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Lifehack for Curry Fiends: Get More for Your Yen at CoCo Ichibanya

Any Japanese curry fans out there? If you’ve tried it, you know it’s in a whole separate class from the Thai and Indian curries most Westerners are used to. The sauce is dark brown and generally thicker and sweeter than other Asian curries, though the taste varies from shop to shop, and is served with rice. Along with some onions, carrots and potatoes, you can usually find some nice chunks of pork or beef in your basic curry, and then you can choose from a variety of toppings to make it your own.

For curry connoisseurs there’s nothing sadder than when you are enjoying your plate of curry rice and suddenly realize that you’re running out of curry faster than rice. You’re left rationing the last of your curry or finishing your meal with a couple of bites of disappointingly plain rice. Most people don’t know this, but if you are eating at the popular chain CoCo Ichibanya–affectionately known as CoCo Ichi–you can order more curry for free! Read More

Square Enix Reveals Final Fantasy Dating Game, is Elaborate Prank

A lot of people were holding out for some exciting news during Final Fantasy’s 25 Anniversary event in Japan yesterday; perhaps some information on Final Fantasy Versus XIII or a Final Fantasy VII remake.

What they got instead was an elaborate 12-minute demonstration of Tokimeki Final Fantasy: Suzaku Magic Institution Peristylium ~ Oh no! I’m in Love With the Crystal’s Divine Guardian ~, an otome dating game set in the world of Final Fantasy Type-0.

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Mamma Mia! Italians Think Japanese Eat Sushi Off of Naked Women?

Recently our correspondent Kuzo was interviewing pizzerias in Sicily.  As a result he found himself eating pizza all day every day. Being a gastronomic pro, our reporter was unfazed, but suddenly wondered how the sushi in Italy was.  Figuring Sicily’s excellent seafood may yield some equally good sushi, he tracked down a restaurant in Palmero.

However, what he found was so shocking, he couldn’t even remember how the sushi tasted.  Kuzo had stumbled on the fabled practice of nyotaimori – eating sushi off naked women.

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Japanese Men and Women Rank Which Countries They’d Look to for a Mate

A lot of people have romantic fantasies of hooking up with someone from another country.  Yet there are rare opportunities for the mystery and novelty of such a relationship for most people.  That shouldn’t stop us from dreaming of it though.

The folks at MyNavi set up a survey asking men and women what country besides Japan they’d go in search of a girlfriend or boyfriend.  Based on this survey here are the top 5 countries for both Japanese men and women and reasons for their choices.

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Survey Shows 16 Out of 16 Foreigners Would Like to Date a Japanese Person, but What Would They Like to do on Their Dates?

In the midst of present day globalization, and with international marriages on the rise, how do Japanese people fare on the ‘international stage’ of dating?

We decided to find out by sending our reporter to Comiket 82 earlier this month and asking REAL LIVE foreign visitors if they would like to date a Japanese person.

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Duckbill Dog Muzzles, “Cat Shells” and Other Strange Designer Pet Goods From Japan

Japanese designer pet supplies maker OPPO aims to create products that “offer a lifestyle where humans and pets can coexist naturally as animals.”

While they don’t offer any explanation of what that actually means, a product lineup featuring items like “quack,” a duckbill-shaped muzzle, and “CatShell,” a shell…for cats, suggests what they’re really saying is: “here’s more ways for you to spend money on things your pet doesn’t need.

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Commuters, Mothers and Government Bump Heads Over Baby Buggy Posters

Japan is a country notorious for its high level of politeness.  However, deep within its tangled, serpentine train system, common courtesy is often cast aside and Thunderdome rules apply.  I’ve seen grown men push aside old ladies and old ladies push aside me in order to get the best spot.

This being the case, Tokyo Metropolitan Area’s rail companies and the city itself began to spread over 5,000 posters calling for passengers to give some leeway to women with baby carriages.  As a result, they have received over 1,000 complaints and growing.

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Germans Invent Bicycle With no Pedals, Offers “Ergonomic Ride Between Running and Biking”

Since the invention of chain-driven transmission in the 1890s, the bicycle really hasn’t undergone any major structural changes.

And what could you possibly want to change? You’ve got two wheels for movement, handlebars for direction, a seat to hold your body weight and pedals to…

“Wait, pedals?”, thought the Germans. We don’t need no stinkin’ pedals.

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On 20 August, a lengthy flight delay turned ugly at an airport in Beijing, where frustrated customers complaining snowballed into a scene from a zombie movie.  In the middle of the fracas someone took a video and posted it on the internet.

In the video, a peculiar image of an airline employee just lying motionless on the floor has people asking: “Did he confuse his ‘what to do during a customer complaint’ manual with his ‘what to do during a bear attack’ one?”

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SmartHan Rice Tubes Offer Japanese New Way to Snack! Is This the End of Onigiri?

Tired of stuffing rice balls in your bag only to have them get squished and smear sticky rice all over your important work documents?

Takara Tomy Arts is here to answer your plea with SmartHan (han means “rice”), a revolutionary new way to enjoy your favorite rice dish from home while on the go!

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AKB48, the darlings of the Japanese pop scene, may have danced one step over the line sweet Jesus with their newest commercial for Puccho candy.  The commercial first aired on 25 August and seems to have drawn a collective “yuggghhh” from the nation.

In it the girls dance away brandishing the product as only they can do.  Except this time, all but one of their bodies have been digitally replaced by 5 and 6 year olds.

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Flat-Screen Folk Art Rallies to Save the Surprisingly Deep Culture of Putting Stuff on Top of Your TV Set

After the recent switch from analog to digital terrestrial broadcasting in Japan, more and more people are making the switch to flat screen units.  And as the streets find themselves more and more littered with discarded boxy cathode ray tube model TV’s, Japan may have accidentally thrown something else in the trash – a piece of their culture and heritage.

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French fries, or “furaido potato”, as they are called here in Japan, are the standard side order to all kinds of fast food.  Which fast food shop has the best tasting fries in Japan? My Navi News  decided to find out by canvassing 1000 working men and women from the ages of 22 to 32 on Japanese social networking service Mixi.

The results show the top fast food shops ranked by their french fries along with a few select comments from those polled. Their occupations and genders are also shown and although there may not be any direct correlation in occupation to french fry tastes, their education does suggest a discerning taste in french fry eating.  The gender of the people taking the survey appears to have absolutely no significance except that ‘gender role-happy’ Japan cares about such information.

The survey was conducted by simply asking, “Which fast food restaurant makes the best french fries?”

And the winners are… Read More

Traditional Japanese House Being Sold for 1 Yen on Yahoo! Auction

Interested in investing in Japanese historical real estate but don’t have quite enough to afford a medieval castle town?

Right now there’s a 150-year-old traditional Japanese thatched-roof farmhouse for sale on Yahoo! Auction for the unbeatable price of 1 yen (about 1 penny)!

Though by judging from the pictures, it may be a bit of fixer-upper…

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Be it drowning family members or rescuing neighbors from pits of crap, China continues to not disappoint in the things that make you go “hmmm” department.

This time, let’s say that the son of a wealthy family killed an innocent bystander while drag racing on city streets and is up on a variety of charges, possibly resulting in the death penalty.

In an effort to protect their unfortunate son, the family asks you to be his substitute in prison.  The sentence is guaranteed to be reduced to – oh, let’s say 3 years – and you’ll get paid for every day of it.  What would you do?  What would you charge?

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Resident Evil to Infect Universal Studios Japan This Fall

Following in the tradition of Japan getting all the cool Resident Evil stuff, Universal Studios Japan has announced they will be converting a portion of the theme park into a zombie-infested Raccoon City this Fall.

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The sea is too clean for the fish! 

Efforts to clean up the sea have caused an adverse reaction giving the fishing Industries in Hyogo, Okayama, and Oita Prefectures along the Setonai Seaboard a major headache.  The irony being that the sea is too clean for the fish to thrive.

An analysis of the sea water by researchers found the natural levels of Nitrogen and phosphorous in the salt content of the sea water needed for the nutritional growth of healthy plankton have diminished to the point that it has effected the natural eco system of the sea. Without enough plankton, the major nutrition for many small sea animals, the whole food chain is disrupted to the point of great loss to the fishing Industry.

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Limited Edition Pikachu Yellow 3DS LL Sells Out on First Day

A few weeks ago the Pokemon Company revealed the 3DS LL Pikachu Yellow, a limited edition version of the handheld console purchasable by preorder at Pokemon Center stores from August 25 to September 14.

To the surprise of no one, Japanese customers lined up outside and waited for over 4 hours to purchase the device, clearing out stocks at Pokemon Centers in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka on the first day.

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Japanese Clothing Ad Gives Us a Glimpse at the Real Japan

People often ask me why I moved to Japan and I say “to be with people like me – with blonde hair and blue eyes.”  Japan is a homogenous country to be sure, but a recent advertisement from clothing chain COMME ÇA ISM boldly challenges this mistaken stereotype that Japan is full of Japanese people.

It’s actually full of white people!

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Tokyo Restaurant Serves Sheep Brain Curry, We Investigate

About 95-97% of the population of Pakistan is Muslim, which means there’s not a lot of pork eaten in the country. Pakistanis do, however, eat a lot of sheep. And when they eat sheep, they eat all of the sheep — meat, heart, genitals, brains, you name it and Pakistanis have a recipe for it.

If you know where to look, you can even find Pakistani restaurants here in Japan that serve dishes using some of the more exotic parts of the animal.

One such restaurant is Maruhaba in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, which serves sheep brain curry.

We recently sent reporter Mr. Sato to Maruhaba to try the dish out; after all, he looks like he could benefit from a little more brain.

His report follows below:

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