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Bubble Soccer is part soccer, part sumo, mostly Looney Tunes

Sports are getting way too serious these days. There are juicing scandals, fan fistfights and bench-clearing team-on-team brawls in just about every sport. It’s all just getting a little too heady, don’t you think?

Well, these Italians sure did. So, they took matters into their own hands, and created the hilarious new sport of Bubble Soccer, which finally combines the body contact of sumo wrestling, with the majesty of soccer and the zany antics of old Warner Bros cartoons, much to the amusement of Japan’s netizens.

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Japan’s defensive military sees surge of popularity thanks to… anime tanks?

On August 25, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will be running its big annual firing practice called the Fuji Sougou Kaiyoku Enshuu. Literally, the name means “Fuji Comprehensive Steam-Powered Exercise,” and it is the country’s largest military test using live ammunition. Anyone who wishes to come and observe the strategic simulation must apply for the opportunity, but after receiving a record number of applicants, it’s estimated that only about five percent of the people who applied will be allowed to enter!

So what caused this explosion of interest in military maneuvers? Many people are crediting the anime Girls und Panzer as one of the main contributors. This lighthearted anime focuses on a group of high school girls studying “the way of the tank” as though it is a traditional martial art. The anime’s popularity has encouraged thousands of civilians to pursue knowledge of Japan’s current military capabilities and to see the tanks in action!

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Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler gets friendly with fans around Osaka

Last week Steven Tyler, vocalist for the big-name American rock group Aerosmith, was spotted wandering around Osaka without escort. The band is currently in the midst of a world concert tour with stops in a few of Japan’s major cities. Apparently, the big-mouthed “bad boy of rock” decided to spend some time out on the town between shows in Osaka. Not only did the rock star allow fans to approach him as he explored the city, he even joined a band of jazz musicians performing on the streets for an impromptu jam session! Frankly, I’m not sure whether to be inspired by or intolerably jealous over the experiences of those who encountered the rock legend in person.

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No instruments? No problem! Tokyo musicians use ordinary kitchenware to make sweet music

Proving that life on a budget doesn’t necessarily mean one without song, Tokyo-based musicians Sou and Kumama are on a mission to make everyone, and everything, sing. In this video, the quirky duo use nothing more than a pair of wooden spoons and an array of cheap, store-bought dishes to produce a startlingly high-quality rendition of none other than Mozart’s “Turkish March”.

Check out the full, insanely catchy video after the jump.

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Are these the five weirdest video games of all time?

Observed by those who don’t play them, video games may all seem a little bit peculiar. Mushroom-eating plumbers stomping hammer-throwing turtles, ultra-violent military shooters whose protagonists bound across battlefields shouldering rocket launchers while hurling grenades and taking bullet after bullet to the chest, and of course the hordes of zombie titles that, like their lumbering stars, simply won’t die. For those accustomed to the rules of these digital worlds, though, this all makes perfect sense.

There are occasionally, however, a few titles that even the gaming elite would recoil from wearing an expression somewhere between “ermahgerd” and “turd sandwich”, and YouTube-based ZoominGames believes they’ve identified the cream of said crop. So let’s take a look at the channel’s “Top 5 Weird Games” one by one and see if they’re really they freaky affairs they’re made out to be. Oh, and did we mention that all five happen to have been made in Japan…?

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Mad scientist teacher transfers chicken embryos from eggs to clear containers, keeps them alive

A Chiba area high school teacher, presumably cackling wildly the whole time, has perfected a system to transfer chicken embryos from their eggs to clear plastic containers and raise them to birth. Surprisingly, Tesla coils are in no way involved in the process and the chickens are born perfectly healthy and are not, in fact, zombie chickens.

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Japan loves its fictional robots. The adorable Doraemon and unsettling Evangelion are instantly recognizable to both young and old. The giant statue of Gundam in Tokyo has become a major tourist attraction, despite being in the middle of Odaiba, which was already a major entertainment district with no shortage of other, hipper attractions.

And now, another robot, the Patlabor, has joined Gundam in making the leap into the three-dimensional world, towering size intact.

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Show solidarity with fellow runny egg lovers with “over easy” smartphone case

How one prefers their fried eggs cooked is about as divisive an issue as whether Batman or Wolverine would win in a fight. Many a surprise anniversary breakfast in bed has no doubt ended in bitter tears due to fried eggs being prepared in the incorrect way.

But you can avoid this unnecessary situation and show solidarity with fellow runny egg lovers with this new “egg in a basket” iPhone 5 case. Just snap your iPhone inside and share the other half with your runny egg soul mate; then, by clicking the two halves together as a secret greeting, you can baffle and enrage all those cretinous fully cooked yolk lovers at the diner.

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Great Scott! Back to the Future DeLorean Lego set finally here

Believe it or not, a Lego Jar Jar Binks has existed for years, but the iconic DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future has only just now been immortalized in block form.

Starting out in 1949 as a seemingly simple toy set consisting of multicolored blocks that fastened together, Lego has grown into a vast toy and ever more complicated empire spanning hundreds, even thousands, of play sets depicting iconic characters and scenes from geek culture.

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Sailor Pluto muscles in on Sailor Moon’s slice of the high-end anime accessory market

Producers of the upcoming reboot of classic anime franchise Sailor Moon have been frustratingly tight-lipped with fans. Originally set to premier this summer, its premiere has now been pushed back to winter, and to date, not a single piece of art from the new series has been released.

Merchandising giant Bandai, on the other hand, has been putting out a steady string of new goodies for Sailor Moon fans as part of the series’ 20th anniversary. New Sailor Moon-themed accessories were released in June and July, and the company has now made it three months in a row with two new necklaces plus a new pair of earrings that went on sale this month.

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Minor earthquake brings laughter, bikini girl to Japan

At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, Northeastern Japan started to shake. On the Japanese shindo scale, the quake measured between 3 and 4 (overhead lights sway and objects rattle, but some people who are on the move may not notice it) in most areas, a ‘low-5’ at its strongest. Thankfully, there are thought to have been no casualties as the tremor was relatively short-lived, and with the quake of March 2011 and weeks of resulting aftershocks having been far stronger, the people of Tohoku are now fairly hardened when it comes to smaller rumbles.

Curiously though, no sooner had the earthquake passed than a few jokesters began sharing the above image from the Japan Meteorological Agency, along with messages of “LOL” and ‘Why do I suddenly feel like I want to go to Northeastern Japan?”

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Giant robot design from Mobile Suit Gundam transformed into the manliest of man bags

One of the first major adjustments I had to make after moving to Japan was making a habit of carrying a bag with me whenever I go out. Having grown up in L.A., it took me a while to overcome the notion that bags were strictly for students and people with a double set of X chromosomes, but eventually I saw the light. If you live in an urban area of Japan, you’re reliant on public transportation. Without a car and a trunk to haul stuff in, a bag is really the only way to carry anything you can’t fit in your pocket but don’t want to hold in your hand all day.

Of course, my resistance might have broken down a lot quicker if I’d known about the upcoming man bag that makes you look like a giant robot.

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I’ve never done the math, but I can confidently say the amount of time I spent as a kid standing in line at an arcade to play the classic fighting game Street Fighter II totals somewhere in the dozens of hours.

As a result of all that waiting around to dragon punch people, the game’s soundtrack is permanently hard-wired into my brain. I’ll occasionally find myself unconsciously humming the various Street Fighter II character themes, and while the specific title may be different, I’m sure gamers everywhere have certain pieces of background music stuck in their heads, too.

What separates YouTube user Smooth McGrove from the rest of us though, aside from a glorious beard, is his ability to near-perfectly replicate every single note of the arrangement from iconic video game tunes, using nothing but his own voice.

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Tied to a desk but wish you were outdoors? Grab yourself a lawn-feel keyboard!

I’m sure most of us would rather be out in the fields with the sun on our face and the wind in our hair each day than shackled to a desk like a clone bred to serve the gods of the Cloud with their important databases and spreadsheets, but needs must and without hours of computer work our world would be on its knees in days. Thankfully, online “keyboard workshop” FILCO is bringing the outdoors to us with its new “Midori” lawn-type keyboard, which features a soft, turfy finish that will tickle your palms and wrists throughout the day, reminding you that life isn’t all pie charts and quarterly reviews.

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Fan creates video line-up of 174 real-life, anime and video game robots… in height order

Remember those science videos they used to show at school which began with the smallest known organism and zoomed out and out until the entire solar system filled the screen? Well imagine that but with almost every robot and mecha you could ever imagine thrown in for good measure.

Uploaded to Niconico Video by user Monako, the video “I Compared the Size of 174 Robots: Microman to Gurren Lagann” is making an appropriately huge splash online today as netizens play Name that Robot while marvelling at just how enormous some of these sci-fi creations are actually supposed to be. From Doraemon and Mega Man to Optimus Prime and Macross Quarter, this is one heck of a nerdy science lesson!

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Yanmar wants to make coolest tractor ever

Sure, that’s not a huge challenge, but they went well above and beyond your standard tractor design. Fresh off celebrating Osaka-based heavy manufacturer Yanmar’s centennial anniversary, designer Ken Okuyama felt it was time to inject some well-overdue fresh style into the generally conservative world of agriculture.

However, these tractors are more than just a pretty face, as we’ll soon learn.

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Honda recreates legendary F1 lap with light and sound in awesome video

Some of our readers may be too young to remember, but in his heyday, Ayrton Senna was the biggest thing in racing. The Brazilian racer took home the F1 driver’s championship in 1988, 1990, and 1991 before his life was cut short when his car collided with a retaining wall at over 230 kilometers (143) miles per hour during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Japanese motorsport fans have a particular fondness for Senna. Aside from having some of his most memorable races at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit, Senna won all three of his championships in cars powered by Honda engines, and was also involved in the production of the company’s flagship NSX sports car.

Using telemetric data Honda has recreated Senna’s record-breaking 1989 lap of Suzuka in light and sound as part of an incredible video posted on the company’s website.

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Google Street View captures view from top of Mt. Fuji, negates only reason to climb it

There’s a saying in Japan about Mt. Fuji that goes to the tune of, “You ought to climb it once, but only a fool would climb it twice.”

That’s because, as yours truly learned just last weekend, climbing Mt. Fuji is  a lot like spending up to eight hours repeatedly swinging a mallet into your knees as hard as you can. It’s also – at least this year, after having been declared a World Heritage Site – so crowded you’re guaranteed to be spending the climb with your face in dangerous proximity to someone else’s ass at all times.

Lucky for those that haven’t climbed it yet, Google Street View strapped some poor sucker with 100 pounds of weird Google robot gear, maybe gave him a bottle of water and some peanuts, and told him to walk right on up and take some pictures from the top. “It’ll be cool,” they probably said. “We promise.”

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We try shaved ice doused in Dom Perignon, feel like comically rich billionaires looking for novel ways to spend money

Reporters get a lot of unexpected perks. Occasionally, our editor will demand we interview a porn star or go stuff donuts in our faces on the company dime. That’s great, for sure. But truth be told, the greatest perk of being a reporter is that not only is it expected you’ll be drunk around lunchtime, it’s even encouraged!

And so it went that we were asked to sample some shaved ice doused in Dom Perignon, because everything is better doused in Dom Perignon. Go ahead, pour a bottle over your head and walk down the street. See if you don’t get a couple of phone numbers.

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Fukuoka Aquarium’s black finless porpoises proved themselves to be the true wizards of the sea earlier this month when they began blowing incredible bubble rings like Gandalf the Grey high on pipe-leaf, even passing them back and forth relay-style.

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