Fukuoka Aquarium’s black finless porpoises proved themselves to be the true wizards of the sea earlier this month when they began blowing incredible bubble rings like Gandalf the Grey high on pipe-leaf, even passing them back and forth relay-style.
Upcoming Nintendo 3DS title Gyakuten Saiban 5 (known in the English-speaking world as Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies) may still be a couple of months away from release in the West, but gamers in Japan are already charging their portable consoles in preparation for its launch this Thursday.
Developer Capcom, too, is helping fans get back into detective mode after their brief hiatus by asking visitors to the official Phoenix Wright website to investigate a crime scene and spot the contradictions in three witness statements. Those who can successfully solve the puzzle will be entered into a prize draw to win one of 50 ‘blood pillows’ designed to transform any sleeping gamer into the victim of a grizzly cartoon murder.
When it comes to the food we eat, the importance of the consume-by-date should not be underestimated. Depending on the item on sale, going beyond the expiry date by a day or two may not always create too many problems but when the product in question happens to be 46 years old, the possible repercussions of eating it do not bear thinking about…
On 20 July, Kita Nippon News was flooded with pictures and reports of high rainbow activity out of Toyama Prefecture. In particular was this shot of a rare rainbow cloud. Well, actually it was one of those artificial clouds left by aircraft called contrails, but it was still pretty cool.
In an age when we do the majority of our multiplayer gaming online, sometimes separated by entire oceans and continents, there’s nothing quite like a bit of couch co-op or split-screen multiplayer. I refer, of course, to the act of playing games together in the same room using a single screen; something that until the arrival of cheap, reliable internet was the only form of multiplayer video gaming there was. Make a night of it with a few chilled drinks, snacks and a couple of pizzas, and you and your gamer pals are in for a great time.
But with this infinitely more sociable form of gaming there also comes great danger: the risk of gross, greasy controllers. I’m sure many of you can recall taking a controller from a friend or sibling during a long afternoon playing Street Fighter II only to find it positively dripping with perspiration. What’s even worse is when said hand sweat is mixed up with pizza grease and cheesy powder from the endless bags of Doritos and Cheetos you and your friends have been working your way though.
It is time, my gamer friends, to learn to use chopsticks.
It’s Monday, which is the worst way to start the week, isn’t it? So, how about some heart-warming news to get things going?
Let’s see, what have we got? Oh, yes, a story about how, while alighting from a train in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture, a woman slipped and became pinned between the train and the platform.
Wait, that’s not the heart-warming part!
We recently reported on Japan’s recent trouble with traffic backups in otter pipes, but it seems the country is facing another animal menace: feathered anarchists interfering in the political process!
To achieve your dreams, you have to really want it. You need drive, determination and, if this video is anything to go by, a good pair of legs.
Taken in Hanoi by a member of English Premier League football club Arsenal, the following video sees one young Vietnamese fan chasing after the team’s tour bus for some five miles, waving and pounding the badge emblazoned on his chest with such vigour that the team eventually decides to welcome him on board for a once-in-a-lifetime private autograph and photo session.
Can you guess whose cute little bottoms these are? If you’re a Disney fan, chances are you already have a good idea. Well, I chanced upon these bottles recently in a convenience store, and they were so cute I just had to buy them all! And if these adorably packaged bottles just happened to contain a nice cool drink, so much the better, especially since the drink was a unique type of tea I had never tasted before.
But first of all, let’s take a look at the face of the characters who are showing their lovable derrieres for all the world to see:
When out on the town many drinking establishments in Japan offer yakitori, which is basically grilled marinated chicken on a stick. These are offered in a wide variety using different parts of the chicken, added vegetables, or different sauces, salts and spice blends.
Now Zenyaren Sohonten Tokyo is offering a one-of-a-kind type of grilled chicken called The World’s First Mega-Yakitori. This limited edition menu item is said to contain 30 times the meat of a regular stick of yakitori. This isn’t a simple case of quantity over quality either as the chicken is specially selected from regions across Japan.
Before anyone even asked him, Mr. Sato was digging out his most loose-fitting jeans and on his way to try it out.
In the name of beauty and fashion, women will jump through some extreme hoops, and always have. Throughout history, the quest for beauty and status has taken on many different forms, ranging from corsets, teeth blackening (ohaguro), foot binding and rubbing arsenic on the face to achieve the kind of aristocratic pale complexion which meant you had never seen a day’s work outside in the sun. These days, it’s Brazilian waxes, eyebrow threading, ridiculous high heels and either fake tan or whitening. Let’s not even get started on the surgical procedures you can now undergo to become an idealized identikit Barbie! At the dentist recently, I was offered Botox or collagen lip filler. Well, if you’re getting stuff injected into your face already, why not?
Here we have 17 photos of early twentieth-century women being beautified by some terrifying machines, many of which look strikingly similar to what we might undergo today. Huh, they must be working then! The next time I’m having hot wax poured onto my crotch and ripped off, I will remember the brave sacrifices made by those who have gone before us…
For anyone who loves gaming but often gets told by those around them to put their efforts into something more productive, we here at RocketNews24 have some great news. It comes in the form of a job post searching for someone to play video games for three months that carries a million yen (US$10,000) reward. Gaming all day only to be paid a salary at the end of it, is for many, the stuff dreams are made of. But believe it or not, this is a real job posting that is valid right now in Japan.
For any young man in Japan looking to get into professional soccer, enrollment in Yasu High School in Shiga Prefecture would be a good decision. This school has graduated several pros in Japan and is continuing to build a reputation for soccer skills since winning the National High School Soccer Championship in 2006. In case you don’t believe them, they posted a promotional video on YouTube showing a brief minute-and-a-half flurry of fancy footwork along with surprisingly good cinematography for a high school video.
There are probably very few of us who haven’t been touched by Disney magic at one time or another, and I’m sure we all have our favorite Disney characters (whether childhood or current). Well, have you ever thought about what it may be like to receive a letter from your Disney character? It turns out, there’s a way to actually make that happen! Read More
Oculus Rift is surely one of the most highly anticipated devices of this gaming generation. In case you’ve somehow not heard about it, Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that is already garnering rave reviews from industry insiders and little old ladies who are more hardcore than you. What makes Oculus Rift so exciting is its high-quality dual display that uses motion detectors to dynamically show users the game world as they turn their head. Basically, it’s supposed to be a completely immersive experience. Right now, the device is still mostly limited to developers hard at work trying to take advantage of its full power, but most of the demos we’ve seen have been great. One Japanese developer decided to create an adorable mini-game staring everyone’s favorite fictional idol: Hatsune Miku.
On 20 July, McDonald’s Japan released their third and final luxury Quarter Pounder Jewelry Series burger, the Quarter Pounder Ruby Spark. Like the Black Diamond and Gold Ring that came before it, the Ruby Spark sold for the exorbitant amount of 1,000 yen (US$10).
The Ruby Spark’s special premium ingredient was a few slices of chorizo developed specifically for this sandwich. As customers started devouring the one-day-only sandwich and took to the net to voice their opinions, public sentiment was unusually divided straight down the middle with a balance of comments declaring it “perfect” and “not good enough.”
Curious at how polarizing one burger can be, we sent a reporter to check one out.
Summer vacation is in full swing now, meaning everyone’s at the beach drinking lots of cold beer, in the park drinking lots of cold beer, or in the mountains drinking lots of cold beer. Basically, breweries are getting rich and we’re happy to help.
But, as one Chinese man recently found out, you need to be careful! Too much beer can have…explosive results. Read More
When it’s the middle of summer, what do you reach for to get a little relief? Ice cream? Watermelon? How about Cup Noodles?
For most, boiling hot soup is the last thing you want to eat on a hot day, but the official Nissin website has a solution: Ice Cup Noodles. Last year, they suggested adding ice cubes to their popular instant ramen, but the exact amount of ice was unclear, resulting in unhappy (and sweaty) summer soup eaters. This year, Nissin has an exact recipe for those in need of a summer treat. Hungry and desperate for a little relief from the hot Tokyo afternoon, our reporter set out to make the perfect Ice Cup Noodles.
Tired of the same old plastic model kits? Have you built more Gundam than your wife is comfortable with? Put together enough miniature planes, trains, and automobiles than you care to admit? Well you’re in luck! We’ve found a totally bizarre but somehow completely awesome plastic model kit that you’ve probably never built before.
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Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
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Osaka governor suggests lowering voting age to 0 to curb population decline
Suntory x Super Mario collaboration creates a clever way to transform into Mario【Videos】
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
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Weekly
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods- Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo to Kyoto- Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】
Monthly
- McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
- Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour Totoro- Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
- All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutions
Yearly
- McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
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
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
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Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Pokémon Sleep camping suite and guestrooms coming to Tokyo Hyatt along with giant Snorlax burgers
20 things to buy at the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo store
We try out “Chan Ramen”, an underground type of ramen popular in the ramen community
Harajuku Station’s beautiful old wooden building is set to return, with a new complex around it
Lawson convenience store teaches us how to make okonomiyaki with no knife or bowl 【SoraKitchen】
The shit didn’t hit the fan, it IS the fan – Testing Daiso’s 100-yen Handy Poo Fan
Find a red envelope on the ground? Here’s why you should never pick it up
A taste of Japanese curry usually only sold overseas, at Tokyo’s Curry House CoCo Ichibanya World
We stress-test Uniqlo’s “Impressive Jacket and Pants” to see if they live up to their names
Everyone cuts their toenails wrong, says Japanese doctor, and here’s how to do it correctly
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