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There are only so many hours in a day, which means all the time you devote to listening to Japanese girls’ rock bands or learning a half-dozen ways to says “breasts” in Japanese means less time for soaking up mainstream American pop culture. As a result, I’ve got some pretty big gaps in my Hollywood movie-watching history, but at least I know their basic plots because they’ve been talked about and referenced elsewhere so much.

For example, I know Titanic is about an elderly woman fondly remembering some dude she hooked up with on a cruise 70 years ago, who was apparently so good in the sack that she has no time on her deathbed to remember her children or the man who fathered them. Forest Gump is about remarkably patient bus travelers who are willing to listen to the life story a complete stranger because of his vague promises of giving them chocolate at some point.

And Toy Story, as I can infer from these Tokyo Disneyland photos, is about how a humble cowboy and abrasive astronaut learn to overcome their differences and become pals when one gives the other a hand job, right?

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Nintendo might be using Android to power its next games console

Nintendo may be ditching its historic proprietary operating systems (OS) and instead using Android to power its next games console, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei, Kotaku reported.

If true, this could be a big win for Google, while helping to boost Nintendo’s flagging sales.

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All-you-can-eat buffet for 500 yen?! Mr. Sato investigates

Swedish furniture store Ikea has made a name for itself worldwide, not only for the size of its stores and decently priced, assemble-it-yourself furnishings, but also for the extremely cheap fare found in their food courts.

Now, they’re really putting the icing on the cake: For a limited time, Ikeas across Japan are having an hour-long all-you-can-eat “Oriental Buffet” for the insane price of only 500 yen (US$4)! But what will only 500 yen get you, you ask? Actually quite the spread, it seems!

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Personal tastes are just that: Personal. What gets one person going is likely to leave someone else bored — and there’s nothing wrong with that of course. I’d be awfully sad if everyone liked strawberry ice cream as much as I do because then there’d be none left for me.

And nothing shows this quite as much as men and their body hair. More specifically, how Japanese women feel about body hair on certain parts of the male anatomy. We are, of course, talking about shins and armpits! (Why? What were you thinking?)

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Look into our crystal ball; we see a Pokémon that’s right for you!【Pics】

Every pokémon trainer has their special pokémon. Whether it’s one of the starter pokémon that you kept with you all over the Kanto region, or one of the hundreds of pokémon you can catch along the way, there is always that one particular friend that you just can’t bear to leave in storage.

If you’d like to immortalize your poképal, or if you are just a fan of the Pokémon anime or video games, then you have to take a look at these one of a kind pokéballs on Etsy that will crystallize the memory of your pokémon forever.

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  • May 30, 2015

Personified emotions from Pixar’s “Inside Out” get nifty kanji makeover in Japanese posters!

Fans of Pixar are sure to be eagerly waiting the release of the studio’s newest movie, Inside Out (or Inside Head as it’s being called in Japan). The film may have caused a slight stir on the Japanese Internet for having a theme that’s noticeably similar to that of the Japanese manga and movie Poison Berry in My Brain (Nonai Poison Berry), but Pixar’s new offering is bound to draw huge crowds when it comes out on June 19 in the U.S. and July 18 in Japan.

And one thing the movie certainly seems to have going for it in Japan is cool poster artwork. Check out these Japanese posters for Inside Out which feature beautiful kanji calligraphy representing each of the emotions that appear in the movie!

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Our Japanese reporter gets a heaping helping of American Denny’s

Our Japanese writers are certainly no strangers to American cuisine or at least the lower echelons of it. Whenever in the USA they tend to try places unheard of in Japan or compare easy-to-order fast food fare like McDonald’s.

One place that’s often overlooked on these trips is Denny’s. Already a well-established “family restaurant” (low-priced restaurant with waiting staff) in Japan they just assumed it was more of the same in America too.

However, after his close encounter with an empty gate at Area 51, our reporter Go Hatori was cruising across the vastness of the US and began feeling a little fatigued. He suddenly spotted that familiar yellow sign of a Denny’s and thought it would be a good place to catch a quick little bite.

Little did he know what lay in store…

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Sanrio 2015 mid-election polls show Hello Kitty losing to visual kei band by wide margin

From 10 May to 15 June voting is being held of the 30th annual Sanrio Character Ranking. This is where the company pits their vast library of cute characters such as Hello Kitty against each other in a popularity contest.

You can expect to see the top-ranking characters get the most exposure through merchandising and spokesperson deals for the rest of the year. And now with two weeks past and the preliminary results announced, many are surprised to see the fictional visual kei (think glam rock) group Shingan Crimsonz at the top of the list of 100 characters well ahead of cuteness stalwarts such as Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars.

This has caused tremors in the cute character community with many suspecting that Japan’s homo-erotic fan fiction loving girls known as fujoshi may have formed a powerful voting bloc.

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As Japan gets ready to flip the calendar from May to June, it’s a perfect time to get out of the house and spend some time outdoors. If you’re the sort who hates cold weather, it’s finally warm enough to spend the afternoon outside with no need of a jacket, and if you can’t stand the heat, you’ve only got a few weeks left until the onset of the steamy rainy season and sizzling midsummer weather patterns.

And to sweeten the deal, right now there’s a perfect spot for your sojourn with nature, this breathtaking field of over 15 million flowers in Saitama Prefecture known as the Heavenly Poppies.

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Super Mega Important Debate – Japanese squat toilets: Great or gross? 【Poll closed】

Picture the scene: you’re waiting for your number to be called at City Hall or some other municipal building in rural Japan, when suddenly your stomach starts growling and your gut begins to twitch and spasm as that super-greasy kimchi ramen you had for lunch is pushed at top speed through your digestive tract. If you don’t go now – right now – things could get messy fast, so you make a beeline for the restroom and hope that there’s a stall free. Inside the restroom, you charge towards the half-open door on the end, a layer of sweat forming on your brow as your body starts counting down, T-minus 10 seconds to total evacuation.

Then it hits you: the stall you’re standing in is fitted not with a luxurious, bidet-equipped, warms your backside and plays music at you Washlet brand of toilet, but an old-school, upside-down urinal built into the floor Japanese squat toilet.

There’s no backing out now. The deed must be done. The question is, how traumatised will you be after using it?

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Samsung is reportedly developing a crazy phone with two screens that you might be able to fold in half

Samsung is reportedly developing a new phone that will have two screens, according to blog Sam Mobile, which has a solid track record for reporting leaked information about upcoming Samsung products.

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Godzilla gets official Tokyo residency papers, copies being given out free to fans

You could make a long list about all the ways Japan is uniquely awesome (and as a matter of fact, we just did), but it’s not like every aspect of life in Japan is more enjoyable than in other countries. For example, taking care of paperwork at city hall or other government facilities is as boring as it is anywhere else in the world.

So why is it that this week people have been voluntarily visiting the Shinjuku ward office in the heart of Tokyo? Because they want to get a copy of the official residency document of the district’s newest resident, Godzilla!

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Century-old cosplay photo exists for a reason as bizarre as its dog vs. monkey sumo match

With the rise of otaku culture Japan is in its golden age of anime events, which means that cosplay is bigger than ever. But it turns out that even before there were Internet forums, prop suppliers, and even dedicated themed cosplay photo studio complexes, people in Japan were dressing up in fantasy costumes and posing for the camera.

As a matter of fact, this photo from more than a century ago shows that the roots of cosplay predate Japanese animation itself. But with no anime conventions or social media outlets through which to show off their outfits, why did this group bother? Suffice to say the reason for this photo shoot is about as unexpected as the costumed scene itself: a giant monkey about to sumo wrestle a biped dog.

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Just when you thought you knew it all – 17 life-changing lessons learned in Japan

When you first set foot in Japan, it’s hard not to be impressed by the efficiency and social order. The streets are clean, trains run on time, and the people are quiet and polite, yet possess enough of the bizarre to be intriguing (cosplay, line-ups for chicken ramen-flavored ice cream or Lotteria 5-pattied tower burger anyone?).

Living in Japan, or even just visiting, can be a life-changing experience. No one returns to their country the same person as when they left. Here are some of the things that make such an impression on foreigners, they cause us to think a second time, and alter the way we think, act, or view the world. In short, they prompt us to make life changes. Just when you thought you knew it all…

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Kirin Beer to begin service delivering kegs directly to your door, kegstands discouraged

Kirin Beer, the Kirin Beverage Company subsidiary unsurprisingly in charge of manufacturing and selling the company’s signature lines of beer, announced yesterday that it will begin offering a service starting from August that will see a beer server and kegs delivered to individual households in the Tokyo area on demand. 

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From 0 to Lv 9999 badass in an instant! Online shop specializes in Japanese gangster fashion

One of the many interesting sights in Japan is the myriad fashion styles that exist. Although trends come and go, there are certain characteristics in each fashion faction that distinguish them from the others. For example, gyaru are often associated with heavy fake eyelashes, colored contacts and dramatic hairstyles, lolitas are usually decked out in doll-like dresses with poofy skirts accentuated with lace and frills, and obasan (middle-aged women) from Osaka are known for their fondness of leopard prints.

As one would expect, since there are people who dress in a specific style, there have to be retailers who sell clothes and accessories that cater to their unique fashion needs. In the case of Japanese gangster fashion, we came across this incredible online retailer that claims to transform common people into gangsters in a matter of seconds with their fashion pieces. Check out this fashion badass after the break!

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Japanese amateur vocalist Reol channeling Internet fame into solo album debut this summer

Reol (れをる), a female Japanese vocalist who has gained immense popularity over the last few years through her releases on online video sharing sites, is set to make her major debut on July 29 under Victor Entertainment.

The singer’s first solo album will be titled Gokusaishiki (極彩色), which translates to “Richly Colored.” If the album’s title track is any indication, the rest of the album will be a fantastical feast for your ears as well!

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Cat cuddles for a cause: New rescue cat cafe plans to open soon in Tokyo

Last month, we introduced you to Save Cat Cafe, one of Osaka’s first rescue cat cafes, which is run similarly to another cafe which opened recently in New York City.

Cat cafes are all over Japan, and allow petless cat lovers to spend some quality time with the furry felines they so adore. We’re particularly happy to see this recent boom of rescue cat cafes take off, as cafe chain Neco Republic, which already has locations in Osaka and Gifu Prefectures, is ready to open up a third branch, this time in Tokyo.

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Japanese toymakers collaborate on amazing Hulkbuster you can call your own

Superhero movies mean big business for toy makers, and whenever Marvel releases a new movie, a slew of action figures are made to fulfill everyone’s toy needs. There are the cheap small figures that anyone of any age can play with, and there are also the larger, more expensive, but extremely poseable figures for those who want to seriously play. Then there are the really expensive versions that boast incredible detail and size. This Hulkbuster is one of those ones.

Many toy makers are producing their own version of the Hulkbuster from Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Bandai is taking its time and attaching all the bells and whistles including LEDs and real metal parts.

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Panties return to Japanese vending machines, but this time as pervy coasters for plastic bottles

Japan’s used panty vending machines are sort of like the white whale in Moby-Dick, even though a completely pure-white color would be a sign of inauthenticity in their merchandise. For decades, the obsessed have been combing Japan for them, but the fact that the scandalous machines were outlawed years ago means that while you can go home from a shadey back-alley vending machine bank with ramen in your belly, you won’t have a schoolgirl’s panties in your pocket.

On rare occasions, though, you can find vending machines that sell new undies. And while they’re definitely a niche product, there’s a new player in the market that’s satisfying customers with its cute little panties, thanks to the fact that they’re extra absorbent and also coaster substitutes.

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