Ever been so enamoured with someone that you simply couldn’t stop kissing them? Of course you have; you read RocketNews24! But what if both you and your fellow face-munching lover are glasses wearers? Isn’t it annoying when your frames keep clacking and bumping together?
Thankfully, Tokyo-based glasses maker Blinc Vase has the solution!
I love sushi. I really can’t overstate that fact, and it’s to the point that I’d totally understand if you asked, “If you love sushi so much, why don’t you marry it?”
First, I’m already married, and there are several ways in which my lovely and human wife is a superior spouse compared to a slice of raw fish, no matter how delicious the latter may be. Second, even if I were single and ready to take my relationship with Japanese cuisine’s most famous discipline to the next level, what kind of ring would I use to propose?
Here with the answer is American designer Carolyn Tillie, who’s crafted a whole line of sushi-themed accessories.
The traditional Japanese kanzashi hairpin is usually an elaborate affair meant to be worn in the hair when donning a kimono or yukata. Intricately detailed and beautiful, they’re like Japan’s answer to the corsage. But these particular kanzashi may just be too beautiful to ever wear at all on account of directing all the attention away from your kimono.
Sakae, a kanzashispecialty manufacturer, makes each kanzashi by hand from colored glass that’s been melted down and coated in resin to prevent breakage – and lord knows you wouldn’t want one of these shattering into a thousand pieces in your hair.
While Sailor Moon’s first four companions, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, get most of the attention, the lunar heroine also picked up a few more allies in her 200 anime episodes. The Sailor Moon B-team has been getting a lot of love from merchandiser Bandai recently, including their own sets of lingerie.
Now, for everyone who wants to show your love for the Outer Sailor Senshi without showing off their undies, Bandai is releasing a five-piece set of smartphone earphone jack accessories, including accessories used by Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
As many of you know, Japan maintains a strong sense of uchi and soto, or inside/in-group and outside/out-group. As part of that culture, all people, young and old, are made to change their shoes upon entering most buildings and homes. Students, especially elementary school students, get a special pair of indoor shoes called uwabaki, often called “hallway slippers,” for use while inside the school building. Much like the trendiness of Japanese elementary school backpacks, uwabaki are being seen out on the streets on the feet of fashion-forward women. But are elementary school indoor shoes really that fashionable? You’d be surprised!
There are many things to love about the kimono, the elegant traditional robe that just screams “Japan”. But beautiful and steeped in tradition as it is, the kimono is not without its accompanying inconveniences: its long skirt, which stays pencil-straight right down to the floor, provides almost no wiggle-room and prevents the wearer from running…or even walking particularly fast, unless in comically short strides. Riding a bicycle, too, has long been out of the question – until now.
We recently got a sneak peak at the second batch of Sailor Moon lingerie from merchandiser Bandai and intimate apparel maker Peach John. But while the two companies were generous with photos of what the new bra/panty/skirt sets will look like, they were only shown on nondescript, limbless mannequins.
Not only does a new batch of pictures rectify that with a human model, it also shows off some more modest bedroom attire, in the form of negligees and pajamas inspired by the dresses of characters Princess Serenity and Black Lady, plus the school uniforms worn by the five core Sailor Senshi.
Among RocketNews24’s bilingual writing team, you won’t find a single person who hasn’t, at some point, linguistically crammed their foot in their mouth (personally, I know I’ve gotten my knee and most of my thigh past my pearly whites on at least three separate occasions). So while we can definitely appreciate the humor involved in a strange languagescrew-up, we know we’re not immune to such things ourselves, and that the rest of the world can weird up its Japanese just as often as Japan stumbles over English.
Case in point: this man spotted napping on the subway in the U.S., who felt the need to inform his fellow passengers who can read Japanese that he is, in fact, not Mr. Sato.
The currently streaming Sailor Moon reboot, Sailor Moon Crystal, has sort of an unusual schedule. Rather than showing a new episode every week, like most anime series, a new installment of Crystal is released on the first and third Saturday of every month.
It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean viewers get a new episode every other week. This year, August had five Saturdays, meaning that at one point there was a three-week gap between episodes. We’re sure hard-core fans were miffed, but we think sponsor Bandai will be able to smooth things over and make everyone forget about the inconvenience by opening preorders for its newest batch of merchandise, the second round of Sailor Moon lingerie sets, featuring colors for every member of the main cast.
So, you love to blast your music wherever you go, but you can’t find any headphones fashionable enough to match your wardrobe. While that’s not likely a problem many of us have, someone has found a solution! Chanel–yes, Chanel–will be releasing their newest fashion accessory–headphones–mid-September. And, don’t worry, fashionistas, they are exactly as expensive as you would think they are!
After saving global gold prices in 2013, Chinese dama, or middle-aged women, have found another claim to fame: Influencing world fashion trends.
While most think of going to the beach as an excuse to wear as little as possible, many of these women prefer to stay covered up. But don’t start calling them prudes, since, for them, it’s a matter of practicality and beauty!
For serious cat lovers, it’s hard to be apart from their beloved animals for even a moment, but there are some places, like offices or restaurants, where you just can’t take your pet with you. If you’re looking for a way to always feel connected to your kitty, we suppose you could make a sweater out of its fallen hair, but before you grab those knitting needles, there’s an alternative that’s a little less labor-intensive (not to mention a bit less crazy).
All you need to do is snap a photo of your cat, and have it made into a pair of custom-crafted earrings from this Japanese online store.
While the entire franchise gets collectively called Sailor Moon, the anime version of Japan’s most successful magical girl saga is technically divided up into a string of year-long sequel series. The initial 1992 season, Pretty Solider Sailor Moon, led directly into Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS, and finally Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, before the whole thing was rebooted with this year’s Sailor Moon Crystal.
So really it’s only natural that the now sold-out line of Sailor Moon lingerie is now getting a follow-up, with upgrades for the core cast of five Sailor Senshi and what appears to be a few new friends joining them.
On August 12, Lady Gaga arrived in Tokyo to kick off the Japan leg of her worldwide artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball. The pop icon is no stranger to Japan, and has proclaimed her love for the country on multiple occasions in the past. Not to mention the fact that her quirky fashion style seems perfectly at home with some of the bizarre outfits you’d find in Tokyo’s Harajuku district.
One of the reporters from our Japanese sister site happens to be a dedicated ‘Little Monster’ himself. Although ‘Lady Jun’, as we’ll call him from now on, is fascinated by Lady Gaga’s eccentric fashion statements, one question has always bothered him–is it possible for a normal person to create an outfit in Lady Gaga’s signature style without breaking the bank?
Enlisting the help of his fellow reporter and amateur Sailor Venus cosplayer Yoshio, the two headed over to a Japanese 100-yen shop (the equivalent of a dollar store in the States) to find out for themselves. The end result of their mission? Well, let’s just say that their creation was a bit puzzling.
One day, while Mr. Sato was off-duty, he was doing some shopping around Nakano Broadway in Tokyo. This shopping plaza is sometimes called a “mecca of subculture” for its various stores peddling old books and figures. Of course, Nakano Broadway has many other shops including grocery and household item stores.
In particular, the first floor is filled with women’s clothing shops selling items at rock-bottom prices. On a complete whim Mr. Sato steered into one shop boasting every item for only 575 yen (US$5.60). As if guided by a mysterious force, Mr. Sato entered this store. Little did he know that he was being guided… by the god of rock.
What better way to stand out from the crowd than in a pair of sushi socks! Featuring all the firm favourites, from tuna to egg roll, this unique range of legwear is gearing up to be one of the most sought-after products on the Japanese market this summer. Not only do they look great on your feet, they look even better rolled up because that’s when they actually resemble the real thing! Check out the entire collection and see which ones you’d like to have in your bedroom drawers.
A few days after I started doing homestay in Tokyo, I sat down for a meal with my host family, picked up a morsel of food with my chopsticks, and promptly dropped it onto my shirt. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to using chopsticks soon enough,” they encouragingly told me, but the fact of the matter is that I’m just an incredibly messy and clumsy eater.
My choice of utensil doesn’t really seem to make much of a difference. Curry, for example, is eaten with a spoon in Japan, and I’ve still managed to spill spicy roux on myself plenty of times, usually when I’m wearing a new shirt. Thankfully, though, there’s apparently an easy way to get curry stains out: sunlight.
“Why should only big-breasted girls get all the fun of lingerie shopping?” is apparently the question that led Japanese fashion school student Gomi Hayakawa to design and sell these stylish lingerie sets, tailor-made for flat chested girls, under the brand name of “Feast.”
Now, I understand that, in English, “flat-chested” has mildly derogatory connotations (imagine how a guy would react if you described him as having “micro junk” or something), but trust me, in this case I’m literally just directly translating. Japanese has so many words for varying sizes, textures and shapes of breasts your head will spin.
Preschool. That tender age between three- and five-years-old where kids cry whenever they are separated from their parents but change moods instantly when something entertaining happens. They are only beginning to discover the crazy mad, mad world around them. It’s like they don’t have a care in the world! They can eat what they want, wear what they want, and do what they want! They should cherish these worry-free years before they start encountering the real world problems of an elementary school first grader…right?