Getting tricked is usually no fun, but not in the case of brilliant art that tricks the eye. Take for instance, the work of Japanese art university student Hikaru Cho, an example of which is shown in the picture above. Does that look like an ordinary cucumber to you? We certainly wouldn’t blame you if you said it does, but read further to find out what the object really is!
Not surprisingly, the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370 with 239 people on board more than a week ago has led some people to come up with very interesting theories about what might have happened.
On his Tumblr, self-identified hobby pilot and aviation enthusiast Keith Ledgerwood put forward the most elaborate and interesting suggestion we’ve heard yet.
He argues the 777 could have flown over India and Pakistan, avoiding military radar detection by turning off its communications systems and following a Singapore Airlines 777 so closely the two aircraft “would have shown up as one single blip on the radar.”
As you may have noticed, we here at RocketNews24 are definitely not shy about giving out our opinions about life in Japan. But although you’ve heard plenty about what we think are the best and worst parts of living in the country, we thought it would be interesting to look at what Japanese people think of their own country.
After living and working abroad for a while, Japanese expats coming back home may find themselves thinking they’ve lost touch with their own culture. But we found a list of things that Japanese expats say are some of the best parts of life in Japan that you just can’t find anywhere else. Click below to find out the six things that Japanese citizens living overseas miss most about home!
The flipside to Japan’s major cities being so crowded is that large patches of the country are hardly developed at all. The need to be close to an urban center for work or school means that if you’re willing to spend a couple hours getting out of town, you can find scenes of pristine natural beauty.
Recently, a group of Japanese Internet commentators engaged in an impromptu debate about which of Japan’s rural villages is the most beautiful. They haven’t come to a consensus yet, and after looking at photos from the numerous contenders, we can see why they’re having trouble deciding on just one.
On 16 March Tokyo Electric Power Comanpy (TEPCO) announced that they discovered a significant increase in power consumption during the early mornings of 20 and 21 February. Those times coincided with both the women’s short program and free skate events in which Mao Asada competed. In each case the increase in demand equaled the amount put out by an entire fossil fuel power plant.
Although the designs of smash hit anime Evangelion’s titular titanic robots are ingrained on the psyches of animation and science fiction fans the world over, early on it had a bit of an uphill battle. Compared to the lines of other mecha franchises like Gundam, the Evas were downright gangly. Evangleion’s war machines resembled slouchy adolescents, right down to their feet where instead of the knightly armored boots of their predecessors, the Eva’s appeared to be wearing ordinary shoes.
Now fans can bring things full-circle with a line of Evangelion loafers.
With its crude animation and humour, South Park shocked audiences when it first aired back in 1997, with viewers unsure of its place in the schedules and target audience. Since then, Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s animated comedy has grown to become arguably one of the most entertaining, risqué and cutting-edge shows on TV today, with episodes pumped out at breakneck speeds so as to ensure that their content is always as topical as it is amusing.
With endless spoofs, homages and no-holds-barred social commentary, South Park has entertained audiences in dozens of countries for almost 17 years now, but there’s one theme in particular that just keeps cropping up season after season: Japan.
So come with us today as we take a look at seven of South Park’s most memorable and outrageous “Japan” moments. Trust us when we say that this isn’t one for the easily offended.
J-Stars Victory Vs., the crossover fighting game that pits characters from 32 Shonen Jump manga against each other, debuts on Wednesday, and to celebrate the launch, Bandai Namco Games erected life-size statues of Dragon Ball Z‘s Son Goku duking it out with One Piece‘s Monkey D. Luffy on the streets of Tokyo.
I’ve always maintained that fish are the best pets, largely because they’re quiet and the chance of them peeing on your sofa is fairly slim. That said, I can see why dogs appeal to some people especially in modern society. When you’re feeling stressed over your latest work assignment, it’s nice to have an animal companion with the kind of straightforward emotional honesty that reminds you how happy life can be when you live in a world that has such awesome things as squirrels to be chased and sausages to be eaten.
But sometimes this phenomenon works in reverse, and if dogs’ can get such a huge boost from small things, it doesn’t always take much to swing their emotional state back the other way, as this troubled little guy shows us.
But what’s he fretting over exactly?
The Blue Samurai, Japan’s national soccer team, will be fighting their way through this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament with the help of one of the world’s most recognizable characters. Adidas announced on Saturday that Pikachu, everyone’s favorite electrifying mouse-like creature, will be joined by 10 other Pokemon to cheer on the boys in blue.
Russia has been all over the headlines recently. Earlier this year, it was for the Sochi Winter Olympics. More recently, it’s because president Vladimir Putin has been flexing his muscles again, this time in Crimea.
As the world’s eighth largest economy Russia can’t be ignored. The sheer scale of its pipelines, for instance, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, or its population decline are mind-boggling.
We put together some key facts about Russia.
Could China finally be ready to make its long-delayed entry into the console wars? It was only a matter of time since the 14-year ban on video game consoles was lifted in January of this year, and a collaboration between two companies has now announced that we could see a new China-exclusive device out sometime this month.
A few years back, Dragon Ball Kai was broadcast as a remastered version of the Dragon Ball Z series from the Raditz story arc to the Cell events when production stopped due to the Tohoku Earthquake of 2011. This series boasted more vivid colors, updated music and new voice actors to appeal to a new generation of viewers.
Such changes could be seen as improvement, but surely upset some hardcore fans of the original series with the thinking “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, recently even more casual fans are calling the new series a “corruption” of the original after learning that moves were also made to tone down some of Dragon Ball Z’s violence.
Read on to see which classic scene got “cleaned up.”
There’s probably a scientific explanation for almost everything in the world, and that includes ice cream. Of course we knew there was some science going on in those delicious scoops of frozen creamy goodness, but this laboratory-themed ice cream parlor in Busan, Korea, works the science right in front of your eyes!
If you’ve never had ice cream made straight out of a laboratory flask, topped with syringes and droppers, read on!
Although it’s had only limited success internationally, in its home country of Japan, the video game series Monster Hunter is a massive hit. New titles have been released for the series at a pace of more than one a year, and the franchise can count 17 titles since it began in 2004.
Monster Hunter is popular enough that you could argue that it’s become one of Japan’s national pastimes, so maybe it was only a matter of time before someone thought to combine it with another of the country’s favorite cultural activities, the paper-folding art of origami.
The first teaser trailer for the Ju-on: Owari no Hajimari (The Grudge: Beginning of the End) horror film began streaming on Saturday.
Manga has made its impact all over the globe, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all that reads from right to left is gold. While your Dragon Balls, Narutos, and Attacks on Titan have all gone on to fame worldwide, it doesn’t mean every one of Japan’s hand-drawn treasures share the same love abroad.
Japan’s Da Vinchi News recently interviewed a publisher in New York whom they call “Mr. C” about four particular smash hit manga series in Japan that could hardly make a dent in the American market. What was it about these titles that made them perform completely differently in these two parts of the world?
Three years ago, Japan’s northeastern region was devastated by a triple disaster of a Magnitude 9.0 earthquake, an ensuing tsunami that wiped away whole towns and caused the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. Affected deeply by the tragedy, Japan has since rallied together as a country to support those who lost loved ones, livelihoods and homes.
Last week, as a part of remembering the three years that have passed since the disaster, famed German camera maker Leica gave a high-end camera worth 1,200,000 yen (US$12,000) to a high school student whose community was devastated by the tsunami. Initially touched by the show of support, Japanese netizens began a heated conversation online about whether the very generous gift was a heart-felt present or just a PR stunt for the well-known camera maker.
I’ve honestly never been much of a Disney fan (anyone else just want to punch Mickey in the face? Just me, eh?), but after having passively listened to Frozen‘s “Let It Go” as my wife played it a good 30 or 40 times over the last few months, I have to admit, it’s a superb song.
The movie finally released here last Friday as Ana and the Snow Queen (didn’t I tell you Japan was always late with movie releases!?) in 2-D and 3-D, with both dubbed Japanese and subtitled versions available. Something of a purist, I insisted on watching the film in its original English if I was to see it at all, but having just caught the Japanese version of “Let It Go”, it almost makes me want to watch the film in its translated version too.
Check out the Japanese version of arguably one of Disney’s best tracks ever after the jump.
I grew up watching the characters on Sesame Street count numbers, spell words, and sing songs about goldfish and birds. Even after I had outgrown the long-running children’s series, I had to sit through it again while babysitting my little cousins. And my guess is that many of you out there went through a similar experience since the show has been on TV since 1969 and is broadcast in over 140 countries worldwide.
How many of you then subsequently got hooked on to the arcade game Street Fighter II in your school days? I definitely did, and this guy called gavacho13 on Deviantart probably did too, as he has been creating some awesome illustrations of the Sesame Street Fighters!