Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
funny (Page 157)
While Japan is certainly home to a wide variety of animals, from adorable Shiba Inu to emotive puppies, one creature you don’t see too often is the horse. Sure, they’re out in the countryside doing horse stuff–eating, pooping, and running like the wind–but it’s not like you see a horse just hanging out in front of convenience stores. I mean, seriously, this isn’t The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Or is it??
Living in an age where people threaten legal action the moment they trip over a pebble on a public beach, it’s little wonder that companies and organisations should take extra precautions when allowing everyday folks to wander around their facilities during open days, taking great pains to highlight every possible risk beforehand so that they don’t get sued when someone gets savaged by a radioactive monkey.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense is no exception, and in an effort to ensure their safety when touring military vessels, have put together some handy information and rules for the public to abide by while on board. Fortunately for you and me, this is no boring old list of dos and don’ts: this is a list that comes with pictures evidently created by a member of staff with years of experience using Microsoft Windows’ Paint program, resulting something that not only looks like South Park‘s “Terrance and Phillip Show” but even manages to sneak in a little Metal Gear Solid reference for video game fans.
On 29 September, the Third Maebashi Mt. Akagi Hill Climb was held in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture. It’s a grueling 20.8km (12.9mi) bicycle course climbing Mt. Akagi for a vertical difference of 1.3km (0.8mi) from start to finish.
This year 2,811 people participated and the fastest time was set by Kenichi Miyamoto, completing the course in an impressive 56 minutes and 23 seconds. However, the attention of many locals was grabbed by a rider bearing an uncanny resemblance to the virtual songstress Hatsune Miku. So just who was this turquoise-locked ita-bike rider?
Owning a Roomba or other automated cleaning robot to take care of floor dust can be such an awesome convenience. But you’d better take care and show them some appreciation, because these handy tools have been known to escape when overworked and left unattended. Remember the rogue Roomba that restlessly cleaned the streets around Tokyo’s Kanda train station? Well, it’s happened again in a different part of the world, but this time it’s the owners who sounded the alarm.
Remember back in high school when you’d opened up your textbook to find George Washington picking his nose and Joseph Stalin with a peg leg and eye patch. It was enough to make you bow down and thank the graffiti gods for giving you a much needed distraction from the incessant ramblings of your instructor.
Textbook doodles seem to transcend national borders and bored students from all over the world appear to have a penchant for defiling educational tools. We’ve already shown you some from Asia, a continent that seems to be home to an abundance of bored students with idle hands. Now let’s take a look at textbook doodles from Twitter user and Japanese high school student, Chanta, who takes it to a whole other level, actually erasing parts of his textbook to create entirely different, albeit twisted, pictures.
University life may not be quite how it appears in the countless teen comedies that Hollywood coughed up during the early noughties, but it can still be a lot of fun. And if these photos taken during an event at Kangwon National University’s recent campus festival are anything to go by, some colleges aren’t afraid to cross a few lines when it comes to having a good time.
Tired of the same old hairstyles? Twin tails just not rocking your socks any more? Well how about hairdo that could also be used as a weapon or a means of catching your next meal?
They may not have the swoon-inducing power of 14 baby pandas in a row, but hedgehogs are nevertheless incredibly cute, and they make great little pets. They’re passive, clean, ideal for those who are out during the daytime, and, as this video proves, hugely entertaining to watch wrestle with the inside of a toilet roll.
You know that line careers guidance counsellors often use: “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have”? Well it looks like one bacterium with its eye on a gig in the bowl of a toilet has perhaps taken that advice a bit too literally…
Fashion can be…confusing at times. Especially for those of us whose wardrobe consists of a black T-shirt and a white T-shirt, in case a fancy event comes up.
But there’s no denying that fashion, as an art form, takes its inspiration from the world around us. While not every design will become a permanent fixture or even necessarily work really well, we have to respect the creativity and thought that goes into making fashionable clothes. Though maybe this particular concept should have stayed on the drawing board…or in the dog park!
A Nagaski area public toilet is proving that the future that Blade Runner envisioned is now, and it’s in Japan.
The public toilet in question is apparently about a 10-minute walk from the station proper, at an unassuming location near a pedestrian underpass. To even gain access to the toilet requires you to figure out a complex series of buttons and probably pass a retinal scan to ensure you aren’t a Replicant.
Tokyo may have escaped with only minor damage compared to poor old Kyoto during yesterday’s powerful typhoon, but it would appear that there is at least one Twitter user who suffered losses of a truly horrific nature.
Convenience stores have gotten a bit of a bad name recently thanks to impetuous freezer divers the world over. But this might be the final…straw.
The above picture (sans pixelization) is blowing up on Twitter, having been retweeted over 4,000 times. But what’s wrong with a little chocolate milk tea??
Whether it’s people worrying about the NSA stealing all the cookies from their cookie jars or a generous gent hiding his identity, it seems that privacy is all over the news these days. And while we could argue the merits and demerits of living in a surveillance society, we can probably all agree that there’s nothing more annoying than people looking at your phone screen over your shoulder!
Of course, privacy-protecting films for phones have been around almost as long as cell phones have, but this one takes your privacy to heart and makes sure no one sees your business…
Japan loves amusement parks. And who can blame anyone for that? The rides, the food, the long lines of screaming children. Okay, nothing’s perfect, but amusement parks certainly are a great way to spend the weekend, right? And the best part, of course, is the rides!
But not all rides are created equal. Just look at this photo of the “Sky Cycle” ride at Washuzan Highland, a Brazilian-themed amusement park in Okayama Prefecture. Doesn’t really seem very thrilling, does it? But wait…
Everyone hated studying when they were kids. Hell, everyone hated studying in college. That’s why you sat up on the top floor of the dorm with both a textbook and a beer open and somehow convinced yourself that studying drunk was totally cool as long as you were also drunk while taking the test.
But now a South Korean company has made it possible for kids and college students alike to get some hardcore studying done by creating a study prison that you may also be able to poop in because it totally looks like an old-timey latrine.
Recently in Taiwan, authorities finally apprehended a man who had been terrorizing a Taipei community for an untold stretch of time. This possible terrorist had been brazenly walking from car to a car with a cloth and wiping them down until they sparkled. The fiend!
Thankfully, a brave citizen saw their own car being shined by the man and reported him to the proper authorities. Unfortunately, the people of Taipei only had a brief respite from the horrors he unleashed as police released him shortly afterwards.
As any Japanese speaker will no doubt tell you, the Japanese language, although tricky to master, is incredibly convenient. Not only can we entirely omit words such as “I” or “you” and simply say things like “taberu?” (“eat?”) or “iku?” (“go?”) and it still be perfectly acceptable, but there are also set phrases for use in a multitude of situations, the like of which simply do not exist in many other languages.
But even something as simple as the phrase yoroshiku onegaishimasu (lit. “Please do good (for me),” and used when asking for something or beginning a meeting, class, or even a work or training session) can be quite a mouthful at first. Thankfully though, a recent post made by a Japanese net user suggests that so long as you mutter something that sounds like the actual phrase, you’ll probably get by just fine.
There are a number of things you would never want to find hidden in amongst your parents belongings, but this one might just take the top spot.
Earlier this month, the Katamachi branch of the Chinese food restaurant Gyoza no Osho (King of Gyoza) in Kanazawa City, Japan, shut down after a group of men decided to drop in on the royal dumpling restaurant dressed in nothing but their birthday suits.
Japanese trains in Sapporo might be better than those in Tokyo, thanks to one special feature
Downtown Tokyo’s meaty monster Kaibutsu ramen will challenge your stomach, thrill your taste buds
Lawson convenience store at popular tourist site is one of the most unusual in Japan
Howl’s Moving Castle’s scene-stealing dog is here to clean your home as a plushie mop
Japanese prison will become luxury hotel managed by country’s premier resort company
Tokyo real estate agency sends beautiful women with you on apartment visits for date-like mood
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
“25 Potential Culture Shocks from around the World” infographic offers tidbits of travel wisdom
Ghibli’s Miyazaki hints at possible Nausicaa sequel
Studio Ghibli retailer now sells Japanese anime curry with all the special utensils
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
Tokyo real estate agency sends beautiful women with you on apartment visits for date-like mood
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
“25 Potential Culture Shocks from around the World” infographic offers tidbits of travel wisdom
Ghibli’s Miyazaki hints at possible Nausicaa sequel
Studio Ghibli retailer now sells Japanese anime curry with all the special utensils
McDonald’s Japan adds new Hello Kitty and Pompompurin drinks to the menu for a limited time
Genuine Muramasa blade and Muromachi katana on display at Tokyo’s Touken Ranbu store【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
Tokyo government organizes food truck event to clear out delinquent/homeless teen gathering area
Here comes Japan’s newest fruit dessert sandwich: 7-Eleven’s purple Blueberry Sandwich!
New 7-Eleven sandwich goes viral in Japan, but is it everything it’s cracked up to be?
We eat at an Ishigaki Island hotel breakfast buffet that has incredible value for the money