Preston Phro

Preston Phro (or simply Phro as most know him) is a Coloradoan attempting to fit in in Tokyo. (Surely, he would succeed if not for his unruly hair.) He puts his master's in classical Japanese literature to good use by writing silly stories and articles for the Internet. Having lived in Nara, Osaka, and Yamaguchi before moving to the Kanto area, he's quite happy to finally have a place to call home! When not writing, he enjoys annoying his wife by plucking at his shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese instrument not entirely unlike a banjo) and pestering her with questions about Japanese history. He also occasionally attempts to remember all the stuff he's forgotten since university.

Posted by Preston Phro (Page 38)

Monster parents: The bane of teachers and…hardworking potato farmers?

The image of Japanese schools was once that of austere buildings with silent-but-hardworking students who followed their teacher’s every command. Corporal punishment was not only tolerated but incredibly common. Parents largely stood to the side and let the schools do whatever they wanted.

And then the monster parents emerged, frustrating everyone from teachers to…potato farmers?

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From the eyes of an idol, developer debuts video of Hatsune Miku and Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift is surely one of the most highly anticipated devices of this gaming generation. In case you’ve somehow not heard about it, Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that is already garnering rave reviews from industry insiders and little old ladies who are more hardcore than you. What makes Oculus Rift so exciting is its high-quality dual display that uses motion detectors to dynamically show users the game world as they turn their head. Basically, it’s supposed to be a completely immersive experience. Right now, the device is still mostly limited to developers hard at work trying to take advantage of its full power, but most of the demos we’ve seen have been great. One Japanese developer decided to create an adorable mini-game staring everyone’s favorite fictional idol: Hatsune Miku.

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Chinese man holds in vomit, esophagus explodes

Summer vacation is in full swing now, meaning everyone’s at the beach drinking lots of cold beer, in the park drinking lots of cold beer, or in the mountains drinking lots of cold beer. Basically, breweries are getting rich and we’re happy to help.

But, as one Chinese man recently found out, you need to be careful! Too much beer can have…explosive results. Read More

Woman accidentally tweets new iTunes card codes, the obvious happens

There are quite a few people who immediately turn to the Internet for advice, which, in general, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Posting a quick question on Twitter or Facebook can net you a large pool of helpful responses, provided you have the right friends.

That said, you really need to be careful about what you post and how, as one Japanese woman learned the hard way after posting her brand new iTunes card numbers when seeking advice about how to register them.

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National Highway 339: The only staircase highway in Japan

In Japan, there are roughly 450 national highways wandering their way through the country, connecting the various cities and prefectures.

Their sizes and conditions obviously vary widely depending on location and usage, but for the most-part they all share one thing in common: cars can drive on them. But on 338.2 meters (about 425 yards) of National Highway 339 in Aomori Prefecture, not a single car, truck, scooter, or motorcycle is allowed.

Why? Because it’s actually a staircase!

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‘Say hello to my little friend!’ Irritated umbrella owner surprises thief with cockroach

We’re sure many of you readers are as sick of hearing about the Japan heat as we are suffering it, so let’s talk about some different weather! In specific: Rainy days and umbrellas!

Posting on Japanese news and community site My Navi News, a university student has asked the online community for its take on his somewhat unique predicament he found himself in after using everyone’s most hated insect to prevent his umbrella from being stolen.

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16-year-old girl confesses to murdering friend, body found in mountains

A shocking murder case has come to light in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, involving at least two high school girls–one of whom was the victim–and the communication smartphone app Line.

The body of the 16-year-old high school girl was found in the mountains outside of Kure City on July 13, after an ex-classmate was taken by her family to the police to confess.

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Nettaiya: The unusual heat keeping you miserable all night long

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

No, it’s definitely hot! Even the Japanese Meteorological Agency agrees with me! And according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, or JMA, while the daytime temperatures might be coming down a little bit, the nighttime temperatures at the Tokyo meteorological observatory are hovering around 27.5 degrees Celsius (81.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Battery-saving app creeps us out, probably doesn’t save your battery life

The smartphone is perhaps one of the neatest inventions we have. They allow unprecedented access and communicative abilities—until the #$%& battery dies! What good is a five-inch screen with a quadcore processor and more gigs of ram than my last laptop if the battery is dead by noon? This has led to numerous power-saving methods, external batteries, and, of course, apps claiming to extend battery life. Today, we discovered one app that does a little more than just extend your battery life, it also creeps you out and makes you feel like a terrible pervert! Yah!

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What the heck is ‘kendama’? The traditional Japanese game sweeping the world

The other day, I was trawling through YouTube looking for shamisen music videos when I came across an utterly unique video called “Tokyo Kendama Project vol.2 Utakata.”

It featured the traditional Okinawan sansen three-stringed instrument played by the mysterious Gosamaru and composed by Tomoaki Ogre, the beautiful dancing of Kumi Arikawa, and a pair of strangely hypnotic gentlemen spinning some… things through the air. I’d heard of kendama before, as I imagine most people with even a fleeting knowledge of Japan have, but I’d never seen the toy wielded with such incredible finesse.

Fascinated, I had to know more!

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Japan’s newest infrastructure problem: Adorable zoo traffic jams!

Ichikawa City, in Chiba Prefecture, lies on the Edo River directly across from Tokyo and features its own zoo packed with adorable wildlife. Perhaps sensing how badly we all need some respite from the heat, the city posted the above picture to their Facebook wall, eliciting thousands of likes and an untold number of “Aaa!! Kawaiiiiiiiiiii!”s.

But just what lies beneath our dastardly pixelation? Swimming bunnies? Bathing cats? Scuba-diving puppies???

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JSDF recuiter uses lines from ‘Love Live!’, baffles Internet

In any military, no matter how fancy your drones or how snappy your fighter jets, people are still the driving force. You’ll always need a few more good soldiers, which makes recruitment an essential and very important part of armed services.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces, or JSDF, are no different, and eagle-eyed people can spot posters pretty much anywhere. As you may expect, the JSDF in various prefectures also have Twitter accounts where they can post recruitment information and interact with potential service members.

Recently, the Miyagi area recruiter garnered Internet attention by crafting a tweet based on a scene from the school girl anime, Love Live!

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Japanese driving pet peeves: Not so different from other countries!

If hell is other people, then the worst thing about driving is other drivers.

Have you ever noticed that? No matter what happened, I guarantee it’s the other drivers’ faults, not mine. If you don’t believe me, look at my driving record! Not a single ticket, citation, or even a traffic stop in Japan! (Okay, I admit, I’ve never actually driven here.)

But what bugs Japanese drivers the most?

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Why’s Prime Minister Abe so healthy? It’s all the food from Fukushima!

Ah, election season in Japan! While for other countries this might mean a deluge of angry black-and-white TV commercials, in Japan it mostly means street-side speeches.

Last week, Prime Minister Abe swung by Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture to support local candidate Masako Mori, who’s the current minister of the Consumer Affairs Agency. And what did he talk about?

How great Fukushima-produced food is, of course!

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Anime-loving teachers spice up finals for their students

It’s the end of the first semester of the Japanese school year, and you know what that means: party time!

No, wait, sorry, it means kimatsu shiken, the end of semester tests. Man, what a drag.

Fortunately, some teachers at least have a sense of humor about it. Here are nine examples of anime-inspired attempts to spice up tests!

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Nanao Bay, Ishikawa Prefecture: 98-percent chance of seeing dolphins in the wild!

Some of the smartest and cutest creatures to ever flip in and out of the sea, dolphins have long captured the imagination and hearts of us land-dwellers. Dolphin watching excursions seem to be as popular as whale watching excursions, and there’s hardly anyone who isn’t thrilled by these friendly mammals’ smiles and enthusiastic squeaks.

So, if you happen to be melting in the Japanese heat this summer, why not head out to Ishikawa Prefecture where you can cool off in the ocean—and have a 98-percent chance of seeing some dolphins!

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The untimely demise of Hatsune Miku

It seems that a few careless words are all it took to do in Hatsune Miku, one of Japan’s most well-known characters. Following an off-hand (and bizarre) comment by a politician on a panel discussing revisions to the Japanese anti-child pornography law, Nico Nico Douga users have uploaded a few tongue-in-cheek “funeral videos” for the character.

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Japanese police kendo: Not for the faint of heart

While kendo is an inherently violent sport–after all it’s basically the Japanese version of fencing–the general perception is that it’s more about calm, carefully-coordinated attacks than all-out aggression. In fact, kendo very strictly adheres to etiquette and respect, with competitors generally expected to act with the utmost sportsmanship.

Unless you happen to be a cop.

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Boys love meat: A tasty take on a sexy genre

The Internet is a wild land, filled with many wondrous things to make you laugh or cry. There are cats, silly videos, and a wider variety of romantic entertainments than even a Roman emperor could shake a stick at.

One of the tamer “romantic entertainments” is boys love, a Japanese term for gay and/or female-oriented fiction that tends not to be very explicit. Instead, most BL, as it is commonly known, focuses more on the personal relationships of the characters.

And now a computer game is gaining attention on the Net with its meaty take on the genre.
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‘Who needs marriage?’ 33 percent of Japanese think marriage is pointless

Go to college, get a job, meet a guy or girl, and…don’t get married?

A recent survey suggests that almost one-third of Japanese people just can’t see the point in tying the knot and settling down. And after you see what some of them have to say about marriage, you might understand why!

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