Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Starting on April 20, a special art exhibition featuring the works of death row inmates will open at the Tomonoura Museum in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. The prisoners have been sentenced to death but are unaware of when their sentence will be carried out. The exhibition, which contains paintings that were created during a grim time in each prisoner’s life, aims to answer the question, “Why do people express themselves?”
Japanese electronics maker Sharp has in recent years seen a slump in sales. What is arguably required for the company to remain afloat in this tough consumer market is a change in business strategies. As one of Japan’s most renowned sellers of liquid crystal displays, Sharp is hastily searching for ways to revamp its administration.
First there was talk of a possible alliance between Sharp and Taiwanese major electronic company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. However, coming to a deadlock in investment negotiations, Sharp changed course by forming an alliance with a company that was arguably up until now its biggest competitor on the market, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. It was announced this week that a capital alliance between the two companies is in its final stages of negotiation.
Crane games, claw machines, UFO catchers, whatever you want to call them can be found scattered all across East Asia taking in reams of cash with promises of prizes ranging from giant stuffed phallic mushrooms to game consoles.
Oh, how I look back fondly on lining up my plastic pincers precisely over a PSP only to have them go limp at the last minute. The nursing staff and I had many a chuckle as they stitched up my knuckles from punching repeatedly into the Plexiglas window.
Thanks to Netch and their remote web browser operated crane game, instead of getting charged with destruction of property I can get enraged in front of my own computer screen!
We’ve never been ones to shy away from fast food challenges, and today is no exception. Today may well be Friday to the rest of you, but for the RocketNews24 team, and especially our champion eating machine Mr. Sato, today was and will forever remain the day that we took on the challenge of the 100 slice onion tower.
From the people who brought you the 1,000 cheese slice whopper and the 1,050 rasher bacon burger, we proudly present: The Onion Tower Challenge.
Domino’s Pizza stepped things up a gear yesterday when it announced that it is partnering with digital pop idol Hatsune Miku for its latest promotional campaign. As well as allowing them to order pizzas without actually having to speak to anyone, the new Domino’s Pizza feat. Hatsune Miku app for iPhone lets customers enjoy private performances from the singing humanoid by pointing the iPhone’s camera at special app-friendly pizza boxes.
Perhaps even better than the campaign itself, though, is the cheesy video that Domino’s launched yesterday to introduce the app, which features company president Scott Oellkers doing his best to look excited about having his photo taken with the teal-haired star. Corporate enthusiasm aplenty after the break.
Japan has a way with customer service. From elevator ladies whose only job is to push the floor buttons to shop keepers who greet every patron with a hearty I rasshaimase (Welcome!), there’s no shortage of examples of great service. One such example has crept up from the depths of the subway to surprise and delight the people of the Internet: secret walls!
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In Japan, pachinko – a game similar to pinball but with multiple balls in play and minus the flippers – has always been a big business. “Pachinkoten” (dedicated pachinko parlors) have become about as commonplace as temples and hot springs, and it’s not uncommon to see small crowds of men waiting outside such establishments early in the morning, waiting for them to open.
A phenomenon that is particularly noticeable in recent years is that of the large numbers of Koreans coming to Japan to gamble. Up until seven years ago, Korea’s pachinko industry was booming. However, when gambling laws were introduced to combat the recent rise in addictions, many players were left out in the cold with nothing to fill the gap. But with a thriving pachinko scene just a couple of hours away on the plane, many Koreans are heading to Japan to pick up where they left off.
A while back, we reported that Tokyo Disneyland had agreed to offer its wedding packages to same-sex couples in Japan. This month, the very same lesbian couple that encouraged the company to do so became the first to get hitched at the park, with Mickey and Minnie in attendance, of course. Read More
Now that everyone has probably sobered up from last year’s Rolling Stones and Suntory collaboration, a new rock legend is bringing a slightly classier offering to Japan.
For just a few weeks of March, in Ginza, Tokyo you can enjoy the sights, sounds, and tastes of the Thin White Duke – David Bowie.
To promote The Next Day – his first album in 10 years – Sony will be converting part of their building into the David Bowie Café with a special selection of food and décor.
With White Day little over a week away, thousands of men in Japan are currently feeling the heat. Having received gifts from their loved ones on Valentine’s Day, it’s now time to return the favour by buying their sweetheart something that simultaneously says “thank you” while acting as a token of their affections.
But when most men think of the words “great gift”, they often envisage things like video games or iPad-controlled helicopters, and the chances of such items going down well with their wives or girlfriends are slim to none.
Thankfully, help is at hand! Available at Tokyo’s Tokyu Hands department store, the White Day Concierge service is designed to help male shoppers on the hunt for a romantic gift find something that their other half may actually like, rather than just a female Tenga toy with a ribbon tied around it and the promise of a shoulder rub.
If you’re a Hello Kitty fan, here’s something that you won’t want to miss. In one of the coolest collaborations we’ve seen in a long time, Kitty-chan’s parent company Sanrio has joined paws (sorry) with quirky Japanese video site Niconico to produce a series of limited edition chocolate boxes.
A chart surface on the Internet recently titled: 100 American College Music Majors Analyze Japanese Musical Talent and the Relationship with the Number of Members.
How exactly this information came together is unknown, but the name suggests that 100 American music students were surveyed about several Japanese music acts past and present. Those results were then plotted against the number of members in each band.
The results certainly do suggest that there is a correlation between the number of members in a music act and the perceived crappiness of said act. So lets examine this more deeply with some samples and a translated version of the chart above.
It wasn’t just the earthquake or tsunami of March 11, 2011 that shattered the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, it was the subsequent radiation. Slowly creeping across the once fertile land, it ripped families from their homes and banished them to evacuation centers elsewhere. Today, nearly two years after the worse nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the entire 86 square miles of Namie have been declared uninhabitable due to high levels of radioactive cesium. Even if families wanted to return, they can’t.
Amid this tragic loss, Google Street View is giving the people of Namie a chance to visit the town they were forced to flee.
The British stage production of Studio Ghibli’s 1997 animated classic Princess Mononoke, originally only intended for audiences at London’s Diorama Theatre this April, will be brought to Japan, it was announced earlier today.
A 75-year-old man from Saitama Prefecture, Japan, has died after being refused treatment as many as 36 times at 25 different hospitals in an around the prefecture, Japanese website The Mainichi has revealed.
Fans of the manga and animé smash JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and its notoriously ill-mannered dog Iggy will be pleased to know that they can now get their hands on a doorstop modeled on the pooch.
Set to be published on 10 April is My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute and Brush Up on Middle School English by Chukei Publishing.
As the name suggests, this book lets students bone up on the required English curriculum set to the backdrop of the My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute popular series of erotic game (eroge) otaku themed light novels. Yes, someone actually made this.
The world may well be completely besotted with iPhones and Samsung-made Android devices right now, but Sony isn’t prepared to take a back seat and watch its profits and reputation go down the U-bend. In a recent conference, head of Sony Mobile Kunimasa Suzuki pledged to step up and reclaim ground lost in recent years. Rather than making unrealistic promises and declaring out-and-out war on the iPhone, however, the Japanese tech giant is keeping things realistic and is aiming at third place in the world’s mobile market.
Japanese Shinkansen welcomes overnight guests for one night during summer festival
Pokémon Card Stores requiring facial recognition scans for entry in Japan in latest anti-scalper move
Starbucks Japan unveils exclusive new Frappuccinos limited to three regional areas
A roadside hair salon stall in China made us Norway’s Haaland for US$1, and warmed out hearts too
McDonald’s Japan goes viral for Samurai Mac burger hack
Japanese government okays plan to create a backup capital city
Starbucks Japan brings back the Caramel Waffle, but is it as good as it used to be?
Pikachu and Ditto Pokémon desserts at Baskin-Robbins Japan look AND feel like their inspirations
Studio Ghibli Laputa figure looks like it’s really flying thanks to cool visual trick
How are you supposed to wash a Japanese futon duvet at the laundromat?
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
New Shinkansen luggage drop-off system begins in Japan, making train travel even easier
Japanese Shinkansen becomes an overnight hotel for three nights this summer
99-year-old woman rescued while attempting to climb Mt. Fuji
Which country’s foreign tourists spend the most money per-person in Japan? Hint: Not the U..S. or China
Starbucks Japan releases a miniature display rack so you can create your very own store at home
Giant Evangelion Spear of Longinus to be installed at Japanese train station with Eva art trains
Face lettuce appears in Japan, with the face of Death Note’s Light Yagami, but why?
Kodama Shinkansen trains on popular Japan route get a whole new look this winter
Brand new Shinkansen bullet train unveiled in Japan… but it won’t carry passengers
Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see itTokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Japan now has human refrigerators inspired by Japanese vending machines
Hatsune Miku collaborates with Hokusai’s art in new Vocaloid ukiyo-e illustration series [Pics]New Shinkansen luggage drop-off system begins in Japan, making train travel even easier
Japan triples departure tax, foreign tourists and locals now must pay more to leave country
Studio Ghibli releases anime T-shirts that pay homage to one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most personal films
Family Mart opens new “Famima” flagship store in Tokyo that’s like a tourist attraction
Sanrio Character Poll announces winners, Hello Kitty absent from top 10 in many countries
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in TokyoStudio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroadSalomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Japanese government okays plan to create a backup capital city
Starbucks Japan brings back the Caramel Waffle, but is it as good as it used to be?
Pikachu and Ditto Pokémon desserts at Baskin-Robbins Japan look AND feel like their inspirations
Studio Ghibli Laputa figure looks like it’s really flying thanks to cool visual trick
How are you supposed to wash a Japanese futon duvet at the laundromat?
Family Mart’s new Famima flagship in Tokyo has a hidden gem that most visitors miss
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Starbucks Japan releases a miniature display rack so you can create your very own store at home
Why is Taco Bell failing in Japan, even as the country falls in love with tacos?
61-year-old Kyoto man arrested for playing guitar and radio too loudly for seven years
Japanese Coo-Che becomes a viral sensation, and everyone wants a taste
Japanese Shinkansen becomes an overnight hotel for three nights this summer
Face lettuce appears in Japan, with the face of Death Note’s Light Yagami, but why?
Which country’s foreign tourists spend the most money per-person in Japan? Hint: Not the U..S. or China