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Japan now has Evangelion-themed electric car chargers, and they are awesome

As waste gasses from fossil fuels continue to choke our planet and money-grubbing businessmen propose plans to frack (and that’s not some coy euphemism) the very ground we walk on to get at even more of the stuff, more and more people are doing their bit to be kind to the environment. Solar panels can be seen up on the roofs of residential buildings, people separate their waste so that as much of it can be recycled as possible, and more consumers than ever are choosing electric or hybrid vehicles.

And now, Japanese motorists have another reason to go green: Evangelion-themed electric car charging stations!

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Mario, Zelda, Halo…You’ve never seen stained glass like this before

Stained glass is typically seen in cathedrals or castles, sending cascades of colors into the elaborate interior. Images are usually biblical or inspired by the Renaissance and were made centuries ago. But what about modern stained glass art inspired by current trends and events? That’s where Martian Glasswork steps in, creating beautiful glass artwork with a video game twist.

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A Japanese fast food chain invented a wrapper to help women feel comfortable chomping into a burger

A Japanese burger company has a new burger wrapper designed exclusively to help women eat burgers more politely.

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The real reason Doraemon is blue? New sadder tale rewrites the robot cat’s past

Japanese children have been growing up with the resourceful robo-cat Doraemon since his creation in 1969. And while the original manga may have ended more than 15 years ago, the anime series and movie installments continue to provide fresh conflict for the funny feline and his human friends.

But with so much material to keep up with, there are bound to be a few contradictions along the way. Recently, the widely understood reason behind Doraemon’s blue coloring was flat-out replaced by an even sadder version of the tale. So, why is it that a robotic cat from the near-distant future is earless and blue?

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Smartphone version of Dragon Quest free to the first million people

The first version of Square Enix’s Lady Lora-saving slime-battling RPG, Dragon Quest, is now available on your smartphone…for free! But hurry up and download it fast, it’s only available to the first one million downloaders.

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It’s been three years since the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster swallowed up whole cities and caused one of the worst nuclear power disasters in history. For much of the world the devastating event is a distant memory – except for people in California who, for some reason, to this day think swimming in the ocean is going to give them three eyes or four boobs or something.

But for many living near the crippled Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant, like the inmates at a Kagoshima City prison located within the nuclear evacuation zone, the Tohoku earthquake and the persistent effects of the subsequent nuclear disaster altered their lives forever; so says a former inmate who is formally suing TEPCO for emotional distress.

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Real-life Winnie the Pooh caught stealing honey, on run from the law

When wildlife researchers in Kochi Prefecture set up an unmanned camera in a local forest to find the cheeky wilderness creature stealing honey from an animal trap they’d set up, they probably expected to find a clever squirrel or some other creature too small or quick to set off the trap door.

Instead, what they found in video footage was what can only be described as real-life Winnie the Pooh turned to petty crime to fund his hopeless honey addiction.

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Teacher accidentally fires confiscated “fake” gun in Fukuoka Prefecture school

In Japan where guns are an incredibly rare sight, toy guns and replicas can often look like the real thing. So when a teacher at a middle school in Fukuoka Prefecture confiscated what they thought was a fake gun from a student, the teacher handled the “toy” with very little care, and ended up accidentally discharging it in the staff room.

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10 Japanese inventions that changed the world (according to Chinese media)

Japan has invented some pretty cool things; Mario, the Nissan Skyline, and PlayStation to name a few. Sure, sexy cars and even sexier game systems are great, but what would you choose as the truly exceptional Japanese inventions that influenced the world? Chinese media site, Xinhua Net News, weighed in on this question, giving us their top 10 list of most influential inventions from Japan.

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Japanese netizens disgusted by Ikea Japan’s bright blue and yellow ice cream

Japan is full of beautifully crafted desserts of natural green, subtle pink and pure white. You’d be hard pressed to find the lime greens and neon blues of many Western snacks, especially those found in the United States. That’s why when Ikea Japan announced their lineup of food to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their Shinmisato branch, many Japanese net users were surprised by their choice of colors. Some are even saying that the unnatural colors are enough to make you lose your appetite.

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Butterfly visits penguin enclosure at Japanese zoo, whimsical chase ensues 【Video】

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t like penguins. Between their flightless wings and pudgy physique, there’s something inherently funny about them, which is juxtaposed and amplified by the way they look like they’re constantly dressed in formal tuxedos.

But perhaps the most comical thing of all about the monochrome birds is the stubborn dignity they show by standing at silent attention, even when surrounded by onlookers at a zoo.

Unless, that is, there’s a butterfly to chase.

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Check out this nightmarish sea creature caught in the Canadian Arctic

With all of the weird and horrifying animals that seem to be coming out of the ocean recently, we thought we had seen it all. But a Facebook user recently posted a picture of a fish that looks straight out of Silent Hill.

The mysterious sea creature was caught in the Arctic water of the northern territory of Nunavut in Canada. Are you ready to see a fish that could give you nightmares?

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Lady Gaga gets her own Yahoo! Japan page complete with clickable pantsuit

Lady Gaga is the queen of unique when it comes to music and fashion. Now she has a Yahoo! Japan page that’s every bit as bizarre as she is (in a good way, of course!). The Gaga-ed version has a background filled with praise for and facts about Mother Monster in Japanese. It also features a picture of Lady Gaga herself in a white pantsuit filled with clickable links to articles and other pages usually found on Yahoo! Japan. How’s that for a homepage?

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Using our brand new Xbox One console… to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U

That’s right video game fans, as of this week, we now finally have a full crop of next (or should that be “current?”) generation games consoles to play with, bringing with them a whole new era of video game magic! Nintendo’s Wii U has been with us for a while now, PlayStation 4 showed its sleek little face over 10 days ago, and we now finally have an Xbox One to tinker with!

The media centre approach Microsoft has taken with its newest home console may not appeal to all gamers, but even if you’d rather play focus on games than flick between live shows and Dead Rising, there’s no denying that Xbox One has one big advantage over its competitors – its ability to receive, rather than simply output, a signal from another device. Microsoft ideally wants us to use this feature to hook up our cable boxes and make the console our living room hub, but being the gaming nerds that we are and already owning every other console, we decided to do something a little different: play PlayStation 4 and Wii U games on our Xbox One. And it works like a charm.

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There’s less than a month to go until Christmas Eve, the most romantic night of the year in Japan. As the special night approaches, lovelorn single men throughout the country are scrambling to up their game in order to attract a date before Santa starts his rounds.

As a handy starter guide, Japanese women in a recent poll listed the top five hobbies that are immediate deal breakers when judging if a guy is boyfriend material.

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Behind the scenes of our adventure in the Philippines

Yesterday we posted a report by a writer from the Japanese side of RocketNews24 detailing his experiences in Leyte following the havoc wrecked by Typhoon Haiyan. In his account, Sekai no Shogo briefly mentioned the disappearance of his canned food and water. It was a slightly enigmatic comment with a significant backstory to it. Today, we bring you a translation of that story.

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Elementary school teacher arrested and suspended after entering women’s restroom

On 22 November a 35-year-old man who taught at an Otsu City elementary school resigned after it came to light that he unlawfully entered the women’s restroom of Shiga University. However, according to the scant details of this case it appears this might just be a case of being in the absolute worst place at the wrong time.

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How to stand out in a land where everyone wears surgical masks: wear a black one

In most countries, walking around the streets wearing a white surgical mask would likely draw stares from those around you. People may even cross the street to avoid whatever plague they think you’re harboring. However, in urban Japan it’s hard to walk down the street without seeing someone in such medical-looking garb, especially during peak allergy seasons.

Despite this, there seems to be an unwritten rule that all face masks should be white. You might see an occasional designer mask with a logo or floral print, but by and large seeing anyone wearing a surgical mask other than white is kind of rare. However, a new brand of mask with the unfortunate name of B.M is challenging this social convention by being pitch black.

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Is this as fauked up as it looks?

To the casual observer, this might look fauking ridiculous. Posing for a gangster-style purikura (photobooth) pic, it looks like these two cute high school girls still haven’t learned to spell one of the first words English students learn (you always start with the “bad words” when learning a language, right?). But don’t be so quick to judge, it may not be such an open and shut case!

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Rohto to release eye drops containing sesame oil, netizens ask “why not Tabasco sauce?”

On 21 November, Japanese pharmaceutical company Rohto announced they will be releasing a line of eye drops which promise 60 percent the viscosity of regular drops. To retain the eyes tears and keep them moist longer, Rohto uses a combination of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, and sesame oil.

That last ingredient in particular, which is generally used in Asian cooking for its notably bold taste, has caught the attention of netizens in Japan drawing comments such as “My eyes! My eyes!”

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