Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Just image hundreds of tiny Pikachu leaves raining down on a breezy fall afternoon. Wouldn’t it be awesome? Although science hasn’t come anywhere close to bringing us the tree of our dreams, we can still admire the work of user jakeacarter who posted six different “natural Pokemon” made out of leaves.
In May 2011, Nissan was selected to create and supply the vehicle that would be the exclusive New York City taxi.
That plan hasn’t worked out so well. A series of court decisions have blocked the City from approving the NV200 as the only taxi model, in part because it’s not a hybrid, according to the New York Times.
But Nissan still has the right to bring its taxi to the streets of New York, and it sold the first one at the end of October.
This week, the automaker invited me to get a closer look at the NV200 and take a spin around Manhattan.
Sometimes obvious things are hidden right in plain sight and it takes the fresh perspective of someone in another part of the world to point it out. One Twitter user stumbled on such a hidden gem recently when searching the Japanese character for “tsu” , which in the katakana alphabet is written ツ.
As you can probably see from the image above and in the text of the previous sentence, the letter looks quite a lot like a smirking face. This may appear obvious to many Western readers, but according to online reaction most Japanese netizens were taken by surprise at this discovery and had never noticed the similarity. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the character is also apparently getting an unusual amount of use in Middle Eastern countries.
Though it may not be a traditional holiday dish, pizza is often the perfect entrée for the holiday season. After all, between Christmas and New Years, there’s bound to be an opportunity to throw a party for your friends, and for those who’d rather not slave away in the kitchen for a day, pizza is often the best way to provide food to a group.
Well now Pizza Hut Japan has given us a new reason to party: in its latest promotion, the company is giving away actual gold necklaces worth nearly a thousand dollars each.
From December 6-9 of this year, Japanese Facebook dating app Match Alarm quizzed 2,944 singles in their twenties and thirties about their dating habits. They were asked to identify if they prefer to date someone of the same age, older or younger. Hmmm…Do we have to pick just one??
A resounding 81.3% of women replied that they would rather be with a silver fox than a younger stud. And one in three men said they preferred an older lover.
Following last year’s wildly popular potato chips collaboration product, Calbee and KFC are back again to ring in the new year with round two. Introducing new Colonel Crispy Chicken flavored potato chips!
Here’s a happy little story to start your weekend off right!
This Wednesday, a group of seven elementary school girls spotted an elderly lady trapped on a railroad crossing in Yamanashi Prefecture. Her electric-powered wheelchair had run out of power, leaving the poor woman stranded–and that’s when the brave girls sprang into action.
Next year, the Japanese emperor, Akihito, turns 80 years old. That’s a pretty respectable age for just about anyone, we’d say. In celebration, the Imperial Household Agency has announced plans to open up the Imperial Palace to a select group of lucky commoners to be selected by lottery. Hmm…are you feeling lucky?
Christmas is less than a week away and I’m sure many of you in the Americas and Europe are looking forward to a (hopefully) relaxing day spent with family, good food and, of course, presents.
Here in Japan, Christmas seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year, but the flavor of the holiday is probably much different than it is abroad. For example, Christmas was originally popularized here as a holiday for couples to have a special night out in the city: have dinner at a fancy restaurant, exchange gifts and then spend the night together ‘celebrating’ at a hotel.
While still viewed as a ‘lover’s holiday’, Christmas has since spread to the household, with many families feasting on the now-traditional Japanese Christmas foods of cake and—thanks to an incredibly successful marketing campaign by KFC—fried chicken.
But for most Japanese families, the real holiday spirit is felt during the time around New Years. In fact, New Years is probably to Japan what Christmas is to the US and other Western countries.
The Japanese love to have fun with words. Kotoba asobi (wordplay) makes up a pretty large portion of Japanese humor on variety programs and comedy shows – possibly a side effect of so many kanji characters sounding phonetically identical despite wildly different meanings.
But YouTube’s The World Video Tour has taken it to a whole new level with a video series of Japanese words and phrases that sound a lot like totally unrelated English terms. Below, we’ll watch the series’ host have some fun with foreign tourists to see if they understand what he’s trying to say.
It may look like some CG monster out of Cloverfield, but the monstrosity above is actually a giant isopod, a type of crustacean that lives deep in the sea. Yes, that Pekinese-sized pill bug actually exists. And now, you can have an iPhone case that looks just like it!
We’re all familiar with M&M’s, the colorful candy-coated chocolates, but did you know that you could create your very own M&M’s? Okay, perhaps some of you lucky people have visited M&M’s World and already know about this, but for the rest of us who don’t, YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE M&M’s! You can even print your Twitter ID on it! If you don’t have a Twitter account, that’s perhaps the best reason to get one.
Our reporter Kuzo takes us through the customization process!
What comes to mind when you think of popular Japanese dishes? Of course, sushi and ramen top the list, but it’s also hard to leave out curry rice. Our modern notion of Japanese curry, which originally came from India and was further developed in England, came to Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912). However, the ingredients used for “medicinal curry” (based on Chinese medicine) have actually been in Japan for 1,300 years, since the Nara Era (710-794). We were lucky enough to find a pouch of instant “1,300-year-old curry” and just had to try it!
Japan has an unspoken problem with homelessness in its cities. It’s not uncommon to see tent cities along the edges of recreational parks or to see leather-skinned men sleeping on newspapers around the train stations. These people are largely ignored by the public and will keep to themselves unless provoked by some means. The vast majority do not even beg.
Unfortunately, the problem of poverty is not the only issue that these people face. Mental illness is not uncommon amongst the homeless, and the combination of hungry people and unstable mental states can lead to some especially unfortunate circumstances.
The characters above should look very familiar to any student of Japanese. Hiragana is the phonetic alphabet that is usually the first writing system you learn. Compared to the much more complex and difficult to remember Chinese characters and the angular katakana alphabet, the loopy hiragana characters have a pleasant round feel that’s often called “cute.”
But which character is the cutest of them all? Japan weighs in.
Many of us have an impression that Japanese girls are slim and petite (which many of them really are), but one of the sad truths behind their stick-thin figures is a rather serious case of discrimination from society. While voluptuous women are popular in certain parts of the world, being even slightly chubby (not obese) is a big no-no in Japan and chubby girls often get called “debu” (fatso) online and sometimes to their face.
But recently, a new nickname for such chubby ladies has started trending among Japanese netizens, which hopefully will change the attitudes people have towards them. Behold, the rise of the “marshmallow girls”!
It’s almost the end of 2013 and that means it’s time to sit back and reflect on the events of this past year. Was it a good one for you, filled with PS4s and all-you-can-eat Whoppers? Or are you anxious to get on with the year of the horse? Whatever 2013 looked like for you and no matter where you are located in the world, we’re sure you spent a good portion of your time on YouTube. So why not ring in the new year by watching the top 10 most popular YouTube videos in Japan during 2013.
A peculiar flower that resembles Darth Vader has just bloomed at the Kyoto Botanical Garden, causing rebels in the Kyoto metropolitan area to tremble in fear. With two deep pitted areas and a smaller one in the middle, as well as a bulbous cap with curled edges, it appears the Sith Lord has been reincarnated as a flower.
We’ve already covered South Korea’s attitudes about plastic surgery; basically, that it’s considered at worst a necessary evil for some folks to get ahead in life.
That cultural attitude has led the country to be widely considered the world cosmetic surgery capital, and has even led a handful, like this obsessed woman, to spend years of their lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars artificially perfecting their appearance.
Visitors to Tokyo may be aware of a popular local sweet called Tokyo Banana sold here in the city. They’re cute, yellow, banana-shaped sponge cakes with banana custard cream filling inside. And yes, they’re as good as the description sounds, which is why the cakes are a well-loved treat in Japan, and seemingly in other parts of the world as well, as I’ve actually heard people from Singapore and Malaysia mention that they’re fans of the cake.
One of the reporters at our sister site Pouch is also apparently a big fan, so when a new version of Tokyo Banana came out this month, she naturally had to get her hands on some! And what’s so special about the new Tokyo Banana cakes? Well, to start with, they’re only sold at one location — Tokyo Station to be exact — and not only do they come in a different flavor from the regular cakes, they come in beautiful, colorful prints!
Clear tonkotsu ramen becomes a cult hit at “Ramen Runway” in Japan
Studio Ghibli releases new insect whistle necklace from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Japanese izakaya serves up cheap breakfast…and morning drinks in Tokyo
Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno returning to anime with new project for 50-year-old franchise
“Shibuya is closed for Halloween” – Hachiko to be covered, monitoring towers put up on October 31
Dove ad slams Japanese beauty ideals, backfires with complaints from public instead
Make miniatures of your miniatures with this kit from Mozo
McDonald’s Japan brings out new sweet potato caramel chocolate pies for autumn
Kyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
This non-sweet matcha treat is one of our new favorite Kyoto snack souvenirs【Taste test】
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spacesStudio Ghibli releases new insect whistle necklace from Nausicaä of the Valley of the WindEvangelion creator Hideaki Anno returning to anime with new project for 50-year-old franchise
Japanese government wants to acquire original anime and manga art for creation of national archive
After 21 years, Harajuku’s famous Lolita fashion and cosplay shop is permanently closing
Pizza Hut Japan creates Landmine-type Pizza to celebrate Japan’s dark jirai-kei fashion
KFC Genshin Impact fried chicken combo meals now on sale in Japan
Studio Ghibli releases cute new blanket socks for winterKyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
We try to buy a retro Japanese coin-operated arcade machine at this secondhand shop near TokyoJapanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Studio Ghibli lets you cosplay as Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle with cosy anime fashion range
New Hello Kitty McDonald’s Japan Happy Meal toys are here, and Kitty’s sister is part of the setStudio Ghibli releases new insect whistle necklace from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Starbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mugEvangelion creator Hideaki Anno returning to anime with new project for 50-year-old franchise
One of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing season
Right now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
Pizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited time
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in JapanJapanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Dove ad slams Japanese beauty ideals, backfires with complaints from public instead
Make miniatures of your miniatures with this kit from Mozo
McDonald’s Japan brings out new sweet potato caramel chocolate pies for autumn
Kyoto becomes City of Yokai, with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons festival this autumn
This non-sweet matcha treat is one of our new favorite Kyoto snack souvenirs【Taste test】
After 21 years, Harajuku’s famous Lolita fashion and cosplay shop is permanently closing
We eat 13 of the most highly recommended sushi items at Sushiro and pick the best of the best
How should you respond when a Japanese person gives you a compliment?
The surprising reasons why some hiragana aren’t allowed to be used on Japanese license plates
Minions cosplay as Japanese kabuki characters in new merchandise collection
Goku’s voice actress’ voice to be converted to AI for “non-acting” projects in Japanese, English
Low price, free booze and curry, late check-out, and great location — Akihabara capsule hotel has it all
Magical train ride through Japan’s autumn leaves is like travelling to a different world【Video】
A beautiful night in the Hokkaido woods with immersive Ainu folktale Kamuy Lumina【Photos】