – just chillin’ ‘n shit as Dave Chappelle might say – the volcano strikes again, blasting molten rock and ash over miles and miles, smothering out whole cities in the (cosmically speaking) blink of an eye.

Yet, even as we know intellectually that volcanoes are kind of a big deal, we tend to look up at them less with abject horror and awe and more with shouts of, “Hey, check out that big-ass rock!”

Well people, we’ve got news for you: There are at least six big-ass rocks capable of blotting out not just entire cities, but entire civilizations and possibly humanity itself and you’ll never guess which disaster-prone island nation has the most.

“There’s a cat in the window”: A giant compilation of the cutest peeping Toms you’ll ever see

Krista Rogers
Jan 21, 2015

Have you ever had the experience of pulling back your curtains, only to be met by a pair of luminous, unblinking eyes from the outside?

If you have, you’ll be able to sympathize with the following Japanese Twitter users who glanced up at their windows and happened to see one or more furry feline visitors staring back. Either way, you’re sure to enjoy this compilation of (the good kind of) peeping Toms!

Frozen’s Anna is pregnant and needs a C-section…but don’t worry, there’s an app for that

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 21, 2015

Have you ever wondered what happened to Anna after the Disney movie Frozen ended? Well, according to one iPhone app maker, Anna married her new beau Kristoff and immediately got pregnant. She’s nine months in and in need of a C-section. But who will perform the surgery?! You will, with this silly new app available on the Apple app store.

Daiso wine, the super cheap vino from Japan’s largest chain of 100-yen stores 【Taste test】

Casey Baseel
Jan 21, 2015

If you’ve had the pleasure of shopping at Daiso, you know Japan’s biggest chain of 100-yen stores sells just about everything. An array of kitchenware, school and office supplies, and even basic articles of clothing such as underwear, neckties, and belts can all be yours for just 100 yen (US$0.84) each.

Daiso even sells food and beverages, with seasonings, snacks, and soft drinks lining the shelves. This is common knowledge among thrifty shoppers looking for a cheap place to stock up on snacks, but if you’re searching for something stiffer than a bottle of tea or cola, a trip to the convenience or liquor store is still in order, right?

Not necessarily, as we recently discovered that some Daiso branches now sell wine. As big of a surprise as that was, we were in for an even bigger one once we poured ourselves a glass, because it’s actually pretty good.

A visit to Sushi Dai, Japan’s best sushi restaurant according to world travelers

Casey Baseel
Jan 21, 2015

A portion of Tokyo’s world-famous Tsukiji Fish Market is expected to move to the Toyosu neighborhood in 2016. While part of the retail market and many restaurants will be sticking around, the upcoming relocation of the wholesale operations makes 2015 the last full year to enjoy Tsukiji as the absolute center of the sushi world.

In other words, if you’re looking to make a trip to the area to see it at its peak, now’s the time. And while there’s always something to be said for discovering a largely unknown restaurant with delicious food, on our Japanese-language correspondent Nakano’s visit to Tsukiji, he decided to dine at what travelers have voted the best sushi restaurant in Japan, Sushi Dai.

Edo era Samurai were pretty gay

Master Blaster
Jan 21, 2015

Recently a Japanese TV program highlighted an interesting bit of historical trivia: The most common type of revenge killing in the Edo period was between gay lovers. It’s a statistic that shocked many viewers in modern Japan, but there is ample evidence to support that a whole lot of gay sex was going on in the country from between 1400 and 1900.

It was at first a playful fancy of the ruling classes but then grew into a cold yet efficiently run military system of battlefield man-pleasuring. However, as we can see from the previously mentioned little factoid, once guys start letting emotions get involved, the whole thing starts to fall apart.

Baseball players like Frozen too: “Let It Go” chosen for Spring Koshien baseball tournament

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 21, 2015

That’s it, we’ve seen it all now! The lead song, “Let It Go!” from Disney’s Frozen has really taken over Japan now (in case you weren’t already 100 percent positive that it had)! We already knew that it was the only song to breach the top 20 karaoke list for all age groups in 2014, it was translated into regional Japanese dialects, and even an NPO used it to advertise a serious cause. But the latest news about Japan’s beloved “Let It Go~ Arino mamade” might surprise you; the song was chosen for the opening ceremony of the 87th annual “Spring Koshien” high school baseball tournament.

Japanese convenience store FamilyMart inadvertently gives away pearl in pack of seafood snacks

Casey Baseel
Jan 21, 2015

In a lot of ways, convenience stores in Japan are more like miniature supermarkets. So while they still sell a lot of the candy and canned beverages their counterparts in other countries specialize in, you can also find plenty of edible, even gourmet-sounding food.

For example, the chain FamilyMart sells pouches of fried scallop meat, specifically the mantle, or part of the animal that attaches it to its shell. There’s a certain level of risk that comes with eating any mass-produced foodstuff, though, as one customer found out when he found what he felt was a foreign object in his pack of marine mollusks. And while generally the only thing you want to find in your food is, well, food, we suppose if we had to find something else mixed in there, we’d want what he discovered hiding in his snack: a pearl.

Mari-chan the sensational Shiba Inu actress is back and cute as ever

Scott Wilson
Jan 21, 2015

Mari-chan might be “the meanest dog in Japan,” but we still can’t help but love her. We’ve seen her before “helping” her master study by spraying him with water, comically refusing his desperate advances for doggie kisses, and even going so far as to nonchalantly knock away his crutches and life preserver rope.

But now Mari-chan has decided to move on: she’s gotten a real job, as a construction worker. Her latest YouTube video shows her first ten days as the newbie at work, learning the ropes and causing plenty of adorable mischief.

It sounds like HTC’s new phone is going to have an incredible camera

BUSINESS INSIDER
Jan 21, 2015

HTC is planning to announce a new smartphone and smartwatch at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona on March 1, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Expat’s video says “Welcome to My Japan,” and you ought to take him up on the awesome invitation

Casey Baseel
Jan 21, 2015

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who moved to Japan and stayed for exactly two years. Most of the study and work opportunities that initially bring people here are 12-month programs, and while plenty of people decide that’s enough Japan for them, most people who manage to adapt and thrive during that first year reup for an even longer stay.

One such example is Canadian Thomas Simmons, who’s now been in Japan for four and a half years and counting. Given the country’s relatively small geographic size, you might think that’s enough time to see everything, but as the powerful video Simmons created about his experiences so far shows, he’s just getting started with his life in Japan.

Second Sailor Moon stage musical’s ‘Ai no Starshine’ song shown in video

Anime News Network
Jan 21, 2015

The official Sailor Moon YouTube channel began streaming a clip from the musical Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Petite Étrangère. The clip features the main cast singing the song, “Ai no Starshine” (Starshine of Love.)

Eyelashes run amok as folks in Japan have too much fun with their falsies【Photos】

Megumi Matsuki
Jan 21, 2015

Whether you love ‘em or hate ’em, false eyelashes have become a mainstay of the Japanese makeup arsenal and are readily available in a fluttery profusion of designs at every drugstore and hundred-yen shop. One survey from 2012 revealed that 58 percent of teenage girls and 74 percent of women in their twenties have used them, some relying on their magic daily rather than reserving them for special occasions.

They became the sole subject of a chart-topping single by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, have been turned into alluring decorations that anthropomorphize your car, and even became a way to have harmless fun with your pet! But what do you do when you have so many falsies that you run out of storage space or are just too darn lazy to put them away properly? Attach them to cute plushies and manly figurines, of course! So even if your Sasuke isn’t asking to channel Elvis and his fringes, this chuckle-inducing photo collection may give you some ideas for the next time you party too hard and can’t be bothered with those pesky plastic cases.

Kobe beef burgers coming to Japanese fast food chain Lotteria

Casey Baseel
Jan 21, 2015

It’s kind of ironic that the hamburger gets saddled with a stigma as the lowest rung of entrées. Sure, it’s a staple of cheap, low-quality fast food chains, but it’s also beef, the highest form of our three most commonly eaten meats, and as such deserves a certain measure of respect.

That goes double for the newest hamburger from Japanese hamburger chain Lotteria, since it’s made with the most respected beef of all: Kobe beef.

Fear of food produced in China continues as new report claims at least 48% of it will make you sick

Evie Nyan
Jan 21, 2015

When we think of Chinese food in the West, we usually picture boxes of delicious takeout that are perfect for a mid-movie marathon feeding frenzy, and even better for breakfast the next day. Sure, over-consumption might lead to intense MSG-related headaches and general feelings of bloatedness and guilt, but in general we don’t really think of Chinese food as something that’s likely to kill us. But then again, maybe it’s because we don’t import tons of frozen foodstuffs from China like they do in Japan, where fear of Chinese-produced food is an ever-present topic that regularly pops up to scare the beejeezus out of people and ruin their enjoyment of chicken nuggets forever.

But is there anything to fear, or have people just got their knickers in a twist over nothing? Well, a shocking new report claims that up to 48 percent of ALL the food China produces for export contains stuff that’s almost guaranteed to make you sick. Yikes.

Islamic State militants demand $200m for release of Japanese nationals, threaten their execution

Philip Kendall
Jan 20, 2015

A video purported to have been made by Islamic State militants showing a man dressed in black standing over two Japanese hostages has been released online. The video addresses both the Japanese government and Japanese public directly and demands a ransom of US$200 million, to be paid in less than 72 hours.

Buddha vs Eva, Ultraman, Gundam and Lady Liberty: How the otherworldly measure up

Oona McGee
Jan 20, 2015

If you’re a fan of mecha anime, you’ll know all about towering robots and the impressive displays of power they show during large-scale, epic battles. One of the titans of the mecha world, Gundam, is so revered in Japan he’s been recreated to scale and stands looking out over Tokyo Bay, wowing crowds with his strength and height.

Gundam might not be so happy, however, to learn that a picture doing the rounds on the internet is making him look tiny when compared with his peaceful brother from another otherworldly realm. To be fair though, not much can compete with Ushiku Daibutsu, the tallest Buddha statue in the world, who lives just a 90-minute train ride from Narita Station.

Get some Nintendo on your Sony with these PS4 skins (Oh, and they have an Evangelion one too!)

Philip Kendall
Jan 20, 2015

As odd a concept as it may sound to some, had the 1991 deal between Nintendo and Sony gone off without a hitch, not only might the PlayStation brand as we know it today not even exist, but gamers the world over might be able to play titles like Super Mario 3D World and Wii Sports on Sony-made hardware. Instead, with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all vying for our hard-earned cash, console gamers are faced with a choice: choose a platform to invest in or live on nothing but baked beans for a year and buy them all.

If you’re a Sony fan and have already picked up a PS4, no doubt you’re as pleased with your purchase as we were with ours. But there’s no denying that Nintendo’s creations have a certain appeal to them, and few of Sony’s first-party characters could ever compete with Mario et al. Thankfully, third-party retailer LUCKY D has you – and your PlayStation – covered, as they’re selling sticker skins for PlayStation 4 featuring everything from Pikachu to Evangelion‘s Asuka.

Japan’s Kawakami Dogs: Descended from wolves, adorable as puppies 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Jan 20, 2015

Many animal lovers are already familiar with Akita Inu and Shiba Inu, Japan’s two most prominent breeds of dog. But while they’re both popular choices as pets, there’s another special type of pooch in Japan, the Kawakami Inu.

Extremely rare, the Kawakami Inu are said to be descended from Japanese wolves. And while they have the courage you’d expect from such lineage, that doesn’t mean they’re not also adorable as puppies.

RocketNews24 reporting from America…n World shopping complex in Iwate Prefecture

Master Blaster
Jan 20, 2015

Tired of being called “uncultured” by those around them, our reporters Mr. Sato and Yoshio made a road trip to Iwate Prefecture and all of its historical sites such as the Chusonji Golden Hall and Kenji Miyazawa Fairy Tale Village. It was the perfect place to learn more about Japan’s rich cultural heritage.

However, as they drove along Route 4 heading for the over-900-year-old Morioka Hachiman Shrine, something unusual caught Mr. Sato’s eye. “It’s a big red Ferris wheel!” he shouted, immediately forgetting about the site where Emperor Ojin’s spirit is enshrined.

Grabbing Yoshio’s arm, he forced the car to an off ramp and closer to the Ferris wheel, which they would soon learn was not just any old wheel, it was the American World Ferris wheel!