Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Coming off mixed reviews of his live-action Attack on Titan film, fans may recall that Shinji Higuchi is also tasked with directing TOHO‘s upcoming Godzilla film with fellow tokusatsu lover Hideaki Anno. Helming the first Japanese Godzilla film in 12 years is no small feat. In fact, Higuchi almost turned down the offer because of the sheer amount of pressure that comes with directing such an iconic monster.
Everyone knows that the best way to drink beer is either from a bottle or poured into a glass, yet more often than not you will find beer packaged in a can at the store. Cans make economic sense since they are cheap, can be crushed down to save space and they float in water if you happen to drop them while you are out having fun. However, all beer drinkers know that drinking from the can tastes horrible compared to drinking from the glass.
There are plenty of beer glasses to choose from, but a beautiful glass strangely makes the beer taste even better, and one Japanese crystal company has some of the greatest glasses for your summer drinking. Fired by the Joetsu Crystal Glass Company, the Tsukiyono Kobo line features fantastic glasses that cast your beer drinking in a much more beautiful light.
As in most countries, magazines aimed at young adults in Japan spend a lot of time talking about the opposite sex. Just as publications aimed at men often wax poetic about their image of the ideal woman, so too do women’s magazines write up collections of traits of desirable guys.
But one recent list has Japanese Internet users scratching their heads over its oddly specific list that includes such minutiae as foot size and social media preference.
If you’ve ever spent the summer in Japan, you know that it’s not the heat, but the humidity that makes many people want to take refuge indoors with the air conditioning blasting. But the silver lining to this cloud is the clouds themselves, as all that moisture in the air can turn Japan’s summer skies into a stunning puffy white landscape.
On the evening of August 5, skywatchers in the Tokyo/Yokohama area that turned their eyes to the west saw a towering, lightning-spitting thundercloud so powerfully majestic it immediately drew comparisons to one of Studio Ghibli’s most beloved anime.
Released from B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m. (Japanese time), the world entered the unprecedented atomic age with the deployment of the most powerful weapon known to man.
No anime in history has generated the amount of discussion that Evangelion has, as audiences have now been debating the finer points of the franchise’s content and production for two decades. Was the TV series’ unorthodox ending strictly a case of budgetary constraints, or is it the purest version of Eva’s true message? In the closing scenes of End of Evangelion, has protagonist Shinji accepted or rejected the rest of human existence? Is creator Hideaki Anno ever going to actually make that fourth, and supposedly final, Rebuild of Evangelion theatrical feature?
For today, though, let’s brush aside those nebulous issues, and instead look at a question that has a definite answer: What would official Evangelion lingerie look like?
Box Office Mojo reports that Funimation‘s limited theatrical run of the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ film earned US$1,967,626 on its opening night on Tuesday. That gives the film a per-screen average of US$2,198, the highest among the top 10 movies playing in the United States on August 4.
Adding “musical” to the end of any idea is an easy but effective way to come up with concepts for new creative properties. Foul-mouthed muppets plus musicals gave us Avenue Q and anime plus musical has given us a surprising number of stage productions! But one combination we’d never even dreamed of has now seen the light of day: A sumo musical.
Titled Dosu Koi Musical, this sumo musical isn’t actually a stage production, but it does star none other than Taiwanese singer Lin Yu-chun, whom you might remember killing it on America’s Got Talent in 2010. Maybe if we’re all good boys and girls, this will be turned into the next Broadway hit starring Lin and Neil Patrick Harris!
American tech giant Microsoft apparently has some explaining to do to Korean Windows users.
That’s because a television commercial announcing the recent release of Microsoft Windows 10, the latest and blessedly less-infuriating edition of the company’s flagship operating system, apparently commits an unwritten faux pas by way of a text font displayed in the ad.
And if you’re as baffled as we initially were about how a simple, commonly used font could be so offensive, well, let us tell you a little story about Japan-Korea relations…
Morinaga’s Hi-Chew is one of Japan’s favorite candies. Its popularity has spread across the world and you can often find different flavors of Hi-Chew at your local store. Fans have gone to great lengths to show their appreciation for the flavorful chewy snack over the years, including our Japanese team who once even created their own giant Hi-Chew, thus disproving the old adage that “bigger is better”.
Now, to celebrate the candy’s 40th anniversary, Morinaga is releasing some special new flavors and an extra-special version of their most popular flavor that will become the first refrigerated Hi-Chew in history.
The World Cosplay Summit 2015 competition crowned Mexico representatives Twin Cosplay as the Grand Champions at the award ceremony on Saturday. The duo also took home the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award, ANA Prize, and the Tabi Pad Award.
Twin Cosplay‘s presentation was based on Nintendo‘s Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask video game. Between the two, a total of four costume and set transformations take place in three minutes.
Birds of a feather flock together, so the saying goes. And that concept applies to non-humans as well; it’s not uncommon for pets and their owners to act, and sometimes even look, somehow similar after spending years together. Even in the super popular anime and game series Pokémon, where the aim of the game is to collect as many pokémon as possible, many of the pokémon trainers in the series use pocket monsters that somehow resemble them.
But what the characters of the anime series Free! were pokémon trainers? Which creatures would they have under their well-toned wings? Find out as this Japanese fan puts her imagination to work in a series of awesome Pokémon x Free! crossover illustrations!
Japan never ceases to be the country of making something taste exactly like something it shouldn’t. In the land where you can get kimchi-flavored soft drinks and spaghetti-flavored ice candy, it would seem food companies are really just drunk with power when it comes to what they can and will make stuff taste like.
And now we have “the perfect snack cake for any meat-lover,” Momotan Aged Meat Flavored snacks. It’s in the form of a typical Japanese confection called manju with a cake-like outer coating and sweet been paste filling. However, these Momotan manju are heavily seasoned to make you swear you were eating a morsel of month-old meat instead!
In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, there stands a massive Buddhist complex set up by the half-century-old sect Fo Guang Shan. It is a sprawling 30 hectares (74 acres) and contains the nation’s largest monastery, a 36-meter (132 foot) tall Buddha statue, as well as an enormous Buddha Memorial Center in the shape of a pyramid.
However, for our correspondent Kowloon Kurosawa the real action could be found in the Pure Land Cave. It’s an attraction rumored to have been patterned after Disney’s It’s a Small World ride. However, as we’ll soon see, Buddhism is not so much a “small” world as it is a creepy and psychedelic one.
For a country that’s ordinarily very concerned with not doing anything to shock or offend, Japan can be extremely open about its sexual tastes, in ways that manifest as both perfectly healthy and perfectly pervy. Japan is also pretty open and comfortable with its weakness for cute things, as you’ll often see adults of both genders sporting clothing or accessories bearing the image of popular children’s characters.
But what happens when you have both a sexy anime huggy pillow and a cute Disney stuffed animal in your bedroom, and you leave them alone for a while?
So, you like eggs, but with all the conflicting research about the little balls of protein, it’s hard to decide if you should be eating zero eggs, an egg a day, or as many as you can stuff in you face. Sadly, we’re not entirely certain either, but if you simply don’t care about what’s good for you or not, we’d like you to meet your comrade-in-shells, P.K.
Our clothes-hating Japanese reporter P.K. is a huge fan of the unfertilized bird babies, and he recently read that all that research saying you shouldn’t eat too many eggs is bunk. So he decided to make up for lost time and headed down to Ramen Kagetsu Arashi to get a bowl of noodles with more eggs than a chicken coop. Egg lovers, get ready to hear your stomachs growl!
They say that it’s rare to see a real maiko walking the streets of Kyoto, since these artists usually work at night and live in their own secluded world, far from the rest of Japanese society. In fact, if you spot a maiko strolling around Gion during the day, there’s a good chance she’s a tourist who’s undergone a fabulously elaborate makeover.
We took our Japan Wish competition winner Ashley to a studio in Kyoto’s Gion neighborhood to have a maiko-over and be transformed in an amazing process that yielded completely stunning results. Ashley was able to choose her own kimono and obi sash, and as part of the deal she was treated to a professional photography session and the opportunity to take a stroll around the streets of Gion in full maiko garb!
Ever wanted to know who your celebrity look-alike would be? Wonder no more – there’s a website that will tell you! By uploading a selfie, facial recognition technology will guess your age, gender, and celebrity doppelganger.
Even among otaku, those with a fondness for anime series Love Live! are known for being particularly obsessive. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that the Love Livers, as the franchise’s fans are known, worship the show’s central characters.
And if that’s the case, one arcade figured, why not give fans a place where they can kneel down and make offerings to their anime idols?
Cardcaptor Sakura’s titular heroine keeps her captured cards in a magic tome called the Clow Book, pulling them out as needed in the course of her adventures. In your daily life, though, you probably don’t run into that many occasions that call for instantly producing wooden cages, creating a labyrinth in an alternate dimension, commanding the sun to rise, or any of the other mystical functions of the Clow Cards.
On the other hand, you probably whip out your smartphone several times a day, and the next time you do, it could be inside this regal-looking Cardcaptor Sakura iPhone case.
The average age of Japan’s hikikomori shut-ins is getting older, survey shows
Samurai Coffee: Try Edo period coffee once enjoyed by Japanese warriors
Beard Papa goes beyond just matcha with its new premium green tea cream puffs
Studio Ghibli releases crystal glass paperweights featuring Totoro and the Catbus
Uniqlo’s high-end sunglasses are a fashion minefield for anyone who isn’t Mr. Sato
Eating cheap sushi in a narrow building in Tokyo is an adventure for bold diners
Japanese hair salons going bankrupt in record numbers
Japan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Japan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Studio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurinesJapan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at homeThe average age of Japan’s hikikomori shut-ins is getting older, survey showsJapan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trioStudio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurines
Brand-new Square Enix Cafe to open in Tokyo…and in Los Angeles too!Studio Ghibli releases crystal glass paperweights featuring Totoro and the Catbus
Dorayaki from 89-year-old Japanese confectionery shop is one of the best sweets hidden in Tokyo
What are the worst things about living in the Japanese countryside?[Survey]
Retro-style Evangelion T-shirts coming to Uniqlo sister brand GU[Photos]
Viral tweet suggests Japanese convenience store ripping off customers with donuts, so we investigate
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to TokyoJapan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Brand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Japan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now open
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration eventsThe average age of Japan’s hikikomori shut-ins is getting older, survey shows
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency saysJapan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Eating cheap sushi in a narrow building in Tokyo is an adventure for bold diners
Japanese hair salons going bankrupt in record numbers
Japan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Japan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Studio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurines
Police in Osaka file charges against resident for serial pigeon/crow feeding
Sega opening 65th anniversary store in downtotn Tokyo with deep-cut game merch
Viral tweet suggests Japanese convenience store ripping off customers with donuts, so we investigate
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Retro-style Evangelion T-shirts coming to Uniqlo sister brand GU[Photos]
Hayao Miyazaki’s Whisper of the Heart concept art revealed in new Ghibli illustration book
Lipton releases… Pudding Milk Tea in Japan?!?
Live-action Ghibli Princess Mononoke stage play tickets are now on sale
49-year-old Japanese shut-in spends weeks living with corpse of mother who died at home