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“Do honky” command Japanese TV show’s T-shirts

Once a year, Japan’s Fuji TV broadcasts a marathon program called FNS 27-Hour TV. A huge team of A-list comedians, musicians, and media personalities make appearances during the show, and since its beginning in 1997 it’s been a ratings hit for the network.

But as the younger generation increasingly looks to the Internet for entertainment content, this year Fuji TV wanted to remind viewers that TV is still relevant and worth watching. Oh, and also apparently that they should sleep with white people, if you take the program’s T-shirts at face value.

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In Japanese high schools, it’s customary for the band to accompany the baseball team to important games. Saitama’s Namegawa Sogo High even mixes in some modern musical stylings, as Queen’s “We Will Rock You” showed up on their set list for a recent contest in the prefectural championship tournament.

Of course, such a bombastic tune coming from the stands requires equal flamboyance from the players, and one student athlete responded with the craziest batter’s box warmup we’ve ever seen.

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Facial correction app makes the world’s money funny

They say the most expressive part of your face is the eyes. The rest of the face might be saying “happy times”, but if you focus on the eyes, you might see “sad times,” or vice versa.

Purikura machines, or sticker picture machines, have long had an eye enhancement option, so it only makes sense for an application on your phone to have one as well. Many of them can even be used on everyday objects that have people’s faces on them, like the money resting in your wallet. But how do the respected and historical figures on cash look when you manipulate the size of their eyes? Is some secret emotion going to be revealed? Let’s find out after the jump.

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Japan is bracing itself against the typhoon, finding strange underwear on their porches

Those in the Kyushu and Shikoku regions of Japan have already been hit with the brunt of Typhoon 11, and the rest of us in western Japan are sitting out the torrential rains and winds inside. Typhoons are a yearly happening here, and bring with them flooded streets, mudslides, toppled street signs, and apparently very interesting underwear…

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As we’ve talked about before, sometimes there’s some pretty silly stuff that goes into the making of an eminently cool cosplay photo. Often there’s something strange going on just out of frame, such as the heroine slouching like crazy to make the hero look taller or an assistant holding up a handful of a model’s hair to make it appear like it’s blowing in the wind.

The models above, however, are completely legit, looking every bit their parts as lovely young ladies relaxing by the pool. But this time the behind-the-scenes comedy is actually in the back of the scenes. Can you guess the funny truth behind those dramatic sprays of water?

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Our Japanese coworkers remind us that today is No Bra Day with words and photos

After a couple years of living in Japan, I got into the habit of sending out emails to fellow expats and other internationally minded friends on American holidays that aren’t really a big deal here. Nothing fancy, just a quick “Happy Thanksgiving!” or “Have a fun 4th of July!” It’s always nice to have a reason to celebrate, and I know from experience that without a reminder, some of these lower-profile holidays can get lost in the shuffle of our busy daily lives.

Meg, one of my Japanese-language coworkers, seems to have a similar mentality, since she sent out a message to remind us all that today, July 9, is No Bra Day. And just to make doubly sure she had our attention, she sent photos, too.

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While cats are definitely cute, I’m not sure I really buy into the whole idea that they’re still skilled predators. Sure, house cats are much more likely to bag game than many other popular pets, such as hamsters or goldfish, but I think centuries of domestication have bred out a lot of the instincts that came from their shared ancestry with lions and tigers.

As proof, I offer this video of a cat in Japan, in which the “hunter” becomes the hunted and meets its match when, defying all logic, a cucumber sneaks up on it.

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A while back, we took a look at the top 20 anime that fans want to be watching as they leave the mortal realm. But what if it’s not enough to spend the last moment of your life watching your favorite series?

Then maybe what you need is a way to express your love of Japanese animation from beyond the grave…and through the grave, for that matter, with an anime tombstone like the one this craftsman made.

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The brand-new Death Note TV drama just made its debut, and it left us feeling a little lukewarm, what with its rushed pacing and less-than-compelling changes from the manga and anime source material. Still, we probably shouldn’t be too harsh in our criticisms. After all, at just one episode in, there’s still plenty of time for the newest live-action adaptation to turn it around and deliver a portion of the thrills the original Death Note did.

Plus, we’d like to stay on the good side of the series’ death gods, since this creepy photo has us worried that maybe they can manifest in real life, and might even be watching us right now.

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New music video by LADYBABY here to rock your world (in more ways than one) 【Video】

Few could have imagined that a bearded man dressed in a girl’s school uniform would prove to be big a hit. Even fewer perhaps would have guessed that putting said individual in a J-pop group alongside a couple of Japanese teens would be something people would actually want to watch, but watch they do, and LADYBABY is currently taking Japan by storm.

In the music video for their first upcoming single release, “Tokyo Manju”, Japan’s most curious trio takes to the streets of Tokyo to show you all the wonderful things we love about Japanese culture.

When Gackt said the Cool Japan campaign needed a revamp, I don’t think this is quite what he had in mind…

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The Death Note franchise is proving to be ironically long-lived. Starting off as a manga in 2003, the saga of Light Yagami and his supernatural notebook that allows him to kill whoever he wants just be writing down his or her name has been adapted into an anime series and trilogy of live-action films, and there’s even a Death Note musical in the works.

This last Sunday saw the debut of a brand-new Death Note Japanese TV drama, and you can read our personal impressions of the show right here. In the meantime, it looks like the general viewing public was really excited by the premiere episode, but not because of its casting or changes to the original story, but because of a set-decorating coincidence.

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50 things our Japanese reporter learned while driving in the U.S.

Our Japanese-language reporter Go recently returned from a trip to the U.S. While there, he hunted for aliens and sampled the local cuisine, but mostly what he did was drive.

While Japan is filled with winding mountain passes that make for enjoyable drives, the wide-open American road has an appeal all its own. After days of barreling down the highways of the southwest, Go came back to Japan with these 50 experiences he had driving in the U.S.

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Japanese people share 11 amusing tales relating to pregnancy and childbirth

Ah, childbirth. That lovely moment when the child you’ve been waiting to meet for months finally comes into the world and brings with it all the joys that come with parenthood. If you’re a woman, that moment also equates to the feeling of your body being ripped into bits as you forcefully expel a new human being from your body. (Sorry if you’re drinking your morning tea as you read this!)

Like the rest of the female population around the world, Japanese women are no strangers to the pains of birthing a child. Below, we have gathered eleven of amusing anecdotes that have been shared over social media relating to their pregnancies, the hysterical states they were in during childbirth, and the time after their child’s birth. And don’t miss the one story at the end that will positively melt your heart.

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Last weekend the inaugural CharaExpo, a celebration of Japanese animation, comics, and video games, was held in Singapore. The event hosted artists, musicians, and voice actors, plus independent dojinshi producers and cosplayers, and also had an array of exhibit booths from a variety of game and anime companies.

At one booth, fans could take photos with some of the characters from Touken Ranbu, the computer game that’s been winning the heart of female otaku for the way it turns historical Japanese swords into handsome young samurai hotties. But while taking a picture with a flesh-and-blood celebrity crush means he might affectionately put an arm around you as you smile for the camera, you can’t ask a cardboard cutout to do the same. However, one attendee has shown that with a little creativity you can take a photo that makes it look like you’re in the passionate embrace of your inanimate anime crush.

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Clever bathroom graffiti explains why smoking in the boys’ room is grossly inconsiderate

At my old job, my coworkers and I shared bathrooms with a half-dozen or so other companies that had offices in our building. For the most part, the men’s room stayed relatively clean, but about once a week, I’d walk into one of the stalls and find a pile of cigarette ashes on the floor.

Frankly, it was disgusting and exasperating, especially since the building had a smoking lounge. But hey, I guess the perpetrator who couldn’t resist the self-pleasing siren song of simultaneously taking a puff and a dump didn’t see what the big deal was. Here with a handy explanation, though, is some surprisingly wise Japanese bathroom graffiti.

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Even as a guy who’s spent all of his adult life, and before that a good chunk of his juvenile one, studying Japanese, I’ve never been completely sold on the concept that the process of learning a foreign language has to be made “fun” at each and every stage. While you can break high-level linguistic concepts into intermediate ones, when you get down to a language’s most fundamental components, they’re really just a collection of arbitrary sounds that a group of people implicitly decided to use in the same way in order to give them meaning.

As such, there’s always going to be a certain amount of rote memorization involved with becoming actually proficient with a foreign language. But once those core concepts are introduced, they’re definitely going to stick in your memory better if they’re presented and demonstrated in a colorful way, which might be the logic behind this textbook for learners of Japanese that contains dramatic tales of romance, disease, and devotion.

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Our Japanese writer tries the “hold a coke with your boobs” challenge

If you spend a lot of time on the internet, like all of the RocketNews24 team does, then you can’t help but notice when a new “do this stupid thing” challenge starts going aroud. Whether it involves chugging cinnamon, blowing up your lips, or scarfing hot peppers, it’s all pretty silly stuff that normally we’re way too sophisticated to have a go at.

But something about the “hold a coke with your boobs” challenge captivated the attention of our Japanese writer P.K. So much, in fact, that he decided to have a go for himself! Warning, this post is potentially NSFW for everyone who doesn’t work in the RN24 office!

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The top 10 worst men’s fashion items, as rated by Japanese women

As a guy, sometimes knowing the difference between what looks good and what doesn’t can be a challenge. I know that I personally value functionality over fashion: why should I buy new shoes when my three-year-old ones still fit fine? They only have a couple of holes in them. And what’s wrong with my fanny pack? It’s perfecting for holding all my trading cards!

Thankfully for us guys, Niconico News recently put out the results of a survey given to 200 women, asking them to rate the worst clothing/accessories for men. Does your wardrobe get off scot-free, or are you a proud owner of everything on the list? Find out after the jump!

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Western-style weddings are overwhelmingly popular in Japan, and especially among young couples, outnumber Japanese-style ceremonies by a wide margin. In many ways, Western ceremonies in Japan are similar to what you’d see in the U.S. The bride wears a dress, the groom a tuxedo, and the pair exchanges vows and seals the deal with a kiss. The reception, likewise, usually involves toasts, a fancy dinner, and a bouquet toss.

But despite Japan’s rather open obsession with women’s undergarments, the garter toss isn’t a wedding tradition here. But the absence of a male equivalent to the bouquet toss has been noticed by some who are soon to be married, and they’ve hit upon the offbeat solution of having the men in attendance try to catch a bunch of broccoli thrown by the groom.

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New Japanese biking laws say no more earphones in ears…but what about other orifices?

A few days ago, we brought you a list of 14 things never to do on a bicycle in Japan in light of new cycling traffic laws that went into effect on June 1. Of course, the new, stricter laws are intended to promote bicycle safety and reduce accidents, but they mean a lot of cyclists in Japan are going to have to give up on some of their old bad habits, like riding while listening to music.

There’s a little speculation that riding with headphones in but no music on, and riding with just one earpiece in (although that sounds to us like a recipe for disaster when the other dangling earbud inevitably gets caught in your spokes) are probably not going to get you jail time or anything, but we like to play it safe here at RocketNews24, at least until happy hour rolls around.

So, when one of our Japanese writers – a noted music lover – was pondering other ways to get his music fix while commuting by bike, he stumbled on what seemed like an easy solution: If the law says you can’t ride with earbuds in your ears, well, just shove those suckers right up your schnoz. It’s so simple it just has to work!

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