Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
As we all know, part of Starbucks’ appeal is its big menu and many choices, which naturally lead up to customizable orders. Seeing people rattle off all the options that comprise their beverage of choice is almost enough to make you develop an inferiority complex for just wanting a plain coffee. Read More
Danish variety store, Tiger, had recently opened up its first store in Osaka, Japan, in the shopping area known as American Village. Little did they know about the propensities of the Japanese shopper.
Or maybe they just didn’t give them enough credit. In this case, it was the intensity of Japanese shoppers that resulted in the store having to unexpectedly shut down. Despite having the experience of managing stores in 16 different countries, Tiger underestimated the insatiable drive of Japanese people to shop, even if it meant queueing in line for hours and hours.
All this trouble for the European answer to the 100 yen shop... Read More
Anti-Japanese demonstrations have been sweeping across China since Sunday in response to Japanese activists unfurling Japanese flags on a disputed island in the South China Sea, four days after Chinese activists landed on the same island.
Undoubtedly the most high-profile of the protests was in Shenzen, where some Chinese protesters burned Japanese flags and even turned violent, vandalizing Japanese cars and breaking into a local Japanese restaurant.
What the angry Chinese mob didn’t realize was that, like most Japanese eateries outside of Japan, the restaurant they ravaged was owned and operated by Chinese.
In addition to two months of temperatures over ３５℃, Japan has recently been hit with a spate of lightning storms. In fact, when writing a previous story my building was hit by lightning knocking out my computer and forcing a rewrite. The son of a…
Anyway, with all this lightning around and pretty much the entire population carrying cameras built into their phones, a person’s natural inclination is to try and take a picture of a bolt.
One person though was not only lucky enough to actually be able to catch a bolt in a photo, but found something far stranger.
The art of goldfish exhibiting can be fully appreciated at this Art Aquarium and Night Aquarium Exhibit called Edo Cooling Goldfish. Sponsored by Diners Card and running from August 17th (Friday) till September 24th (Monday) at the Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, the exhibit consists of artfully arranged aquariums where, the stars of this display, the kingyo, or goldfish, swim around demonstrating their own beauty, as well as being part of an intricate art presentation never seen before.
You have never, and may never again, see so many kingyo in one place at one time!
On August 15, Japanese convenience store chain Lawson launched a Evangelion tie-in campaign to promote the November release of the film Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.
Like any other Japanese convenience store promotion, Lawson is selling a small collection of limited-edition Evangelion goods and snacks. Among them is a package of 2 “churro sticks” called “Rei Ayanami’s Spear of Longinus,” supposedly modeled after the iconic weapon.
If you ever visit Japan and want to sample one of the staples of local cuisine, find a convenience store and grab an onigiri, or rice ball. Easy to make, plentiful in variety and an essential component of any bento lunch, the onigiri is to Japan what the sandwich is to the West.
But with so many different fillings, how do you know which onigiri to try out? If you want a taste of the REAL Japan, you need to eat what REAL Japanese people are eating, which is why we’d like to share with you this REAL list ranking the most popular onigiri fillings in Japan.
Unlike American game makers, Japanese video game companies often sweat over every detail before selling their games overseas to make sure it fits the culture. Although the sentiment is appreciated the results are often poor, as people in other countries enjoy those cultural differences more often than not.
Case in point is Prince’s Proposal’s (Ojisama no Puropozu) treacherous journey abroad. Prince’s Proposal is an otome game where your character, a university student, has a chance encounter with six princes whom you must find romance with by making the right choices throughout the story.
Its recent westernized incarnation called Be My Princess, however, decided to replace the stylish anime princes and characters with rubbery, emotionless ones.
There are literally tens of thousands of songs out there that use the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid software for vocals, but few can inspire and touch people’s hearts like the work of Japanese 11-member music group Supercell.
On August 14, Supercell released the music video for their new single “ODDS&ENDS,” their first song to feature Hatsune Miku in over a year and the opening theme for the upcoming Playstation Vita game “Hatsune Miku Project DIVA-f.”
Check out the video below and be sure to grab a box of tissues because Supercell has once again managed to pour more emotion into this virtual singer than can be found in most pop songs today.
I have to admit, I’m the kind of guy who clings to his underwear until it’s little more than two threads attached to a stretched out, useless elastic band. Guys tend to be creatures of habit and would rather put up with worn down shorts than go to the store to buy new ones.
Freepan (short for Free Pants) is a totally new patented service prepared to send up to seven free pairs of underpants every month – with free delivery!
Catch? Yes, there are a couple catches but not as bad as you might imagine.
With mobile phones steadily evolving into smart phones the days of prepaid units may one day slip away from us. However, a new app called Burner keeps the tradition of making and receiving anonymous phone calls alive on your regular smart phone.
The app is named after a slang term for a cheap prepaid mobile phone that could be untraceably used in illegal dealings. Once the job is done, you can just toss the burner in a dumpster severing all connection with that number. This app saves the trouble of getting and disposing of a handset by putting the burner inside your iPhone side by side with your regular service. Yet this app surely can be used for legal purposes too… right?
Rumor has it that the world-famous Bill Gates has started building a vacation home in Japan’s premier mountain resort town Karuizawa, Nagano!
After it was substantiated in an article in Shinken Shinbun, a local construction periodical, the Bill Gates Mansion became the talk of the town. The land for it includes an area of 19,979 square meters. It will be one-storied and go down two stories into a basement. There will be a heliport and a private underground road accessing the grounds where a 2000 square metered garden is planned.
None of us wants to live in an apartment or house where someone was killed, also known as stigmatized properties. It’d be pretty creepy in the least. However, in Japan the desire to not live in a place like that is so intense that you’d think Poltergeist was a documentary.
Oshima Teru is an up and coming website that also must be a real estate agent’s worst nightmare. Its main purpose is to map out every property where unnatural deaths occurred. Originally only focusing on the Greater Tokyo Area, they have expanded into nearly worldwide coverage including North America and Europe.
There are many pizza places in the world but very few have achieved the worldwide notoriety of Domino’s Pizza. So it’s comforting to know that they reward their workers handsomely when outstanding work is done.
In Japan, a manager deemed “excellent” by the corporation gets rewarded a Rolex watch. Granted the Rolex is engraved with the Domino’s logo in places, but it’s still a Rolex, and it’s worth a pretty penny too according to the pawn shop one was sold to.
It’s a fact of life that summers in Japan are hot and humid, and the Japanese people have a long history of trying to find ways to cool down in hot weather. One tradition that has come about as a result is the telling of terrifying horror stories in the summer, for the purpose of getting “chilled with terror”. And right now with the summer in full swing in Japan, we are indeed in need of some “chilling”.
Well, to help those of us desperate to feel just even a little bit cooler, Japanese entertainment group Culture Convenience Club (CCC), which operates TSUTAYA, one of the largest Video/DVD rental chains in Japan, has released a list of the 20 most-rented horror movies in Japan over the past three decades (1983 to 2012 to be exact). So, let’s see which movies made the list! Read More
Many foreigners view Japan as some marvelous dreamland of technology and culture; a place where crazy is the norm and embracing fantasy in everyday life is acceptable.
But to Japanese people, Japan is just that place you were born. Everyone and everything is routine, and it’s often difficult to see why the rest of the world get’s so worked up about “Japanese culture.”
Earlier this month, we sent one of our Japanese reporters to Comic Market (or “Comiket“), the world’s largest self-published comic book fair and otaku mecca, to interview real live foreigners and ask them what it is they really think about this country.
While North America and Australia are still have a week to wait before they can get their hands on the Nintendo 3DS XL, Japan is already getting its first limited edition version of the little giant: Nintendo 3DS LL Pikachu Yellow.
Asuka Tachikawa, 27, famous for being a “beautiful city councilor,” has had pressure put on her to quit her job because she is actually an alien in disguise trying to ruin the city of Niizu in Saitama (near Tokyo).
Elected as a city councilor in February this year, the Saitama Prefectural Electoral Office has decided that her election is invalid because she may not have lived in the city for more than the required 3 months. In other words, she is an alien.
But what evidence do they have?
Read More
Move over Ryohei Kato! There’s another male gymnast whipping women into a frenzy online. His name is Kohei Uchimura, and while his boyish good looks and personality scores points with the ladies, it’s a certain part of his body tucked away that sets him apart from others.
That’s right. Women can’t seem to get enough of Uchimura’s arm pit hair. In fact, there’s a lot of talk of using it a garnish as one person commented “I want to sprinkle his fresh pit hair over my soba and savor the taste.”
Japan has nearly 4 million abandoned homes, but where and why?
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
We save money on crotchless jeans from Japanese brand Beams by making our own
Pokémon Cafe serves up a green tea ceremony in Japan with Poltchageist and Sinistcha matcha menu
Should married couples in Japan be allowed to have different family names? Survey investigates
Beautiful set of 24 Ghibli anime memo pads returns, will have you wanting to take notes by hand
History’s largest force of Samurai Colonel Sanders deploying to KFC Japan branches
Tomonoura: Where Ponyo and Wolverine crossed paths
One of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keep
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 screens
McDonald’s Japan’s new pancake pie is a taste sensationOne 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
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy dayStudio Ghibli unveils new goods that tip the hat to The Cat Returns
FUK COFFEE?!? Japanese cafe has a perfectly innocent reason for its startling-looking name
Studio Ghibli unveils massive T-shirt collection featuring top anime movie characters
Japanese-style accommodation at the new Premium Dormy Inn hotel in Asakusa will blow your mind
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 monthBad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screens
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 TokyoMcDonald’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
Should married couples in Japan be allowed to have different family names? Survey investigates
Beautiful set of 24 Ghibli anime memo pads returns, will have you wanting to take notes by hand
History’s largest force of Samurai Colonel Sanders deploying to KFC Japan branches
Tomonoura: Where Ponyo and Wolverine crossed paths
One of Japan’s oldest castles now lets travelers spend night on the grounds, drink in its keep
Gudetama the lazy egg now being served as actual dish, looks absolutely adorable!
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Ginza hotel serves up one of the best breakfasts in Tokyo
Meet the most unmotivated Sanrio character ever — Gudetama, the lazy egg!
21 photos of Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi, probably the best in all the world
Is Japan’s massive Shizuoka steak sandwich really as delicious as it looks in promo photos?
A story of how Starbucks Reserve Roastery products always make us forget about money management
Japanese restaurant combines solo shabu shabu dining with the fun of a sushi train
Pokémon Sleep camping suite and guestrooms coming to Tokyo Hyatt along with giant Snorlax burgers
