Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
A survey out this week asked 200 salarymen – office workers in Japan – about their work and lifestyle habits. The findings have been reported in the Japanese media under headlines such as “The bad habits of low earners” and “People on a low income pee in the bath – but why?!”
But this kind of survey tells us more about the survey creator’s attitude towards low-income citizens, than it does about the employees who answered it.
If you’ve been on an apple diet, you know the pain of having to munch on nothing but apples all day long. Sure, they are sweet and juicy, but the same old apple can get boring. Just when you’re getting sick of the fruit, it’s time to start exploring more delicious ways of enjoying apples to spice things up a little. We have come up with a super easy way of making delicious apple compote that will satisfy your sweet tooth and not ruin your diet! I personally think this is one of the best discoveries we’ve made so far!
Oita, on the eastern coast of Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, has taken to billing itself as Onsen-ken. And while that title loses a bit of its rhyming appeal once it’s translated into English, it’s hard to deny that it really is the Hot Spring Prefecture, as Oita boasts more hot springs than anywhere else in Japan.
As a matter of fact, Oita has so much geothermal water that it can get creative with its most attractive and relaxing natural resource, as shown by these unique ways locals and tourists can enjoy the prefecture’s hot springs.
A bulk of the anime we know and love are set in real-life locations in Japan. Often, the stories are based on a specific location mentioned in the anime, such as Ikebukuro where popular anime Durarara! and its sequel are set. In other cases, the setting is not mentioned but fans are quick to identify the location using scenes found in each episode. One such example would be the hit franchise The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, which featured scenery from Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture. Avid anime fans have had a long tradition of making pilgrimages to key spots in their favorite series through an activity known as Seichi Junrei. There’s now even a website dedicated to documenting these spots and they have recently released a ranking of the wards in Tokyo that contain the most number of pilgrimage spots.
If you only have a couple of days in Japan to go on a pilgrimage, this ranking should probably come in handy!
Yes, you read that title correctly! As part of their promotional campaign for the “Milk Seafood” flavor of cup noodle, Nissin is giving away a life-size plastic cow water dispenser to one lucky instant ramen fan. Simply fill up your cow with water, wait for the cow to heat up, and then “milk” out as much hot water as you need to fill up your Cup Noodle. Join us after the jump for a look at the amusing commercial behind this wacky promotion!
While people in Japan don’t send Christmas cards to each other, it’s customary to send New Year’s cards to relatives, friends, and work associates. Called nengajo, these are delivered on New Year’s Day, and typically feature whatever the Chinese zodiac animal for the year is.
However, since the end of the year is a busy time for most people, it’s not hard to imagine that some of the artists, distributors, and even buyers of these cards are too busy to really stop and scrutinize them, which is how one nengajo ended up with a very unusual ram on it.
In 1974, some farmers in Xi’an, China, stumbled upon a funerary army buried with the first Qin emperor comprised of more than 8,000 terracotta soldiers. Their fierce, noble faces belied their intent to protect the emperor even in death, while their military dress and kit, all recreated in detail, gave them the means to do so.
Now an artist in San Francisco is herself recreating some of these World Heritage statues, but there’s something just a bit off about the faces…
Many of Japan’s tasty regional delicacies don’t exactly qualify as low-calorie dining options, such as Fukuoka’s pork stock ramen, Osaka’s deep-fried kushikatsu skewers, and Nagoya’s miso pork cutlets. However, Yamanashi Prefecture’s local specialty, hoto, is relatively healthy, as it’s primarily a vegetable stew with miso broth.
With that in mind, the fact that a zoo in Yamanashi is home to a raccoon who’s so plump he’s almost spherical is a little ironic…and also pretty adorable.
With such a wide range of delicious and delectable (and, erm, shall we say unusual) snack foods available in Japan, it’s a little hard to understand when people get whipped up into a frenzy over plainer options, such as toast and bread crusts fried with sugar. Now, twitter users in Japan are getting their tastebuds in a twist over the confusingly-named “English Toast”, a sweet snacklet that first became popular in Aomori prefecture and has now expanded into a whole range of conbini sandwiches. But what on earth is it?
No one ever said pizza couldn’t be sweet, right? Well, certainly no one in Japan! We’ve already introduced to you the high-sugar Kit Kat pizza and caramel marshmallow pizza, and now we’ve heard that Aoki’s Pizza, a chain based in Japan’s Tokai Region, will soon be offering up a unique creation of its own: the Pizza Black Thunder!
Could this chocolate and cookie laden creation be the ultimate sweet pizza?
Asian consumers are in love with the iPhone 6 Plus, according to a report published Thursday by AppLovin, a mobile ad network.
AppLovin looked at data from the more than 25 ad requests it processes every day, and found that the global split between iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users is about 80/20 right now.
But in some Asian countries, the 6 Plus is much more popular.
In the mid-nineteenth century, a showman named P. T. Barnum exhibited an oddity named the Fiji mermaid. Barnum’s mummified mermaid, one of the most famous hoaxes of all time, is widely believed to have been the body of a young monkey sewn onto a fish tail, and had been bought from Japanese sailors for $6,000.
Ningyo (Japanese mermaids – the word literally means “person-fish”) have a long and interesting history, but they aren’t the only ancient fake taxidermy on show in Japan. Across the country are all kinds of other fascinating specimens: “mummies” of tengu, kappa and even dragons.
It’s one of the sad facts of life that it generally takes longer to build up a good mood than to tear one down. A quick bit of bad luck can ruin your afternoon (just ask anyone who’s been pooped on by a pigeon), but blissful joy is often the result of building off a string of successes and blessings.
We say “often” because sometimes you stumble across a shortcut to a genuine smile or heartwarming laugh, which is definitely the case with the twist ending to this short video of a hamster having its ear stroked.
There’s no denying that we love our ramen here in Japan. The dish is so well-loved, in fact, that it can be called one of the national comfort foods of Japan, and one of the factors that make ramen so intriguing is the fact that there are so many variations of it across Japan, from the miso-based ramen of Hokkaido in the north to the pork-stock based tonkotsu ramen of Kyushu in the south.
Surrounded as we are by all the different ramens served at countless shops throughout the country, it’s rare that we see a ramen that surprises us with its originality, but when we heard about a ramen with a soup containing stock made from green tea — and expensive gyokuro tea at that — we have to say we were positively fascinated, and we knew we had to try it ourselves. Green tea ramen, here we come!
Last year, we talked about seasoning maker Ajigen’s Magic Powder that Makes Ramen More Delicious. Weird as the idea seemed initially, the more we thought about it, we realized it could be just the thing for people with a desire for a tasty meal but no time or motivation to cook for themselves.
That said, if your schedule is so packed you need to prepare dinner in three minutes, we’re guessing you also can’t spare the time for a trip to the bar and a pour of some flavorful and unique craft brew. Thankfully, Ajigen is back again with more magic powder, this time for your beer.
When living in another country it’s only natural to miss some of the tastes of home. In my case, the extreme rarity of root beer has been a source of sadness. Time to time I’ll come across a supermarket or import shop that carries it and am sure to pick up a can despite its often exorbitant price of around 200 yen (US$1.69).
The reason for the absence of the drink on the Japanese market is obvious though. Although root beer has its share of detractors even in its home of America, the sheer number of people who can’t stand the stuff in Japan is huge. What is it that makes root beer so overwhelmingly disgusting to Japanese people?
Every year, Major League Baseball sends a delegation of players to Japan for a series of games against a team of Japanese all-stars. Since the contests are held after the conclusion of both the World and Japan Series, the players are all technically in their off-seasons, but there’s still some impressive skill on display.
The teams and fans all seem to come away with good memories of the games, but the Major Leaguers also left something behind: a ton of trash in their dugout at Tokyo Dome.
On Tuesday, engineering company Shimizu Corporation announced the third entry in its “Shimizu Dream Series”–an idea for a futuristic deep sea underwater city named “Ocean Spiral.” The concept was developed over a period of two years through collaboration with Tokyo University, Saga University, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology [JAMSTEC], and other leading research partners.
Although the project has a hefty price tag, officials also say that the proposed colony has the potential to become a reality in the not so distant future. Science fiction fan or not, you’ve got to take a look at these conceptual designs–this may be what’s in store for the future of our species!
How many ways can people display their love for Frozen? It seems like we’ve exhausted all the options. In order to get noticed in the digital age, some are probably trying to ride the coattails of the movie’s popularity. With so many tributes, parodies, interpretations and whatnot, it’s hard to sort through what is worth your precious internet minutes.
A dance troupe in Japan wants you to watch their Frozen performance and they guarantee it won’t be a waste of your time. How do they know? It starts with one simple word: cross-dressing.
The musical style enka usually gets referred to as Japan’s equivalent of country western music. The two do have a lot in common thematically, as the biggest hits of both genres are often centered on blue-collar hardships, melancholy nostalgia, and heavy drinking (one famous enka hit is “Sake Wo,” or, “Bring Me Booze”).
But while there are young country listeners, it’s a lot harder to find fresh-faced enka fans, since the lyrics of many enka ballads are so world-weary it’s hard to appreciate them without a few decades of failed romances and stalled career paths under your belt. So to reach out to a new demographic, one enka legend is recording her version of the theme song of hit anime Evangelion.
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Gotta size ’em all? Image of all 718 Pokémon depicted to scale leaves us awestruck
Is Sapporio’s Snow Festival awesome enough to be worth visiting even if you hate the snow? [Pics]
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
How to make curry in a rice cooker with zero prep work and no water[Recipe]
We tried six Japanese burger chains’ coffee to test the state of fast food coffee in Japan[Taste test]
Asakusa’s Yoi no Yoi bar crawl is one of Tokyo’s best local nights out
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japanese zoo’s monkey bonds with Ikea stuffed orangutang following abandonment by mother[Video]
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuffStarbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourismNaruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Now is the time to visit one of Tokyo’s best off-the-beaten-path plum blossom gardens
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Can you eat lunch in Tokyo for less than 500 yen?
Japan has trams that say “sorry” while they ride around town…but why?Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s HokkaidoSuper-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamedStarbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
Archfiend Hello Kitty appears as Sanrio launches new team-up with Yu-Gi-Oh【Pics】
Japan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning looks to be affecting tourist crowds on Miyajima
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
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your homeJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be validStarbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
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 says
We tried six Japanese burger chains’ coffee to test the state of fast food coffee in Japan[Taste test]
Asakusa’s Yoi no Yoi bar crawl is one of Tokyo’s best local nights out
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japanese zoo’s monkey bonds with Ikea stuffed orangutang following abandonment by mother[Video]
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
Poop is in full bloom at the Unko Museums for cherry blossom season
Udonuts: Doughnuts containing udon noodles become a thing in Japan
Freakishly muscular life-size statues of Grappler Baki anime/manga cast intimidate and amaze【Pics】
Big, drunk and furry—Everything you need to know about tanuki (plus a song about their balls!)
Naruto’s favorite noodle shop Ichiraku Ramen is real, and we just visited it!
Starbucks Japan unveils new Sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2025
Visiting Dejima, the only island where Westerners were allowed in Japan for hundreds of years
W.T.F. Japan: Top 5 kanji with ironic meanings【Weird Top Five】
We buy chocolate fish in a can from a store in Akihabara