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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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I took Nissan’s ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ for a spin, and it’s clear New Yorkers will love it

In May 2011, Nissan was selected to create and supply the vehicle that would be the exclusive New York City taxi.

That plan hasn’t worked out so well. A series of court decisions have blocked the City from approving the NV200 as the only taxi model, in part because it’s not a hybrid, according to the New York Times.

But Nissan still has the right to bring its taxi to the streets of New York, and it sold the first one at the end of October.

This week, the automaker invited me to get a closer look at the NV200 and take a spin around Manhattan.

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Japanese phonetic character catching on as emoticon in the Middle East

Sometimes obvious things are hidden right in plain sight and it takes the fresh perspective of someone in another part of the world to point it out. One Twitter user stumbled on such a hidden gem recently when searching the Japanese character for “tsu” , which in the katakana alphabet is written ツ.

As you can probably see from the image above and in the text of the previous sentence, the letter looks quite a lot like a smirking face. This may appear obvious to many Western readers, but according to online reaction most Japanese netizens were taken by surprise at this discovery and had never noticed the similarity. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the character is also apparently getting an unusual amount of use in Middle Eastern countries.

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Pizza Hut Japan’s latest promotion gives “golden crust pizza” new meaning

Though it may not be a traditional holiday dish, pizza is often the perfect entrée for the holiday season. After all, between Christmas and New Years, there’s bound to be an opportunity to throw a party for your friends, and for those who’d rather not slave away in the kitchen for a day, pizza is often the best way to provide food to a group.

Well now Pizza Hut Japan has given us a new reason to party: in its latest promotion, the company is giving away actual gold necklaces worth nearly a thousand dollars each.

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Milf or maiden? One third of single Japanese men surveyed say they prefer an older lover

From December 6-9 of this year, Japanese Facebook dating app Match Alarm quizzed 2,944 singles in their twenties and thirties about their dating habits. They were asked to identify if they prefer to date someone of the same age, older or younger. Hmmm…Do we have to pick just one??

A resounding 81.3% of women replied that they would rather be with a silver fox than a younger stud. And one in three men said they preferred an older lover.

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The collaboration of our dreams: KFC crispy chicken flavored potato chips!

Following last year’s wildly popular potato chips collaboration product, Calbee and KFC are back again to ring in the new year with round two. Introducing new Colonel Crispy Chicken flavored potato chips!

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Elementary school girls rescue wheelchair-bound woman stranded on train tracks

Here’s a happy little story to start your weekend off right!

This Wednesday, a group of seven elementary school girls spotted an elderly lady trapped on a railroad crossing in Yamanashi Prefecture. Her electric-powered wheelchair had run out of power, leaving the poor woman stranded–and that’s when the brave girls sprang into action.

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Enter for a chance to win a tour of the emperor’s home!

Next year, the Japanese emperor, Akihito, turns 80 years old. That’s a pretty respectable age for just about anyone, we’d say. In celebration, the Imperial Household Agency has announced plans to open up the Imperial Palace to a select group of lucky commoners to be selected by lottery. Hmm…are you feeling lucky?

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【Thursday Throwback】7 reasons New Year’s is the best time to experience Japan

Christmas is less than a week away and I’m sure many of you in the Americas and Europe are looking forward to a (hopefully) relaxing day spent with family, good food and, of course, presents.

Here in Japan, Christmas seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year, but the flavor of the holiday is probably much different than it is abroad. For example, Christmas was originally popularized here as a holiday for couples to have a special night out in the city: have dinner at a fancy restaurant, exchange gifts and then spend the night together ‘celebrating’ at a hotel.

While still viewed as a ‘lover’s holiday’, Christmas has since spread to the household, with many families feasting on the now-traditional Japanese Christmas foods of cake and—thanks to an incredibly successful marketing campaign by KFC—fried chicken.

But for most Japanese families, the real holiday spirit is felt during the time around New Years. In fact, New Years is probably to Japan what Christmas is to the US and other Western countries.

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Tea cups and biting breasts: Japanese phrases that sound like weird English

The Japanese love to have fun with words. Kotoba asobi (wordplay) makes up a pretty large portion of Japanese humor on variety programs and comedy shows – possibly a side effect of so many kanji characters sounding phonetically identical despite wildly different meanings.

But YouTube’s The World Video Tour has taken it to a whole new level with a video series of Japanese words and phrases that sound a lot like totally unrelated English terms. Below, we’ll watch the series’ host have some fun with foreign tourists to see if they understand what he’s trying to say.

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New iPhone case looks like sea monster swallowed your phone

It may look like some CG monster out of Cloverfield, but the monstrosity above is actually a giant isopod, a type of crustacean that lives deep in the sea. Yes, that Pekinese-sized pill bug actually exists. And now, you can have an iPhone case that looks just like it!

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Troll your friends with personalized “Made in China” M&M’s this Christmas!

We’re all familiar with M&M’s, the colorful candy-coated chocolates, but did you know that you could create your very own M&M’s? Okay, perhaps some of you lucky people have visited M&M’s World and already know about this, but for the rest of us who don’t, YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE M&M’s! You can even print your Twitter ID on it! If you don’t have a Twitter account, that’s perhaps the best reason to get one.

Our reporter Kuzo takes us through the customization process!

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We try curry made only from ingredients used 1,300 years ago

What comes to mind when you think of popular Japanese dishes? Of course, sushi and ramen top the list, but it’s also hard to leave out curry rice. Our modern notion of Japanese curry, which originally came from India and was further developed in England, came to Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912). However, the ingredients used for “medicinal curry” (based on Chinese medicine) have actually been in Japan for 1,300 years, since the Nara Era (710-794). We were lucky enough to find a pouch of instant “1,300-year-old curry” and just had to try it!

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Homeless man mistakes phone straps for food, is arrested for theft

Japan has an unspoken problem with homelessness in its cities. It’s not uncommon to see tent cities along the edges of recreational parks or to see leather-skinned men sleeping on newspapers around the train stations. These people are largely ignored by the public and will keep to themselves unless provoked by some means. The vast majority do not even beg.

Unfortunately, the problem of poverty is not the only issue that these people face. Mental illness is not uncommon amongst the homeless, and the combination of hungry people and unstable mental states can lead to some especially unfortunate circumstances.

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Say aaah: Japan elects cutest hiragana character

The characters above should look very familiar to any student of Japanese. Hiragana is the phonetic alphabet that is usually the first writing system you learn. Compared to the much more complex and difficult to remember Chinese characters and the angular katakana alphabet, the loopy hiragana characters have a pleasant round feel that’s often called “cute.”

But which character is the cutest of them all? Japan weighs in.

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