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Demons, beans, and giant sushi rolls – It could only be Setsubun!

When you really think about them, even the traditions and practices that we each grew up with and seem perfectly normal are kind of odd. Easter, once solely the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, now sees us telling children that a benevolent rabbit came in the night to leave them chocolate eggs. Christmas takes us even further into the world of fantasy as kids grow up thinking that a magical man who lives in the North Pole works a team of elves all year round to make presents for them, delivering said gifts across the world in a single night via flying woodland beasts, despite the man himself likely having respiratory problems owing to his XXL frame.

Although Japan doesn’t really do Christmas, it does have a plenty of its own traditions and yearly celebrations, and it just so happens that today is one of them. Setsubun, or the spring bean-throwing festival, sees children yelling at and peppering fictional demons with handfuls of roasted beans, and families sitting down to eat enormous pieces of maki, or roll, sushi, often adhering to peculiar local traditions as they do.

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The above image depicting a man looking at erotic manga on a train has been circulated wide across the internet. We even made use of it in an article about unusual train behavior. Hardcore readers, however, may recognize this man as Yoppy, a writer from the awesome Japanese humor website Omocoro.

With his new-found fame, Yoppy embarked on a quest to present his website beyond the shores of Japan. But was the world ready for the Japanese-oriented naked-man-heavy content of Omocoro? Find out in this naked-man-heavy article!

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Want to smooch (and brag about it) but missing a partner? How to take a kissing selfie alone

Everyone wants to feel the joy of a simple kiss; the intimacy, the passion, the physical closeness, it’s all so nice. But there are many hurdles to successful kissing – the biggest being the fact that you need a willing and kissable partner! So what about the single people of the world? How can they fill their friends’ Facebook feed with annoying photos of themselves caught in the moment and having a nice smooch?

Enter slightly eccentric Japanese blogger Keisuke Jinushi, who lives by the mantra “There’s no time like the present” and is a self-dubbed “perpetual loner”. After his hugely successful “girlfriend hand” selfies wherein he tricked the world into believing he had a real girl of his own to feed him food and wipe ketchup of his face, Keisuke now introduces us to a foolproof technique for anyone who wants to make people think they have a kissable partner! You might get a few funny stares, though…

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Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki comments that the concept of kids maturing through adventures is “a lie”

At an event held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Japanese author Rieko Nakagawa’s worldwide best seller Guri to Gura (or Guri and Gura in English), friend and fellow artist Hayao Miyazaki has gone on record to say that – unlike in many of the animated features he has created to date – children do not simply head out on adventures and come back smarter and more mature, calling the idea “a lie”.

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The Evil Within survival horror game’s new trailer posted

The PlayStation Japan channel began streaming a new trailer for Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami‘s The Evil Within (PsychoBreak) survival horror game on Thursday. The video reveals the game’s characters and monsters.

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About time! Osaka embraces free city-wide Wi-Fi

Despite its image as a sleek, technologically advanced society, Japan really sucks when it comes to free wi-fi hotspots. In fact, when the Japan Tourism Agency surveyed tourists about difficulties traveling in the country, a lack of free Internet access was far and away the number one answer.

One major city has finally taken note and begun offering better connectivity for visitors. Osaka has just announced the launch of Osaka Free Wi-fi, a program that brings free wi-fi to locations throughout the city, as part of its effort to position itself as an international gateway to rival Tokyo.

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Gay wedding at Tokyo Disney Resort inspires manga

Koyuki Higashi creates manga with writer Yuko Masuhara & Hiyakoi’s Emiko Sugiyama.

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  • Feb 2, 2014

Sailor Moon fans can now buy transformation compact mirrors from a gashapon machine!

We’ve shared with our readers quite a few Sailor Moon products in our past articles, from sexy Sailor Moon lingerie to sparkly  Sailor Moon  chopsticks. Now, while fans may be delighted with the wide range of Sailor Moon goods available, particularly the cute gadgets from toy maker Bandai, there are so many of them that it probably isn’t realistic to try to collect all of them, especially considering that some of the items aren’t exactly cheap.

In fact, some of our reporters at sister site Pouch who are die-hard fans of the series, had just recently been wishing aloud that Bandai would come out with an affordable range of Sailor Moon transformation compact mirrors. Well, it seems their wish has now come true! Just this week, Bandai released a new range of lovely compact mirrors, and more importantly, they’re cheap and can be bought right from a Gashapon vending machine!

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Japan’s very own Braziltown offers great food and shopping for a great price

The World Cup is now less than half a year away! Don’t you wish you could go to Brazil to cheer on your national team? For those of you living in Japan who can’t quite scrape together the funds for that ticket, we bet you didn’t know that you can visit Japan’s very own ‘Braziltown’ right outside of Tokyo! While the world’s most widely viewed sporting event won’t be coming to the area anytime soon, you can still get a taste of the atmosphere by visiting authentic Brazilian restaurants and import stores. And the best part of going? This Braziltown is located within two hours of Tokyo and only costs 1,000 yen (US$9.77) to get there. Not bad considering airfares these days… 

The folks at Another Tokyo, a popular Japanese website dedicated to introducing off-the-beaten track places around Japan, sent a reporter to Braziltown to check it out. Join us for a look at his photos and to hear about his experience.

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19 Chinese expressions with amazing literal translations

The Chinese language is widely regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn.

There are more than 80,000 Chinese characters in existence, although a non-native speaker can get by with 1,000 of the most frequently used.

To make matters more complicated, the characters that make up each word or phrase individually carry different meanings based on the context in which they’re used. For example, the Chinese character 吃 could mean “eat,” “drink,” “bear,” or “take,” depending on the phrase that surrounds it.

As hard as the language is, it can also be incredibly poetic when translated character by character into English, and sometimes hilarious.

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Ensure your fruit never rolls away with pentagon oranges

From creepy pears in the shape of a baby to heart-shaped lemons and watermelons, Japan has the market cornered on unusually shaped fruit. Now we’ve come across a five-sided orange produced in Ehime Prefecture. What’s more, these pointed fruits are supposed to help you pass your school exams!

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Committing to an apartment in Japan can be nerve-wracking. On the plus side, there’s no penalty for breaking your lease, but on the other hand, you can expect to pay somewhere between four to six months’ worth of fees and deposits to your real estate agent and landlord. This being Japan, they’d like that in cash, and before you move in, of course.

Long story short, bouncing around from one apartment to another is cost prohibitive, so you want to make sure you choose a location you like. For everyone who’s looking for a place to live in Japan’s capital, we asked a real estate agency for the three best, most affordable neighborhoods in which to live in downtown Tokyo.

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Onigiri in Paris: Small lunch shop brings traditional Japanese rice balls to France

Though extremely simple, Japanese onigiri, those handheld balls of rice and seasoning, are simply delicious and addicting. Dating back over 1,200 years to the Nara Period, onigiri were created as a portable snack. Now, not only have rice balls transcended the humble kitchens of old-timey Japan and nestled their way into convenience stores across the nation, they’ve also made their way abroad. Mussubi is a delightful lunch shop in Paris that has brought onigiri and bento to the people of France. With elegant and fresh ingredients tiptoeing throughout the menu, this quaint shop has earn high praise from local residents.

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There seems to be a bit of a debate these days centered around whether or not being an otaku, the term used in Japan to describe people who obsess over a variety of hobbies, is a socially healthy one. In extreme cases, the otaku lifestyle can limit romantic opportunities, and even renowned anime director Hayao Miyazaki has grumbled about their effects on the industry he earned his fame in.

With all the negativity and marginalizing, you’d think the number of people the label could be applied to would be small, and the number of individuals who’d choose it for themselves to be smaller still. Surprisingly enough, though, in a recent survey of college students, nearly four in ten identified themselves as an otaku.

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Tokyo Disneyland celebrates “Thanks Day” where the employees become valued guests

On 27 January, Tokyo Disneyland held a little-known annual event to express gratitude for their legions of employees. Called “Thanks Day” it’s the one times of the year where those who work hard offering us visitors their cordial hospitality get to cut loose and have free rein over the park. Meanwhile, their managers give themselves a temporary demotion for the night to serve colas and operate Big Thunder Mountain.

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Toast with fermented soybeans and honey may not be good-looking, but it is good eating

There are plenty of Japanese foods that meet little to no resistance on the Western palate. Soba noodles and beef bowls tend to go down easily for new arrivals, and while the weirdness factor may take some time to get over, not too many people have complaints about the flavor of things like raw fish and cod roe.

There is, however, one hurdle in Japanese gastronomic assimilation that is so high that some people never clear it: natto, or fermented soybeans. Recently, we took on the notoriously challenging (and smelly) natto with the help of a powerful ally, honey.

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Starbucks Japan’s sakura drinks: One more reason we’re ready for winter to be over

Is it spring yet? I know my southern Californian upbringing means I whine whenever the temperature is cold enough that I have to put on a jacket to go out, but I could seriously do with some warmer weather right about now. There’s all sorts of things to look forward to in the coming season, such as longer days, being able to spend more time outdoors, and the blooming of the sakura, or cherry blossoms.

And just in case the deal needs any more sweetening, there’s also Starbucks’ springtime sakura beverage lineup.

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Cyclist in Tokyo ordered to pay $459,000 after collision leaves 74-year-old woman dead

A Tokyo court has ruled that a cyclist must pay 47 million yen (US$459,000) to the family of a 75-year-old women he collided with and killed in 2010.

The pensioner, one Mrs. Mitsuhiro Azuma, was struck by the cyclist on a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo’s Ota Ward after he ignored a red light. The court heard that Mrs. Azuma suffered a head wound when she was knocked to the ground, from which she died five days later.

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Samurai Vodka’s bottle design is a cut above the rest

Back in 2009 an interesting design for a bottle of Samurai Vodka was posted on Behance, a website where graphic artists and designers can showcase their works. More recently, it was picked up by a Reddit user, thus sending the clever design by Arthur Schreiber viral around the world. And quite frankly it deserves to be seen in all four corners.

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Goro Miyazaki to direct Ronia the Robber’s Daughter TV anime

Goro Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea, From Up On Poppy Hill) will direct a television anime adaptation of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s Ronia the Robber’s Daughter children’s fantasy book. The series, titled Sanzoku no Musume Ronia in Japan, will air on NHK and BS Premium this fall. POLYGON PICTURES (Knights of Sidonia, The Sky Crawlers) is animating the 3D CG series in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. The show will mark the first time that Miyazaki is directing a television anime series.

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