Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
We’re all human, which means we all, eventually, make a mistake or two. Some of us might make more mistakes than others, but in general it should be easy to understand that accidents happen and sometimes the best course of action is to forgive and carry on with your life. However, not everyone is happy with a simple apology–some people require a bit more…humiliation.
Probably the most intriguing feature of the new generation iPhone is its fingerprint authentication. Once recognized by the system, only the true user’s fingerprint will unlock the phone, rendering it impossible for anyone else operate.
However, registering a fingerprint has its drawbacks. Someone can easily press the phone against your finger while you sleep and have access to all your secrets. If you want maximum security, we recommend using your toe or nipple. They really work!
Hayao Miyazaki, often referred to as “the Walt Disney of Japan,” is undoubtedly famous in his home country. With record-breaking films such as Academy Award-winning, Spirited Away, and the iconic, My Neighbor Totoro, it’s easily assumed that everyone in Japan has watched at least one Miyazaki movie. A recent poll conducted by a Japanese movie rental chain reveals that, actually, almost everyone in Japan has.
Naotake Odake, former managing director of the Japan Tourist Bureau (JTB) and once director of the Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau, spent years of his professional life traveling to cities across the globe in order to promote Tokyo as a worthwhile tourist destination. In his travels, he noticed a trait shared by all the major cities: they each had a unique and well-recognized landmark embodying the history and culture of the land. According to Odake, a structure of this sort is vital to bolstering a spirit of pride in any given population. Unfortunately for Tokyo, he believes that this sort of historical landmark is something that Japan’s capital city severely lacks. What he has against Asakusa Temple, Tokyo Tower, or Tokyo Skytree, I’m really not sure. But, it is for this reason that Odake has taken the lead as the chairman of a non-profit organization which hopes to rebuild the Edo Castle’s innermost tower. “In order to present Tokyo as a proud tourist city, we need something like Edo Castle,” he says. But will the payoff really outweigh the costs?
Telephone fraud is a serious problem in Japan and many elderly people fall victim to it each year. Known as “ore ore sagi“, fraudsters often pretend to be the call recipient’s son, using such lines as, “Mom, it’s me, it’s me! I’m in trouble!” to trick large sums of money from the unsuspecting party, and banks now post warnings next to their ATMs asking people only to send money if they’re 100-percent sure of who they’re sending it to.
Thanks to increased awareness of the problem, however, more and more people are beginning to see through this type of scam. One particularly clued-up 69-year-old who realized something was wrong, in fact, has recently been co-operating with local police by pretending that she had been duped by a call she received from fraudsters, ultimately leading to their arrests.
A Nagaski area public toilet is proving that the future that Blade Runner envisioned is now, and it’s in Japan.
The public toilet in question is apparently about a 10-minute walk from the station proper, at an unassuming location near a pedestrian underpass. To even gain access to the toilet requires you to figure out a complex series of buttons and probably pass a retinal scan to ensure you aren’t a Replicant.
Disney Research recently announced the development of Ishin-Den-Shin. As the name – which means “unspoken communication” in Japanese – implies, it’s a microphone that can capture your spoken words and let you pass it on to other people by simply touching them on the ear.
If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of Ishin-Den-Shin, that may sound a bit weird, but once we break down how it works you’ll see why the device’s creators received an honorable mention at the Prix Ars Electronica 2013.
We’ve all been there: you’ve got your shiny new laptop, smartphone or tablet computer and you’re lounging around on the floor at home, watching videos on YouTube, tapping away at Plants Vs. Zombies… when suddenly your pampered, first-world body throws a hissy hit. “I’m tired! Why do I always have to hold all the expensive electronic devices!?” it moans as you start to lose the feeling in your arm or your left leg goes to sleep. You wriggle around and find a new position, but before long your body’s complaining again and you just can’t get comfy.
Oh, wouldn’t it be great if there were something – a piece of furniture perhaps – that would hold your tablet or computer for you while you did massively unimportant web browsing and lay on the floor!?
Enter the Goron tablet cushion, which not only supports your head and neck while you laze around, but comes complete with an adjustable holder for tablets, laptops and even small monitors! Yep, gamers just got that little bit lazier!
In the early days of the iPhone in Japan it was under an exclusive contract with telecoms giant Softbank, which gradually gave way to AU availability as well. This left NTT’s Docomo, as the only big mobile carrier without any Apple product of its own.
However, coinciding with the Japanese launch of the new iPhone5S and iPhone5C today, Docomo has finally jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and is carrying the unit that so many people have been clamouring for. No one was more thrilled at the news then our own Mr. Sato, a long time Docomo subscriber. So he headed down to the Docomo store in Marunouchi to get one as soon as it came out. Turns out he was their very first customer.
Japanese seem to love giving their drinks an unexpected twist. They’ve tried hot ginger ale, orange juice that looks like soy sauce, and a milk drink with tomato and lemon flavoring. Compared to those wacky creations, Yakult’s popular probiotic dairy drinks seem positively pedestrian, but now they’ve upped their game.
Care for a hot, potable yogurt, anyone?
“I hate this job.” Not exactly uncommon words, are they? While you may not necessarily love the work you do, it’s always nice to at least not hate your job, right? Unfortunately, it seems that all too many of us are stuck in life-draining professions, wishing we could start all over. And, it turns out, over half of young “irregular” Japanese workers can sympathize.
As with any major business venture, presentation is very important when working in the music industry. Cool covers on brand new CD albums can inspire one to make a purchase without ever having heard the band. Granted, the Internet makes it easy to find a few demos before handing over your cash, but a well-designed jacket still makes a big difference. A great, eye-catching cover can make even the most mediocre album famous for its genre by drawing in attention from fans.
Then again, ugly covers can be just as eye-catching and somewhat endearing in their own way. Here we have a collection of hideous, old CD and record jackets that were probably purchased out of pity alone. Get ready to laugh at this collection of music covers that really missed the mark. From a list initially provided by a French entertainment site, we now bring you 27 of the ugliest album covers from the former Yugoslavia. Read More
Most Japanophiles in the world have heard of the smash hit anime, Dragonball Z. Recently the series gained yet another surge of popularity due to its 2009 remastered broadcast, hooking a whole new generation of fans. But how many viewers have kept up with the voice actors who worked on DBZ since the show’s final episodes aired? For instance, did you know that Ryo Horikawa, the voice of Saiyan prince, Vegeta, just recently started up a rock band?
Are his badass readings breaking your scouter yet? Just wait until you hear who else has joined his team…
Kimokawaii is a relatively modern concept in Japan describing something that’s so kimoi (gross) it’s kawaii (cute). Well if that’s the case, this family of mushrooms is the most adorable thing we’ve ever seen. The Nameko Family is a new television series featuring Nameko, an anthropomorphic nameko mushroom, the slimy fungi often found in miso soup, and features an entire household full of deformed, strange and down right kimoi characters. But has this new show crossed the line, being too gross for even the biggest kimokawaii fan to find cute?
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former head of video game giant Nintendo who helmed the company during its period of skyrocketing growth in the 1980s and 90s, has passed away at the age of 85. The entertainment visionary succumbed to pneumonia on September 19.
Many would agree that smartphones are the easiest and most convenient way to stay entertained no matter where you go, provided there’s reception. Although, they do distract us from what’s happening in the immediate vicinity. Texting and checking apps while walking through the streets of a busy city can lead to collisions with people or signposts, or even traffic if one isn’t careful! Now, a recent string of scams in Tokyo shows that the distractedness we experience when on our phones also make us a target. Read More
Amazing as Japan’s metropolises are, after spending enough time in some of the most densely populated spots on the planet, urban fatigue starts to set in. There’s nothing like a getaway to the countryside to refresh your spirits after one too many days scurrying around downtown in packed train and subway cars.
The Shirakawa-go district, located in Gifu Prefecture, is close enough to Tokyo or Osaka that it makes an easy weekend escape for residents, as well as a simple side trip for overseas tourists crisscrossing the country. In terms of atmosphere, though, Shirakawa-go is worlds away from Japan’s largest cities.
Edible art is kind of a thing these days, especially in Asia, where seemingly every dish is so artfully crafted and cute you couldn’t possibly eat it – especially when it takes the form of a cat poking out of your latte.
This admittedly somewhat wasteful art form may have reached its pinnacle with these mind-boggling works of makizushi magnificence.
When you’re hovering on the verge of leaving this world, the last thing you want to feel is lingering regret about those unique foods you never had the chance to try and all those unimaginable flavours and textures you missed out on, or never knew existed. To avoid such a terrible fate, a list of 20 strange bucket-list foods has recently been compiled by a British news site and has been widely commented on in Japan, as it features two home-grown favourites: fugu and shiokara. Fugu is the poisonous pufferfish of Simpsons fame, while shiokara is a relatively harmless dish composed of shreds of meat from a sea creature (commonly squid) in a slimy paste of its heavily salted, fermented raw guts. I mean, viscera.
So my taste buds won’t spend an eternity regretting the tragic circumstances that left their fugu and shiokara cherry unpopped, I aim to get to the bottom of these Japanese dishes! Er, okay, maybe not right to the bottom. I’ll have a few cautious bites and see how it goes.
If you’re going to Tokyo Tower anytime soon, you probably won’t be able to go up to the 250-meter (820-foot) Special Observatory, which stands high above the 150-meter (492-foot) Main Observatory. Why? The one-and-only elevator providing service to the higher level has been temporarily closed after a piece of flying metal broke one of the glass walls!
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Japanese kindness restores our faith in humanity after a highway bus accident in Tokyo
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Nine amazing off-the-beaten-path cherry blossom spots in Japan for yaezakura and shidarezakura
Japan’s ministry of economy reminds us to “use sound judgment” before buying toilet paper
7-Eleven Japan releases a crazy new viral sandwich: Chocolate Sprinkles and Whipped Cream
Stunning central Japan wisteria festival is like a purple fantasy straight out of a Ghibli movie
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones
Japanese department store rooftop is a secret oasis where you can escape the crowds in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Tokyo government organizes food truck event to clear out delinquent/homeless teen gathering area7-Eleven Japan releases a crazy new viral sandwich: Chocolate Sprinkles and Whipped CreamNine amazing off-the-beaten-path cherry blossom spots in Japan for yaezakura and shidarezakura
Japan now has a “for foreign tourists only” Mt. Fuji sightseeing train[Video]Stunning central Japan wisteria festival is like a purple fantasy straight out of a Ghibli movie
Studio Ghibli releases the My Neighbour Totoro tea caddy, with a magical self-closing lid
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Create a tiny Ghibli anime world on your bookshelf with new miniature papercraft art kitsKrispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime characterStarbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the countryJapanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Nine great places to see spring flowers in Japan, as chosen by travelers (with almost no sakura)
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Cherry blossoms begin blooming in Japan with record-early starts for sakura season
Studio Ghibli adds new Mother’s Day gift sets to its anime collection in JapanVirtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones
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
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
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
Japan’s ministry of economy reminds us to “use sound judgment” before buying toilet paper
7-Eleven Japan releases a crazy new viral sandwich: Chocolate Sprinkles and Whipped Cream
Stunning central Japan wisteria festival is like a purple fantasy straight out of a Ghibli movie
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones
Japanese department store rooftop is a secret oasis where you can escape the crowds in Tokyo
Ghibli Museum building becomes a cuddly cushion
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】
Japan now has a “for foreign tourists only” Mt. Fuji sightseeing train[Video]
Every piece of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli anime concept art to be published in new book series
Cold beer – less smelly than fermented soybeans, and by one criteria, healthier too
“Get off the bus.” Driver teaches prankster kid an important lesson
Deer are appearing in Osaka City, may have wandered there from Nara[Video]
A visual kei J-rock classic gets a new cover and video thanks to…McDonalds?!?【Video】
Starbucks Japan has a new Frappuccino on the menu, but does it really taste like a cream puff?
