Totoro, Our Cute And Furry Friend? Not In This Case!

We all love Totoro, that huge cuddly bundle of fur, right? Well, maybe not this version of the lovable character  from the famous Studio Ghibli anime “My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari No Totoro)”. Yes, the dark side of the friendly forest spirit is revealed in this particular work of art we found on the internet. Take a look at the unedited photo if you dare… Read More

McDonald’s Japan’s Texas Burger: Our Reporter Takes One for the Team

McDonald’s Japan’s Texas burger is back, but it won’t be around for long! Having missed out on the chunky beef sandwich the last time they invaded the country, our man Kuzo headed down to his nearest restaurant and grabbed a couple to poke, prod and shove down his gullet. The experience left him confused: there’s plenty here to delight burger fans, that’s for sure, but not everything about this little slice of Texas is worth writing home out. Kuzo’s full impressions after the break.

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Giant Underwater Pill-Bug Refuses to Eat for 4 Years, Scientists Puzzled Why It’s Being Such a Jerk

On 4 January at the Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture, Takaya Moritaki prepared a bowl of mackerel and encouraged himself saying “Maybe today will be the day.”

It was feeding time again for the giant isopods, and, for one of the crustaceans, it was the four-year anniversary of their refusal to eat anything at all.

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Waves Frozen in Place on Lake Kizaki, Nagano Prefecture

Winter. It’s cold and miserable most days, but every so often the freezing winds produce something magical that is awesome enough to take your mind off of your frozen toes. This is one of those things.

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Where No Kitty Has Gone Before… Amazing Video From a Middle School Science Project

Space: the final frontier. This is the voyage of a homemade rocket carrying the fearless Hello Kitty as its sole passenger. Its mission: to explore the effects of altitude on air pressure and temperature, and to boldly go where no Kitty has gone beforeRead More

The Twitter Experiment II: How to Get Replies from Celebrities on Twitter

Thanks to Twitter, we common folk get an unprecedented level of access to the celebrities previously could only gaze at from below. For example, how else but with Twitter could some guy call a multi-billionaire “baldy” directly?

Prominent Twitter researchers at Omocoro – who taught us that attaching clothes pins to your naked body can result in over 1,000 retweets – have developed secret ways to draw tweet replies out of  Japan’s entertainment elite.

Our story begins one January day in the Omocoro editor’s room…

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You’re Not Really Japanese Until You Have a Set of Sliding Door Power Outlet Covers

Yes, you can use chopsticks, and yes, you pronounce the words karate and karaoke “correctly” in the middle of your otherwise English sentence, but you’re not a hardcore Japanophile until you’ve kitted your home’s power outlets out with these hugely unnecessary but utterly brilliant shoji sliding paper door covers.

Made by hobbyist and blogger Tori Sugimura, these little wooden boxes feature delicate sliding doors and real washi paper panels as well as traditional Japanese design features like flowers and wading cranes.

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Japanese Magazine Offers Advice for Avoiding Life’s #1 Disappointment: Bad Ramen

Consumers are always hoping to get more than they paid for products and services, but in reality, the reverse is just as common. We’ve all been suckered in by a wily shopkeeper at one point or another, but what knowledge and preparation can we arm ourselves with to avoid being taken advantage of?

There are a bounty of goods and services available to us, all of which are marketed with beguiling strategies. Some of them will be such good values our hearts will delight in our own cleverness, while others will simply satisfy with their averageness. Of course, the remaining products, for all their appeal, will be deeply disappointing. Maybe billionaires can just spend for the joy of spending without worrying if something is really a good value, but for common people like  you and me, making a poor decision can impact our wallets and our self-esteem for a long time to come.

In the hope of protecting their readers from it, Japanese weekly magazine SPA! has set out to discover what exactly is behind this buyer’s remorse in all its complex forms. Read More

It’s Hump Day! Take a Tip from Our Furry Friend Maru and Relax

Japanese Internet celebrity Maru has been on the scene for a few years now, shooting to stardom when his owner, YouTube user Mugumogu, uploaded a series of videos of the cat launching himself into boxes and paper bags seemingly far too small to accommodate him. These days, he’s taking life a little easier, but I think we could all learn a thing or two from Maru: the undisputed king of sunshine naps.

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【Bucket List】 Top 15 Libraries to Visit Before You Die

This one’s for the girls (and guys) who watched Beauty and the Beast as a kid and wished they could visit that gorgeous library. Check out this compilation of the 15 libraries to visit before you die according to Trip Advisor Japan.

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Make Tracks to Tokyo’s Train Bars

There are train hobbyists and then there are train hobbyists. Japan’s particular breed of railway aficionados are referred to by the somewhat-affectionate term densha otaku, or train nerds, and are famous for feats like memorizing complex, phonebook-size timetables or visiting every single one of the country’s almost 10,000 stations.

Of course, when they aren’t trying to increase their encyclopedic knowledge of all things rail-related, they are out looking for like-minded people to impress with it. As it turns out, Tokyo offers the densha otaku a wide selection of appropriate watering holes, or perhaps we should call them bar cars. So grab your subway map and let’s go see this elusive creature in his natural habitat. Read More

Lotteria’s Two New Burgers Go Big on Taste, Provide Plenty of Hangover

I think we’re gonna need a bigger bun.

Japanese fast food chain Lotteria, home to the mountain of melted cheese that was our own 30-patty cheeseburger tower, announced yesterday that it will be providing diners with an altogether larger eating experience as of February 22. The above burgers are part of the chain’s “hamidashi” (meaning to jut or hang out over the sides) range, but we’re  affectionately dubbing them the “hangover” series.

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Air Fryer to Be Released in Japan, Easy Oil-Free Frying Awaits

Although it’s hard to tell just by looking at them, people in Japan love fried food. As delicious as food fried in oil is, it’s high in calories and cholesterol, flammable, and messy. But thanks to the recent development of air fryers, we can now get crispy French fries without the greasy baggage that comes along with it.

From 20 April, Ashikaga-based appliance manufacturer TMY will release its own version of oil-free fryer, named Air Fryer, across the country.

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Amazing Stop Motion Animation Made with Action Figures- Dragon Ball Z and More!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyBnlOtDWCs?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360%5D

A while back we showed some action figure stop motion animation that was amazing in quality but… well, really weird. Watching it you couldn’t help but wonder “wow, if only this level of quality was executed with a more lucid plot.”

Enter Counter656 Productions which seems to be one Taiwanese man in his living room with action figures.  He’s been at it for a while but recently out did himself with a battle scene between Dragon Ball’s Trunks and Piccolo.

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Too Cute to Eat? A Berry Special Treat for Cat Lovers and Hello Kitty Fans!

It’s strawberry season in Japan! Bright red ruby-like berries are now on display at supermarkets everywhere, and many restaurants and pastry shops are promoting strawberry cakes and confectionaries. And it all looks positively mouth-watering. But a certain berry that has recently been the topic of attention among Japanese Twitter users may be almost too cute to eat! Read More

Studio Ghibli’s Next Movie Delayed 【News Bite】

Kaguya Hime no Monogatari, the forthcoming title from Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli, has been delayed until autumn this year, it was announced earlier today.

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Japanese Government and Industries Battle Copyright Infringement by Hiding Strongly Worded Letters on P2P Networks

On 25 January, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications along with various motion picture and music associations announced their latest copyright protection measure, dubbed “Operation Decoy File.”

The plan involves inserting files onto Japan’s popular P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing networks such as Winny and Share which appear to contain popular copyrighted material.  However, once downloaded, the file is revealed to be a message appealing the user to reconsider their wicked ways.

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Japan’s Secret Weapon Against the Flu Deemed Ineffective by Ministry of Health

According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) during the period of 14-20 January, the number of influenza cases in the country has exceeded 110,000.

Schools and facilities for the elderly across Japan have been pushing a traditional three pronged attack against the flu virus. First, hand washing is a no-brainer (or at least it out to be). Also, anyone who has been to Japan has probably experienced the country’s love of surgical masks.

The third line of defense, however, is rather unique to Japan: gargling.  Although gargling is embraced worldwide as a soothing massage for throats sore from overuse or illness, in Japan it has been widely regarded for generations as a preventative measure against cold or flu viruses.

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Our Gluttonous Reporter Mr. Sato Devours a 65-Strawberry Parfait Tower!

From 18 January 2013,  Japanese sweet specialist Cozy Corner released a dessert that will leave anyone with even a slightly sweet tooth wiping the drool from their lips and exclaiming, “I’m witnessing a dessert revolution!” Just what type of dessert could we be talking about? None other than a gigantic 65-piece strawberry parfait weighing in at, wait for it, a shocking 2,000 kilocalories! Shortly after hearing this announcement, our reporter Mr. Sato carried himself off to the establishment in question to see what all the fuss was about.

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