Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Our correspondent who travelled to North Korea recently met with an unwelcome reception at Narita airport as he returned via Beijing. “Customs officials, without any idea it was about to happen, spent about 10 minutes going through my things” he described. “It’s a sketchy country, so I guess they have to do these things, but still – it’s disappointing.”
The result of the search was that he had to give up every single souvenir he got in North Korea.
The newest in McDonald’s Big America Series of US themed hamburgers, the Broadway Burger has been released amid much confusion over its name. No one can really understand what’s so “Broadway” about this thing.
Anyone who has been to Manhattan knows it’s the home of some of the finest restaurants in the world. Only on Broadway can you see a world-class play and then walk up the street to a plethora of restaurants for your choice of international cuisine. Read More
Around the world women often turn to bizarre-looking contraptions in the quest to look more beautiful and Japan is perhaps home to some of the strangest. Sometimes it even seems like beauty product makers are playing a huge joke on their customers by making them look more ridiculous than beautiful.
The latest of such products is Hana-Tsun (Pointy Nose), produced by Glim Inc., who are no strangers to thinking outside the box when it comes to beauty products.
Supermarkets all across Japan have been struggling to keep up with demand for that barely-tolerated gritty beverage known as tomato juice. This is the latest in an ongoing series of food fads many in the country believe to be effective in reducing weight like cabbage and bananas.
At the beginning of February one supermarket in Osaka had a well-stocked shelf of tomato juice daily, most likely catering to the odd person avoiding blood clots or making Bloody Marys. However, on the weekend of February 10, hordes of shoppers descended on their supply of juice like so many locusts on a farm. By the 14th, the staff was turning desperate dieters away as new shipments could not reach them in time.
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On the 16th of this month, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced the results of a bicycle safety enforcement campaign they implemented on the 10th. In those six days, 1571 people were issued warnings for illegal behavior, and over half of those were to people wearing earphones or headphones while riding. An additional 27 people were issued tickets. Read More
You buy a beer on your way home, happily thinking of that moment when you can crack it open and relax with a frothy brew. But then you can’t find the bottle opener! You know it was around here somewhere, but no matter how much you search, you can’t find it. Everyone one has had this frustrating experience, right?
Actually, you can get that cap off even without a bottle opener. Of course, a bottle opener is best, and the other methods carry certain risks, but desperate times call for desperate measures! We decided to try out various different methods for removing bottle caps, including one that puts your iPhone to a new use. Read More
There is a ramen shop in Japan that will pile the sliced pork higher than anything you’ve ever seen. It’s name, fittingly enough, is Niku-ya (Butcher Shop), and according to their sign, “We’re not a ramen restaurant, we’re meat specialists.” It definitely seems like they want to emphasize that end of the business rather than the noodles.
While it does look like a ramen shop and their customers are there to order ramen, their main selling point is definitely their meat. It’s said that their pork ramen has the largest portion of roasted pork slices of any shop in Japan! Well, we had to go check that out. Read More
On March 11, an unprecedentedly large earthquake struck northern Japan, marking 2011 as a disastrous year for the Japanese. This video shows the fierce power of that quake and the cascade of aftershocks that came in the months to follow as nothing less than horrific. Read More
Looking at this picture closely you can probably tell it’s a tiny cart, although it seems an equally odd idea to make a huge camera.
I bought this from Tokyu Hans the other day on a whim after hearing about it from the internet. Before you think I’m crazy I should mention, it’s remote controlled!
Among lens makers, Sigma is a brand famous the world over. They’ve been in the news recently for their February 8th announcement of the 46 megapixel DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merril models, but this article is actually about an experience I had with them late last year. Read More
A lingering topic of the Fukushima incident has been how to go forward. Should nuclear plants in Japan be improved or discontinued. What have been revealed to reporter Hirotoshi Ito by industry insiders are the massive business deals being prepared behind this important social issue.
According to Ito, what we don’t see occurring is what he calls “backspin business” which is profit made off of situations that undo previous progress. Key players that once had the now-dubious honor of building a strong, clean, and safe nuclear power infrastructure are making preparations to profit from its damage.
For example, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has long struggled with the task of disposing of nuclear waste. Local residents of all TEPCO’s desired locations have been understandably hesitant to accept tons of radioactive material into their neighborhoods. Luckily for TEPCO the wasteland of the likely to be decommissioned Fukushima Daini (Number 2) Reactor is now the perfect place for them to set-up a decontamination factory.
In these days of globalization there are very few countries that can keep themselves shrouded in a veil of mystery like North Korea does. Although there is information out there, it can be hard to get a clear picture of what life is like in such a guarded nation. For example, how do they eat?
North Korea would never allow Western businesses like McDonald’s or KFC to get their greedy capitalist hands on its people, but that doesn’t mean they reject the fast food format itself. In February, 2012, one lucky Japanese traveler in Pyongyang was able to experience what a North Korean fast food shop was like first-hand and document it.
China’s McDonald’s restaurants are pretty much the same as they are in other countries. They have the fries and burgers that we all have come to know and love. They use a different kind of oil for frying that’s out of this world, but that should be expected of a country that has centuries of experience in the art of fried food.
Now it seems McDonald’s China has also staged a coup in the fast-food realm and adopted the curly fry! We rushed in to investigate how they match up.
The corpse of a woman found in January in the ruble of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, has been determined by DNA testing to be that of 24-year-old Arisa Miura, an employee at the disaster preparedness office at the city hall, which was washed away in the March 11th tsunami last year. Following the results, her body is finally being sent home. Read More
A new toy has pushed its way into the crowded Japanese market. Called the Crazy Delicious Stick Stick Party, it sells for 699yen (US$9). We got our hands on one of these babies to try it out a get a stick party started, but first the name probably needs some explanation.
If you walk into any convenience store across Japan and scour the lower shelves, under all the chocolate bars and gum you will find one of Japan’s most popular snacks, Umaibo (literally ‘delicious stick,’ which we will use throughout the remainder of this article for comedic effect). Delicious Stick is like a giant, rod-shaped version of that cheese-flavored snack of mysterious ingredients that goes by many names: cheese puffs, cheezies, cheese curls, cheese balls, and so on. However, in addition to cheese flavor, Delicious Stick comes in a wide range of flavors, including chocolate or shrimp and mayonnaise. At 10 yen (US$0.13) a pop they’re a pretty good little snack.
By using Crazy Delicious Stick Stick Party, you can – get this – cleanly cut one Delicious Stick into several smaller sticks. According to the name of this toy, making four smaller Delicious Sticks from a single large one will result in a “crazy stick party”. We rushed in to investigate this claim.
It’s well known that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who passed away on October 5th last year, was a huge fan of Japanese food, and not just high-end sashimi and sushi, either. He reportedly enjoyed more quotidian fare like hearty udon noodles.
He even went so far as to develop his own Japan-inspired menu item for Apple’s company cafeteria, Cafe Mac. But is it really any good? Read More
Anyone who is familiar with Japanese culture knows about the packaged lunch known as “bento.” A bento can be found homemade or bought from a supermarket, convenience store, or restaurant that specializes in bento. One particular subset of bento is known as ekiben, or, the “station bento.”
As its name implies, you can buy a station bento on the platforms of major train stations across Japan. The station bento is beloved by travelers in Japan because they use ingredients famous or native to the region that you buy them, letting you experience the taste of an area even if you are just passing through. However, there is just one shortcoming to the station bento – it’s cold.
Luckily, thanks to the leading researchers in the field of bento technology, this is no longer the case!
Iwai-saki is a beautiful cape surrounded by pine trees located at the southern end of Rikuchu Seacoast National Park in Kensennuma city, Miyagi prefecture.
While the area around the cape is now still and peaceful, large sections of Kensennuma city were destroyed and hundreds of lives lost in the tsunami and fires triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake last March.
While Kensennuma has a long road to recovery ahead of it, the city is said to be experiencing an increase in visitors recently who come to see a lone pine tree twisted in the shape of a dragon that stands alone on a beach of Iwai-saki.
We travelled to Kensennuma with camera in hand to see the scene for ourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_D9vGM06PU&feature=player_embedded
Although he has rarely been seen in Western countries, Doraemon is an animated cat whose popularity rivals that of Mickey Mouse in Japan. From his beginnings in manga in the 70s, Doraemon has made the leap to TV and film animations and was appointed Japan’s first animated cultural ambassador. Now the Doraemon story lives on in a series of TV commercials for Toyota.
The following is a translation of a short story originally taken from a 2008 book by Haruhiro Kinoshita and posted on a blog called One Minute Impressions. The story struck a chord with tens of thousands of people across Japan as it spread through social networks.
There Was This Cashier
She moved from the countryside to go to a university in Tokyo. She joined many extra-curricular activities but always got turned off quickly . One after another, she jumped from club to club looking for something better.
When it came time for her to find work, she got a job with a manufacturing company, but she couldn’t continue working there. Three months after starting she felt she couldn’t see eye to eye with her boss. It didn’t take long for her to quit.
The next job she got was for a distribution company. She worked there for six months but came to realize the job was different than she had hoped it to be. Shortly after, she quit.
From there she joined up with a company that manages medical statistics and information, but this too didn’t do it for her.
This job just isn’t for me.
Bear breaks into house in Japan, quickly begins spending winter exactly like Japanese people do
Starbucks Japan reveals new winter holiday goods to wrap up 2024
Japanese train station vending machine has the best souvenirs for rail otaku
Tokyo Cancel Christmas protest march cancelled by Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular Men
Merry Christmas from SoraNews24!
Station of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid Line
Out-of-this-world omamori shrine charms are blessed by the cosmos
Totoro towels gently glow in the dark to set the Ghibli nighttime mood in your home【Photos】
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the pastStation of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid LineStarbucks Japan reveals new winter holiday goods to wrap up 2024
Ramen restaurant etiquette reminder follows altercation with angry couple: One person, one bowl
Japanese government will check and judge new baby name pronunciations, presents guidelinesJapanese train station vending machine has the best souvenirs for rail otaku
Japanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glasses
Tokyo’s Super Mario Christmas decoration displays are super cool【Photos】
Major Japanese city is abolishing extracurricular activities at all of its middle schools
Studio Ghibli showcases traditional craftsmanship with new wallet rangePossessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
Uniqlo announces first-ever collaboration with horror manga master Junji Ito【Photos】
J-pop mega star Ado reveals she’s been living in the U.S., may not understand language acquisition
Starbucks Japan is calling it quits with paper straws
Japan’s most popular castle raising ticket prices by up to 200 percent for non-local touristsJapanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glasses
Furikake rice seasoning sales are soaring, which is bad news for Japan as a wholeThis downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
Studio Ghibli heroine cardigans give you warmth and strength to face everyday challenges
Eight unforgettable hot springs, as recommended by Japan’s “Professor Bath”
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengersPossessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Station of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid Line
Out-of-this-world omamori shrine charms are blessed by the cosmos
Totoro towels gently glow in the dark to set the Ghibli nighttime mood in your home【Photos】
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Gacha machine backpack is Japan’s hottest new fashion statement
Celebrating legal marriage days in Japan with budget-friendly photoshoots
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
Japanese communities giving their skylines a spring clean and saying goodbye to power lines
Starbucks Japan releases a new Frappuccino that looks and tastes like a floral bouquet
Japan’s first-ever wanko soba conveyor belt restaurant opens in Tokyo
Senkoji: The Japanese temple that’s more like a theme park to heaven and hell