Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Grandchildren’s Day (Mago no Hi) was on 20 October this year, and is a date when grandparents may officially shower gifts upon their children’s children. However, you can’t have grandkids without grandparents, so a unique fashion event was held two days prior, bringing together models from both these generations, and aimed to celebrate and bring out the beauty in their relationship.
There’s no denying that the world looks a whole lot cuter when it’s scaled down to miniature form, and even ordinary train stations are no exception to the rule. Hamamatsu station, in Shizuoka Prefecture, has been given the mini-me treatment, thanks to one of its renowned residents, award-winning modeler Takuji Yamada. On display in the city centre, people from all over Japan are gushing at the model’s remarkable quality and it’s amazing likeness to the original.
If Japan and South Korea were on Facebook, there is no doubt that their relationship status would be “it’s complicated.” Between territorial spats, historical disputes and arguing over a pop star’s table manners, these two countries have a lot of uncomfortable diplomatic moments. But they do have one very major thing in common—mutual defense treaties with the United States. Although we doubt (and very much hope) that Tokyo and Seoul never resort to war to solve these issues, some South Korean netizens recently took to the Internet to ponder who Uncle Sam would back in such a fight.
Karate is a martial art which takes a high level of discipline and training to master. Those who make it to the highest ranks of the fighting technique deserve all of the respect and honor that comes along with such a position.
That being said, watching an official karate tournament on TV tends to rank somewhere around pro-bowling and bass fishing in terms of excitement. This is why seeing a video like the one on YouTube titled “Karate referee gets into the fight” is too good to be true!
Hate tomato juice? Maybe you’ll like sparkling tomato juice.
Kagome, a Japanese manufacturer of fruit and vegetable juices, has just announced the sale of Tomash, a carbonated tomato beverage. The drink is made from a combination of tomato juice mixed with lemon and ginger ale, and believe it or not, it’s back by popular demand.
A recent appearance by a new mascot in Tokyo’s Shibuya ward saw young women flocking to take commemorative pictures. When our reporter encountered the mascot, officially named “Mr. T Stain,” women were following it around with squeals of delight, making the surrounding men extremely jealous. But why is Mr. T Stain, who could be in the running for weirdest mascot, so popular with the ladies? It has something to do with a toothpaste commercial featuring a very eccentric pop star.
Space is awesome. There’s no one who can disagree with that. It’s a simple fact of reality! Spaceflight, satellites, astronauts and all that jazz are just some of the coolest stuff on the planet…uhh…in the universe!
Helping to make all that coolness a reality are the amazing government agencies NASA (from United States) and JAXA (from Japan), who are devoted to the exploration of the great dark void that surrounds our planet. They’re also great partners, often working together to bring missions to fruition, like the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) mission, for which JAXA developed something called the DPR (Dual-frequency Percipitation Radar).
And while their program is awesome, there’s actually something even more sweet to come out of this partnership: A gorgeous anime promotional video!
This year’s breakout anime hit Attack on Titan snuck up on a lot of people. Sure, previews for the TV series made it look like a fun adventure, but is wasn’t until sometime after it premiered that the franchise became the international success it is today, despite the comic it’s based on having been around since 2009.
Why didn’t more people, from the very beginning, realize just how much entertainment Attack on Titan has to offer? Maybe the story’s antagonists, naked giants who look like anatomy textbook illustrations, were just too repugnantly grotesque. Maybe, being creator Hajime Isayama’s first serial, the artwork on its heroes was a little too rough around the edges. How much more immediately accessible would Attack on Titan have been if they had all been replaced with a more traditionally pleasing aesthetic, like a bunch of cute cats?
Thanks to this feline-infused recreation of the show’s opening animation, now we know.
Out of all the rail and subway lines crisscrossing Tokyo, the most well known and heavily used is the Yamanote Line which encircles downtown Tokyo. Stations along the Yamanote serve some of the city’s busiest business, education, and entertainment districts, and the result during rush hour is train cars that are so packed it’s comical (for everyone except the passengers themselves, of course).
This month, however, the Yamanote Line was the site of a gathering quite a bit more intimate than its usual pressed mass of sleeping white-collar professionals, as a couple held their wedding ceremony onboard one of its trains.
Late last month 51-year-old resident of Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, Kazuhiko Shirasaka, allegedly called together a camping party with around 30 other people including 62-year-old Naofumi Katsuragawa who lived in nearby Ikeda Town. Little did they know, these young rascals would be cooking up the makings of an after-school special, if late-middle-aged people still went to school.
If you’ve been hanging around the Internet as long as we have, there’s a good chance you’ve seen it all–or almost all. From sleepy cats to pandagators, it sometimes seems that there’s not much left to surprise us, and then a Japanese commercial comes along and proves us wrong!
Jii Lighters aren’t particularly revolutionary in design–they’re just electric lighters that can be charged via USB–but when it comes to marketing, we think they may be light years ahead of the competition.
Japan is a country that loves their umbrellas. Rain or shine, lolita or businessman, everyone enjoys the security of a swath of plastic or cloth above their precious head. However, this time of year poses a particular problem for parasol lovers, when mother nature flings typhoons at East Asia like so many spitballs at a blackboard of the Pacific Rim.
The result for most pedestrians is a nasty combination of heavy wind and rain where one wrong turn of the corner can instantly result in your umbrella becoming the world’s largest and most depressing shuttlecock.
Over the summer, Sony saw quite an increase in their operating profits thanks in large part to excellent sales of their Xperia smartphone line. And while we’re sure that many people bought Xperias because they loved the technology or the design, there might be another factor that you won’t find in the company’s annual reports: Sayumi Tsuchida, the Japanese Internet’s newest crush!
When dining out in Japan, there is a commonly accepted truism that you get the tastiest example of a particular type of food by eating it in a restaurant that specializes in it. For example, if you want good ramen, you go to a place that serves that and little, if anything, else.
Speaking of Japan’s favorite noodle dish, popular wisdom also holds that the dingier the ramen restaurant, the better-tasting the food.
So imagine our surprise when we discovered that the Yona Yona Beer Kitchen, a classy restaurant with a full menu in Tokyo’s swanky Nagata-cho neighborhood, can also whip up a bowl of ramen that’s as delicious as it is visually striking.
There’s a five-frame comic doing the rounds on Twitter that’s got all the ladies talking. Called “The day of period pain”, it’s being praised for authentically depicting that dreaded time of the month and proves that, in Japan, there really is a comic about everything.
Disney princesses get to have fun sometimes, right? When they’re not saving the day or being saved by their handsome prince, we’re sure they find time to kick back with their friends and celebrate holidays. The following is what a few of the most popular Disney princesses might wear on Halloween as envisioned by artist Isaiah K Stephens. And of course strong princesses like Pocahontas, Jasmine, and Merida would dress as their favorite female superhero or heroine.
Reports out of China have revealed that two restaurants in the Guangzhou area were found to be using ground up poppy seeds in some of their dishes. The reports allege that the businesses were “using the seeds of addictive poppies in an underhanded way to get repeat business.”
Though the brand hasn’t gained much popularity outside of Japan yet, earth music&ecology has propelled itself into the mainstream Japanese fashion world, thanks in large part to their ad campaigns featuring actress Aoi Miyazaki. With a focus on being “colorful and useful,” the brand seems mostly targeted at young women who aren’t looking for anything too extravagant.
Recently, the company rolled out a new smartphone app that allows users to add marketing text over their own photos, giving their patrons a chance to stand in Ms. Miyazaki’s place. A rather clever bit of marketing, we thought…until Mr. Sato decided to try it out!
It wasn’t too long ago that we posted an article here on RocketNews24 cataloging the entire collection of Sailor Moon toys. Well, it looks like the people over at Proplica wish to add another item to the list. Fans of the Sailor Moon franchise are frothing at the mouth, hoping to get their hands on a real-life Moon Stick, more commonly referred to at the Crescent Moon Wand, Sailor Moon’s first attack item. This playful prop is being marketed toward adult toy collectors and comes packed with some pretty neat features.
Japan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026
Umamusume anime cosplayers make news in U.S. for their pro football fandom【Video】
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Pikachu’s chunky original design is back as a plus-sized plushie【Photos】
Giant 3-D anime boobs appear on giant 3-D video billboards in Japan【Video】
7-Eleven releases collaboration snack from Michelin-starred ramen restaurant and Baby Star Ramen
Believe it! Naruto live-action stage play returns, shows off huge new cast and costumes【Photos】
Studio Ghibli unveils new fluffy purses from films like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away
Which Japanese beef bowl chain’s near-identical demon grater onioroshi ponzu gyudon is the best?
New line of skirts promises to give you the slim waist and long legs of an anime heroine 【Photos】Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Massive manga collaboration bringing 100 years of Shueisha manga to Uniqlo T-shirts【Photos】
Visiting Japan’s Gyarados Pokémon park in the city with a special connection to Magikarp【Photos】
Majority of Japanese women in survey regret marrying their husband, but that’s only half the story
Totoro cream puffs and Catbus cookies are finally available in downtown Tokyo
Japan’s kid-friendly ski program is now selling Pikachu snowboards for a limited time onlyJapan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino and latte for Valentine’s Day
Japanese vending machine serves up unique drinks at four Tokyo train stations
McDonald’s Japan releases a Mushroom Mountain and Bamboo Shoot Village McFlurryStarbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
10 times to avoid traveling in Japan in 2026
Starbucks Japan ready to get Year of the Horse started with adorable drinkware and plushies【Pics】Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino and latte for Valentine’s Day
Our 52-year-old pole dancing reporter shares his tips for achieving your New Year’s exercise goal
Disillusionment at Tsukiji’s tourist-target prices led us to a great ramen restaurant in Tokyo
Ramen restaurant’s English menu prices are nearly double its Japanese ones, denies discriminating
Japan may add Japanese language proficiency, lifestyle classes to permanent foreign resident requirements
Lacquerware supplier to emperor of Japan and Pokémon team up for new tableware
Japanese beef bowl chain Sukiya’s 2026 Smile Box lucky bag basically pays for itself
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of JapanStarbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Updated cherry blossom forecast shows extra-long sakura season for Japan this year
7-Eleven releases collaboration snack from Michelin-starred ramen restaurant and Baby Star Ramen
Believe it! Naruto live-action stage play returns, shows off huge new cast and costumes【Photos】
Studio Ghibli unveils new fluffy purses from films like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away
Which Japanese beef bowl chain’s near-identical demon grater onioroshi ponzu gyudon is the best?
New line of skirts promises to give you the slim waist and long legs of an anime heroine 【Photos】
We followed Tokyo’s mystery walking map and ended up creating our own bar-hopping adventure
Step inside a mystical, dazzling display of illuminations at the Flower Garden of Lights
Spending New Year’s alone? Japanese restaurant has special one-person kosechi New Year’s meals
Korean Pokémon baked goods are so popular you can’t find them anywhere, but why?
Visiting Japan’s Gyarados Pokémon park in the city with a special connection to Magikarp【Photos】
No need to be lonely at New Year’s with Japan’s new one-person osechi set【Taste test】
The etiquette rules for visiting Shinto shrines in Japan
You can now buy a Japanese train station clock in Japan