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Can video games really help “level up” your beauty stats? 【Poll】

It has been a great year for gamers. Two new game consoles—PlayStation 4 and Xbox One— have ushered in a new generation of living room gaming, and then scientists gave us some delicious data to throw back in mom’s face about how spending all that time glued to the NES was actually making us smarter. And to add to the year of good news, a very (un)official poll of about 50 couples at Joypolis arcade in Tokyo said that playing video games actually makes you more attractive on a date!

But which games are best to impress, and does it really work? Click below to find out as well as to participate in our official RocketNews24 poll to test this theory of video games’ effects on beauty.

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Feed your inner monster with adorable Totoro cream puffs

Sometimes food is so beautifully prepared it seems like a shame to eat it. And yet, the beautiful preparation makes it that much more enticing. The Japanese are without a doubt the masters of this skill, ranging from the exquisite jewel-like arrangements of chic kaiseki-ryori to the saccharine adorableness of the average kid’s bento.

But we’ve discovered an almost-too-squee-inducing-to-eat treat that should appeal to adults and children alike: cream puffs shaped like Ghibli animation favorite Totoro.

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Sony files patent application for a “Smart Wig”

Smartphones are great and all, but they require your hands, which can be a problem when doing work, sports or raising the occasional barn. Then, along came Google Glass, a brand of smart glasses with promises of a more hands-free future. Unfortunately, it’s hard to interact with people and not have them stare at your right eye the entire time.

There must be a way to combine the discreet practicality of a smartphone with the hands-free functionality of smart glasses. According to an invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office this year, Sony appears to be interested something that just might do that with the “Smart Wig.”

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Japan is often thought of as an exporting juggernaut, thanks in no small part to the country’s high profile automobile and consumer electronics companies. However, the nation has to turn to importing for much of its energy needs, particularly as it increasingly looks for ways to reduce its reliance on domestically produced nuclear power following the events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.

However, one scientist claims Japan could eliminate its need to import energy entirely by turning algae into fuel.

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Reasons why it’s harder to raise kids in Japan than in other countries…or not

The act of raising a child is never easy. Some countries offer parents enough rights and protections to make childcare a bit less of a burden, but the struggles and uncertainties that come with supporting another tiny human should never be disregarded.

That being said, everyone’s favorite opinionated Japanese blogger, Madame Riri, has a few things to say about how raising children in Japan is “ten times more difficult” than it is in foreign countries. Keep in mind that Madame Riri has only ever traveled to France and does not actually have any children of her own. But who knows? Perhaps there’s some truth buried beneath the mounds of limited observation, hearsay, and conjecture!

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How cute is your numberplate? Japan’s Tottori Prefecture bring the kawaii to its cars

Coming from the UK, I was always both amused and envious whenever I saw car registration plates during visits to the US. Every one I saw had a little state-specific design or message etched into it, whereas all plates in the UK are the same: dull black letters and numbers on a yellow background. The same can be said about plates in Japan, although the names of larger towns and prefectures in which the vehicle is registered are also shown above the row of numbers.

The town of Kotoura in Japan’s Tottori Prefecture, however, just blew even America’s plates out of the water with this über cute design, which features a portly cow, a pair of frolicking flying fish, and one of the town’s mascot characters holding the produce the area is famous for.

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Serving an Okinawan bitter melon and spam dish to New Yorkers

Goya champuru, unlike its name, is extremely simple. The dish consists of only a few main ingredients: goya (bitter melon), tofu, egg and spam. It’s a homey comfort food from Okinawa, Japan that highlights the island prefecture’s long history with the United States. Susan Hamaker, writer and editor over at JapanCulture•NYC, an online resource for “all things Japanese in New York City,” let us know about a wonderful booth they ran at Japan Block Fair showcasing this down home dish. Let’s take a look!

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Japanese students get people dancing to AKB48 all over Singapore【Video】

If you were out and about one day and a foreign student randomly came up to you and asked you to dance to some Japanese pop song you’d never heard in your life, would you do it?

Four exchange students from Japan managed to get hundreds of people in Singapore, locals and tourists included, dancing to the catchy tune of Japanese idol group AKB48’s Koi Suru Fortune Cookie in various public places such as tourist spots and popular food establishments. If you’re planning a trip to Singapore, or have never heard of this tropical getaway, this informative video is a must-watch!

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A Japanese clothing store’s misadventure in Bangladesh: The importance of marketing research

Clothing stores which quickly and cheaply offer fashions based on the latest trends such as H&M and Zara have been enjoying a high level of popularity, especially in the last decade. Shops following this model known as “fast fashion” can also be found in Japan with its largest by far being Uniqlo.

Recently we ran an article speculating why Japanese companies are slow to take risks, but that’s not always the case. In the highly competitive and globalized world of fast fashion sometimes you have to make big moves. That’s just what Uniqlo did, and they moved right into Bangladesh, which has been deemed a “least developed country” by the UN.

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Early photos suggest that European PlayStation 4 consoles are made in Japan, not China

Sony has boasted over a million PlayStation 4 consoles sold during the new machine’s first day of sale alone, and that figure is climbing ever higher by the day, but it’s important to remember that these are just the numbers for North America, and European gamers still have a little while (make that a long while if you’re Japanese, but let’s not rub salt in the wound) to wait until they get to throw cash in Sony’s direction and make the PS4 their own.

It turns out, though, that unlike the millions of units shipped to the US in recent weeks, which were mostly made in China, there’s a good chance that the consoles European gamers will be snapping up come November 29 were in fact made in Sony’s homeland, Japan.

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The last couple of years haven’t been particularly kind to Suzuki Motor Corporation. The company’s US division filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and the automaker announced that it would be halting sales of passenger cars in both America and Canada.

Suzuki still sells cars in its home market, but recent moves by Japanese politicians looking to scale back tax breaks for the compact cars the Shizuoka-based manufacturer specializes in have put it in a precarious position. As the man in the hot seat, Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki has come up with a bold and unorthodox plan: openly insult his customers.

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【Thursday Throwback】We order a Whopper with 1,050 bacon strips, Struggle to level comically huge burger

Thursday Throwback is your peek into the archives of RocketNews24. We’d hate for you to miss any of the quality quirky news from Asia and Japan just because you recently stumbled on our site. And if you’re a devout RN24 reader, thank you for your continued readership! Enjoy this blast from the past! 

(Originally posted on April 19, 2012 by Steven)

Well that didn’t take long. Just yesterday we shared the story of how our own Mr. Sato capitalized on Burger King Japan’s current 15 bacon strips for 100 yen (US $1.20) promotion by ordering a Whopper with 105 bacon strips. While Mr. Sato managed to finish the burger, he didn’t seem to be in the best shape afterwards, falling into a meat-induced coma and then suddenly breaking out of it only to run out of the room with his hand covering his mouth.

Surely we thought Mr. Sato had finally learned his lesson that consuming stacks of bacon is a task better left to professionals. So imagine our surprise when he came in the office holding a plastic bag sagging under the weight of a 1,050 bacon strip Whopper.

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Kids these days don’t want to poop!

It’s a fact of life: everyone poops. And yet society seems to have evolved some sense of embarrassment over letting people know that you’ve dropped a stinky load. We try to assuage these issues with things like private bathroom stalls and air fresheners in public restrooms. In fact, toilets in Japan will often have automatic noise makers to mask any embarrassing sounds that might slip past your posterior.

And yet still, a recent study shows that more than half of Japanese school children refuse to go number two until after they’ve returned to the perfect privacy of their own homes! They’ll hold it for hours rather than respond to nature’s call, their embarrassment about bodily functions eventually causing them to become chronically constipated.

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Japan is a crowded place. There’s just no way to get around it. The vast majority of good jobs and schools are found in the major urban centers, which are themselves located on the scarce patches of usable land available in this tremendously mountainous country.

Although few people particularly enjoy living in such dense population centers where you find yourself surprised when you’re not pressed against your fellow commuters on the train in the morning, what can you do about it? It’s not like Japan itself is suddenly going to start getting any bigger, is it?

Actually, it that’s exactly what’s going on, as newly released images show that a new island has recently formed in Japan’s waters.

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Finally, your dog can safely leap through flaming hoops with this adorable doggy fire gear

Every dog owner has experienced it: you want your dog to sit, speak, roll over and maybe shake, but your pooch has other ambitions. Bigger dreams. He wants to join the fire brigade (you know this because you taught him to speak), but you’re worried about your little buddy’s safety.

Finally, though, you can let your doggy chase both his tail and his dreams with this adorable doggy flame-retardant suit. Join us after the jump for more adorable photos!

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Buckle up, Japan! Survey shows only 68.2 percent of backseat passengers wear their seat belt

If you’ve ever lived in Japan, chances are you’ve seen a little three-year-old climbing around the inside of their parent’s car…while the vehicle was in motion. To those in other countries where seatbelt and child safety harness laws are strictly enforced, this might be shocking to hear, but this situation happens more often than you might think. In fact, Japan didn’t have a mandatory seat belt law for rear passengers until 2008.

But even an official law doesn’t seems to deter Japanese drivers from not buckling up when it comes to the backseat. That’s why the Japan Automotive Federation along with the National Police Agency published the results of a 2013 survey detailing exactly how many people use their car’s most important safety device.

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When you stop and think about it, the Pokémon series of video games ought to be terrifying. Sure, on the one hand, most of the pocket monsters the player controls are drawn with chubby cheeks and eyes whose size is equaled only by their cuteness. But at the same time, those rolly polly creatures do battle with each other by unleashing lightning storms, fireballs, and tornadoes. From a design standpoint, they shouldn’t look like Bambi’s woodland friends. Pokémon should look like something that could take on Godzilla.

In other words, they should look something like the frightening CG image here.

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  • Nov 21, 2013

Watch out for cute overload — see these cats with awesomely unique markings!【Pics】

As you can undoubtedly tell from the number of cat-related articles on our site, we’re quite fond of furry little felines here at RocketNews24. Now, while we firmly believe that “all cats are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain undeniable charms”, we have to admit that a series of photos of uniquely marked cats found by a fellow reporter at our sister site Pouch was particularly delightful — so delightful, in fact, that we felt we had to introduce them here for all the cat lovers among our readers. So come in for a closer look, and get ready for a load of feline cute!

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Japan-designed New York City “Taxi of Tomorrow” put on display in Tokyo despite recent setback

In May 2011, Japan’s Nissan Motor Company was awarded the rights to manufacture a line of new generation yellow taxis for New York City, with the aim of replacing the myriad varieties of cabs on the city’s streets with one uniform design by 2020. Dubbed the “Taxi of Tomorrow” by the contest organisers, Nissan’s car was to become a major part of New York City life, and naturally came as a boon to the Japanese company.   

Sadly, the project has stalled following a number of legal disputes and issues over accessibility, but Nissan is nevertheless exceptionally proud of its modern take on the classic yellow cab, and recently exhibited it for all to see in a temporary showroom in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza shopping district.

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While in recent years opinions have become increasingly divided on the gameplay in long-running video game series Final Fantasy, there’s not much room to criticize the franchise’s artistry. New installments of Final Fantasy are consistently among the most visually and aurally pleasing games at their time of release. Each title has a huge team of designers and software engineers who spend untold hours making sure the cut scenes are gorgeous, the interface slick, and the soundtrack stirring and crystal clear. And also, apparently, that the heroine doesn’t inadvertently flash her panties.

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