Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Horror (Page 3)
Are you afraid of the dark? Most children are, but as we get older we get used to going out at night and start to realize that the world during the twilight hours is the same as during the day, only a bit darker.
But that lingering fear of the darkness often remains somewhere deep inside, forgotten but never entirely gone. Bring those fears back to the fore again this Halloween with Yomawari, a cute but creepy new game for the PlayStation Vita.
Japanese horror films are their own special brand of awesome. Movies like The Ring and The Grudge will sometimes make you roll your eyes with their cheesy acting and special effects, but at the same time contain certain horrifying scenes that will stick with you in your nightmares for weeks to come.
The latest installment in The Grudge series, Grudge: The Final has just come out in Japan, advertised by commercials airing all over. However, one commercial received so many complaints about it being “way too scary” that it was taken down and replaced with something more tame.
Are you brave enough to watch the original commercial? Then read on to get your chance.
Thailand has always been known for its extremely terrifying repertoire of horror movies. However, the tropical nation’s taste for horror appears to extend into their manga culture as well. A sample of their convenience store comic book selection are so packed with grotesque images that we wonder whether kids who see them on the shelves don’t have nightmares.
I used to work in online hotel marketing, and sometimes properties in Japan didn’t mesh up smoothly with our database. The system allowed us to easily trumpet amenities such as sofas and Jacuzzi bathtubs by just pasting in a line of code, but if we wanted to tout things like provided yukata cotton kimonos or onsite natural hot springs, both of which were popular with our users, that took some extra fiddling around.
Since we were a global company, we had to accept that those “only in Japan” features weren’t going to get a spot on the standard, easy-to-use checklist. Still, I sympathize with the difficulties this sort of thing presents for boutique hotel operators, and that’s why today we’re spreading the word about a hotel in Japan with two incredibly unique amenities: zombies and ghosts.
Summer is the season for ghost stories in Japan, and at the end of August we sent one of our reporters to try out the terrifying haunted house from the horror masters and game fans at Obaken. Amazing as that six-room production is, Obaken has since expanded its scale to something even bigger: Zombie Camp, a two-day excursion that combines the majesty of the great outdoors with the threat of rampaging zombies!
Here’s something to make “Not Sure if…” Fry’s head explode out of sheer confusion. It looks like there may or may not be a zombie epidemic spreading throughout Tokyo which affects only young, college-aged girls.
…Or it could be a strange, niche soft porn site for lonely Japanese lovers of horror and very cute girls.
In recent years, Japan seems to have been catching on to the whole Halloween thing in a big way. Halloween celebrations and festivals grow and grow year after year and they’re starting earlier in the year than ever before.
Case in point: Universal Studios Japan’s “Horror Night” program starts over a month before Halloween, which is earlier than even some of my more overzealous Halloween buff friends in America were asking for costume ideas on Facebook. Of course, getting started early on the Halloween spirit is never a bad thing; everybody loves the family-friendly adrenaline kick you get from being “soft scared” by horror events you know are just pretend.
The problem, apparently, is that Universal Studios – according to Japanese media – might be taking things a little too far.
Japan’s desire to look at attractive women is more or less insatiable. Despite having sizable swimsuit modeling, adult video, and animated pornography industries, the country still finds itself with not enough eye candy.
So now, model maker Kotobukiya has gone looking for female beauty in the most unlikely of places, by turning the iconic villains of slasher movies franchises Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street into sexy girls.
It’s almost summer and that means a lot of stuff in Japan—Golden Week, brain melting humidity, Obon, and of course, horror movies and haunted houses. While many people in the west binge on horror flicks and spooky attractions as Halloween nears, Japanese people tend to get their fright on during the summer months.
We recently caught up with Margee Kerr, a sociologist who studies fear and helps the world famous ScareHouse terrify their patrons—in a good way of course! Margee was in Japan studying how fear works across different cultures and we were excited to learn about the similarities and differences in the reactions between Japan and America to horror. Check out our interview with a true master of fear at one of Tokyo’s scariest bars: Yurei Izakaya in Kichijoji!
A Wednesday press conference at Tokyo’s Akagi Shrine announced that Masayuki Ochiai (Parasite Eve, Shutter, live-action TV The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) will write and direct a new Juon/The Grudge horror film. Juon: Owari no Hajimari (The Grudge: Beginning of the End) will begin shooting on Tuesday and will open in Japanese theaters on June 28.
With all of the weird and horrifying animals that seem to be coming out of the ocean recently, we thought we had seen it all. But a Facebook user recently posted a picture of a fish that looks straight out of Silent Hill.
The mysterious sea creature was caught in the Arctic water of the northern territory of Nunavut in Canada. Are you ready to see a fish that could give you nightmares?
【Once upon a time, nobody read RocketNews24 because it was really really bad. RocketRevival is a weekly corner that takes a look at some of our more passable articles from that bygone era that still hold valuable lessons today.】
Over the past ten years or so, sushi has become one of the most popular dishes in the world and has mainstreamed the consumption of raw fish in countries that previously wouldn’t think of sticking a fork in a salmon without grilling it first. While some people may still feel apprehensive when trying sushi for the first time, it usually only takes one bite of faith and you’re hooked.
On a trip to Thailand, however, one of our reporters found a seafood dish so raw that even the most sushi-loving Japanese might think twice before sticking it between their chopsticks.
We’ve covered the phenomenon of charabens in the past ranging from the extremely cute to the downright bizarre. However, as with any art form, the horror genre cannot be left out. Inspired by some photos of horror bentos found online a reporter from the website Pouch, Hotaru Yamakawa, has decided to make her own series of 3 horror bentos and help you make your own.
On first hearing about this story, it’s easy to be skeptical that a review for a can of cat food could possibly be as unnerving as one buyer’s comment on Rakuten (Japan’s answer to Amazon) was purported to be.
Most of us have spent enough time on the internet and saw our share of Goatses and blue waffles. So how could an online review for a tin of Mon Petit Whitefish & Tuna For Kittens possibly turn our web-hardened stomachs?
It did.
What happens when you combine one of the cutest, most beloved mascot characters in the world with one of the most terrifying characters in modern Japanese fiction and cinema? You get “Sadako Kitty”, or Kitty dressed up as Sadako, the character from the hit Japanese horror series “The Ring”. Of course, it’s Hello Kitty, so she’s still cute, but she does look quite different from her usual self. Read More
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Harajuku Station’s beautiful old wooden building is set to return, with a new complex around it
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Heartwarming response to Twitter question confirms that yes, Tikuwa_0913, there is a Santa Claus
Suntory x Super Mario collaboration creates a clever way to transform into Mario【Videos】
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Pokémon Sleep camping suite and guestrooms coming to Tokyo Hyatt along with giant Snorlax burgers
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo to KyotoRed light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour TotoroJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotesAll-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutionsMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Heartwarming response to Twitter question confirms that yes, Tikuwa_0913, there is a Santa Claus
Suntory x Super Mario collaboration creates a clever way to transform into Mario【Videos】
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Pokémon Sleep camping suite and guestrooms coming to Tokyo Hyatt along with giant Snorlax burgers
Starbucks Japan adds a Motto Frappuccino to the menu for a limited time
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Smash Bros. director Sakurai stabs Kirby in the face, has delicious justification for it
Shinjuku izakaya’s all-you-can-eat-and-drink plan is one of Tokyo’s best secret cheap eats
Studio Ghibli releases new free-to-use anime images to “use within the bounds of common sense”
Completely unmanned 24-hours clothing store found in Tokyo
Dogs now allowed on Catbus! Ghibli Park vehicles revise service animal policy
Japan’s massive matcha parfait weighs 6 kilos, contains hidden surprises for anyone who eats it
