Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
cool (Page 209)
Until now, we never really understood what all the fuss was about roses. Women seem to love them, and men seem to spend inordinate amounts of money to purchase them for their sweethearts. But now that we’ve seen the pitch-black Turkish Halfeti Rose, we’re starting to understand that roses can be not only dangerous, kind of smelly and enchanting all at the same time, they can also be the perfect centerpiece of the most hardcore heavy metal album or low fantasy book cover of all time.
Legos make everything better. And when those little plastic bricks are used to make some of our favorite Pokemon, the coolness goes well over 9,000. Let’s take a closer look at this awesome engineering, including a peek inside the boardable mecha-type lego Pokemon!
Even superheroes need a break from saving the world once in a while. This awesome ride may be made by a Batman fan, but if the creators at DC Comics ever drew the Dark Knight partaking in some sort of recreation on his day off, golf does seem like the perfect hobby for Bruce Wayne.
But just look at the quality and detail in this fan-made cart! No wonder it caught the attention of so many Japanese netizens this past weekend.
The rest of the world may currently be in love with Sony’s newest controller, the DualShock 4, but gamers in Japan evidently still have a big soft spot for the ageing PlayStation 2 control pad, the DualShock 2.
What you can see in the image above is not, in fact, a row of the now 13-year-old controllers as viewed from a great height, but a new set of earphone jack plugs, and the level of detail is simply astounding.
Scientists must often have a hard time explaining deep scientific concepts to the general public without resorting to a lot of wild gesticulating and exasperated sighs. We know we’d get around five minutes into a college physics lecture before giving up and drawing cat doodles in our notebooks for the remaining hour of class.
It’s no wonder, then, that Japan’s RIKEN national comprehensive research institution resorted to making this totally awesome anime to enthrall and amaze our stupid civilian minds with flashing lights and hot robot girls, so we’d sit still long enough for the institute to introduce its new and totally sci-fi sounding SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA).
Winter is closing in on Japan, with recent temperatures dropping as low as three degrees Celsius in central Tokyo. When it comes to keeping food and beverages warm on a day out, the all-familiar Thermos brand comes to mind.
The globally famous makers of possibly the best vacuum flasks in the world have been keeping our soups and coffees warm for more than a century, but this year, their Japanese counterparts are taking a step further to warm the hearts and drinks of the locals in the style of a Japanese teacup!
Recently, Meg, one of our RocketNews24 colleagues from our Japanese-language sister site, came to us raving about a great dessert she’d just tried. Since we’re always thinking about food, we were happy to listen as she gushed. “It’s called yakigori,” she informed us, “and people have been making it in Japan for over 100 years!”
“Oh, you mean, kakigori, right?” we responded, mentioning the Japanese word for shaved ice. “Yeah, we have that overseas, too. By the way, you should really take some medicine for that cold.”
“No, not kakigori, yakigori,” Meg insisted. To help us understand, she even wrote it down in Japanese. We read the kanji characters, 焼き氷, once, then double checked it. There was no mistake, though. Meg was talking about a dessert named “roasted ice.”
Industrial designer Siew Ming Cheng has evidently had enough of being pushed and shoved on the Singapore subway. Those space-invading commuters have brushed up against, knocked and pushed her one too many times, and now the young creative is declaring war on space snatchers with special body armour: the Spike Away vest.
Right now, how terrified would you be if we told you that Shimizu Corporation, one of Japan’s largest and most powerful engineering and contracting conglomerates, is in the planning stages for a project to send a team of robots to the moon in order to build a laser to point at our home world?
Don’t worry though. Shimizu isn’t plotting to enslave the people of earth. Instead, the company is looking to provide us all with clean, renewable energy.
The Japanese Internet is going crazy over recent Finnish photos of a group of bear cubs who appear to be dancing around in a circle, reminiscent of the age-old nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie”.
Valtteri Mulkahainen, a 52-year-old Finnish photography hobbyist, says he thought he was imagining the bears dancing around, even going so far as to say the scene was so magical he wouldn’t have been surprised if they had begun singing. Given the man’s situation as he took the now-madly circulating photos, we can’t blame him for momentarily believing he was living inside of a Disney movie.
As waste gasses from fossil fuels continue to choke our planet and money-grubbing businessmen propose plans to frack (and that’s not some coy euphemism) the very ground we walk on to get at even more of the stuff, more and more people are doing their bit to be kind to the environment. Solar panels can be seen up on the roofs of residential buildings, people separate their waste so that as much of it can be recycled as possible, and more consumers than ever are choosing electric or hybrid vehicles.
And now, Japanese motorists have another reason to go green: Evangelion-themed electric car charging stations!
Stained glass is typically seen in cathedrals or castles, sending cascades of colors into the elaborate interior. Images are usually biblical or inspired by the Renaissance and were made centuries ago. But what about modern stained glass art inspired by current trends and events? That’s where Martian Glasswork steps in, creating beautiful glass artwork with a video game twist.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: McDonald’s Japan has the best Happy Meal toys. In case you haven’t heard, the fast food chain created Mario toys for their “Happy Set” kids meals and they’re awesome. Lucky for those abroad, Japanese fans of the franchise have already uploaded videos of their McDonald’s Happy Meal Marios (say that five times fast). Take a look at just a few!
For many of the world’s greatest cuisines, there is a fine line separating a stellar example of a particular dish from a loathsome, gag-inducing failure. In the case of the humble french fry, that fine line is a few extra minutes from fryer to your eager food hole; let the fries sit for just a little too long and they transform before your eyes from hot, crunchy guilty pleasure to disgusting, squishy, limp waste of calories.
Apparently deeply affected by a soggy fry incident, the folks at China’s Beyondte Electronics Co., Ltd. set out to perfect a french fry vending machine that would produce hot, crunchy fries on the spot whenever you got a craving, eliminating the need to order them at your favorite fast food joint and carry them home and – a happy side effect – also eliminating the need to actually speak to another human being to get your fry fix.
Japan is often thought of as an exporting juggernaut, thanks in no small part to the country’s high profile automobile and consumer electronics companies. However, the nation has to turn to importing for much of its energy needs, particularly as it increasingly looks for ways to reduce its reliance on domestically produced nuclear power following the events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.
However, one scientist claims Japan could eliminate its need to import energy entirely by turning algae into fuel.
Japan is a crowded place. There’s just no way to get around it. The vast majority of good jobs and schools are found in the major urban centers, which are themselves located on the scarce patches of usable land available in this tremendously mountainous country.
Although few people particularly enjoy living in such dense population centers where you find yourself surprised when you’re not pressed against your fellow commuters on the train in the morning, what can you do about it? It’s not like Japan itself is suddenly going to start getting any bigger, is it?
Actually, it that’s exactly what’s going on, as newly released images show that a new island has recently formed in Japan’s waters.
Every dog owner has experienced it: you want your dog to sit, speak, roll over and maybe shake, but your pooch has other ambitions. Bigger dreams. He wants to join the fire brigade (you know this because you taught him to speak), but you’re worried about your little buddy’s safety.
Finally, though, you can let your doggy chase both his tail and his dreams with this adorable doggy flame-retardant suit. Join us after the jump for more adorable photos!
Regular RocketNews24 readers will know how much we love capsule hotels – and tiny spaces in general, for that matter – to the point that we were genuinely saddened when one of the country’s premier locations announced last month that it was to close its doors. So when we caught a glimpse of the new Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China, which combines minimalist hotel accommodation with a futuristic vibe similar to that of the Evangelion hotel rooms we’ve drooled over for so long, we could barely contain our excitement.
Join us after the jump for a photo tour of this awesome new capsule hotel!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! …and Hello Kitty.
As a kid, whenever you heard the TMNT theme song, you knew it was on! What’s better than pizza-loving, Japanese weapon-toting, “cowabunga dude” catch phrased mutant turtles who also happen to be ninjas? That’s right, nothing’s better. Except maybe this TMNT/Hello Kitty collaboration. We know they’re not Pokemon but we just gotta catch them all!
Japan tripled its departure tax to fund tourism but is using the money on cherry blossoms and bears
Police in Japan looking for who’s responsible for dumping 80 loaves of bread on side of road [Video]
Nike x One Piece collection brings Devil Fruits to sneakers and streetwear in Japan
Data suggests increased bear sightings have led to a decrease in mountain climbers across Japan
Nephew of Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki serves up Totoro Shaved Ice in Tokyo
Pikachu and other Pokémon evolve into hydration types with Thermos drinkware collaboration [Pics]
Amid foreign sex tourist rise, Japanese government considering outlawing paying for prostitution
We recommend not buying one pack of Japan’s new convenience store corn soup-flavor fried chicken
Ministop brings bulked up Okinawan-style rice balls to mainland Japan for one week only
Dragon Ball Z theme park, financed by Saudi Arabia, to be built in France
7-year-old boy left behind on Mt. Fuji by his own dad
Sushi Bus: Japan’s first conveyor-belt bus lets you eat sushi while sightseeing around Tokyo
Studio Ghibli unveils new interactive stationery dioramas that bring anime movies to life on your desk
Studio Ghibli composer Jo Hisaishi just set three Guinness Records
Anime fans can now wear a Seiko watch inspired by Japan’s One Piece Shinkansen
7-Eleven Japan brings back best-selling flat croissant that became a hit on social media
Foreign hiker on Mt. Fuji loses consciousness and dies, becoming climbing season’s second fatality
Universal Studios Japan partners with manga horror master Junji Ito’s Tomie
Starbucks Japan releases two new seasonal drinks that blur the line between summer and autumnWe recommend not buying one pack of Japan’s new convenience store corn soup-flavor fried chicken
12-year-old British girl who went missing in Tokyo found safe after visiting anime sites around Yokohama7-year-old boy left behind on Mt. Fuji by his own dad
Air-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat
Pokémon Center Online designates first Pokémon items that will require Japanese ID card to buySushi Bus: Japan’s first conveyor-belt bus lets you eat sushi while sightseeing around Tokyo
Japanese toilet aims to attract foreign tourists but not everybody is happy about it
Tokyo’s newest viral dessert is like a Japanese parfait inside a bread bun [Taste test]
New Japanese vending machine at Shinkansen station sells cups of ice on platform
Study finds hundreds of people in Indonesia legally named after Naruto, Inuyasha, other anime stars
Japanese vending machine sells freshly squeezed lemon juice with a futuristic light show
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 Tokyo
Studio 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 abroad
Salomon 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】
Pikachu and other Pokémon evolve into hydration types with Thermos drinkware collaboration [Pics]
Amid foreign sex tourist rise, Japanese government considering outlawing paying for prostitution
We recommend not buying one pack of Japan’s new convenience store corn soup-flavor fried chicken
Ministop brings bulked up Okinawan-style rice balls to mainland Japan for one week only
Dragon Ball Z theme park, financed by Saudi Arabia, to be built in France
Winnie the Pooh cosplays as Yuzuru Hanyu for new plushie collaboration
Nagoya’s famous Shinkansen platform noodle shop has other, better branches nearby
Turn octopus, spaghetti, and more of your favorite foods into crackers with Senbei Maker 2
Studio Ghibli composer Jo Hisaishi just set three Guinness Records
KFC Japan unveils new Tsukimi collection that takes moon-viewing to extreme levels
Japan’s double-decker portable rice cooker/bento maker is better than ever with new version
Universal Studios Japan partners with manga horror master Junji Ito’s Tomie
Ohaw? Ruibe? Pocche? While traveling in Japan’s north, we try Ainu cuisine for the first time
Starbucks Japan adds new Customisation Bar to stores, with free ways to hack your food and drink orders
