Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Mr. Sato (Page 34)
Among the many kinds of tasty sweets indigenous to Japan, you’ll find the monaka. Monaka consist of two wafers, traditionally sandwiched around a dollop of the sweet red bean paste called anko.
Different confectioners put their own unique spin on monaka, such as infusing it with citrus or mixing ice cream in the filling. But while we’ve eaten plenty of variations on the tasty treat, our intrepid reporter Mr. Sato recently brought back one we’d never heard of before: suicide monaka.
It’s a little known yet unsurprising fact that Mr. Sato loves a nice bowl of potato chips. However, much to the chagrin of his colleagues, he loves them so much that he begins to flail his limbs around wildly when he gets some.
After brushing the crumbs off the keyboards and shopping around online, the rest of the RocketNews24 staff found Gyro Bowl. For only 2,480 yen (US$24) this German-engineered bowl boasts a full 360° of spill prevention. All that combined with Mr. Sato’s inherent love of orange spinny stuff made this purchase a no-brainer. When the bowl arrived it was time to fire up the cameras and see how Gyro Bowl held up to Mr. Sato’s chip dance of joy.
It’s been said that Christmas in Japan is for lovers, and that’s bad news for someone like our Mr. Sato. That’s not to say he’s unlucky with the ladies, but whenever he goes in for that first kiss his prickly stubble never fails to repel them.
However, Christmas is also a time for miracles, and while walking through the Akihabara streets last week, a blue Oasis appeared before him. Staffed by several sexy women clad in cute blue Santa outfits stood the Gillette Skin Diagnosis Event.
There may not have been any Thanksgiving festivities in Japan this past week, but the Japanese language’s ample opportunities for puns gave us two special days to celebrate. Coming on the heels of Knee-High Socks Day was the equally pun-tastic Good Meat Day on November 29.
Good Meat Day gets its name by breaking the date into its individual digits of 1-1-2-9, which can be read as ii niku, literally “good meat.” We decided the best way to commemorate our carnivorous cravings was by hitting Burger King to catch the tail-end of their all-you-can-eat burger promotion.
It has been a great year for gamers. Two new game consoles—PlayStation 4 and Xbox One— have ushered in a new generation of living room gaming, and then scientists gave us some delicious data to throw back in mom’s face about how spending all that time glued to the NES was actually making us smarter. And to add to the year of good news, a very (un)official poll of about 50 couples at Joypolis arcade in Tokyo said that playing video games actually makes you more attractive on a date!
But which games are best to impress, and does it really work? Click below to find out as well as to participate in our official RocketNews24 poll to test this theory of video games’ effects on beauty.
Thursday Throwback is your peek into the archives of RocketNews24. We’d hate for you to miss any of the quality quirky news from Asia and Japan just because you recently stumbled on our site. And if you’re a devout RN24 reader, thank you for your continued readership! Enjoy this blast from the past!
(Originally posted on April 19, 2012 by Steven)
Well that didn’t take long. Just yesterday we shared the story of how our own Mr. Sato capitalized on Burger King Japan’s current 15 bacon strips for 100 yen (US $1.20) promotion by ordering a Whopper with 105 bacon strips. While Mr. Sato managed to finish the burger, he didn’t seem to be in the best shape afterwards, falling into a meat-induced coma and then suddenly breaking out of it only to run out of the room with his hand covering his mouth.
Surely we thought Mr. Sato had finally learned his lesson that consuming stacks of bacon is a task better left to professionals. So imagine our surprise when he came in the office holding a plastic bag sagging under the weight of a 1,050 bacon strip Whopper.
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!
Have you ever wanted to start dancing like a madman in the middle of a crowded urban street, but felt restrained by the conventions of society? Our reporter Mr. Sato sure has. So when he learnt about the Halls throat lozenges’ YOUareLIQUIDMAN campaign, he got right on it.
YOUareLIQUIDMAN encourages sheepish individuals to upload a photo of themselves to the Halls website. Their photo is then displayed on liquid man who proceeds to dance like Michael Stipe in front of total strangers.
In the early days of the iPhone in Japan it was under an exclusive contract with telecoms giant Softbank, which gradually gave way to AU availability as well. This left NTT’s Docomo, as the only big mobile carrier without any Apple product of its own.
However, coinciding with the Japanese launch of the new iPhone5S and iPhone5C today, Docomo has finally jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and is carrying the unit that so many people have been clamouring for. No one was more thrilled at the news then our own Mr. Sato, a long time Docomo subscriber. So he headed down to the Docomo store in Marunouchi to get one as soon as it came out. Turns out he was their very first customer.
Japan has a long way to go when it comes to eliminating the public health hazards associated with smoking, but recent public policy efforts have caused a serious change in attitude toward smokers.
Smoking sections in restaurants and cafes are becoming smaller and increasingly more isolated, while fleets of bike-mounted enforcers hand out humiliating fines to those caught smoking on designated no smoking streets.
Finally, however, smokers can indulge in their pastime in peace at the Koshigaya Laketown shopping mall in Saitama Prefecture. A new specialized café, Smoking Café Briquet, caters specifically to tobacco connoisseurs with a variety of smoking merchandise and cigar and cigarette selections, with every seat in the house safe to light up in. It’s almost like being a character in Kaze Tachinu…
When out on the town many drinking establishments in Japan offer yakitori, which is basically grilled marinated chicken on a stick. These are offered in a wide variety using different parts of the chicken, added vegetables, or different sauces, salts and spice blends.
Now Zenyaren Sohonten Tokyo is offering a one-of-a-kind type of grilled chicken called The World’s First Mega-Yakitori. This limited edition menu item is said to contain 30 times the meat of a regular stick of yakitori. This isn’t a simple case of quantity over quality either as the chicken is specially selected from regions across Japan.
Before anyone even asked him, Mr. Sato was digging out his most loose-fitting jeans and on his way to try it out.
On July 16th, the Japanese beer company, Kirin, released an all-new brand of gin-based alcohol called Kirin Dry Rickey. To build up hype for their new product, Kirin ran a very unique sort of promotional event on Tokyo’s Yamanote train line. When most companies would have thrown their entire advertisement budget into posters, billboards, and commercials, Kirin organized a special event known as nothing more than an “escape game.” Our very own Mr. Sato, lured in by the mystery and the smell of booze, decided to take part in this very special game and discover what it takes to “escape” from a train on the Yamanote Line.
Although it’s often overshadowed by ramen and soba, udon is the final member of the triumvirate of Japanese noodles. With a spongy, absorbent texture, it allows diners to really enjoy the flavor of the broth or dipping sauce it’s served with. This airier structure also means you might need a larger serving to get as full as you would from a meal of ramen or soba, however.
With this in mind, and very little in his stomach, our reporter Mr. Sato headed to a branch of popular udon chain Marugame Seimen, where he fearlessly ordered the largest bowl of udon on the menu, the Family Udon.
A few days ago, we designed and field tested a shoulder-mounted, hands-free burger holding device that allowed our gluttonous Mr. Sato to eat one of his beloved burgers without missing a Tweet. Then he wondered if his free hands might allow him to indulge his other passion… Get your mind out of the gutter! We mean noodles!
Read on for the results of our experiment and instructions on how to try it yourself.
It is believed that AKB48’s Tomomi Itano will be leaving the massive pop unit to pursue her solo career sometime around August this year. Itano has also released her fourth single as a solo artist, entitled “1%”, on 12 June.
To help promote the song, the Tomomi Itano 1% Dance Trial 2013 is underway in which anyone can upload a video of themselves dancing to 1% on YouTube for a chance to perform alongside the idol in her next video.
The event has already drawn the likes of professional dancers, internet personalities, and of course Mr. Sato.
The annual Air Guitar World Championships held in Oulu, Northern Finland celebrates the beloved guitar without actually using them. Instead, participants channel all the energy, attitude, and athleticism of playing rock guitar into their invisible air guitar while performing on stage.
With the 18th championships being held in August this year, RocketNews24 has assembled our finest imaginary guitarists, Stardust Sato and Fantastic Hatori, to represent us. However, the two must first face the qualifying round. Find out if they made the cut after the break.
Summer is almost here, and in Japan that means two things. First, high humidity and the profuse sweating that comes with it. But second, summer is also the season of hot, passionate, romance.
Unfortunately, this spring has again found our intrepid reporter Mr. Sato unable to find a girlfriend, but he’s ready to wipe the slate clean and give it his all this summer. We decided it was best to get Mr. Sato a little practice, so he’d have a good running start before the season of love gets fully underway. To that end, he asked out idol singer Sayaka Shiotani from vocal unit Pureful. Like all women, she is powerless to resist the charms of a RocketNews24 writer, and so of course said yes.
“Honestly though, I don’t have much experience with girls, and I’m not even really sure how to talk to them,” he tells us. Well, as a wise man once said, when you’re trying to pick up girls, use humor. And if you’re not funny, use alcohol. Read More
With the few days of comfortable weather known as spring in Japan slipping away it’s time to brace ourselves for the muggy scorching heat of summer. This of course means it’s Hyper-Gentleman’s Cool Biz time again!
While 2012 was the year of the electric-lime mankini, this year’s fashions are going retro with a boldly traditional Japanese loincloth, the fundoshi, balanced by an elegant yet sporty parasol.
So join us, as we examine this year’s choice in summer formal attire along with our model, the devilishly handsome Mr. Sato.
With Golden Week over, it means summer and hot, humid days are just around the corner. Knowing you’ll need a cooling and refreshing oasis to escape to in the months ahead, Mr. Sato headed over to the Mori Trust Garden in Toranomom District, Tokyo to scope out the offerings at Kirin’s Ichiban Garden.
Studio Ghibli releases new range of cardigans for anime fans
Taking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first time
Celebrating Good Couple’s Day in Japan…by getting our significant others to dress us
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
How merry is Starbucks Japan’s new Merry Cream holiday Frappuccino?
Nine reasons some Japanese women *only* date foreign guys
Boro the Caterpillar anime now showing at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo 【SoraReview】
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Flying dango: Unique tourist site where Japanese sweets are flown to you over a gorgeTaking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first timeJapanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Yakuza vending machines coming to real-world Tokyo neighborhood that inspired Like a Dragon games
Starbucks Japan unveils second Holiday Frappuccino for 2024
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a rowGhibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve tooBerserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
How merry is Starbucks Japan’s new Merry Cream holiday Frappuccino?
Nine reasons some Japanese women *only* date foreign guys
Boro the Caterpillar anime now showing at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo 【SoraReview】
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Japan’s Super Colossal Mega Parfait is so freakishly huge it comes in a beer pitcher【Taste test】
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Lotus root: the enlightened way to knock out hay fever
Kura Sushi adds new cake party train to conveyor belts at select restaurants
Taiwan’s most beautiful politician kicks groper in balls during visit to Japan
Cheeseburger rice bowls arrive at Japanese beef bowl chain Matsuya, and in our stomach【Taste test】
Studio Ghibli releases The Boy and the Heron merchandise in Japan【Pics】
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
