Recently, we’ve been seeing what appear to be cracks in Nintendo’s outer image as a smiley, pure-hearted, “I’m OK, you’re OK” kind of company. First, we saw that the company’s official Line account is still holding a grudge against Sony for the industry-changing success of its PlayStation console. Now, some fans have found that their new figures of presumable nice guys Mario and Luigi reveal the Nintendo stars to be smirking, gloating jerks.
As one of the most enduringly popular anime franchises aimed at women, Sailor Moon has a huge variety of official jewelry and accessories that fans can adorn themselves with. The complete lineup is so large that some dedicated collectors might even need a way to keep it all organized, and what better way to do so than with a gorgeous accessory stand based on the series’ palatial Moon Castle?
While each new installment of the Pokémon franchise introduces a new batch of charismatic Pocket Monsters, the original adorable combatants have been faithfully serving their Pokémon Masters for close to 20 years now. We’re sure a couple of long-time fans have formed a special bond with their first Pokémon, and you can now proudly display a symbol of your devotion with these silver and gold necklaces featuring the old-school grass, fire, and water Pokémon (and of course Pikachu too).
While Japan is famous for its animation, food, pop-culture, it’s also infamous for its extremely high suicide rates. Many Japanese students and salarymen succumb to the pressures of school and work by taking their own lives. There is little knowledge about what factors increase the risk of suicide, but recent research has found that people, namely adolescents, born between January 1 and April 1, are 30 percent more likely to commit suicide.
One of the oddest and yet most popular idols in Japan is the Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku. She sings, she dances, and fans think of her more as a living, breathing person than the virtual reality project that she is. She makes a ton of money from her live concerts and merchandise and her only real competition is her other female Vocaloid friends.
But perhaps that is about to change, as a new duo of virtual reality idols hit the Internet today, launching their careers with a preview of their upcoming single along with their sultry computer-generated good looks. Introducing Kazuto and Ray from the group Eight of Triangle!
Even 18 years after its initial publication, One Piece continues to enjoy unprecedented popularity around the world, no doubt thanks to the grueling efforts of series’ creator Eiichiro Oda. Since July, fans have been waiting with bated breath after new details emerged regarding a kabuki stage version of the beloved franchise, but that wait is now over–October 7 marked the opening performance of the play, and we’ve finally been treated to some pictures of the cast!
Since Toyota revealed details of its concept S-FR, set to make its first appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, people in Japan have been picking their jaws up off the floor—but it’s got nothing to do with the car’s impressive specs or surprisingly low price point.
You see, the compact sports car looks astonishingly like Pikachu, the bright yellow electric rodent from the popular anime franchise Pokémon. And what’s even more surprising is that few people in the mainstream media are daring to comment on the astounding likeness.
It seems that there is nothing you can’t create within Minecraft. For the uninitiated, Minecraft is a video game where players create things out of blocks in a 3D cube world. It is self-described on the game’s website as “a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things.” One genius player has gone to the extreme by recreating the video game Pokémon Red within Minecraft. It doesn’t get any meta than that.
Winning a Nobel Prize is a pretty big deal, to put it lightly. Many people would even say that it is the most prestigious award out there. Knowing that, no one would ever call a Nobel Prize a nuisance, right? Well…
Haruki Murakami, one of the most famous authors to come out of Japan, is not really interested in winning a Nobel Prize and actually kind of wishes people would stop nominating him.
When performing surgery on a patient, the ideal thing is to sedate them and complete the operation while they are lying still on the table. Unfortunately, there are situations where putting them under is out of the question. When young infants requires surgery, you often can’t fully anesthetize them because their bodies can’t handle it, which means the patient will often be awake or reacting to stimulus during the process.
When a baby was screaming during an operation in China, a nurse stepped in to calm the child down by breastfeeding the patient during surgery. The surgery was completed successfully and the father gave the nurse the nickname “Angel Nurse“. Join us for more details after the jump.
For one special little crane who thought he was destined for greater things than gathering dust on someone’s desk, dreams really can come true. The intricately folded origami bird proved that the sky’s the limit when it comes to development in Japan, as he was released to an enthralled audience of onlookers in Tokyo this week.
So how did the impossible become possible? We take a look at the video of the beautiful bird in flight and the team that gave him functional wings after the break.
When you think of “cool Japan,” it’s hard to overlook ninjas, those stealthy spies and assassins with more tricks up their sleeve than a magician in a parka. And yet it seems these timeless icons of Japanese culture have largely been overlooked by the national government’s Cool Japan in favor of AKB48 spin-offs and abacuses.
So instead, a band of 11 Japanese governors and mayors have assembled to create the Japan Ninja Council (JNC) with the sole aim of reminding everyone how cool ninjas are. Having officially launched on 9 October they aim to collect every bit of information on ninjas, including their history and culture, and provide it to anyone who wants to learn more about these elusive figures.
Thanks to Japan Rail West, we will soon be able to ride a Shinkansen train modeled after Shinji Ikari’s Evangelion unit. Details have been flowing in about the train itself, but what about the stations that will be receiving this special train? The most appropriate thing would be for Hakata Station or Shin-Osaka Station to redecorate itself to look like Neo Tokyo-3, but the futuristic decor might not be for everyone. Instead, Hakata Station will be opening two Evangelion-themed stores in order to fill all our needs for special Evangelion eats and goods!
How many times has a woman made sushi for you at a sushi bar in Japan? If you answered ‘never’, you’re certainly not alone as the world of sushi is one that’s traditionally been dominated by men. While a number of female sushi chefs are working hard to change societal norms and stereotypes, there’s one special restaurant in Akihabara that’s taking things even further, with a sushi bar staffed entirely by women. From purchasing ingredients to preparing fish and making sushi, these ladies are looking to challenge the male-dominated profession, and they’re doing it all while dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.
Here in Japan, people are just as excited about the new Star Wars movie coming out in December as the rest of the world. (Yes, this writer is all geared up to go see Episode VII in warm and comfy Darth Vader UGG boots come December.) People are so excited, in fact, that Kirin is releasing two Star Wars-themed carbonated drinks next month! Star Wars fans in Japan will be delighted to hear that the major Japanese beverage manufacturer is collaborating with the movie franchise in releasing the “Kirin Mets Red Force” and “Kirin Mets Blue Force” on November 10, and we think the concept behind the drinks is actually quite cool!
The bakeneko (“monstrous cat”) is but one of the many, many yokai of Japanese folklore. For centuries, Japanese people suspected that cats held mystical powers – due, it appears, both to cats’ aloof behavior and to the animals’ yokai-like physical features, such as their slit eyes and ability to move around silently. Even today, some elderly Japanese folks still harbor superstitions about cats.
One ability of the bakeneko, legend has it, is the ability to walk around on two legs (which we’ve actually seen demonstrated in real-life), which makes the yokai a fairly easy choice for cosplay. In fact, there’s a whole festival dedicated to bakeneko celebration and cosplay! And, before you ask, yes, of course we’re going to it.
It’s no secret that in Japan selling the fantasy of an anime or video game sweetheart is big business. But is everyone with a 2-D crush simply a lonely soul using the fictional character as a substitute for a lack of real-world interaction with the opposite sex, or do some people just prefer having a virtual romantic prospect? One Japanese technology company is aiming to find out, using the power of science.
When you think Pokémon, you tend to think cutesy creatures fist-fighting and zapping each other with lightning until one of the creatures is “knocked out.” Also, you may think of widespread, real-world epileptic seizures and perhaps the moral complications of a world in which the local fauna are pitted against each other in fighting leagues, used as slave labor and also happily eaten, despite their astonishing intelligence, but maybe that’s a story for another day.
What you probably don’t associate with the series is a devastating intercultural war that has wiped out nearly the entire adult population, yet there appears to be some rather compelling evidence that that’s exactly what happened in the Pokémon world directly before the adventures of the first game…
Are you looking for the perfect novelty gift for that special someone who already has everything? Do you hate getting corn stuck in your teeth? Then you’ll be glad to know that the Corn Peeler might just be the item you’ve been looking for, and it just might revolutionise the way you eat corn.
Our Japanese reporter Ahiruneko is an admitted gari (pickled ginger) maniac. Whenever he goes into a sushi restaurant he’s sure to polish off as much of the pink sweet and sour flakes as he does actual sushi. Yes, for Ahiruneko, sushi just wouldn’t be sushi without gari.
But one day he heard some troubling news. Word had it that Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Russia were selling a chicken sandwich topped with gari. “What are the Russians thinking?!” thought our reporter as he set out in search of these mythical creations…
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