Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
A research group from Kyoto University conducted an experiment into the behavior of babies when shown an animation depicting a scene of bullying. During the experiment, a high percentage of the babies showed a deep interest in the party being bullied. It is thought that the tendency to sympathizing with the weaker party reveals the essentially benevolent nature of humankind.
Cutting 50 percent of blue light while allowing 85 percent of visible light through, these new glasses are a must-have for any hardcore gamer or corporate desk slave.
This summer, Hooters is opening a pair of beer gardens in Osaka and Tokyo for a limited time. Although there have been a pair of Hooters restaurants in Tokyo, this is the first time the American franchise has made it down to Osaka.
Always eager to bring you the best news from Japan sprinkled with a variety of cultural insights, we headed down to the grand opening to give you two reviews: one from a guy who used to live up the street from a Hooters in his home country of Canada, and the other from a Osaka native who had never even heard of the place. Together we can see if Hooters Osaka maintains the lively atmosphere of the chain in America but also caters to Japanese sensibilities. You know… because we’re really into marketing science and stuff.
Most people prefer to open their curtains in the morning to find bright, clear skies waiting for them, but with the arrival of the rainy season (known as 梅雨 tsuyu, and written with the characters for “plum” and “rain”) here in Japan we‘ve got a long stretch of wet weather ahead. If that has you down, perhaps channeling your inner superhero when you wake up in the morning and stepping out with this ninja sword umbrella will brighten your day. And if fantasizing about slashing enemy combatants isn’t your thing, maybe the romaine lettuce-inspired Vegetabrella from Tokyo Noble is what you need to put a smile on your face.
Take a look at these five rainy day inspirations helping ensure Japan stays dry during drizzling days of June.
As I’m sure the vast majority of our gamer crowd is aware, it’s almost time to wrap up this year’s annual industry-oriented trade fair, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo). RocketNews24 has already covered the big announcements for Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but it’s time now to take a trip through the exhibition booths, where game producers showcase their upcoming titles. Most provide game demos and release brand new trailers to introduce curious attendees to the game’s plot and basic game play. Capcom, however, took a different approach for their booth promoting the all new Dead Rising 3. It’s different in that the booth could barely be approached at all!
Warning: this article contains graphic images that some may find disturbing.
The spider crab is the largest living crab on the planet and, as its name suggests, looks like the terrifying offspring of the unholy mating of a coconut crab and a Goliath tarantula. So it’s no wonder that watching one of these monstrosities shed its entire exoskeleton is nightmare-inducing, as this video shows.
Among the numerous luxuries the Conrad Tokyo provides guests is the hotel’s extensive list of amenities, such as uniquely-scented soaps, shampoos and rubber duckies to make bath time in your opulent, free-standing tub just that much better.
Of course, these pale in comparison to the perks offered for the traveler who books a room in the hotel’s newest promotional package, which include a 552-horsepower mid-engined supercar.
Ever the video game fans and hungry for news of upcoming titles and hardware, we sent our reporter extraordinaire Kuzo over to L.A. to check out the games event of the year. It wasn’t long, though, before he became distracted by the swathes of official swag on sale.
Thankfully, before he found himself completely over encumbered Kuzo was able to get a few snaps from the trade show floor. Check this little lot out!
Culture Japan’s Danny Choo gives us an inside look at one of Shinagawa’s automated bicycle vaults, proving once and for all that they are not operated by tiny elves working under illegal labour conditions.
Our favourite part is when the official explains that the vaults keep bikes safe from “the weather and pranksters.” Damn those pranksters, stealing our bikes! Not funny this time, you guys.
Bulletin boards in Japan are hot with rumour and speculation today after videos recorded by an as yet unidentified Japanese male threaten random knife attacks on members of the public at stations in Japan, with Fukuoka’s Hakata Station ultimately named as the spot where the attack will take place.
Although neither the following article nor the videos within it contain any graphic imagery, some readers may nevertheless find their content disturbing.
Calling all MacHeads! Can’t wait to get your hands on that ever-so-sexy Mac Pro introduced at the WWDC a few days ago? Not to worry, Amazon Japan has you covered, almost. Check out the New TUBELOR (black) from ideaco which can be yours for a mere 3,465 yen (about US$36). Though it doesn’t come with dual GPUs, PCI Express-based flash storage or high-performance Thunderbolt 2, with a little work on your part, this piece of just-as-sexy office hardware could have your co-workers drooling with envy, and, bump you to the top of your office’s cool colleague rankings.
There are plenty of difficulties in learning Japanese, from the thousands of kanji characters you have to memorize to the fact that the language doesn’t have a future tense. Pronunciation, though, isn’t that big of a hurdle. Japanese contains only 47 syllables to master, which may sound like a lot, but is in actuality pretty paltry compared to most other languages.
One of the biggest effects this limited pronunciation repertoire has is that Japanese is filled with homonyms. For example, kyoushi could mean either “a teacher” or “death by way of insanity.” Where there are words that sound alike, there are puns, and now where there are puns, there’s the president of Domino’s Pizza Japan.
Two youths were arrested by Aichi Prefecture police on June 11 after they placed a plastic bag full of dog feces and lit fireworks inside a police box, showering the small room with the bag’s contents.
The man brought us the jaw-dropping stop motion videos of battles between iconic Dragon Ball and Street Fighter characters has done it again! This time, he’s brought The Legend of Zelda‘s sword-wielding hero Link to play, and he’s got a sexy gun-toting pal with him…
As part of healthy human relations, it’s necessary to know just how much of a physical distance you should keep between yourself and someone you don’t know on an intimate level. If the distance is too great, there’s the risk that you’ll appear uneasy. Likewise, if you draw in so close that the other party can literally feel your breath on their face, you can forget about making any positive impressions.
Apparently, some McDonald’s customers in China are creating a reputation for themselves by exhibiting “overly familiar behavior” towards the staff. This problem became a hot topic online recently when someone snapped a customer completely ignoring the rules of distance etiquette.
Something every guidebook mentions about table manners in Japan is that, while almost every restaurant and home keeps a bottle of soy sauce on the table, it’s there to add to things like sashimi and grated radish, and not to be poured on white rice.
This isn’t to say that people in Japan always eat their rice plain, though. A recent Internet popularity poll pitted four of the country’s top rice toppings against each other in a battle royale.
For those learning Japanese, manga can often be a good text. With the help of pictures and rather short sentences we can read along without much effort and perhaps enjoy the studying process a little more.
Well it turns out a member of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo thought the exact same thing. While out on a stroll last Sunday he picked up a particular manga that he thought would help him learn both the Japanese language and what Japanese people think about religion.
Among the extensive pantheon of ramen varieties is tsukemen, in which the noodles are served on a dish with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side. My first experience with the dish was in college, when a buddy took me to a tsukemen place that had opened up near our campus in Tokyo that was famous for their sauce made with fish stock. At the time it seemed like a wildly exotic concoction, but little did I know that years later my hometown of Los Angeles would produce an even more outlandish version of the dish: marshmallow ramen.
Anyone who has ever worked in a library could probably tell you that wiping down the covers of the books in the children’s section is one of the most grimy and disgusting tasks you could ever be assigned. I’d personally rather clean the toilets with a wet wipe to be quite honest! Thankfully, in order to counteract at least the living layer of grime found on these and other books, many libraries in Japan have installed a Bacteria Elimination Box to kill off any harmful little microbes that previous patrons might have left behind. It’s the perfect piece of equipment for bibliophilic germaphobes exploring the stacks!
So here’s a tricky question: do desserts count as masculine or feminine food? On the one hand, a slice of chocolate cake is just as bold a statement of your culinary decadence as a nice fried pork cutlet. In either case, it’s at least a little wild and macho to eat something with such shaky nutritional value yet unquestionable deliciousness, similar to how I rationalize eating a pack of ham out of the fridge when I’m too lazy to go buy bread for a sandwich as being a natural result of my raging testosterone.
On the other hand, sweets are, well, sweet. Truly red-blooded males can’t even bring themselves to utter the word “sweet” unless they add “taste of revenge” after it while clenching a fist and glaring at the horizon.
Thankfully, Japanese convenience store chain Family Mart is here to help end this confusion with a line of desserts tailor-made for everybody born with a Y chromosome.
Two things to do, and two things not to do, when leaving a traditional Japanese inn
Studio Ghibli unveils new goods that tip the hat to The Cat Returns
Enjoy a Pokémon tea ceremony with new matcha goods featuring Poltchageist and Sinistcha
History’s largest force of Samurai Colonel Sanders deploying to KFC Japan branches
Japanese woman stumbles on the power of the infamous “gaijin seat” phenomenon during flight
Japanese-style accommodation at the new Premium Dormy Inn hotel in Asakusa will blow your mind
Icon’s Mac & Cheese Burger contender for best burger in Tokyo【Taste test】
Ancient temple with National Treasures is a hidden gem on the Nara Yamato Four-Temple Pilgrimage
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Japanese wasp-filled crackers: Their sting is far worse than a bite
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screensMcDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
One of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keepTwo things to do, and two things not to do, when leaving a traditional Japanese inn
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about itStudio Ghibli unveils new goods that tip the hat to The Cat Returns
Studio Ghibli unveils massive T-shirt collection featuring top anime movie characters
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
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
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
Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in TokyoBad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screensMcDonald’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 1950sForeigner’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
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
Japanese-style accommodation at the new Premium Dormy Inn hotel in Asakusa will blow your mind
Icon’s Mac & Cheese Burger contender for best burger in Tokyo【Taste test】
Ancient temple with National Treasures is a hidden gem on the Nara Yamato Four-Temple Pilgrimage
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensation
Japanese wasp-filled crackers: Their sting is far worse than a bite
Starbucks at Shibuya Scramble Crossing reopens, but is it really bigger and better than before?
Japan’s new wearable air conditioner belt is here just in time for the Tokyo heat wave
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screens
One of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keep
Kyoto curry bread comes with a very special filling
Spirited Away train station and submerged tracks attract Ghibli fans around Japan
A Gintama fan’s emotional 19-year journey to buy a proper Lake Toya bokuto wooden katana【Pics】
What do you think of Muji’s new sustainable cutlery cover?
