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【Brain Teaser Time】 Can You Guess What These Cute Little Guys Are Used For?

**SPOILER ALERT**
If you are not ready to see the answer then scroll gently, the answer is at the bottom.

Our modern world is so full of useful products that we are often very cynical of new inventions. In simpler times, when whoopee cushions, pogo sticks, and pet rocks could be considered “cool” much maligned developments like spray-on hair and Mr. T’s Flavor Wave Turbo Oven may have found their place.

However now they are simply lost amidst a sea of gadgets that never took off.  As Ron Popiel might say; they were set, and they were forgotten.  Such is the case of these little items in the photo above.  Though they’ve been around for over a decade we at RocketNews dare you to guess what they do.

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The heartwarming, true story about a disaster-stricken man being reunited with his long lost Harley Davidson has made the rounds on the Internet and tugged at the heartstrings of Japanese Internet users in particular.

“They’ve started writing the movie already,” posted one enthusiastic reader on the Topsy.com comments section.

Man loses three family members and nearly all of his possessions in a horrific earthquake and tsunami and spends over a year in temporary housing before hearing one day that someone found his treasured motorcycle 4,000 miles across the ocean, reasonably intact considering the beating it took at the hands of the Pacific Ocean?  We may have something here, Mr. DeMille. Read More

‘Call of Duty’ Secret Bargain. “Long Live the Emperor! Banzai!”

‘Call of Duty’ is a popular video game series, with new releases selling out, even in Japan. But did you know there’s a ‘Call of Duty’ that they won’t ever sell a localized Japanese version of, despite high acclaim everywhere else? We’re talking about ‘Call of Duty: World at War’. Read More


  • May 3, 2012

It’s Hello Kitty galore! Ms. Kitty takes over food department at Tokyu Toyoko Department Store

You may have read our previous report about Ms. Kitty taking on the tough job of being baked into small golden brown cakes. Well, it appears she was just getting warmed up for a huge number of engagements in the Shibuya area this week. When yours truly, a humble Hello Kitty fan, found out that Ms. Kitty would be appearing in various edible forms at the food department of the Tokyu Toyoko Department Store in Shibuya, I knew I just had to go and see Ms. Kitty hard at work. And wow, has she been keeping herself busy! Read More


  • May 3, 2012

You can now have “best breakfast in the world” in central Tokyo! Australian restaurant Bills opens shop in Omotesando/Harajuku area

Okay, we admit it, we are seriously thrilled about the restaurant “bills” opening in central Tokyo. The Australian restaurant based in Sydney is known to serve the “best breakfast in the world”, and apparently their food is so good that  celebrities from around the world travel to Sydney  to have a meal there. So, naturally we had to have one of our reporters check the new restaurant – and our verdict? Their amazing soft scrambled eggs are to die for! Read More


  • May 2, 2012

The Super Rice Ball – get four flavors in one ball!

If you’ve lived in Japan, you know that we Japanese love our rice balls, or omusubi as they’re called in Japanese. At every convenience store in Japan, you can find rice balls in every flavor imaginable, from the standard grilled salmon flake omusubi  to more quirky flavors like tempura shrimp or bacon and cheese. But the variety can sometimes make it difficult to choose a flavor from all the options. Well now, you won’t have to settle for just one flavor. Read More

Custom-Made Canine “Cake Meals” Abandon Milk and Eggs for Chicken and Peas and Feature Your Dog’s Likeness

What do you get for that dog in your life that has everything?  Dog Diner has the answer with custom made cakes featuring your prized pooch’s puss.  And beyond just a special treat these cakes will help keep your pet healthy.

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How to Convert Minutes to Cheeseburgers? New McD’s Ad Campaign

You will stop thinking in minutes and hours, and start seeing time in terms of cheeseburgers and milkshakes, if the McDonald’s new ad campaign’s persuasive power works its charms.

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The Ultimate Camping Chair Capable of Holding Over 700 Times Its Own Weight

As the warm weather has finally started to kick in, most of us are looking to get reacquainted with the great outdoors.  But for many camping is a new experience and getting the right equipment can make or break their overall enjoyment.  Sure you can buy a bulky trailer full of equipment but who want to use the time, money, and muscle power for all that.

Camping equipment brand Doppelganger Outdoor has released a series of lightweight chairs and tables ideally portable and durable for outdoor use.  The pièce de résistance of this collection is the Ultra Light Micro Chair, more affectionately known as C1-54.

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Talk on the Phone but Still Feeling Lonely? Check Out These Vibrating Snuggle Dolls

Remember the boyfriend arm pillow? And the lap pillow in the shape of a woman’s lower body? (Or perhaps you actually have them?) Read More

McDonald’s Lures Country’s Best and Brightest By Offering a Free Small Fries for Job Applicants

Good news for anyone who’s out of money and food!  From now until May 13th anyone in Japan who applies for a job and gets an interview at McDonalds will receive a complimentary small order of fries…

Okay, by now you’ve probably recovered from the shock of this amazing news.  According to their recent banner ad which reads “Let’s get started. McCrew: Until 5/13 all interviewees will receive a present of a free small fries.” this is no joke.

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Are You Adult Enough for this Pepsi?

Summer is a competitive time for beverage companies, who duke it out to get those thirsty, hot customers. Actually, manufacturers (as well as regular people) are still contending this year with a lean, electricity-short summer, a season when the demand for power understandably goes up. Amid all these circumstances, those of you who yearn for an unsweet soft drink should have a crack at ‘Pepsi Black’, coming mid-June.

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What Ever Happened to the Shower? One-Person Karaoke Booths Are a Huge Success

Last November we reported on a karaoke booth for one to three people in Akihabara called Choi Kara, which was becoming a big hit in game centers.  Around the same time, another company opened One Kara, “the one-person private karaoke room.”  Similar to the Choi Kara in many ways One Kara also lets anyone sing their hearts out without fear of judgment.

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  • Apr 30, 2012

Special menu for McDonald’s staff – plain “salt-flavored hamburger”- is definitely good enough for regular customers!

You may have heard various stories about special food items at McDonald’s eaten by the staff and not on the regular menu. One such item that is rumored to be a staple among McDonald’s staff in Japan is shio-burger, or plain salt-flavored hamburger. Apparently, this item is quite well-known among McDonald’s fans, so we decided to get to the bottom of what this mysterious hamburger is like. Read More


  • Apr 29, 2012

Get a serious load of cute – this furry little McDonald’s fan has found the purrr-fect toy!

All of you cat-lovers out there, this is something you won’t want to miss! We’ve found a darned cute YouTube video that has captured the hearts of countless cat-loving internet viewers. The video shows a cat making a toy out of an unexpected object – a Mcdonald’s paper bag! Read More


  • Apr 28, 2012

Horror meets baseball – Sadako delights fans with guest appearance at Tokyo Dome Stadium

With a new movie coming out, it seems that Japanese horror character Sadako from the “Ring” series is keeping herself quite busy these days. We’ve already reported to you about how she has collaborated with Hello Kitty. This time, she made a surprise appearance at a baseball game at Tokyo Dome Stadium to throw the ceremonial first pitch. Read More

In Kyoto, a tragic and fatal incident unfolded involving an unlicensed driver who ran their car into a crowd of people consisting of elementary school children and a pregnant woman.  It’s one of those horrible accidents that bring out the deepest hurt, shock and anger in all of us.

So it’s no surprise to hear people lash out at whomever or whatever is responsible but an especially scathing commentary has sprung from a surprising source.  Tajima Emergency & Critical Care Medical Center (TECCMC) who had sent an air ambulance to the accident scene, released an uncharacteristically harsh attack not on the driver of the vehicle but on the mass media outlets for their intrusive reporting on the premises in an article titled; Do people in the media have hearts?

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Is There a Tiny Person Inside That Bird?! Pet Myna Abe-chan Impresses With His Conversational Skills

In the bird world, the undisputed masters of mimicry are the myna. You may even have seen them on TV from time to time copying human voices with eerie precision, but you’ve probably never seen one quite as adorable as Abe-chan, a pet myna cum YouTube star.
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Learn How to Sleep in a Toilet Stall Like a Pro

With the warmer weather coming we are bound to have those days where a particularly heavy lunch or wild night before turns us into zombies by 1:45pm. The question is what do you do?

Many of us plug through the rest of the afternoon for fear that dozing at our desks would land us out of a job. Some among us have pondered the idea of catching some sleep atop the toilet; the only place you’re guaranteed some privacy in an office environment.  However, many are turned off by fears or stigmas that might be associated with sleeping in the crapper.

Then there are a select few – 30% according to a recent survey of middle-aged businessmen – who have the guts to go that extra mile and take a nap sitting on the can so that they can return to work refreshed. RocketNews24 would like to now share some of their various tactics, so that you too can embark on the noble art of “toilet napping.”

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The recruitment poster for the Fukushima police force is moving, to say the least. It definitely singles out only the most dedicated, most driven potential recruits. The poster features a person wearing an anti-radiation suit, walking through some desolate, post-tsunami wasteland, with text saying hauntingly, “There is work here that only I can do…”. Japanese posters often omit words and thus have implied messages, but this recruitment poster is relatively explicit. And it has gained some attention for its darkness and severity. It’s pretty plain that you should be looking forward to working in hazardous conditions.

A police spokesperson confirmed that they were seeking people with strong mettle precisely because of the still-dire situation in Fukushima. The photo is from May 2011 (the disaster was in March), shows the main damaged nuclear reactor in the background, and was unanimously selected for the poster in February this year. The desire for driven new officers who won’t give up on the work or come for the job thinking about it too casually is understandable, but there could also be a subtext, which is that they don’t just want anybody either.

source: Asahi via Jin (Japanese)

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