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Merry Christmas from the RocketNews24 team!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s Christmas Day! And while that may not mean much to the majority of Japan and people go about their day like it’s any other Wednesday in December, we at RocketNews24 are taking it easy and spending some quality time with our friends, families, and of course lots and lots of food – be it traditional roast turkey or fried chicken courtesy of Japan’s most beloved Christmas cook, Colonel Sanders.

Although things will be slowing down here a little over the next few days, you can rest assured that we’ll still be around to bring you enough weird and wonderful news from Asia to keep you going until the new year – we wouldn’t want you to go hungry!

So have a great day, thanks for stopping by our humble site, and merry Christmas from the entire RocketNews24 team!

Photo via Stripes

Relive 16 childhood video games with “NES Remix” on Wii U

In the wake of the exciting new video game systems hitting stores this season, our reliable Japanese friend Nintendo is taking us onboard the nostalgia express train with a Wii U game that puts a new spin on 16 well-known NES (or Famicom in Japan) games, like Super Mario Bros. and Excitebike. Besides turning these popular games into mini-game levels where players challenge their own high score, NES Remix changes these games up a bit with new challenges, like playing Donkey Kong in the dark or playing tennis against an invisible opponent.

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Super easy rice cooker recipe: KFC rice!

Tis the season for fried chicken, at least it is according to Japanese Christmas traditions. And if you find yourself with leftovers from your delicious dinner from KFC tomorrow, we have an incredibly easy and tasty recipe to keep that holiday spirit going as long as you have leftover fried chicken in your fridge and your trusty rice cooker. We’ve tried some dubious rice cooker recipes in the past, but this one looks like one of our tastiest yet, so click below to see the recipe for KFC rice!

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All I want for Christmas… is this awesome backlit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES

Dear Santa,

I know it’s December 24, but is it too late to change my Christmas wish-list?

Let’s forget about the Power Rangers pyjamas I originally asked for, and we can put the Super Sonico hug pillow on hold this year. *This* is what I really want, and there’s only one of them in the whole world: a backlit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES and four amazing controllers.

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Top 5 dog and cat breeds in Japan 2013

Even though most apartments in Japan are fairly small, many animal lovers still find room to house a dog or cat. Many pet owners choose to dress up their precious pooch or upload hundreds of videos of their beloved cat. That’s why thousands of cat and dog owners visit online pet photo site, “Pacha and my pet” (pacha is the sound a camera makes) to show off their furry friends. The site has just revealed the most popular dog and cat breeds in Japan for 2013. Let’s take a look at the results!

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Japanese high school student becomes Twitter sensation showing difference between time with boyfriend and friends

Twitter is almost universally popular nowadays. While Facebook is seeing declining usage in Japan and among teens in general, Twitter seems to be hanging on to its popularity. It’s hard to say how long this will last–does anyone remember Mixi?–but for now, getting attention on Twitter in Japan is still a big deal.

So when Reika Oozeki’s Vine video got retweeted almost 5,000 times, we had to check it out!

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Japanese granny busts a move on the streets of Tokyo 【Video】

To show the world that young people do not have a monopoly on dancing, a choreography group from Japan has put together a video showing an elderly Japanese woman busting some mean moves on a trendy street in Tokyo. Made in honor of “Respect for the Aged Day,” it shows a kimono-clad woman getting down with her bad self to fast-paced electronic music.

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Attention, all artists! Design your own New Year’s postcards on this awesome website

If you’ve ever been in Japan over the New Year’s holiday, you’re probably familiar with the Japanese custom of exchanging nengajo, or New Year’s postcards. People exchange nengajo with friends, coworkers, and others to whom they are indebted or with whom they wish to maintain a good rapport in the coming year. There is a deadline to mail nengajo, usually around December 25, so that they will be delivered to each house on New Year’s Day precisely. If you still haven’t gotten around to sending them out this year, then never fear, because this incredibly cool website lets you design your own nengajo!

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English grammar app makes us laugh, helps us learn with blindfolds, bondage and aliens

For Japanese people, studying English is almost a given. Even folks who may have no interest in actually leaving their home country may feel compelled to study the language for business or simply because they’re supposed to. But it’s hard to enjoy learning a language that you don’t have any interest in–and having fun is one of the best ways to facilitate learning.

This has opened up something of a cottage industry for people trying to make the learning part fun. There are nonsensical textbooks and sexy teachers, but then there are the college textbooks that seem like their authors weren’t even trying.

Well, for any Japanese English-learners who are on the verge of giving up – and perhaps for those of you struggling with learning Japanese – there may be one ray of hope still shining: Majime na Eibunpou, a surprisingly funny English grammar smartphone app!

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We cook a Christmas cake in a rice cooker to ring in the holidays

When discussing Christmas in Japan it would be remiss not to mention the traditional cake that families and individuals buy during this time of the year. RocketNews24 also purchased a cute Santa cake to please our collective sweet teeth and warm our bellies in the cold winter.

However, it wouldn’t be a RocketNews24 Christmas with cooking that bad boy up in a rice cooker. Heck, if Big Macs or Oreos work, then rice-cooker-cooked Christmas cake should be a grand slam. Unsurprisingly (for us at least) the results were both festively pretty and delicious!

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5 reasons Japanese convenience stores rock

You have probably noticed that we here at RocketNews24 are huge fans of Japanese convenience stores. And if you have ever lived in or visited Japan, odds are you too came to love these amazing places. But what exactly makes Japanese convenience stores so different and special compared to those overseas? Click below to see five reasons why we think these “conbini” totally live up to the hype! 

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Captain EO to close again at Tokyo Disneyland, will be replaced by Lilo & Stitch attraction

There few pieces of cinematic brilliance that come close to matching Captain EO. The star power of Michael Jackson guided by the directing talents of Francis Ford Coppola in a George Lucas Production all come together in a space-operatic masterpiece that taught us all to dream again.

However, the film was taken from us after a fleeting 11-year run at Disney theme parks around the world. Then in a bittersweet moment it was reopened in tribute to the king of pop’s passing in 2010. And now again we in Japan will have to mourn the 17-minute film’s closing in 2014.

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Japanese Christmas sweets to make at home!

With Santa filling his sack and preparing for the annual world tour, pâtisseries and chocolate stores around Japan are marking the occasion with all sorts of cute and delicious dedications to the jolly, red-suited fellow. Now you can join in the fun no matter where you are, with these adorable Christmas treats to make at home. You won’t believe how quick and simple these sweets are!

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Kung-fu youths film the best action video in Singaporean history【Video】

Asian films can’t hold a candle to Hollywood films in terms of worldwide popularity, but when it comes to movies with intense fighting action, Asian stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li shine above the rest with their impeccable kung-fu moves. But such agile movie stars are hard to come by, so film-makers often rely on filming techniques and computer graphics to boost the intensity of action scenes.

Four Singaporean youths brought things back to the basics with an amateur action video clip and showed us that you don’t need state of the art CG to show the audience a powerful kick. All you need is some powder. And of course, some sleek martial art skills.

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We try traditional Japanese soup stock at a specialty standing bar in Tokyo

There’s plenty of standing ramen bars in Japan, but this may be the first standing dashi bar. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, dashi is a soup stock that makes up the base of many delicious Japanese dishes such as miso soup and ramen. Typically made of shaved katsuo bushi (preserved bonito fish), dashi is the lifeblood of traditional Japanese food, adding plenty of umami to even the humblest of dishes. Let’s take a closer look at Nihonbashi Dashi Bar, a shop that specializes in serving hot dashi by the cupful. Read More

Five fun facts from our favorite articles this week

1) You can propose with a Pokemon engagement ring.

2) The cutest hiragana character is あ.

3) In Japan, you can pee while inside a glass box.

4) Curry made from a 1,300-year-old recipe is pretty tasty.

5) It’s improper to mix your wasabi with soy sauce as a dip for sushi.

Hello Kitty shoes will make your feet cuter than ever

Hello Kitty has always been somewhat of a fashion icon. With more costume changes than Cher, she knows how to put an outfit together. Now you can use Hello Kitty’s fashion sense to accent your own and take her wherever your feet may carry you with two styles of limited edition Hello Kitty shoes.

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The top five things foreigners want to bring back to Japan after visiting their home countries

As the end of the year approaches, many foreigners living in Japan are heading back to their home countries for the holidays. Of course, seeing family and friends for the first time in a while is the best part of going home. But many people also have fun stocking up on all the familiar products that are hard to find in Japan. Check out the results from a survey on Japanese website, Madam Riri, asking foreigners to reveal the items they like to buy in their home countries and bring back to Japan.

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“Extreme going to work” looks to change the way business is done in Japan

Ever consider going having a meal with friends or watching a movie on your way to work? While many of us can’t help reaching for the snooze button in the morning, there is a growing number of people who are waking up hours earlier and having a social life before they go to work.

The movement is called Extreme Shussha (extreme going to work) and as of this summer it has been getting increasingly popular in Japan. The rules are simple: Don’t be late for work; don’t bother anyone; and don’t fall asleep when you get there. Beyond that you can do whatever your heart desires.

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We wish Pokemon trees were real

Just image hundreds of tiny Pikachu leaves raining down on a breezy fall afternoon. Wouldn’t it be awesome? Although science hasn’t come anywhere close to bringing us the tree of our dreams, we can still admire the work of user jakeacarter who posted six different “natural Pokemon” made out of leaves.

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