Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
“Could there be life somewhere else in the universe?” The recent discovery of the Earth-sized planet (Kepler 186f) is about the same distance to its sun as the Earth is to ours. Is it possible that life does exist outside our planet?
A recent picture from Twitter only helps to increase our hopes while also dragging them away as the aliens are seemingly escorted from “America’s favorite pastime”.
As Google Maps expands its reach across the globe, netizens are finding more and more hidden treasures amongst the usual images of street signs and roadways. Sure, we catch a flock of human pigeons every now and then, but this next photo gallery is a little subtler than mobs of masked people purposely trying to live on forever in Google Maps. No, this is a different kind of mob…the mob. The yakuza, rumored to number in the hundred-thousands in Japan, have landed themselves on Google Maps more than a few times and we’re not quite sure they appreciate being photographed.
With the release date of Gareth Edwards’ new take on Godzilla fast approaching, there’s been a lot of chatter on the Net comparing the original kaiju with his latest incarnation in terms of his size, his abilities, and even the amount of pee he would produce.
YouTuber Broad Strokes wasn’t interested in comparing the two, though. He wanted to combine them, and the result is a mashup trailer for a Godzilla movie we would very much like to see.
Football, or soccer if you will, is sometimes accused of being a dull spectator sport on account of the limited number of goals that are often scored in games and its propensity to end in stalemate.
But for every 10 minutes of dull passing, frustrating off-sides and tedious throw-ins, there’s usually at least one moment of heart-racing sporting magic to be had, and this amazingly cheeky goal scored yesterday by J-League team Kyoto Sanga FC against Yokohama FC undoubtedly provided plenty of entertainment value for supporters of both sides.
Coffee and espresso drinks are quite common in Japan, but green tea will always have a special place in Japanese hearts, as evidenced by the availability of green tea flavored doughnuts, ice bars, beer and even curry. Now, Sharp has announced a new machine for home use that makes perfect matcha (green tea made from powdered tea leaves). They are calling it the Healsio Ocha-presso (or Healthy-o Tea-presso, if you prefer).
As popular as Attack on Titan is, it’s hardly surprising how many great cosplay outfits have been made by fans. And with a live action movie in the works, we wouldn’t be surprised if the level of pure awesome of AoT cosplay explodes a few hundredfold.
But it’s going to be tough to top these real, functional swords one university student made in his free time over the course of a year. The best part is, he might even make a pair for you!
In an empty field in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, where many homes stood before a tsunami swept them away, there are hundreds of blue carp streamers floating in the breeze. Kento Itoh, 21 years old, has collected them from all over the country in honor of his brother Ritsu, killed in the March 11 disaster when he was just five years old.
On that day, Kento was in Sendai, his middle brother was at school and his father was in the hospital, so none of them were at home when the tsunami struck their small town. Ritsu, his mother and his grandparents were carried off by the surging waters. Only Ritsu’s body was ever found. The rest are still officially missing.
With his father ill, it fell to Kento as the oldest son to identify his brother’s corpse at the morgue and to search among the ruins for his missing family. He did not find them, but among the mud and muck, he did find something: Ritsu’s beloved blue carp streamer.
Who is the scariest driver out there? The people who drive 50 over the speed limit? The one who swerves through all the lanes? The slow guy who can’t go any more than 20 under the limit causing you to swear up a storm? Or how about those people who drive the giant trucks, who can’t see anything around them? Yeah, those are pretty scary, and a new video from China shows what happens when those big trucks don’t pay attention!
The internet has completely changed the way we work and live, but for those of us having children it can be hard to understand how different life has become for them as information technology natives.
Having some shoes that could be pumped full of air was the deciding factor of our social status in school at one time, but what are kids thinking about today? Kakurega Komyo is an IT worker in Japan who caught a glimpse of this life while setting up the internet in someone’s house.
Rock-paper-scissors. Scissors-paper-stone. Roshambo. Elephant-man-ant. Whatever you call it, chances are you’ve played it at some point. In Japan, the game is known as janken, and is used to settle any kind of dispute or awkward situation, from who gets the last cookie to which parents have to sit on the PTA that year.
It’s not hard to see why janken is so popular in Japan: it’s simple, and everyone knows how to play. It’s also efficient (particularly if the thing being decided is trivial anyway). Decisions made by janken are stuck to religiously: in three years teaching Japanese schoolkids I never once saw a student complain about the result or demand a rematch. It’s seen as a fair way to make decisions, because the game is based on luck.
Or is it? A group of researchers from Chinese universities has published a paper that shows sure-fire ways to win at rock-paper-scissors. Join us after the jump as we explore how to outsmart small children at their own game!
Mother’s Day is just around the corner for people who live in countries such as Japan, America, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and China, among others. A Taiwanese high school teacher recently made the students call up their mothers, encouraging them to verbally express their love and appreciation.
What should have been a touching and precious moment, however, turned out to be a hilarious situation when one mum hurled some vulgarities back at her son instead!
A 7-Eleven convenience store in Kasukabe City, Saitama Prefecture was the scene of a daring late-night armed robbery earlier this week as an unidentified young man held clerks at knife-point and made off with a total of three onigiri rice balls, whose combined value came to approximately 300 yen (US$2.94).
He’d have gotten away with too, if it hadn’t been for the bread delivery guy…
2014 marks the 1,200th year since Buddhist monk Kukai made his holy journey to 88 temples on the southern Japanese island of Shikoku. The Shikoku Pilgrimage now attracts people from all over Japan as well as the world to visit the same temples along the 1,200 km-route.
Now, a new TV series, Ohenro, is out to appeal to a new generation of religious travelers and features three female pilgrims stylized in the ever popular moe fashion of super-cute anime characters.
But Japanese netizens, eager to soak up all things moe, are wondering if they will have to make their own “holy trip” since only four broadcasters are airing the show!
One of the best things about camping is gathering around the fire at the end of the day to cook, eat and drink with friends and family. Free of the trappings of our modern life, we’re able to focus on the food, the nature around us, and – a something of a rarity in our paradoxically lonely social network-obsessed world – each other.
But cooking out in the wilderness can be a fiddly affair. With none of our modern kitchen appliances or shining stainless steel countertops on which to prepare meals, doing something as simple as chopping up an onion for the pot can be a real pain, least not for the poor soul who has to carry a wooden chopping board and knife in their backpack.
This genius device from India, however, does away with the need for a knife and chopping board altogether making campfire cooking an absolute breeze.
A few months ago, we brought you news that Japanese developer Spike Chunsoft was bringing manga and anime smash Attack on Titan to Nintendo’s popular portable, 3DS. Up until now, the game seemed destined to remain a Japan-only affair, but rumour has it that its makers are searching for a publisher to bring the game to Western audiences. Get hype, kids!
While KFC Japan recently unveiled their newest menu item featuring a collaboration with soccer player Ronaldo, KFC China has (accidentally) unveiled a somewhat different item: Horrific chicken wings.
Your fist kiss is sure to be a memorable event. It might even be the most memorable event in your life for decades if all goes well…or if it turns into a proper disaster. At least, that’s what we learned from teenage comedies–and Hollywood never lies, right? But even though it’s such a big event in any young person’s life, everyone’s first kiss seems to come at different ages.
We’ve discussed kissing in Japan before, but a new survey reveals the average first-kiss age of Japanese folks broken down by prefecture, showing which prefecture’s women were the fastest and kissiest in the country! Who do you think came in first place? And who’s bringing up the rear as the “slowest to their first kiss?” Find out below!
The nostalgia of a classic Nintendo Entertainment system is like nothing else.
I remember when I first got a Nintendo. I didn’t get the bundle with the gun, so no “Duck Hunt” for me, but that didn’t stop me from playing “Super Mario Bros.” for hours with my friends. Then I’d go to their houses and play for hours more. It was the first real game system I had (before that I had a Commodore VIC-20 — don’t mind me as I date myself) in a long line of game systems that followed.
I think back on those games and that system fondly, but I never considered buying one today, or even one of the mods people have made, such as this one, called the Hyperkin Retro 5.
Usually it’s because the graphics on these systems is pretty weak compared with what we’re used to from systems like the Xbox 360, and especially newer systems like the PS4 and Xbox One.
Until now, that is.
When I was in middle school, I used to watch Dragon Ball Z every single day. I’ve seen all 291 episodes of the series and without a doubt can say that my favorite story arc begins with the arrival of future Trunks until the end of the Cell Games. Why? Because the villains are awesome, of course (sorry, Frieza)! Everyone loves Cell and the attractive-but-deadly android siblings, known as Numbers 17 and 18.
Speaking of the androids, Akira Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball, has recently released an interesting bit of trivia for the first time ever – Number 17 and 18’s true names! Even cooler is how their names combine to create something new. Do you have any guesses?
A couple of months ago, we wrote about a set of Star Wars-themed notebooks sold over at the online shopping website Run@town. Much to everyone’s surprise, the fandom those little books stirred up caused a massive run that led them to being sold out within an single hour.
Now, Run@town is hoping that the force with strike twice with a new product that could tickle the fancy of Star Wars fans everywhere even harder. It’s an R2-D2 virtual keyboard projector! You read that right–a tiny droid beams a keyboard onto any flat surface for you to actually type on.
New Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
Nintendo Museum’s official merch includes awesome giant controller cushions【Video】
New Pokémon Gaming Headset for Nintendo Switch will turn you into Pikachu
With hand-painted faces, no two Totoro kamikogei traditional papercraft figures are the same
Disney young adult novels get new beautiful shojo anime-style covers for Japan
Japan’s super-cheap corn snacks apologize for second-ever price increase in 45 years
Top cosplayer Enako cosplays at Tokyo Game Show for SNK’s City of the Wolves【Photos】
Kyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
Starbucks Japan releases a new Matcha Latte with Reusable Cup for the tourist market
Some of the best Japanese fried chicken in Japan comes from this shack in the middle of nowhere
One of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing seasonSome of the best Japanese fried chicken in Japan comes from this shack in the middle of nowhere
Starbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
Japanese cat island reveals all its cats will soon be gone
New Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the set
Tokyo Skytree to be lit up in Jujutsu Kaisen colors on Halloween in months-long art collaborationStarbucks Japan releases a new Matcha Latte with Reusable Cup for the tourist market
The perks of drinking root beer at A&W in Japan
New Japanese Food Sample Making Cafe opens in Asakusa, Tokyo
Starbucks serves up a new afternoon tea set in Japan with a super high price tag
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Studio Ghibli lets you cosplay as Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle with cosy anime fashion rangeNew Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the setStarbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
Japanese government suspends plan to pay Tokyo women 600,000 to move away to get married
Japanese government wants to remove tax-exemption limit for foreign tourists on consumables
Starbucks Japan unveils new limited-edition Frappuccino for autumnOne of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing season
Matsushima restaurant offers all-you-can-eat sashimi in as many ways as you can dream it【Photos】
Super budget-friendly retro Tokyo hotel feels like having your own 1960s Asakusa apartment
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Japan’s super-cheap corn snacks apologize for second-ever price increase in 45 years
Top cosplayer Enako cosplays at Tokyo Game Show for SNK’s City of the Wolves【Photos】
Kyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
Starbucks Japan releases a new Matcha Latte with Reusable Cup for the tourist market
Some of the best Japanese fried chicken in Japan comes from this shack in the middle of nowhere
Japanese design company creates world’s most badass…sewing supply box?!?【Video】
11 different ways to say “father” in Japanese
Coordinating a whole outfit with nothing but clothes from Japanese convenience store Family Mart
Super budget-friendly retro Tokyo hotel feels like having your own 1960s Asakusa apartment
Starbucks Japan welcomes alpacas for cute summer drinkware line【Photos】
The top 5 ice creams you should try at Family Mart convenience stores in Japan this summer
$100 chocolate toothpaste? Gucci eraser? 7 ridiculously expensive items from around the world