Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
While companies around the world have made all sorts of different versions of cola, the distinctive taste remains unchanged. So where exactly does the tart, sweet taste of your favorite soda come from? Thanks to a recent visit to a cola producer, a writer on Daily Portal Z found out more about the soft drink and shared his discovery with Japanese netizens, who were somewhat surprised at cola’s humble (and druggy) beginnings, but were left wondering about Coke’s secret recipe.
The taiko drum simulating rhythm game Taiko No Tatsujin has been a hit in game centers and home living rooms for quite some time now. Even the iOS app has fared well, currently standing as the 25th top grossing application on the Japanese App Store.
Still, playing it on a touch screen doesn’t quite match the experience of using a physical drum and sticks. You’d probably be too afraid of screwing up the screen by wailing on it too hard. That’s why Bandai will be releasing a Taiko No Tatsujin drum controller for use with Apple devices.
The International Red Cross has recently been pushing for so-called “hyper realistic” video games to follow international humanitarian laws and penalize players for their in-game crimes, such as gunning down civilians. Last month, the organization on its Japanese site posted an explanation about why it decided to press for this. As expected, gamers had mixed reactions to the announcement with some decrying the “over-regulation” of their hobby, while many thought it was a much-needed change to the industry.
We’ve all got bizarre excuses for cheating on a diet. You know, like how donut holes don’t count because they technically don’t exist? And we all know ice cream is mostly air anyway. Now, men, at least, are going to have to add a new ludicrous excuse: “Certainly calories don’t count if you eat them in midair.”
On 7 November Kenji Suetsugu, a researcher at Kyoto University announced that he discovered a brand new type of orchid. The flower was found in April of last year on the island of Takeshima (not the same Takeshima that’s in dispute between Japana and Korea) in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Not only is finding a new species of plant a rare occurrence, but this particular orchid is quite unique in that it neither requires photosynthesis to live nor does it bloom at all.
Did you know that November 8 was “Good Teeth Day”? It’s just one of many little-known specially designated mini-holidays in Japan. And what better way to celebrate your pearly whites than with tooth-themed bentos! Take a look at a few clever lunchboxes showcased on Japanese cooking sites.
September 26 of this year marked the end of the series finale of the popular swimming anime, Free!, though fans of the series remain highly active on the Internet and at doujinshi (fan comic) events.
Recently, there’s been a real flurry of excitement within the Free! fandom on Asian blogs and online gossip columns over one fan’s genius idea to get the series’ token sweetheart to lie between her sheets. Because who wouldn’t want to sleep next to such beautiful 2-D biceps, right?
Much ink has been spilled about the supposed homogeneity of Japan and the dangerous idea of racial purity that goes along with it. Some expats have made entire careers writing — or ranting — about the problems of discrimination in Japan. And yet, the number of foreign residents has more than doubled in the last 20 years and international marriages in the country have been steadily rising, so it can’t be all that hostile either.
So how racist is Japan, really? Here’s my take—admittedly only one perspective—on where things stand.
We here at RocketNews24 are no strangers to the lengths people will go to for the latest Apple product. And when we first heard about the new iPad Air, we knew we wanted to get our hands on one. But since merely buying the newest iPad was not enough of a challenge, we set out to buy an unlocked model that could be used on any wireless network in Japan.
Unfortunately, it seems like that is not an option in Japan, which led one of our reporters from RocketNews24 Japan, Takashi Harada, on a trip to Hong Kong to try to get one of the hottest devices of the season! It turned out to be quite the adventure.
At the end of our recent article listing the 10 things that we think Japan gets horribly wrong, we assured you that we’d be back soon to focus on some of the positives and introduce the things that we really, truly love about living in Japan. True to our word, we sat down and decided on what we as (mostly) foreigners most love about this great little collection of islands, and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
Although Japan is not without its faults, it is nevertheless an incredibly efficient and easy-to-live-in country, and we’ve discovered that there are numerous things that the Japanese get not just right, but awesomely right.
Join us after the jump for our top 10 things we love about Japan.
As someone who feels lonely when his car doesn’t have a clutch pedal, the seemingly inevitable march towards self-driving automobiles isn’t exactly my favorite technological trend. Convenience is all well and good, but I can’t help but feel sorry for future generations that may never know the joy of a crisp-shifting manual transmission, or the amazing stress-relieving properties of a quick blast to redline.
Of course, there’s no pleasure to be found in navigating through a crowded parking lot hunting for a space. That’s why Honda is looking to take this task off drivers’ hands with an automatic valet parking system.
Although it’s been debated on this site before, life in a Japanese company can be tough. For some it can be downright war. And with more and more companies beginning to adopt English into their daily routines, it can be hard for an average salaryman (the term given to average full-time company employees) to get ahead or even survive.
Nissin’s Cup Noodle tries to sum it up how the feeling of a typical worker in their advert titled Globalization. Let’s take a look.
For decades snack company Ezaki Glico has supplied Japan with delicious munchies such as Pocky, Pretz, and Papico, not to mention a slew of other snacks that don’t happen to begin with the letter P! Until now, the company name was enough to grab people’s attention and promote the purchase of their tasty products. If pressed to choose an icon with which to represent the well-known brand, many might choose the 300-meter running man, as seen along the Dotonbori Canal in Osaka. However, not even he could be considered a true mascot.
Now, breaking tradition, Glico has just released official images of their all-new official mascot characters, Lico and Guri. These anime-style characters are the embodiment of cute and cool, but are pulling some conflicted reactions from Japanese Internet users. Take a look at their introduction video and decide for yourselves whether the creation of these characters is welcome or just plain weird.
On 4 November Osaka Prefectural Police announced the arrest of two teenagers aged 15 and 16 for fraud. The two boys are accused of trying to pass off a fake one million yen (US$10,000) bank note at a small cigarette stand in Suita City.
Although, passing off counterfeit money is usually considered “uttering” and may be punishable by jail time, the pair were given a reduced charge of fraud because, according to police, “the fake money used was really bad.”
While eating sweets is always a pleasure, at least for this writer, making them yourself can be quite a tricky matter, can’t it? But if you’re one of the people with skills in the kitchen who enjoys making desserts, you may want to check these videos out. They show you how to create sweet snacks that look so adorable, you’ll almost feel bad eating them! Read More
Toyota Motor plans to unveil a new vision of an astounding future reality at the Tokyo Motor Show (23 November to 1 December): the Toyota FV-2, a vehicle that can read its driver’s mood and changes colour accordingly. Imagine how this could work—you’re cruising down the road in a great mood, with your car a friendly, sunny yellow. Suddenly, you spot another vehicle in a messed-up shade of dark red. Uh-oh, road rage alert, better give that one a wide berth. You start to feel nervous, so your car turns a sickly green. Then you notice a hottie in the car next to you as you pull up at the lights, and your car blushes bright pink.
For people like me who distinguish cars mainly based on their colour—“uh, it’s a blue one”— this chameleon trick opens up a whole new world of confusion. How are you supposed to spot your friend’s car if it’s constantly changing colour? Oh right, he’s always in a bad mood, so it’s probably the black one. Anyway, I’m sure they’ve already thought of this!
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve studied Japanese or how many kanji you can successfully identify, if you still sound like you’re speaking English when you are in fact speaking Japanese, you’re going to look like a dumb gaijin.
But it’s hard to identify your level of fluency when it comes to pronunciation and we’re hoping the following video can help. This is hands down the best side-by-side comparison of an excellent and…shall we say “authentic American” Japanese accent executed by “twin brothers” David Ury and Ken Tanaka.
Ladies and gentlemen of the gaming world, those entire summer breaks spent parked in front of that hulking box of a rear-projection TV (but it was 60-inches!) with your N64 controller in hand were actually productive despite what your mother said. Thanks to the hard work of researchers in Berlin, we now know that playing Super Mario 64 is scientifically proven to increase your brain size. Which goes to show that a lot of things your mother told you as a kid were probably false. So go ahead, stop listening to your mom, your brain is probably bigger than hers now anyway.
Ask a Westerner what their favorite Japanese food is and there’s a high chance that the answer will be sushi. The widespread popularity of the delicately crafted delicacy has made it almost synonymous with the word “Japan”, even though there now exist dozens of different varieties made by people from all over the world.
Many of you reading this will have had sushi, some of you might even love it more than your mom’s cooking, but even so, that doesn’t guarantee that you have the guts for sushi. We’re not talking about the courage needed to put raw fish in your mouth, but rather, the genes required to properly digest seaweed.
Confused? Here’s the science behind it.
Despite its well-earned reputation as a society where meals are generally sensibly-sized and low calorie, Japan isn’t above the occasional burst of gastronomic decadence, and we’ve mentioned the jumbo-sized portions known as dekamori before.
Of course, it’s not easy to finance such a big appetite. Thankfully, if you’re craving a dekamori of the stir-fried noodle dish known as yakisoba, there’s a place where you won’t have to pay a single yen, as long as you can polish off 2.4 kilograms (5.3 pounds) of it ,that is…
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Japanese government wants to acquire original anime and manga art for creation of national archive
Dragon Ball anime replaces Yamcha’s voice actor for first time in 38 years
Starbucks Japan releases first flower drink in exclusive, hard-to-find chilled cup series
Japanese chanko ramen restaurant contains a moving relic from the World Trade Center
Japanese woman subdues convenience store thief with headlock, credits anime for technique
Japan voted Best Country in the world for second year in a row in Condé Nast Traveler poll
KFC Genshin Impact fried chicken combo meals now on sale in Japan
We spice up our fermented soybeans with curry powder flavored natto【Taste Test】
Cup Noodles Fried Rice: Super-easy recipe will make you a potluck or campsite hero【SoraKitchen】
Pizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited time
Right now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases new Totoro and Jiji blankets to keep you cosy this winter
Game over for Classic Mini Famicom and Super Famicom as Nintendo announces end of repairs
This Tokyo rice ball takes 20 years to make and 2,000 yen (US$14.30) to buy, but is it worth it?
Give yourself a Totoro belly with Studio Ghibli’s Marshmallow Haramaki belly wraps
Ultimate lazy sukiyaki – Can you make the king of Japanese hot pots in a rice cooker?【Taste test】
New Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessoriesJapanese chanko ramen restaurant contains a moving relic from the World Trade CenterJapanese woman subdues convenience store thief with headlock, credits anime for technique
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 set
Starbucks teams up with the oldest of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns to create a Bizen ware coffee mug
One of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens gets its own moon for moon-viewing seasonPizza Hut adds a “Guilty Secret” sandwich to its menu for a limited timeRight now is the peak time to go to Tokyo’s most-beautiful-view beer garden【Photos】
Matsushima restaurant offers all-you-can-eat sashimi in as many ways as you can dream it【Photos】
Super budget-friendly retro Tokyo hotel feels like having your own 1960s Asakusa apartmentNew Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon collaboration brings anime magic to bags, shoes and accessories
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 Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Japanese woman subdues convenience store thief with headlock, credits anime for technique
Japan voted Best Country in the world for second year in a row in Condé Nast Traveler poll
KFC Genshin Impact fried chicken combo meals now on sale in Japan
We spice up our fermented soybeans with curry powder flavored natto【Taste Test】
Cup Noodles Fried Rice: Super-easy recipe will make you a potluck or campsite hero【SoraKitchen】
Does McDonald’s Japan’s new Tsukimi Moon-Viewing shake really taste like a Pucchin Purin pudding?
It’s like the samurai era never ended at this beautiful Japanese mountain town
Do you use these “Philippine English” words and phrases?
Is Oni Koroshi sake in a drink box wino fuel or a hidden gem?
Japan’s amazing egg sandwiches sold from self-serve roadside fridges have an inspiring backstory
Studio Ghibli releases new Totoro and Jiji blankets to keep you cosy this winter
This Tokyo rice ball takes 20 years to make and 2,000 yen (US$14.30) to buy, but is it worth it?
Live-streamer who slipped and died on Mt Fuji wins Darwin Award