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Go, Super Alloy Kitty! Hello Kitty takes robot form and stars in original animated video

Kay
Jan 21, 2014
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You may be aware from our past articles that Hello Kitty has a very special year ahead of her with her 40th birthday coming up on November 1. Well, it so happens that Japanese toy maker Bandai’s popular chogokin (super alloy) series of mecha and robot toys is also turning forty this year, and never one to miss an exciting business opportunity, Ms. Kitty has joined forces with Bandai to celebrate both their anniversaries the way she knows best — with a collaboration, of course! This time, she’s turned herself into robot action hero, Super Alloy Kitty, and she’s even come out with a super-cool, short animated video to promote the collaboration!

In Japan, capybaras not only bathe in hot springs, they swim in your soup

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Jan 21, 2014

We’re sure most of you have already seen photos of the little capybaras bathing in their own private onsen hot spring at the Izu Shaboten Park in Shizuoka, Japan. Now with a little creative food play, you can put your very own capybara in hot water…and eat them too. But what are they made out of?

Shinjo City shares its love with anti-smoking poster

Master Blaster
Jan 21, 2014

Although, Japan is still something of a smoker’s paradise compared to other developed countries, there are signs that times are a’changing with an increase in prices and no-smoking areas sprouting up across the land.

Anti-smoking groups often use dramatic stories and images to try and frighten or disgust people out of smoking tobacco. However, one simple poster hanging in a smoking section in Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture sends a chilling message of love to all their nicotine addicts.

How cute does a girl have to be before she’s forgiven for using a stolen iPhone? This cute

Casey Baseel
Jan 20, 2014

Not so long ago, if you were travelling overseas and someone swiped your bag or camera, you pretty much had until you left the country to crack the caper. Unless you happened to be carrying a cargo of priceless gems in your tote bag, the local authorities weren’t going to coordinate an international search and recovery operation with you once you’re back in your home country.

Things are different now, when so many of the gadgets we take with us on vacation are linked to cloud storage services and social media accounts. Such was the case of one Japanese traveler who goes by the Twitter screen name Matsumoto Hiroki. Matsumoto, who lost his iPhone on a trip to Bangkok, was able to track down the person using it through iCloud, which is when his story got really interesting.

The “doya-gao” phenomenon and where you’re most likely to see it

Krista Rogers
Jan 20, 2014

A calm atmosphere, free Wi-Fi, and decent coffee – what’s not to love about Starbucks (unless you’re a staunch New Englander who swears by Dunkin’)? If you walk into any branch, you will see a line of people waiting to grab their favorite caffeinated pick-me-up. You’re also likely see a bunch of people hunched over their laptops typing away furiously, either by themselves or huddled together in groups. The laptop of choice to go with their steaming mug of coffee? From what we’ve seen, it seems to be a MacBook Air.

Have you ever watched people when they’re silently working on a computer, wondered what they’re up to, and then all of a sudden a smug little grin inexplicably breaks across their face? This self-satisfied look is known as a doya-gao in Japanese. One of our Japanese reporters, who is a frequent patron of Starbucks, recently began to notice a correlation between the frequency of people using MacBook Airs in Starbucks and those wearing a doya-gao expression. Intrigued, she started taking notes, and discovered that there are three branches of Starbucks in Tokyo where the doya-gao phenomenon is particularly common…

Apparently short on cash, Gundam takes a part-time job at 7-Eleven

Casey Baseel
Jan 20, 2014

With 35 years as Japan’s favorite mecha anime, the Gundam franchise has grown to include dozens of TV and direct-to-video animated series, manga comics, and video game adaptations. With such a long history, some of them are, of course, less successful than others. Certain fans shook their heads at V Gundam’s cast of middle schoolers. Others were baffled by G Gundam’s schoolgirl uniform-inspired robot designs. Even the TV series that started it all, 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam, has more than its fair share of goofy villains of the week who come and go like so many Scooby Doo criminals.

But despite the franchise’s occasional detours into outright silliness, the 1988 theatrical release Char’s Counterattack enjoys almost universal acclaim, both for the gravitas of its story and the commensurate visuals. Which makes it all the more disheartening to see the robot piloted by the film’s hero apparently reduced to having to take a job at convenience store 7-Eleven.

Professional cosplayer turns talents on 54-year-old mother, awesomeness ensues

Mike
Jan 20, 2014

Since you’re reading our kinda geeky site about Japanese and Asian news and pop culture, we think it’s safe to assume you agree with us that cosplay is pretty cool and fun to look at, but it’s also natural to be slightly dubious that cosplaying could ever amount to anything more than an extremely expensive hobby or very crappy contract work.

Well, it turns out we were all wrong, and we were jerks to underestimate cosplay in the first place. The more time you spend in the cosplay world, the more you end up developing talents in a range of fields, including fashion design, cosmetics, lighting engineering and even photography, as the Internet learned when a Japanese cosplayer with just four years’ experience in the hobby gave her 54-year-old mom a full cosplay makeover and photo shoot.

Air quality in Beijing now so poor that sunrises are being broadcast on giant TV screens [UPDATED]

Philip Kendall
Jan 20, 2014

As if today being a Monday wasn’t depressing enough, media outlets are reporting that the air quality and visibility in China’s capital city has become so bad that the state has begun televising live footage of sunrises on enormous screens ordinarily used for advertising. That’s right: with the real thing now almost completely hidden behind a thick layer of smog, people are actually watching nature on TV.

One Piece’s Chopper stars in 5-minute stop-motion “Cry Heart” short

Anime News Network
Jan 20, 2014

Some diligent animators took Banpresto‘s “One Piece Cry heart ~Fuyujima ni Furu Sakura~) (One Piece Cry heart ~The Cherry Blossoms That Fall on Winter Island~) line of crane game prize figures and created a five-minute stop-motion short last month. The “One Piece: Cry heart~” short recreates the famous “Hiluluk’s Cherry Blossoms” scene from Eiichiro Oda‘s manga and anime:

From spicy curry to delicious charcoal – 7 bizarre toothpastes on sale in Japan

Joan Coello
Jan 20, 2014

You’re probably well aware that the Japanese are fond of creating food and beverages in unusual flavors and splicing things together, but guess what? That trait can be found in their toothpaste as well. Here are seven odd-tasting toothpastes available in Japan that you might, or perhaps might not, want to brush your teeth with!

Twitter user exposes test-taking “geek” to the world, geek sees tweet and turns to confront him

Preston Phro
Jan 20, 2014

It’s January, which only means one thing to Japanese high school students: University entrance exams. These tests can be a source of extreme stress of Japaneses students, and many of them spend hours upon hours every day studying in class, at home, or at cram schools. Substandard test scores means they’re denied entrance–and spending the next year or two studying to take the tests again.

One of the hardest tests is the Center Test, which is used by both public and some private schools to make admittance decisions. Like the SATs or ACTs on steroids, it covers a range of topics and is, by anyone’s standards, really freaking hard. So what does the picture above have to do with the Center Test? Click below to find out!

We buy limited edition gourmet-flavored Kit Kats — at the world’s first Kit Kat specialty store!

Kay
Jan 20, 2014

Who doesn’t love Kit Kats? They’re tasty, available in many interesting flavors, and they’re even considered a good luck snack in Japan for students preparing for entrance exams because the name Kit Kat sounds somewhat like the phrase “You’ll win for sure! (Kitto Katsu)” in Japanese. Well, the popular chocolate snack now seems to have reached a new level of refinement and consumer appeal, as the world’s very first specialty Kit Kat shop opened this past Friday at the Seibu Department Store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A shop that sells Kit Kats exclusively? Now, that sounds like something to be excited about!

But that wasn’t all — to our further delight, we heard that the Kit Kat Chocolatory, as the specialty shop is called, was selling Kit Kats in original flavors created by renowned patissier Yasumasa Takagi. Well, there simply was no way we were going to miss this, so off we went to Ikebukuro to visit the shop, on opening day, no less! What else could we do, right?
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Japanese restaurant chain turns boring old chopstick sleeves into fun origami

Preston Phro
Jan 20, 2014

Family restaurants like Saizeriya are a staple of Japan’s cheap culinary world. From fake Italian food to fake Mexican-Indian hybrids that taste far better than they really should, family restaurants are a great place to hangout for high school students, to grab a quick meal between meetings for harried salarymen, or to take hungry kids for frazzled parents. Though convenient, the chains aren’t exactly known for their high class presentation.

However, Aiya, a family restaurant focused on Japanese-style cooking, has come up with a way to offer their customers a bit more pizazz!

Bass, the favorite instrument of Japanese rock fans?

Preston Phro
Jan 19, 2014

While the meme above is probably nothing new to you, it took its time reaching Japanese Internet audiences. But now that it has shown up on this side of the ocean, we’ve learned something a bit surprising about Japanese rock fans.

Which instrument do you think was the most liked according to a recent online survey? We’ll give you a hint: Without it, the Red Hot Chili Peppers wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to listen to!

Escape the chill of winter with these dazzling seascape photos

Krista Rogers
Jan 19, 2014

When the following pictures popped up on a Japanese news site, we found ourselves enraptured by the breathtaking and surreal scenery depicted within. In the photo above, the water is so transparent that the children seem to float over an endless cloud of seaweed. But it’s not an optical illusion. That is indeed water, and it is in fact actually part of the ocean. Can you figure out which country this gorgeous photo was taken in? Here’s a hint: it’s somewhere in southeast Asia. The answer is after the jump.

Otaku Internet services: For all your online Japanese geekery needs

Preston Phro
Jan 19, 2014

When it comes to language learning, one of the biggest problems is staying motivated. Memorizing 100 kanji for a test next Friday might get you through the work, but memorizing 100 kanji so you can read your favorite comics or talk online with fellow comic-fans will really light a fire under your keister. And we all tend to learn better when we’re having fun! We think someone proved that with science and stuff. It might have been Mr. Sato…he’s been playing with the chemistry set again.

Anyway, we know a lot of our readers are both Japanese-language learners and manga/anime fans. If you fit that description and you’re always looking for something to help keep you motivated to study, why not add these sites to your daily reading list? It might be difficult to get through everything at first, but if you keep with it, you’ll be reading like a champ in no time! Just don’t ignore your real homework! We don’t want any angry Japanese teachers knocking on our doors…

Is the fried chicken at Myanmar’s “AFC” finger-licking good?

Casey Baseel
Jan 19, 2014

Recent relaxations of regulations by the government of Myanmar have gone a long way in opening up the country to foreign tourism and investment. While we’re sure this is big news in the worlds of finance and manufacturing, we couldn’t help but wonder what this would mean for RocketNews24’s journalistic foundation: fast food. We’d heard that Japanese/Korean hamburger/craziness emporium Lotteria had entered the market, but where do the people of Myanmar get their fried poultry fix? Do they have KFC?

We suppose we could have used Google to see if the chain operates in the country (turns out it does), but we saw no reason to do so when we could get paid to take an overseas business trip instead. And so we travelled to Myanmar’s metropolis of Yangon in search of KFC.

We found two thirds of what we were looking for.

My Melody gets ready for Valentine’s Day — and she looks absolutely sweet and delectable!

Kay
Jan 19, 2014

Readers of our site may be aware that a fair number of our articles involve collaborative items featuring cute mascot characters, including the lovable rabbit, My Melody. Well, here’s another gem of a character product that we think will make many of you squeal with delight!

Now, while My Melody may not be involved in as nearly as many business ventures as fellow Sanrio character and cat-of-all-trades, Hello Kitty, you have to admit she’s done quite well for herself since her creation in 1975. This time, especially for Valentine’s Day, she’s turned herself into something that’s sweet and melts in your mouth — and it’s not ice cream!

Just when you thought fried panda cakes couldn’t get any cuter: Strawberry milk fried panda cakes

Master Blaster
Jan 19, 2014

What could be cuter than a fluffy, rolly-polly panda? A panda full of gooey strawberry-milk flavored cream of course. That’s just what Ginza Cozy Corner is cooking up at their L’Ueno shop this month.

Cat paws strike again and captivate Japanese netizens, this time in pancake form!

Kay
Jan 18, 2014

It’s no secret that here at RocketNews24, we’re fond of anything cute and sweet, and we’ve certainly introduced our share of adorable-looking treats on our site, from totoro cream puffs and macaroons to marshmallow cat paws. Well, continuing in that spirit, we bring to you another delightful creation that looks too precious to eat! This time it’s a home-cooked snack that basically involves making pancakes, but the end result is still devastatingly cute!