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Looking for a new hobby? Find out how “attractive” your new pastime will be to Japanese women

A kind Japanese netizen has compiled a list of hobbies based on their respective difficulty and how much they would appeal to women for the benefit of all mankind. We felt you might appreciate the info, so decided to share with you the kind of hobbies that are considered attractive to Japanese women (at least according to the creator of this chart!), as well as those that not only require a lot of time and effort but may in fact be a big turn-off for some.

If you’re looking for a Japanese girlfriend, perhaps it’s time to take up a new hobby. Or maybe ditch your old one!

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Dragon Ball Z voice actors go crazy in the booth, show just how tough the job can be【Video】

Voice acting seems like it should be a pretty cushy job. You sit in a booth, slip into character, and just, well, talk. Nothing to it right?

Well, for quieter scenes, that may be true, but it’s hard to get a proper performance for a fight sequence without really throwing yourself into the role. So while it may not be as physical as live-action stunt work, when the vocal cast of the newest Dragon Ball Z movie showed up to do their lines, they worked every muscle in their throats and faces, plus a few more, as seen in this video of the recording session.

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Congratulations on being awesome at sumo! Have a giant macaron!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, nor is the above image an extraordinary work of Photoshop. That is a giant, green macaron, and it is being presented as a prize for the runner-up of a sumo championship in Japan.

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Tokyo Skytree gets some extra decoration thanks to the Blood Moon Eclipse【Photos】

We realize there are as many photos of the Blood Moon Eclipse online as there were people who looked up in the sky and exclaimed, “Cooooool!” but we just had to share these ones featuring Tokyo Skytree, the newest icon of Japan’s capital city. As the tallest tower in the world, Tokyo Skytree is often photographed, but the addition of the huge scarlet moon made for breathtaking views. Check them out after the jump!

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When I first moved to Japan in college, every weekend meant a party and a new group of people to meet, with a standard set of questions I got asked. The logic behind “What’s your name?” was obvious, and “Where are you from?” also makes sense when you’re one of the few non-Japanese people in the room. “Do you like Japanese girls?” was another common one, based on the widely held, if not always true, theory that foreign guys like Japanese women, and vice-versa.

Those three always came first, but it wasn’t long until someone would want to know my blood type. No, my school wasn’t filled with vampires or hemophiliacs, nor hemophiliac vampires (the most tragic undead demographic). People just wanted to get a sneak peak at my personality, which is thought to be strongly connected to what runs through your veins by many people in Japan.

One man who’s not a believer, though, is Professor Kengo Nawata from Kyushu University’s Social Psychology Department, whose recently concluded research shows no correlation between personality and blood type.

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Beautiful, 100-year-old Japanese guest house is so cheap, for some guests it’s free

For a lot of travelers, staying in a Japanese-style inn is high on their list of things they want to do in the country, and with good reason. The austere elegance of traditional accommodations provides a uniquely soothing atmosphere, giving you a connection to a culture thousands of years old even as it provides the opportunity for a quiet moment of self-reflection.

What’s not nearly so relaxing, though, are the rates many inns charge, which can run to hundreds of dollars per person in mandatory packages that include overly extravagant meals. But if you’re looking for a place to stay that doesn’t go overboard on either the amenities or prices, the hostel K’s House will provide you a 100-year-old roof over your head, friendly service, and even a natural onsen hot spring bath, all for as little as 2,950 yen (US$27) a night, or, if you don’t mind a few hours’ work, nothing at all.

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The new seasonal menu at family restaurant chain Jonathan’s is curiously simple…

We’re used to family restaurants in Japan offering their own unique takes on western dishes, with what might best be described as mixed results. But this item on the new seasonal menu at Jonathan’s sees the restaurant branch out into stripped down, über-simple food that’s had some customers questioning: can you really call that a side dish?!

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Onigiri without the nigiri – Japan’s traditional rice balls get an update

Onigiri are rice balls, and they’re basically the Japanese version of sandwiches. They’re a fast, convenient snack that you can eat without getting your hands messy, and they’ve been a staple of Japanese lunches since medieval times. But now there’s a hip new version that’s trying to take over from the long-established practice of molding the rice by hand.

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Hatsune Miku performs “live” on David Letterman! We love it, not sure he does though…【Video】

Hatsune Miku made her American TV debut on Wednesday night, performing on none other than the Late Show with David Letterman. Miku, of course, is a vocaloid, a super-famous Japanese idol who just happens to be virtual. The turquoise-haired star surprised viewers by performing an English song, “Sharing the World”.

Mr. Letterman, meanwhile, looked a little nonplussed.

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One fry to rule them all, and it can be yours for $93 via Yahoo! Japan Auctions

For a while it seemed that things had quieted down over at Japan’s largest online auction site, Yahoo! Japan Auctions. Back in the day one used to be able to buy anything from idols to 1,000 NES systems (at once) to the planet Earth.

However, recently there has just been a bunch of stuff like clothes and furniture to be had, and what fun is that? Thankfully, someone has brought the crazy back by auctioning off a truly rare item.

It’s a McDonald’s french fry in the shape of the number one and bidding starts at 10,000 yen (US$93).

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As anyone who has studied Japanese for any length of time will tell you, leaning lists of vocabulary can be tough. On some occasions, the very first time you’ll meet a word will be on paper; some abstract or complex term that’s almost impossible to remember as it’s so rarely used in the real world. Other times, you’ll have heard–or perhaps even used a word yourself–in conversation, but when encountering it on paper for the first time it may appear completely alien due to the characters with which it’s written.

Thankfully, though, since kanji characters are based on meaning rather than speech sounds, it can be easy to decipher a written word even if you’re still not sure how to pronounce it. But sometimes, translating a word too literally can land you in all kinds of trouble, or at the very least leave you chuckling to yourself while native Japanese speakers are left wondering what’s so funny…

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Legendary anime voice actor Iemasu Kayumi passes away at 80

If you’re into anime – like really into anime – you’re almost certainly watching your favorites in their original Japanese rather than dubbed in English. In which case, we have some sad news for you: Legendary voice actor Iemasu Kayumi, responsible for lending the charm and gravitas to many of the most memorable characters both in anime’s 80s and 90s heyday and in more modern works – has passed away at the age of 80.

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Hunter finds his car trashed by wounded bear he shot the day before 【Video】

A hunter got more than he bargained for when he shot a bear in the forest in western Siberia – he found his car ransacked the next day in an apparent “revenge attack”.

The man shot and wounded a brown bear while out hunting with two friends. On returning to his car the next morning, he found that it had been completely destroyed by the angry bear – while his friends’ two cars nearby were left untouched.

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Secrets of an Innkeeper: 3 Japanese guesthouse habits we could all learn from

At the beginning of this year, my husband and I took over management of a guesthouse in Japan. While we were looking forward to our new role in the community, the truth is that we were already busy enough without taking on yet another daily responsibility. But in the countryside, where it’s hard to find employees willing to come and live far from convenience stores and flush toilets, most of us are already doing double or triple duty to keep our little villages alive. And where I live, tourism is a big part of that.

So, while the countryside “slow-life” will probably always elude us, we admit that whenever Japanese people check in to our guesthouse, we both give a sigh of relief. Why? Because Japanese people are the best guests in the world! And that makes our job all that much easier.

We share with you three things that make Japanese guests the best an innkeeper could ask for.

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Funny old-timey Japanese photo is a blast (of silly faces) from the past

It’s natural to think of people in the old-timey days as having no time for joviality, what with being tied up in battling polio, Kaisers, and other threats most of the developed world doesn’t run into so much anymore. Likewise, in a lot of ways Japan is a no-nonsense kind of place, where work, school, and family responsibilities generally take precedent over everything else.

So you’d think a picture taken in Japan around a century ago would be a double-exercise in dourness, but as this photograph shows, while fashion and technology may change with the times, silliness has always been a part of life.

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Summer is the season for ghost stories in Japan, and at the end of August we sent one of our reporters to try out the terrifying haunted house from the horror masters and game fans at Obaken. Amazing as that six-room production is, Obaken has since expanded its scale to something even bigger: Zombie Camp, a two-day excursion that combines the majesty of the great outdoors with the threat of rampaging zombies!

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Brave through tear gas with this DIY budget gas mask【Instructions】

Back on the topic of the Occupy Central demonstration taking place in Hong Kong in protest for electoral democracy, little progress has been made to resolve the situation, though there have been reports of planned talks between the government and representatives from the protesting group. More than a week has passed since the Occupy protesters started camping at several locations, staying put despite assaults from opposing factions and refusing to budge even as the police brought in tear gas and pepper spray.

As complete outsiders, we have no say on how things ought to be handled, and we’re definitely not taking sides, but if there’s one thing we could all learn from this protest, it’s how to make your own DIY tear gas mask. A YouTuber from Hong Kong shows us how!

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【TBT】”Pet Bird” flavored ice cream available in parakeet, cockatiel, and sparrow

Do you like ice cream? Do you like putting birds in your mouth?

Of course we all do, but with only two hands it can be hard to do both at once. That’s why Torimi Cafe came out with a line of ice creams modeled after three breeds of small birds.

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KFC is counting on these new menu items to save business in China

KFC parent company Yum Brands was hit hard by a Chinese food safety scandal.

The company cut the profit outlook in a recent earnings announcement. Sales in China fell 14% in the most recent quarter as consumers doubted the brand’s quality.

Executives told analysts that it was counting on some new rice dishes to revive sales. Because these dishes are seen as more high-end, the KFC team believes they could improve perception of the brand.

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Wear your love of anime on your stomach with Totoro Tummy hoodies and tees

Although he increasingly dealt with heavy themes and narratives as his career went on, legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro is a film of almost non-stop good vibes, with scene after scene filled with childlike whimsy, wonder, and joy. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a break from the worries of the workaday world and live inside the 1988 classic for a day?

Of course, if we’re talking animated flights of fancy, why stop at being just any character in the movie, when instead you can become Totoro himself with this lineup of Totoro apparel.

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