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Zen cat proves the ultimate high comes from music【Video】

Scott R Dixon
May 27, 2014
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Between spending all day basking in the sun and playing in boxes, there’s no doubt that the life of a cat is pretty great. And a Japanese musician has reinforced this with a recent video he uploaded of his cat achieving what looks like feline nirvana. The owner, a Tokyo-based music teacher, seems to put his cat in a trance by playing the instrument on top of the cat. Click below to view the video of the cat who could serve as an anti-drug PSA, teaching the world that the best way to get high is through music.

One man’s epic journey around the world… on a unicycle

Krista Rogers
May 27, 2014

Meet CHAO, the stage name of successful Japanese break dancer and member of the international extreme unicyling Team Unicycle TV. You read that right; extreme unicycling exists!

Over the course of one year, CHAO traveled to 42 countries and 121 cities, capturing footage of himself unicycling and his interactions with the locals in each spot. At the end of his journey, he put together some brilliantly-edited videos of his trip. After seeing them, you might just be inspired to start your own epic journey across the globe.

Japanese variety show stumbles into interview with a Grand Master of Freemasonry

Master Blaster
May 27, 2014

Around the world no other club has been the source of wild speculation and urban legends as Freemasonry. This is mostly due to the club’s secrecy on what exactly they do along with its illustrious membership including voice actor Mel Blanc, MLB pitcher Ty Cobb, and circus promoters the Ringling Brothers.

Although very little is known about the Freemasons, one Japanese comedy program, by a sheer stroke of luck, was able to infiltrate their Japanese Grand Lodge and speak with their newly inducted Grand Master.

Firefighter shows “firehose” to female police officer【TomoNews Video】

TomoNews
May 27, 2014

This pervy fire fighter should have chosen his victim more carefully…

Newsflash: Microsoft announces Xbox One release date, price for Japan

Philip Kendall
May 27, 2014

Despite underwhelming sales of its previous games consoles in Japan, Microsoft Corporation has remained true to its promise of bringing Xbox One to the Land of the Rising Sun, and has today announced an official release date and price point.

AKB48 idols Anna Iriyama, Rina Kawaei released from hospital

Anime News Network
May 27, 2014

AKB48 general manager Shinobu Kayano wrote on her official blog early Tuesday that the idol group’s members Anna Iriyama (18) and Rina Kawaei (19) were released from the hospital. Kayano confirmed that the injured male part-time staff member is also at home recuperating from his injuries and that she is grateful for his bravery while protecting Iriyama and Kawaei from their attacker.

“Umm… a little help?” Japanese Twitter user’s cat misjudges the size of potential new hangout

Philip Kendall
May 27, 2014

Cats are odd creatures. On the one hand, they exert their power over their owners humans on a near daily basis, ignoring us when we call them despite their ears clearly twitching in our direction, pestering us with such skill that it’s almost like they get a kick out of it, and making us fall for that “come, tickle my belly, human… Now, feel my CLAWS!!!” ruse every single time. And yet they occasionally do things that are so incredibly stupid that we wonder how they survived this long as a species.

Case in point, this Twitter user’s cat, who, being fond of tight spaces, climbed into a shrink-wrapped case of mineral water bottles and proceeded to get itself well and truly stuck, looking mightily uncomfortable with its little face pressed up against the plastic and wearing an expression of “this is really not going as I had planned…”

Nintendo tweets out ad for Sony’s PS Vita: jealous workers or inside job?

Scott R Dixon
May 27, 2014

Despite having the full faith of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Nintendo has had some rough years recently with video game fans turning away from the company’s latest home console. So when Nintendo of Europe tweeted out a promo video for Sony’s handheld PS Vita last week, netizens wondered if this was just a mistake or part of a larger, more sinister plan for the video game industry.

Was the tweet promoting the PS Vita just a Freudian slip by a Nintendo employee or was it the result of some nefarious hacker’s work? Click below to read some fan theories about how this “Nintendon’t” made its way to the company’s official Twitter account!

Nissin hopes to score a World Cup GOOOOAAAALLLL! with Brazilian flavored noodles

KK Miller
May 27, 2014

Japan loves limited time offers. There must be a department in every company in Japan with people whose purpose is to think of items they can sell for a limited time. Don’t believe us? Walk into a convenience store weekly and see the multitude of new drinks and new foods that appear and suddenly disappear when their time is up. The limited time offer, is nothing new, but it seems that Japan embraces the concept more than anyone else. It’s a handy way to get customers to continue to visit your store, or buy your products if every month or few months your products change.

With the World Cup just around the corner, companies in Japan are rolling out their limited time World Cup products and today we have a few that try to capture the flavor of Brazilian food.

Tokyo University’s amazing Rock-Paper-Scissors robot is back, will kick your ass faster than ever

Master Blaster
May 27, 2014

A couple of years ago we reported on a robot hand that could always win at the timeless hand game rock-paper-scissors or janken as it’s known here in Japan. After wrapping up, we confirmed that it would never lose, declared that the human race was doomed to sit in the back seats of our robot overlords, then called it a day.

Now we are surprised to learn that Tokyo University’s Ishikawa Watanabe Lab is back with an even better performing rock-paper-scissors robot, somewhat awkwardly dubbed the Janken Robot with 100% Winning Rate.

Russian crocodile hospitalized after woman falls on it

Master Blaster
May 27, 2014

It’s one of those tragic accidents that seems to replay itself far too often. Not a week goes by that I don’t open up the newspaper and hear yet again about how a crocodile has been injured by a woman not wearing her seatbelt.

Whelp, here we go again… On 20 May in Murmansk, Russia a two-meter-long crocodile named Fedya was treated for injures after a 120kg (265lbs) woman fell on it. This incident started off like they always do, with a minibus full of circus performers driving through the Arctic.

Five places to get awesome limited-edition matcha sweets right now

Oona McGee
May 27, 2014

For many in Japan, the bright green hues and bitter tones of powdered green tea partners perfectly with all things sweet, making for an irresistible dessert flavour. Now, as springtime brings the first tea of the new season, convenience stores and sweet purveyors are releasing limited-edition matcha, or powdered green tea, desserts. We take a look at five of the most popular finds that Twitter users in Japan can’t wait to get their hands on. Read More

Egypt complains over China’s fake Sphinx【TomoNews Video】

TomoNews
May 27, 2014

A full-sized replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza has appeared in a Chinese village near Shijiazhuang in China’s Hebei Province. The sphinx is open for tourist visits, angering officials in Egypt who say the appearance of the Chinese sphinx is detrimental to their tourism industry.

Tokyo University and NHK on the verge of touch-o-vision: Television you can truly feel a part of

Master Blaster
May 27, 2014

On 23 May, NHK announced that it has been working with Tokyo University to create a way to not only transmit images over long distances but to also send the sense of touch. Using this, viewers would also become able to actually feel whatever appeared on screen with their own hands.

This system makes use of Tokyo University’s newly developed device which can measure the dimensions and hardness of an object in three dimensions simultaneously. On the other end, NHK has been hard at work on a Touch/Force Display which would allow viewers to get tactile feedback from the images presented on screen.

It’s official! The Sony PlayStation is coming to China

Michelle Lynn Dinh
May 27, 2014

All the rumors are true! Sony has just announced a partnership with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to produce and sell PlayStation consoles in China. There have been plenty of knock-offs floating around on the grey market, but this new partnership with Sony marks the first time in 14 years China will allow the sale of consoles.

Drop the… iPhone? Dupstep remix of smartphone ringtone leaves us shaking our booties

Preston Phro
May 26, 2014

There are a few things we at RocketNews24 love more than anything else in the world: Food, video games, anime, weirdness from Asia, and sending Mr. Sato out on adventures involving as many of the above as possible. We also love good music, so it goes without saying that we’re always ready for some new tunes to dance off all of our junk food calories, like maybe some sexy new dubstep remixes.

So, how about this live remix of the iPhone ring tone, complete with a drop dirty enough to make Skrillex blush? It’s guaranteed to get your body moving and confuse all your Apple-loving friends at the same time!

Calling all reincarnated princesses! Sailor Moon’s “Princess Serenity dress” up for grabs

Krista Rogers
May 26, 2014

Have you always had a sneaking suspicion that you’re actually a reincarnated princess from the Moon Kingdom? If you’ve ever run into talking cats and a mysterious masked stranger in a tuxedo, or had the urge to punish your enemies “in the name of the moon” while wearing a sailor-type uniform, these could all be signs that you are indeed the 21st century reincarnation of Tsukino Usagi’s past life persona, Princess Serenity.

Once you’ve realized your true identity, feel free to indulge in your past-life princess by dressing the part while waiting for the upcoming Sailor Moon Crystal anime this summer. Princess Serenity’s gorgeous dress is now up for sale, and is perfect for anyone who wants to add a little royal sparkle to their wardrobe!

Double upside-down rainbow appears in Ishikawa Prefecture, makes everyone’s day fabulous

Mike
May 26, 2014

Some Japanese Twitter users posted photos of a spherical double rainbow spotted in Ishikawa Prefecture a few days ago, and thank God they weren’t high, because if outdated Internet meme “Double Rainbow Guy” is any indication, it would have literally destroyed their minds with its brilliance.

While Double Rainbow Guy seemed to think his double rainbow sighting was a sign that we aren’t alone in the universe or something, most Japanese Netizens who posted photos seemed to just take it as a sign of good luck, even though this double rainbow is way more awesome because it forms a circle around the sun as though Helios himself were gifting humanity with two giant cosmic frisbees.

Doughnuts meet sandwiches — with both sweet and salty results! 【Taste Test】

Kay
May 26, 2014

If you’ve been visiting our site for any length of time, you’re probably aware by now that we love stories about unique snacks, and we’re particularly delighted when they’re treats we can actually go buy and try ourselves. So, when we heard that special “doughnut sandwiches“ were being sold at Tokyo Station, we naturally had to get our hands on them and see how they taste.

We’ve already told you about how croissant doughnuts were making their presence known here in Japan, but could these doughnut sandwiches be the next big thing? Well, there was only one way to find out!

Attack on Titan fragrances return with expanded line-up, ready to make you smell like adventure

Preston Phro
May 26, 2014

Just because you’re out fighting enormous monsters all day doesn’t mean you have to smell like you’ve been fighting enormous monsters all day. Slaying titans is stinky business. We can’t imagine anything that big and skinless has the scent of anything but “ewwwwwww,” so we imagine the heroes of Attack on Titan need a pretty healthy spray or 10 of deodorant each morning.

Well, fortunately, they’ll soon be able to splash on some specialty fragrances! Kodansha has announced the addition of four more scents to its line up of Attack on Titan fragrances, again based on characters from the franchise. Find out who made the sweet-smelling cut below!