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Our Japanese reporter freaks out after trying crappy Domino’s pizza in the US

Since there is a large mix of people from many different countries living in the United States (and because of the country’s relative youngness), it’s hard to identify a truly “American” food. Regardless, there are those dishes you simply must try when venturing over to the US for a trip. Our Japanese reporter recently tried what he considers to be a “must have” food from the USA: Domino’s pizza. To us Americans, Domino’s is hardly a delicious meal; it’s more of a cheap disk of sauce and cheese to keep hopeless college students alive. But to our reporter, who has already been exposed to Domino’s pizza in Japan, eating pizza made in the company’s homeland was a true treat. The following is our Japanese reporter’s glowing review of crappy Domino’s pizza in the United States.

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57 young men and women arrested for mass motorbike riding two years later

On 17 June, 57 men and women between the ages of 16 and 26 received a shock when they were arrested for several traffic violations such as running red lights and weaving through traffic.

The charges come as no surprise seeing as they were participating in bōsō which is en masse reckless riding and a primary activity of bōsōzoku, Japan’s version of biker gangs. However, the shock came from everyone getting arrested and charged nearly two years after committing the act.

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Add interest to your homemade dishes with the help of this ‘vegetable pencil sharpener’

The kitchen can be a dangerous place, full of intense heat and sharp, pointy objects. For people who lack the culinary skills to so much as peel a potato, ambitious kitchen exploits can result in a great deal of blood, sweat, and tears. The thought of thinly slicing a carrot puts fear into every fingertip. Thankfully, there’s a new product on the market which makes the act of cutting thin strips of vegetables quick, safe, and easy. Anyone who’s ever owned a box of colored pencils can now use those grade school pencil sharpening skills to use on their favorite veggies, adding some healthy flair to any dish.

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Puberty is a rough age. With your hormones insisting that you’re ready to start making some babies right now, yet your mind, parents, and teachers saying you’re really not, courtship can be difficult. In particular, figuring out an appropriate way to clearly show affection, while still respecting proper boundaries, can be a real quandary. Learning to find the proper middle ground, though, is an important part of growing up.

Or you could just do the like the kids at one Japanese elementary school who said the heck with it and went to town licking each other’s eyeballs.

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It was reported on 17 June that Yoshiyuki Ikutani of Tokyo had been arrested on suspicion of the embezzlement of his former employers, Microsoft Japan. Luckily he was easy to find having already been charged with the embezzlement of his former employers over at a now-defunct subsidiary of IBM.

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Japan second worst in G8 for employee satisfaction

A recent survey of working conditions in the world’s largest economies reveals some interesting insights, as well as some that might not be so shocking to anyone who’s worked in said country. Read on for the full ranking.

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Giant sea eel: fearsome monster or delicious lunch?

The restaurant Fukugawa Tsuribune is famous for tempura, especially its anago don, tempura saltwater eel served over a bowl of rice. The restaurant’s version of this Japanese standard draws fans from all over the Tokyo area to its location 35 minutes by train west of downtown.

Needless to say, the restaurant must be doing something right, and once we heard the rumors that the anago portions are extremely generous, we couldn’t keep ourselves away and made the trip out to the restaurant to try it for ourselves.

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  • Jun 19, 2013

Cute and smart — what more could you ask for in a gal? Except this girl’s not human

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Aki-chan. She’s adorable and highly intelligent–a desirable combination in any girl, wouldn’t you say? All right, so maybe she’s a bit on the hairy side, but that’s not really her fault, because … well, she’s not human.

And as you can see from the video we have for you below, while Aki-chan may not be a member of the Homo sapien species, she certainly has a delightful trick up her sleeve (even if she isn’t wearing anything with sleeves)!

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Correct short-sightedness without surgery: our reporter tries out orthokeratology

If you were asked to name a type of surgery to correct short-sightedness, most likely the first thing that would come to mind is laser eye surgery. While in recent years the precision levels and success rates of laser surgery have risen like never before, the idea of zapping your eye with a laser isn’t one that everyone is comfortable with. Recently, however, “orthokeratology”–a new form of vision correction which uses hard contact lenses to shape the cornea and requires no surgery whatsoever–is becoming increasingly popular.

Find out how our reporter Kuzo got on with a pair of the unique lenses after the break.

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Whenever I’m forced to suffer the humid heat of Tokyo’s hot and rainy summers, I’m grateful for the large number of vending machines and convenience stores, all ready to sell me a nice, cold drink. It seems that not everyone shares my excitement, however, as a large percentage of Japan’s residents have shown distaste for chilled beverages. Some quote health reasons, while others just don’t like cold drinks. Lucky for them, the convenience store, Daily Yamazaki, is ready to meet their call.

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RocketNews24 taste test: Country Ma’am Honey Castella and Black Honey Karinto cookies

We previously reported on the development of two kinds of new chocolate chip cookies based on the traditional Japanese snacks, castella and karinto, released by Fujiya and their popular soft cookie line, Country Ma’am.

Well, today’s the day these cookies were released to the hungry public, so we snatched up a few bags to see how the American taste of a chocolate chip cookie adopts these two Japanese tastes. Our full, lips-on review after the break!

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Yes, Zima’s robot band will play metal and electronica, as long as you compose it for them

Zima never really took off in the U.S.. Molson Coors’ clear malt beverage never even made it out of puberty in its home market, lasting just 15 years before the last Zima made for American consumption shipped in 2008.

In Japan though, it’s been a solid hit, particularly at clubs. The company recently asked the lofty question of whether the way human beings party is advancing at the same rate of other aspects of our modern lifestyle, and has decided to give it an evolutionary kick in the backside by creating a robot party band.

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Designer of Gamecube oddity ‘Doshin the Giant’ wants your money, will put you in his new game

As a big fan of Doshin the Giant, one of the quirkier titles to appear on Nintendo’s 64DD and Gamecube platforms, I literally felt my ears prick up when a member of the RocketNews24 staff uttered its name earlier today. Although we haven’t heard much from the game’s designer, Kazutoshi Iida, in the past few years, his latest crowd-funded indie title Monken is attracting a lot of attention online, with the creator offering investors a ton of freebies as well as the chance to appear in the game itself.

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Mention Honda to most people, and they’ll think of a successful car company, if still a few rungs below giants Toyota, GM, and Volkswagen in sheer size. But Honda just happens to be the biggest engine manufacturer in the world, providing power for not just for passenger cars, but also motorcycles, scooters, boats, jet aircraft, and even lawnmowers.

Honda’s most die-hard fans point to the company’s racing pedigree and ease with which its engines can be tuned to make more power, both of which factor into its current project of building the world’s fastest riding mower.

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Chiba University develops air hockey playing robot, pisses opponents off with amazing efficiency

Do you have that one friend who always beats you at air hockey? Do you have a friend who simply smirks as you complain that they went over the line or that your paddle slipped?

Chiba University has come up with something that ought to wipe that smirk off even the best human air hockey player.

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Each of Japan’s seasons has its own unique charm. Whether it’s the cherry blossoms of spring, fireworks on the beach in midsummer, crimson maple leaves in the fall, or a hot spring surrounded by winter snow, there’s something to enjoy at almost any point of the calendar.

The glaring exception, though, is the few weeks of rainy season during June, when the constant threat of sudden squalls make the weather report about as reliable as a third-rate palm reader. You’re pretty much guaranteed of getting caught in a shower at some point, and if you’re not lucky enough to be around a 100 yen shop at the time, you’re stuck ducking into a convenience store and paying a premium for a clear plastic umbrella you’ll probably throw away as soon as you get home and can swap it for your sturdier regular one.

Thankfully, convenience store chain Family Mart has a new product to take some of the sting out of that situation.

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The Mexican street peddlers who make a living selling their wares on the border

The town of Tijuana in Mexico is a rather unique place in the sense that it is located just before the border that separates Mexico and the U.S.. Here you can see souvenir shops boasting a wide array of merchandise. There’s everything from silver jewelry or wrestling goods, right the way across to authentic Mexican tacos. What’s more, the price of goods in Mexico is just one third that of America so it’s easy to see how they could appeal to potential visitors crossing the border. The number of people who come just to get a bargain alone is quite astounding.

Here at RocketNews24 our very own Japanese reporter, Yoshio, went ahead and checked out what all the fuss was about. He reported that of all the things that you’ll come across in Tijuana, there’s one particular spectacle that’s likely to catch your eye…

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Two weeks ago, we brought you news about an upcoming 10th anniversary project for much-loved gaming show GameCenter CX — an event that was rumoured to take a full year to prepare. Today, we’re happy to bring you further details on the project, including the news that GameCenter CX THE MOVIE is in the works! Full details after the jump.

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30 Chinese factories closed on suspicion of using toxic substance to hasten production of delicacy

Thousand-year-old-eggs (pidan), also known as century eggs and millennium eggs, are a popular Chinese delicacy. The dish is made by using a mixture of clay, ash, salt, rice hulls and quicklime to preserve duck eggs, and usually takes a few months to complete.

Chinese media recently reported that 30 companies involved in the production of pindan in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, have been closed by authorities on strong suspicion of using industrial copper sulfate to hasten the ripening of the eggs.

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Since the average domestic cat’s experience of water is limited to being shut out in the rain or being pinned down and bathed by their owner because, after one too many garden adventures, their fur is a filthy, matted mess (and that was not a fun afternoon, let me assure you), it’s little wonder that there’s a commonly held belief that all cats hate H2O. As the following video proves, however, there are some cats out there that love nothing more than a nice, long dip in the hot water.

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