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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.

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This Chinese tongue twister will melt your brain

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.

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Need a pick-me-up? Check out this magnificent and adorable dog butt!

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…

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Is Umaibo housing the architecture of the future?

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!

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Bring your child’s imagination to life: 3-D printed figures of children’s drawings are awesome!

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.

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Awkward Jimmy Kimmel segment suggests some kids start being racist jerks at around age six

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.

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Tiny intruder mobilizes entire cat army

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…

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The future of smoking: USB-powered Jii Lighter is here! (And it’s kind of insane)

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.

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Japanese clothing brand earth music&ecology release new photo app, Mr. Sato has fun with it!

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!

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Symmetry is creepy! 26 photos of animals “evolving” with the help of mirror images

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…

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A pear running from explosions: Video of Funasshi fleeing fireballs cracks Japan up【Video】

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.

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Pikachu kisses his audience in Pokémon XY anime opening, gives glimpse of another dimension

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!?

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Real-life GTA missions: Yakuza member charged with trespassing after chasing boss’s cat

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.

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Fukushima Corporation unveils new mascot with an unfortunate (but hilarious) name

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…

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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.”

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Can you spot the shocking hidden image in this plate of curry and rice?

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.

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Qing Dynasty-era Doraemon statue raises serious questions about possibility of time travel

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.

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Is that a horse in your parking lot or are you just happy to see me?

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??

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Japanese Ministry of Defense’s official visitor safety illustrations are surreal, hilarious

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.

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Hatsune Miku sightings spring up during uphill bike race

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?

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