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Would you date a girl dressed head to toe in Uniqlo? 76% of men say “of course!”

Evie Nyan
Jan 8, 2015
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Uniqlo, the hugely popular Japanese chain store that stocks a variety of simple, practical and affordable clothing, has expanded into a world-wide venture, with stores in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and, well, you get the picture. In the West in particular, Uniqlo has a pretty cool image thanks to its simple, pared-down designs and celebrity approval (for example, Pharrell Williams designed a range for them in April 2014), so it might surprise some of you to hear that there are people in Japan who tend to be a bit snobby about Uniqlo, looking down on its regular clientele for lacking in fashion sense.

It’s the year of the sheep-dog! Introducing new clothes for your dog’s wardrobe

Meg Murphy
Jan 8, 2015

We have bid farewell to the year of the horse, and welcomed in the Year of the Sheep. New Year’s decorations, greeting cards, and the like are all adorned with more sweet, fluffy little lambs than you could shake one of their tails at. It almost makes you want to get an adorable little baby fleecey bundle for your own. I mean, sheep are allowed in apartments, right? Right!?

Or maybe it would just be easier to transform your dog into a sheep for the New Year instead!

Is Mario’s Birdo a boy or a girl? Years after her first appearance, the debate rages on

Mike
Jan 8, 2015

It’s already kind of old news that one of gaming’s few potentially transgender characters has been hiding in plain sight since the late ’80s in the form of the adorable and misunderstood Mario villain, Birdo.

But that hasn’t stopped the Internet from debating all kinds of aspects about the character’s gender identity, from whether the whole “boy who thinks he’s a girl” thing is Mario canon or whether the character is pre- or post-op. While the Western web was shocked by this stunning news a while back, it seemed Japan was politely giving poor Birdo her privacy and staying out of it, until a recent Twitter post…

Your nail art may be cute, but is it Kabuki-cute? New style trend begins with 100 yen stickers

Evie Nyan
Jan 7, 2015

Nail art is something that’s increasingly popular among Japan’s ladies due to the fact that it’s an easy way to express your individual style. As well as DIY-ing it at home with 100 yen store nail polishes and nail stickers, you can also get reasonably affordable yet super-durable gel manicures in a salon which are set by UV light and last for at least a month. Nail art trends tend to come and go depending on the season and whatever’s in style, but occasionally there’s a “boom” for a certain kind of design, with more and more people jumping on the bandwagon. First came anime nail art, and now it’s the turn of traditional Japanese performance art, Kabuki!

Is One Piece sexist? Twitter user posts scathing essay about Japan’s favorite manga

Scott Wilson
Jan 7, 2015

One Piece is the top-selling manga of all time, with over 350 million volumes sold in Japan alone. For fans of the series, it’s a no-brainer why the comic is so popular. The author/artist Eiichiro Oda is a master storyteller, turning what could have been a run-of-the-mill shonen manga into something special. One Piece often tackles deeper themes including racism, abuse of power, justice, moral ambiguity, and of course, big dudes with sweet powers slamming into each other.

What’s even more surprising are the readership demographics. Nine out of ten people who buy One Piece are adults, and over half of the manga’s readers are women. This might make it seem like it appeals to everyone, but apparently that is not the case. Japanese Twitter user @ykhre recently tweeted a controversial essay, making her case for why One Piece, despite its broad appeal, is sexist.

We play little-known instrument the Udar, which does a killer Final Fantasy Prelude

Master Blaster
Jan 7, 2015

The world is full of musical instruments with varying degrees of notoriety. Many instruments, like the guitar and piano, have legions of followers, while others like the sheng only get picked up by a select few. The Udar falls into that latter category with Mr. Sato having just become one of the very few people who have ever picked one up.

Join us as we listen to the musical stylings of the Udar as played by its inventor Michinobu Uda and learn a little about how it works.

Anime cover band Inheres has us rocking out to Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk and more…in Spanish!

Fran W
Jan 7, 2015

Cover versions are tricky to get right. Sound too different from the original and you risk alienating those who prefer the original; mimic the original version and you’re not bringing anything new to the table. And covers in a different language are a whole different kettle of pescado.

So we’re seriously impressed by these tracks from Inheres, a three-piece rock band hailing from Valparaíso, Chile, who specialise in covers of anime themes. Join us after the jump to hear anime themes as you’ve never heard them before, from Detective Conan to Saint Seiya.

Next time you eat an orange, why not make it into an orange caterpillar first?

Master Blaster
Jan 7, 2015

During the winter months Japanese people often like to relax under their heated tables (kotatsu) and enjoy a nice mikan tangerine. Its juicy sweetness and vitamin C is a great compliment to these chilly nights. But really, anywhere in the world, anytime is a good time to enjoy some variation of orange, isn’t it?

So next time you get ready to peel a mandarin or clementine how about making it into a caterpillar first like many Twitter users in Japan have been doing in recent years? It’s super easy and we’re going to show you how.

Japanese UFO catcher prizes just keep getting weirder…

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 7, 2015

“Oh shoot, I’m out of dish soap, let’s go to the game center.” If this sentence seems incongruous, you clearly have not spent enough time in Japanese game centers. Sure game centers have good old fashion arcade games, air hockey and photo booths, but a lot of the space is taken up by UFO catchers (adorably pronounced, oo-fo in Japan), aka claw/crane games.

Usually, UFO catchers are filled with cute toys or cool figurines, but sometimes things get a little too practical. Other times, the prizes are just a bit… off. Twitter users across Japan have shared their strange finds with us before, but they just keep coming and they keep getting weirder.

iMakeover: Can a haircut turn Mr. Sato into Steve Jobs?

Scott R Dixon
Jan 7, 2015

Everyone has that one celebrity that we have been told we sort of look like if we squint our eyes and look into a foggy mirror. For our beloved RocketNews24 reporter Mr. Sato, that celebrity doppelganger is none other than former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. As a frequent participant at iPhone launches and Apple’s annual “luckybag” sale in Japan, Mr. Sato decided maybe it was time to see if a shorter haircut (and a black turtleneck) would indeed make him look like the tech icon. Armed with an iPad and a digital photo of Steve Jobs, Mr. Sato began his iMakeover.

Enjoy a platter of Youkai Sashimi while we explain that cat’s name

Master Blaster
Jan 7, 2015

As we’ve been constantly reminding you over the past year or so, Youkai Watch is really big in Japan now, and yet some of you out there still don’t seem to believe us. We’ve watched them rip the annual McDonald’s calendar endorsement deal out of the cuddly clutches of Pokemon. We’ve seen fans carve their graven images into pumpkins. We’ve tasted of their milk. Still, there are those who think that it’s just a flash in the pan.

For those people, we present the highest honor a character in Japan can receive: a sashimi platter in their likeness.

Ouch! That’s awkward: Fleeting train romance wasn’t quite as it seemed

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 7, 2015

It was a moment all romantics dream of: He’s sitting in a train stopped at a station when he locks eyes with a cute girl waiting on the platform… but then the train leaves, the girl is gone forever and he’s left with nothing but the memory. This happened to one lucky guy, but unfortunately, the other person saw the experience a little differently.

Stinky train tracks, expensive imports and no weekends: netizens remember Showa-era Japan

Scott R Dixon
Jan 7, 2015

The Showa period (1926-1989) was a time of immense change for Japan when the country went from being an imperial power to a poverty-stricken post-war nation and then becoming an economic powerhouse that dominated automotive and electronic industries around the world. Twenty-seven years since that era ended and the current Heisei era began, fond memories of “Showa Japan” still flood many Japanese minds.

But a recent online poll asked netizens to take off their rose-tinted glasses and consider the aspects of daily Showa-period life that, while seeming completely normal back then, would be unthinkable now. Join us after the jump for a look at the slightly grim feedback.

New Fukushima school gets uniforms designed by the AKB48 costume designer

Anime News Network
Jan 7, 2015

The new Futaba Future School, a combined junior and senior high school set to open in Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture this April, is getting some pretty snazzy uniforms. They were designed by Shinobu Kayano, the woman behind AKB48‘s colorful and memorable costumes.

Cosplay ideals vs. cosplay reality, a.k.a. cool vs. funny 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Jan 7, 2015

For many cosplay enthusiasts, the appeal of the hobby is deeper than just the clothes. The most dedicated cosplayers don’t just slip on costumes, but also the personas of their favorite characters from Attack on Titan, Final Fantasy, or, well, Persona.

But while the perfect cosplay photograph might recreate the flawlessly cool poses of anime and video game icons, the reality of how those shots get produced is often quite a bit less stylish, as shown in this series of behind the scenes peeks at cosplay photo shoots.

Tough lesson learned: Snowboarders safely rescued after getting lost on mountain for two days

Meg Murphy
Jan 7, 2015

Japan takes a lot of pride in its four distinct seasons, and everyone seems to enjoy all the changes that each new time of year brings. With winter, you’ll see people setting up their kotatsu tables at home to keep warm, convenience stores starting to sell delicious hot bowls of oden, and what seems to be just about everyone in the country gearing up to hit the slopes. With mountainous regions throughout Japan, and travel companies offering super cheap ski-tour packages, it’s hard to ignore the call to pack up your board or skis and head for the powdery slopes.

A fun weekend at the Kagura Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture is probably what 45-year-old Koju Neriko, his wife, and their friend had in mind when they set out with their snowboards last Friday, only to become terribly lost on the blustering mountain for two days.

Help our writer figure out how to wear the mysterious clothing item in her Muji Lucky Bag

Krista Rogers
Jan 6, 2015

Remember the Muji Fortune Can that we featured a few days ago from our favorite minimalist home goods store, Muji? Following that welcome discovery, our Japanese reporter also managed to get her hands on both a Muji Women’s Clothing Lucky Bag and a Muji Health & Beauty Lucky Bag.

Although she was content with most of the surprises, there was one clothing item in particular that stumped her–can anyone give her a few tips on how best to wear it? Don’t miss her mini fashion show after the jump!

Seven cool things set to happen in Japan during 2015

Casey Baseel
Jan 6, 2015

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that you should always wash your hands after going to the bathroom. If there’re two things we know, though, the second is that you’ll never get anywhere in life being fixated on the past. So while 2014 was a pretty good year for us, we’re already looking to the year ahead, which is already promising seven cool happenings for Japan in 2015.

Itadakimasu! A brief history of the evolution of Japanese school lunches

Krista Rogers
Jan 6, 2015

In the 22nd year of the Meiji era (aka 1889), the very first Japanese kyūshoku (school lunch) was served up at an elementary school in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture. Although the first menu was very simply prepared, it provided the growing children with an important source of nourishment that not all of them could receive at home.

Fast-forward to 2015–Japanese schoolchildren (and their teachers!) continue to eat school lunches every day, as opposed to children in many other countries who bring their lunches from home. If you’re working in a Japanese school, you should already be familiar with the daily feeling of either excitement or disappointment when you see the lunch menu for the day. But just consider this–would you rather eat the types of lunches served today, or those that were served 100 years ago? Read on to learn about the evolution of Japanese school lunches and decide for yourself!

Devious hens have been short-changing unknowing humans with their “large eggs”

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 6, 2015

It turns out that the hens of the world have been playing a dirty trick on much of the human population, but now, thanks to one sign at a Japanese grocery store and one surprised Twitter user, the chickens’ secret is out in the open: Apparently, no matter what size an egg is, the size of the yolk never changes. We feel a bit ripped off.