Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
funny (Page 156)
Ah, Japan. Just when I thought you couldn’t be any sillier, you throw me a gem like this. Apparently, Meiji University, a very well-known and well-respected educational institution is Japan, has announced that it will host a National Pokémon Summit next month.
Although they are sometimes considered to be the pastime of kids and teenagers, modern comics and graphic novels often deal with some incredibly heavy and moving content. Craig Thompson’s Blankets, for example, is a spellbinding journey that will melt any adult’s heart, and despite using mice as protagonists, Art Spiegelman’s retelling of his Holocaust survivor father’s experiences in Maus was so moving that it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.
The following American comic deals with equally heavy content: the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The comic lost a little credibility amongst Japanese readers earlier today, however, when one netizen noticed that it shows one of the pilots preparing for the attack by donning what appears to be a headband much more likely to be worn by school kids studying for a big exam than someone going on a mission from which they may not return.
Spider-Man can apparently do whatever a spider can and that includes attending a class at the prestigious University of Tokyo. As he quietly sits in the front row of a regional geography lecture, we can’t help but wonder why his Spidey sense brought him to a boring lecture hall when he could have been swinging from the skyscrapers of Tokyo or turning into a dumpling.
Japan is, by almost any criteria, an extremely safe country. You can wander most back alleys of Tokyo in the dead of night without any sense of danger, and calmly carry huge amounts of cash secure in the knowledge that you’re about as likely to come across a mugger in downtown as a man riding a horse.
While this bubble of safety is definitely a plus when you’re inside it, the flipside is that Japanese travelers, unaccustomed to street crime, violent or otherwise, tend to be extremely risk averse when going abroad. Driving this point home is the East Africa edition of a popular series of Japanese guidebooks, which is filled with warnings of danger that seem more like something out of a pulp action novel than a travel reference.
Everyone loves a good tongue twister, especially when getting to grips with a new language. I’ve had fun being challenged by Japanese coworkers at drinking parties to get my mouth around phrases like basu gasu bakuhatsu (“the bus gas explodes”) five times in a row, or aka-makigami ao-makigami ki-makigami (“red paper roll, blue paper roll, yellow paper roll”) on many occasions, but this Chinese tongue twister blows them all out of the water.
Dogs are often referred to as “man’s best friend,” and it’s no wonder! Dog-owners spend so much time tethered to their pups: walking, eating, and sometimes sleeping together. It’s so calming to stare into those big, soulful eyes, filled to the brim with undying affection and emotional character.
But did you know that admiring the magnificence of their tail-ends can also leave one feeling refreshed? One of Japan’s Twitter users at least thinks her pup’s posterior has a lot to offer the world and recently decided to share…
Everyday it seems that one company or another is producing a new type of building material that will revolutionize our lives and our homes. But it looks like they can all stop now. The ultimate in structural integrity and edible wall paneling has been discovered!
Not many would have thought to do this, but it takes a rare mind to spark a revolution of this magnitude. If you’re looking for the newest hot real estate tip, look no further–all you need to do is invest in the almighty umaibo!
3-D printing is bringing us a whole new world of possibilities, from fetus replicas to Link’s adventuring weapons, and while the technology is still in development, it often seems like there’s nothing a MakerBot can’t make out of thin air.
But here’s something you probably had no idea a 3-D printer could do: Bring children’s imaginations to life.
Without getting into our personal opinions of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel (ahem, Conan is better, ahem), he’s had a string of pretty successful viral videos featuring kids and their crazy antics.
So, sensing more comedy gold, Jimmy dressed a bunch of kids up like politicians and asked them their thoughts about US current events, hoping for some adorable responses. After some initial cuteness, Jimmy asked how the kids thought America should take care of its debt to China, which is where the fun stopped for most of us, because one kid blurted out a disturbing proposal for solving the problem: kill everyone in China.
I have cats. I also live next to a big park, so we do get some “wildlife” that wonders into the house now and then. I can attest to the fact that pretty much any creepy crawly that crosses our threshold ends up as a snack to one or the other of my furry friends. Usually, it’s a swift and brutal affair, but every now and then, a bug finds a place they can’t reach and drives them batty with its inaccessibility, causing them to yowl and tear around the house breaking furniture.
If that’s the chaos that can happen with just two cats, image what Twitter user @mugitoro1215 had to deal with when his seven cats all went after the same spider…
If you’ve been hanging around the Internet as long as we have, there’s a good chance you’ve seen it all–or almost all. From sleepy cats to pandagators, it sometimes seems that there’s not much left to surprise us, and then a Japanese commercial comes along and proves us wrong!
Jii Lighters aren’t particularly revolutionary in design–they’re just electric lighters that can be charged via USB–but when it comes to marketing, we think they may be light years ahead of the competition.
Though the brand hasn’t gained much popularity outside of Japan yet, earth music&ecology has propelled itself into the mainstream Japanese fashion world, thanks in large part to their ad campaigns featuring actress Aoi Miyazaki. With a focus on being “colorful and useful,” the brand seems mostly targeted at young women who aren’t looking for anything too extravagant.
Recently, the company rolled out a new smartphone app that allows users to add marketing text over their own photos, giving their patrons a chance to stand in Ms. Miyazaki’s place. A rather clever bit of marketing, we thought…until Mr. Sato decided to try it out!
Thankfully the following images, which popped up on Japanese textboard site 2Channel earlier this week, were all produced using image sites such as PicHacks in order to create a symmetrical image from an existing photo, and are not of real-world creatures genetically engineered by nefarious scientists. Some of them will, however, most definitely be coming after you in your dreams tonight.
So come with us now as we step into the world of creepy evolutions and nightmarish creatures. And they said facial symmetry is a mark of beauty…
Despite whatever else you might say about them, Japanese variety shows certainly try to live up to their reputation. Though you may argue about their success, one thing the shows do well is hidden camera/surprise segments. From aliens bursting out of walls to random Godzilla attacks, damasareta (“fooled” or “tricked”) gags can get almost anyone laughing–Japanese or otherwise.
And when you have a guest as spectacular as the hyperactive Funnashi, you’re almost guaranteed to dig up some comedic gold! Especially if explosions are involved.
In case you’ve been trapped under a giant boulder for the last few weeks, Japan – nay, the world – is currently once again gripped by Pokémon fever. Along with the new Pokémon X & Y titles for Nintendo 3DS, the new animated TV series is currently being lapped up by fans.
But one eagle-eyed viewer in Japan has spotted something both cute and a little odd in the show’s opening credits. In typically adorable fashion, a few seconds after the show’s opening song begins, everyone’s favourite pocket monster, Pikachu, gives the camera a friendly little kiss. But what on earth is going on inside his mouth!?
Everyone loves cats–this is the basic premise of that the Internet is built on. From bored housewives to hyperactive teens to exhausted business people, no one is immune to their soft, fuzzy bellies and adorable eyes. Not even yakuza bosses!
In fact, one yakuza member run afoul the law after running over a shopping arcade roof, chasing after an escaped cat on his boss’s command.
Meet the newest mascot at Fukushima Industries! This cute, winged egg is the perfect face for a company that manufactures the kind of industrial refrigerators, blast chillers, freezers and refrigerated showcases that you might find in a restaurant or a supermarket.
The name they chose for this little egghead, though, probably needed a bit more work…
Police from the Himonya Precinct in Tokyo’s Merguro Ward have announced the arrest of one Keiko Hatano. Mr. Hatano has an unusual given name for a man in Japan, but even more unusual is the crime he is suspected of: fondling a woman’s posterior after explaining to her that he “studies English.”
There are certain customs restaurants in Japan follow when serving dishes that originated overseas. Fried rice should come on an octagonal plate. Steak must be accompanied by a few wedges of carrots, steak fries, and corn.
When it comes to curry and rice, the roux should never completely cover the grain. Ideally, it should be poured over half of the plate, allowing the customer to enjoy mixing the two together in whatever ratio they feel is best.
Trying to keep with the spirit of this tradition caused problems for one Tokyo restaurant, though, when its special plate of three kinds of curry ended up containing an unfortunate and unintentional hidden image.
Doraemon, that loveable robotic, time-travelling kitty, may have inadvertently inspired an early Qing Dynasty cult of Doraemon worship during his travels through the space-time continuum, if this bizarrely similar idol of a grinning cat discovered by a Chinese tourist is to be believed.
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
Japanese trains in Sapporo might be better than those in Tokyo, thanks to one special feature
Lawson convenience store at popular tourist site is one of the most unusual in Japan
Drink vending machines disappearing in Japan as number drops to lowest in 30 years
Starbucks Japan releases FIVE new Frappuccinos in a day, and we try them all in 90 minutes
What’s wrong with English education in Japan? Pull up a chair…
Mr. Sato discovers his inner beaver with a 16-inch chocolate “twig” at Tokyo Station
Support your faves and avoid oshikatsu burnout — advice from our resident otaku
Japanese fashion company’s modernized haori half coats will keep you warm and samurai chic
Does this video about an abandoned dog leave you wiping your eyes or shaking your fist?
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Mt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Starbucks Japan closing only Shinkansen platform branch for popularity-triggered renovations
You can assemble a well-balanced team of Pokémon, them eat them, thanks to Japanese cake chain
30 Pikachus want to share a Tokyo hotel room with you that has separate Grass, Water, Fire spacesLawson convenience store at popular tourist site is one of the most unusual in Japan
Man bites woman at cherry blossom park in Japan, dies shortly after
7-Eleven Japan’s new baked-in-store sweet treat is only available in three parts of the country
Peanuts and Coke becomes a viral hit in Japan, but is it a trend worth joining?Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visaPokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping listMt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
What’s wrong with English education in Japan? Pull up a chair…
Mr. Sato discovers his inner beaver with a 16-inch chocolate “twig” at Tokyo Station
Support your faves and avoid oshikatsu burnout — advice from our resident otaku
Japanese fashion company’s modernized haori half coats will keep you warm and samurai chic
Does this video about an abandoned dog leave you wiping your eyes or shaking your fist?
Pikachus perform classical Japanese dance routine for Japan’s most famous cherry blossom song【Vid】
Daiso’s Standard Products store — what’s worth buying and what’s not? Our expert weighs in
One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world ocean
Are Japanese convenience store sandwiches scamming us with their fillings?
Stamina-destroying “Paralysis Noodles” are Tokyo’s newest over-the-top ramen innovation
Horsemeat sushi: For when you’re tired of spicy tuna and California rolls
Studio Ghibli releases new anime tea and mugs in Japan
