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Son, have you been drinking tonight?

Yes officer, I must say I’ve enjoyed a few libations this evening.

Well, I think you’d better step out of the car; we’ve got some pretty strict laws against that kind of stuff in this state.

But I wasn’t driving officer!

Isn’t anyone else in the car, son. Seems you’ve had more than just ‘a few’.

Honestly, Officer! Mr. Toyota has been at the controls the whole time…

Toyota Motor Corporation announced it would be unveiling a self-driving car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held in Las Vegas January 8 to 11, 2013. The car, a Lexus LS600, is outfitted with radars, cameras and an array of sensors that allow it to be cognizant of its immediate environment.
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“Mt. Fuji Should Erupt by 2015”: Ryuku University Professor Emeritus

Since the Great Tohoku Earthquake of March 2011, scientists have been anxiously watching the massive volcano known as Mt. Fuji for signs of activity. In September of last year, a report was released stating that Mt. Fuji’s magma chamber pressure had risen to a worrisome 1.6 megapascals, which is estimated to be higher than when it last erupted.

According to retired professor Masaki Kimura of Ryukyu University, this and other recent phenomena indicate an eruption of Mt. Fuji should have taken place in 2011 with a four-year margin of error ending in 2015.

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Lotteria x Evangelion Fukubukuro! What Anime Surprises Await Inside!?

Fukubukuro, lit. “lucky bag”, are a wonderful way for stores to shift merchandise at the start of the year, not unlike western stores’ New Year’s sales but with far more mystery and intrigue involved. Shoppers take a gamble when they purchase these gift bags as they are completely sealed and their contents unlisted, and they don’t always contain products that we desperately need, but fukubukuro usually contain items whose cash value far exceeds the bag’s asking price.

So when our reporter Kuzo heard that the fast food chain and home of 30-patty cheeseburgers Lotteria was offering up special collaborative Evangelion bags for just 2,000 yen each, he powered down his Wii U, stepped out into the sunlight and sprinted – well, sort of jogged while wheezing quietly – to his nearest store to grab one for himself.

Was it worth the US$22 purchase, or was Kuzo lumbered with a cooking-oil-scented bag of tat? Find out after the jump.

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Man Holding a Handgun Found Dead on Croquet Lawn in Chiba Prefecture 【News Bite】

The body of a man was discovered earlier today on a gate-ball (a game similar to croquet) lawn in the city of Urayasu, Chiba prefecture, just miles from the Tokyo Disneyland resort.

At 7:05 a.m. local time, police received a phone call saying that a man believed to be in his 50s had been found lying face-up on the ground near a storage shed at the gate-ball field.

In an even more dramatic twist to this sad tale, the man is reported to have been holding a handgun in his right hand.

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Fitness Meets Cute Anime Girls in Exercise App, “Burn your fat with me!!”

The holidays are over, you’ve gained a few extra pounds, but you’re finding it difficult to start a workout routine after so many peaceful days spent lounging around. What you need is a workout buddy to help you stay motivated. Preferably a cute girl.

For those of you who don’t know any cute girls willing to get sweaty with you, Japanese indie developer Creative Freaks has you covered with Burn your fat with me!!, a fitness app/dating simulation game where players must workout in real life to impress a 2D anime love interest. 

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The King of Pizzas? We Sample Domino’s Pricey New Luxury Pizza 【Food Review】

Domino’s Pizza, one of the world’s most well-known home delivery pizza services, has recently released a new luxury pizza in Japan– an exclusive to the pizza fast food market.

Priced at 5,800 yen (about US$66), however, you’d be right to think twice before parting with your cash; after all, this is essentially just a circle of baked dough with fancy toppings. Sure, after piling all of your favourite toppings onto a pizza pie, one might hit the 5,000 yen mark, but a large-sized pizza starting at 5,800 yen?!

This had better be something very special…

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Woman Arrested for Attempting to Rob Convenience Store, Attempt Was So Bad She May Get Off

Remember the bank robber who waited on the sofa at the request of his “victim” tellers? He may have competition for most polite criminal with a 23-year-old woman from the rural town of Noto, Japan.

In fact, her attempt at armed robbery of a convenience store was so gentle police are currently unsure what charges they can press.

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Happy New Year!  Here’s a fist full of cash!

In Japan, there are many interesting New Year’s traditions. Aside from watching TV all night, risking your life eating mochi, and indulging in a ton of specially prepared food, those lucky enough to be young receive money.

Otoshidama, roughly translated as “New Year’s gift,” is the act of giving children small, decorated envelopes filled with money during New Year’s. Parents, relatives, and close friends usually give Otoshidama to children in elementary school to high school.

After collecting envelopes full of money from their closest adult relatives and friends, these kids make out like bandits. But just how much are these kids hauling in? The Benesse Corporation conducted a survey of elementary school children to find out.

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In an interview with well-informed sources on December 28, Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun discovered Chinese diplomatic papers created in 1950 used the Japanese name Senkaku to identify the Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea. The same document also contained language recognizing the Senkakus as a part of Okinawa.

Currently China claims the islands are its territory as “a part of Taiwan.” Recognition by China in 1950 that the islands are a part of Okinawa is contradictory to its current claim and weakens the foundation of its present position.
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Nine Anime Characters Women Want as Lovers, a Notorious Thief and an Infamous Murderer Top the List

Fantasy’s a wonderful thing.  With a little imagination things can be exactly the way you want it to be. Perhaps that’s why movies, animation, literature and more are so timelessly popular.  They show us life the way it will never be.

The list makers over at Otome Sugoren who teach us that everything can boil down to 9 items, like party manners, otaku relationships, and inter-gender video game etiquette have compiled the nine characters from anime and manga that women wish they could be with in real life.

Now, I like me some whimsy as much as the next guy, but I’m left dumbfounded by the thought process that went into some of these choices.

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Making it in the Japanese Videogame Industry: Exclusive Interview with Developer and Author James Kay

Dutch-British game developer James Kay found his way into the videogame industry after studying Audiovisual design at the Willem de Kooning Academy and moving to London to work at Intelligent Games and Criterion Software. He relocated to Japan in 2001 and, after picking up a wealth of experience at companies including Taito, Genki and Marvelous Entertainment, went on to co-found Score Studios, a company that has received critical acclaim and is fast becoming a big name in the industry.

Detailing the many hurdles that foreigners working in the Japanese videogame industry face, James’ book Japanmanship: the ultimate guide to working in videogame development in Japan may well prove to be an invaluable resource for those thinking of making the move to the spiritual home of videogames.

With the book coming off the presses just last December, RocketNews24 headed to Score Studios in Tokyo’s Yoyogi to meet with James and talk about his book, life in the videogame industry and which Nintendo Princess he’d rather rescue.

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Eating Our Way Through Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea【You, Me, And A Tanuki】

For Christmas 2012, my husband and I headed off our island and spent Christmas in Tokyo. We set aside a few days to mill around Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, and a few other places, but the main event of our trip was going to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. The only problem was that we chose to go during one of the busiest times of the year: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So what do you do when everyone in Tokyo came to Disneyland, all the Fast Passes are gone, and you have to wait at least an hour to ride a three-minute ride? Eat everything in sight, of course.  Take a look at some of the awesome and unexpected food you can find in Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

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Japan’s Top 10 Cosplay Costumes of 2012

With the myriad of cosplay costumes available in Japan, first-time cosplayers must be overwhelmed with all the choices. Luckily, Cospa, a major cosplay costume company in Japan, has narrowed down the choices, releasing the 2012 costume sales rankings. Coming in at number one is everyone’s favorite vocaloid, Hatsune Miku.

Check out the rest of the top ten cosplay costumes of the year:      

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Four Freezing Freeza’s Appear at Hakone Ekiden Relay Marathon, Conquer All with Hijinks and Shenanigans

Some sports are just better watched on television.  Although it’s always great to see athletes perform in person, for many events you just can’t get the right vantage point to see all the action.

Take the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon held every year on the second and third of January. One of the most popular running events in Japan, 20 universities from the Kanto region of east Japan enter teams of ten to race a grueling two day relay totaling over 200km.

It’s a physically intense race over mountainous terrain in the cold of mid-winter.  And it’s truly inspiring to see these athletes show such high levels of endurance… from your home watching TV under a blanket and sipping hot cocoa.

For those brave souls who ventured out into the cold to support the runners, a surprise in the form of four inter-planetary warlords stop by yearly to deliver some holiday cheer.

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Traditional Japanese Food Kills Two People, 15 More Hospitalized

A popular confectionery around the New Year’s season in Japan is mochi.  Mochi is often translated to “rice cake” but is nothing like the Styrofoam discs of the same name that are popular in some countries and doesn’t really resemble a cake at all.  It can either be more like a soft “rice gummy”, usually stuffed with sugary foods like sweet beans, strawberry, or even ice cream; or like a “condensed rice block”, which is often basted in soy sauce, grilled, and wrapped in seaweed.

Mochi is made by whacking rice in a tub repeatedly with a giant wooden mallet, a fun but tiring holiday festivity.  During New Year’s mochi is sold in a small snowman like configuration called kagami mochi (pictured above) which serves as a decoration until it is eaten after 1 January.

While all of this sounds fun, mochi has a dark side as well – one that foreigners who try it for the first time often realize quickly: It’s chewy, sticky, and really hard to eat.

And if you’re not careful, this little snack could land you in the ER.

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Japanese Debate Program Wants Your Opinion on Major Issues, Participate Now on Facebook

NHK has been running a series of panel debate shows called WISDOM which covers globally relevant issues by holding a discussion among experts from around the world.  Since 2010, they have covered a range of topics from economic crises, to Arab Spring, to bullying.

However, as of this year, they are planning on making an ambitious new addition to the program: YOU, if you’re willing.

Starting from their next episode titled “What Next for the Global Economy?” they are inviting everyone in the world to submit their opinions and suggestions for a truly global perspective on matters that affect all of us.

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is 2013!

No matter where you are in the world, the clock has struck 12, the ball has dropped, rockets have launched and people have kissed and made promises to better themselves in some way or other. Read More

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10 +1 Japanese-Style Fonts For Typing English That Will Confuse Your Friends

Can you read the sentence written above? You should be able to; it’s written in English.

When I first started learning Japanese, the Chinese characters and syllabic scripts that were scrawled across my textbooks looked like some kind of crazy code that only aliens could understand. After years of studying, many of the previously cryptic symbols have become familiar, readable letters. However, now even English can be turned into a jumble of alien ciphers thanks to these 10 +1 fonts inspired by Japanese characters.

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Display Your Own Animations on Your Bicycle Wheel with ANIPOV, Goes on Sale January 2013

Back in my day, kids used to put little plastic beads on their bicycle wheel spokes to make them “flashy.”  Now it looks as if these kids grew up and got training in optics.

Plastic beads have been replaced with synchronized LED lights which generate colorful animations as an ordinary bike wheel spins away.  Not only that, you will be able to create your own animation to be displayed on your computer and upload it to your bike with ANIPOV when it goes on sale at the end of January 2013.

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