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Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler gets friendly with fans around Osaka

Last week Steven Tyler, vocalist for the big-name American rock group Aerosmith, was spotted wandering around Osaka without escort. The band is currently in the midst of a world concert tour with stops in a few of Japan’s major cities. Apparently, the big-mouthed “bad boy of rock” decided to spend some time out on the town between shows in Osaka. Not only did the rock star allow fans to approach him as he explored the city, he even joined a band of jazz musicians performing on the streets for an impromptu jam session! Frankly, I’m not sure whether to be inspired by or intolerably jealous over the experiences of those who encountered the rock legend in person.

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Lotteria craziness continues with the new okonomiyaki burger

In the crowded Japanese fast food burger industry, a chain has to establish an identity to be successful. McDonald’s is the place to go to fill up as cheaply as possible. MOS Burger is for people willing to spend a little more time and money for a sandwich made from higher-quality ingredients. And Lotteria is the place to go for a side of craziness.

While Lotteria occasionally goes completely nuts and has iconic horror movie characters work its registers, the chain’s eccentricity is primarily confined to the menu, with items such as the side-by-side double-patty twin burger and colossal Evangelion cheese burger with roughly a week’s worth of meat. The chain’s newest offering reimagines the savory Japanese crepe okonomiyaki as a burger.

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March over to Yahoo! Games for the beta release of Dragon Quest Monster Parade!

Dragon Quest is a long-running series of role-playing video games with a sizeable selection of spin-offs, novels, manga, and anime adaptations. Most people recognize it for its mascot, the mostly harmless bouncing blue slime, a googly-eyed monster present in each of the title’s many incarnations.

Although Dragon Quest is usually categorized as a console game, the newest title to be added to their list of very special spin-offs is an online PC game playable through Yahoo! Games. It’s called Dragon Quest Monster Parade and is sure to draw the attention of slime lovers everywhere! Curious parties can try out the game’s open beta test starting in just a couple days, and anyone who registers to play early will get a special present from makers Square Enix!

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The eye PIECE for you! One Piece glasses reduce computer glare and look good doing it

So you’re a One Piece fan. You have the ice cream maker from KFC, you’ve stayed in the hotel room, and you never leave your house without your One Piece water cooler. But you still want more One Piece in your life! What’s a fan to do?

Well, why not slap your favorite character across your face and walk around like that all day??

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What do you do when your mother-in-law secretly kisses your husband while you sleep?

It would appear that China is experiencing an unforeseen side-effect of a one child-policy: overbearing parents. Thankfully, this isn’t quite at the embarrassing level of Japan’s monster parents making demands of all unfortunate souls who come in contact with their children.

No, in China it seems it’s just the wives who are bearing the brunt of their in-laws suffocating ways. It’s believed that the number of divorces filed due to irreconcilable differences between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are on the rise, but this book, which is packed with real-life wife-versus-mother-in-law accounts, might help.

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Sakurajima’s 500th eruption this year goes off with a bang and a huge cloud of ash

When it comes to terrifying displays of the power of Mother Nature, Japan never fails to deliver. These incredible photos capture the volcanic eruption off the coast of Kyuushu yesterday afternoon.

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Horse blinders for students? Cheating prevention tool at university in Thailand met with criticism

A new method of cheating prevention at a university in Thailand has been met with criticism according to a recent report from Newsclip. The tool employs a white paper headband with two large pieces of paper attached to the sides, preventing students from peeking at their neighbor’s answers.

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It’s an epidemic! Worldwide freezer diving!

Avid readers of RocketNews24 might have noticed our series of articles earlier this month about Japan’s latest fad, freezer diving. This year’s summer heat wave has inspired a whole string of idiotic people to climb into convenience store freezers as a way to beat the blazing weather.

Now, whether it’s a result of Japanese media hype or individual inspiration, pictures of people inside fridges and freezers are popping up all over the world. The latest country to join in the craze was China.

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10 surprising lifestyle habits of Japanese savers: Why are men who throw things out good with money?

An online survey was recently carried out on 100 Japanese men in their 30s with an annual salary of 6 million yen (US$61,000) or less who have nevertheless managed to amass more than their annual income in savings, and the results were really quite surprising. The men’s answers seem to overturn the common wisdom on how to save money, resulting in a list of characteristics that natural savers share.

I always imagined thrifty types would hang on to all their old junk in case it came in handy, but for some reason, the men who have proved themselves to be great at saving money also tend to excel at throwing things away and… reading maps.

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No instruments? No problem! Tokyo musicians use ordinary kitchenware to make sweet music

Proving that life on a budget doesn’t necessarily mean one without song, Tokyo-based musicians Sou and Kumama are on a mission to make everyone, and everything, sing. In this video, the quirky duo use nothing more than a pair of wooden spoons and an array of cheap, store-bought dishes to produce a startlingly high-quality rendition of none other than Mozart’s “Turkish March”.

Check out the full, insanely catchy video after the jump.

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We try to hammer a nail into a board using a popular Japanese summer treat

A few days ago we reported on a series of whimsical Twitter warnings issued by Imuraya, makers of the Adzuki Bar. The tweets all advise consumers of the famous frozen sweet bean snacks that “Adzuki Bars are seriously hard, so watch your teeth!”

But how hard are they really? Hard enough to, say, drive a nail through a piece of wood? Our reporter Usagi-chan decided to find out.

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Bow-shooting Chinese cutie gets suspicious reaction from world Netizens

China – and to a large extent, Japan – seems to have an unhealthy obsession with any woman of above-average attractiveness performing some action that attractive women aren’t typically known for.

The Chinese media has serialized this concept to the point that we’ve seen them make a fuss over “hot girl cops,” “hot girl soldiers,” heck, even “hot girl bus drivers.” It seems like any time a cute girl does anything other than breath, Asia goes completely crazy.

And now, just when you thought the concept couldn’t jump the shark more spectacularly, we now have “hot girl archer.”

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New Pokemon anime taking it back to ’96, Coming this October!

Were you one of the millions playing the battery life out of Pokémon Red, Green, or Blue back in the late ’90s? If so, your days fishing for magicarp have probably taken a backseat to a 9-5 job and changing diapers. Perhaps you feel a little disconnected after the several iterations that followed the original games over nearly two decades and feel that the poké balls have been passed to younger generations?

If any of this applies to you, the people behind Pokémon want to say they understand and have prepared a special treat in store. Coming 2 October to TV Tokyo a new anime series will begin titled Pokémon the Origin and follows the storyline of the original set of games.

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Did someone in Japan find a magic lamp?

Mother Nature can do some amazing things. Sometimes, she’s a real terror, but she can also be a fan of all things cute. This next creation is just plain cool. Spotted in Japan, this cloud reminds us of a familiar sidekick to a street rat from Agrabah.

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  • Aug 19, 2013

Enjoy Kyoto (Part 3) — The ultimate breakfast? Try $45 rice porridge at a 400-year-old restaurant

In the first two articles of our three-part series on interesting ways to enjoy Kyoto based on my recent visit to the popular tourist city, I have already written about an attractive place to stay and a fascinating historic site to visit. In the third and final article of the series, I thought I would introduce a restaurant where you can have a truly unique dining experience, because of course, no trip to Kyoto would be complete without tasting the numerous culinary delights the city has to offer. The restaurant I visited was Hyotei, a famous establishment with a long history that specializes in Japanese kaiseki cuisine.  And what is so unique about dining there? Well, for starters, you can have a breakfast rice porridge dish (asagayu) that costs 4,500 yen (US$45)!

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We checked out tourou nagashi in Asakusa and loved the beautiful floating lanterns!

In case no one told you, it’s obon this week in Japan! For many people this means a well-deserved long vacation and a trip home. It also means lots of fun cultural events. As you may know, obon is a Buddhist holiday all about the spirits of deceased ancestors coming back for a short visit. Tourou nagashi, literally “lanterns flowing,” is a special ceremony where, as the name implies, lanterns are set afloat, usually down a river. It’s a fun way to spend your evening and an incredible sight as well! This week, we headed to Azuma Bridge in Asakusa, Tokyo to check out the ceremony!

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New online game has players fulfilling the needs of endless waves of schoolgirls, it’s freaking hard and could you help you study Japanese

Growing up as a young girl isn’t easy, the problems both big and small, mental and physical seem endless. This coming-of-age dilemma is the basis of a new online game put out by girls’ manga magazine, Ribbon. Although, instead of a schoolgirl you take the role of a school nurse’s assistant charged with helping an onslaught of children unhappy with their smells and suffering nosebleeds in School Nurse’s Office.

Don’t let the cutesy artwork of the game fool you, this is deceptively challenging! At least zombies only want one thing.

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Explosion-proof membranes won’t keep your phone from blowing, but it might save you from the shrapnel

It looks like the world is facing a new pandemic, but we’re not talking about any viruses or diseases here. No, we’re talking about exploding smartphones. From Europe to the United States to China, more and more cases of phone batteries blowing themselves apart are surfacing, stirring up concern for many. No longer can we fling perturbed birds at their giggling pork nemeses without worrying that our phones will blow our faces off. While the safest option would probably be to simply avoid having one, what would we do without our smartphones on the train, at work when our boss isn’t looking, or in bed at 3 am? This deep, possibly unhealthy attachment to the devices has led to an interesting new product in China: explosion-proof membranes.

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Japan Post provides sample letters for marriage proposals and other personal messages

The Internet is full of sample sentences and letter structures to use when writing business mail, cover letters, or press releases. They’re an invaluable resource if you wish to be taken seriously, especially when you’re not used to writing letters for professional purposes.

Now, the Japan Post is extending their helpful how-to section to include more than just business examples. They’ve got sections for season’s greetings, ceremonial matters (such as invitations and notifications), and even personal letters! Apparently, the art of letter writing is so lost on Japanese people that they require a standard format to follow for the confidence of writing to one another. There are 19 categories outlined in the personal letters section, including advice, requests, and even marriage proposals! It’s like Japan has been taken back to the days of passing notes in middle school! “Do you like me? Check yes, no, or explain your decision using the standard letter format outlined by the Japan Post.” Read More

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