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These adorable illustrations of Totoros with various veggies and acorns will transform your kitchen into its cutest form yet.
Fans of Love Live! Sunshine!! will no doubt want to get their hands on a pair of Love Live! nippers.
Growing up in the 90s, I was raised with the notion that ninja were teenage turtles, silent assassins or similar to the characters in Naruto. As much as we’d like to believe these were the reality, according to an interesting article from Listverse, the ninja that actually roamed the streets and castles as spies and assassins were humans who didn’t always dress in black (apparently they wore dark blue), and they didn’t regularly use the famous weapons we know so well.
So, if they weren’t using shuriken and long swords all of the time, what did they use? Researchers have been investigating the ancient style for decades and have uncovered some pretty amazing and ingenious items that you would never even dream of. There are probably thousands of ninja tools and techniques out there, but we’ll just focus on the few that Listverse brought into the open.
Sometimes, people are subconsciously bound by their cultural habits and traditions, and fail to see beyond the appearance of things. To the Japanese, a bamboo makisu (sushi mat) is used to make sushi, but in the hands of someone outside of Japan, the traditional culinary item is transformed into something completely unrelated to food. If you’re looking to add some Japanese element into your daily life, read on for the simple DIY instructions to make your own sushi mat brush organizer!
As we’ve said before, Japanese isn’t actually as hard to learn as it’s often made out to be. Unlike English, for example, Japanese follows its own grammatical rules far more rigidly, pronunciation is easy because there is only one variant of each vowel sound to choose from (none of this tomayto/tomahto business), and it’s possible to create entire, perfectly meaningful and valid sentences without uttering a single pronoun or bothering to conjugate a verb.
Nevertheless, the language will not magically seep into you through a desire to speak it alone — you still need to encounter and study it as often as possible. With that in mind, we’d like to present to you the six and a half resources that no dedicated student of the Japanese language should ever be without. Oh, and the good news is some of them are completely free.
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A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
7-Eleven Japan sells freshly baked pizzas…but are they any good?
Japan has omurice chocolate, and the weirdest thing isn’t how it tastes
Chocolate Totoro cream puffs and cakes coming to Japan’s Ghibli bakery for Valentine’s Day【Pics】
A robot joins the team at a fast-food restaurant, but in an unlikely city in northern Japan
Made-to-order onigiri rice ball hotel breakfast buffet in Tokyo is open (and awesome) to all
Sento bathhouse gets a new lease on life as a Tokyo cafe and office space
Bath noodles — Do you know about this strange Japanese bathing custom?
Hybrid Cup Noodle Sodas – Forbidden flavors to astound and traumatize【Taste test】
Downloads of 39-year-old Guns N’ Roses song increase 12,166 percent thanks to Gundam
Weekly
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Three beautiful places to see Japan’s plum blossoms after starting your day in downtown Tokyo
Cherry blossom forecasts map shows Japan’s OTHER sakura season is starting right now- Downloads of 39-year-old Guns N’ Roses song increase 12,166 percent thanks to Gundam
Huge Evangelion Unit-01 head appearing in lights in Japan to celebrate anime’s 30th anniversary
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
New Studio Ghibli stamps leave an impression on your stationery…and your heart
Family Mart releases huge range of cute sweets for Cat Day in Japan
Japan’s first all-matcha ramen restaurant is now open in Kyoto【Photos】
Japan’s most famous Mt. Fuji view park cancels cherry blossom festival because of overtourism
Monthly
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Japan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026
Archfiend Hello Kitty appears as Sanrio launches new team-up with Yu-Gi-Oh【Pics】
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning looks to be affecting tourist crowds on Miyajima
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino and latte for Valentine’s Day- Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Studio Ghibli releases new “komorebi” plush toys from Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away
Yokai are descending upon Tokyo this spring in the latest immersive art experience
Japan’s Naruto theme park now offering real-world version of Minato’s kunai ninja weapon
Our 52-year-old pole dancing reporter shares his tips for achieving your New Year’s exercise goal
Yearly
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
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
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
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Updated cherry blossom forecast shows extra-long sakura season for Japan this year
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Made-to-order onigiri rice ball hotel breakfast buffet in Tokyo is open (and awesome) to all
Sento bathhouse gets a new lease on life as a Tokyo cafe and office space
Bath noodles — Do you know about this strange Japanese bathing custom?
Hybrid Cup Noodle Sodas – Forbidden flavors to astound and traumatize【Taste test】
Downloads of 39-year-old Guns N’ Roses song increase 12,166 percent thanks to Gundam
Cat-ear eye drops take Japan’s obsession with felines to a whole new level
McDonald’s Japan adds first-ever shrimp rice burger to menu in gohan sandwich expansion
Swapping seats on Japan’s bullet trains is not allowed, Shinkansen operator says
And now, we eat a bear paw we bought in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture【Taste test】
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning looks to be affecting tourist crowds on Miyajima
There’s a secret free souvenir hiding inside this Japanese train station
Magical anime fan art has characters appearing to leap off the page in tender act of friendship
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Our reporter tries amemonaka, the traditional sweet from Niigata Prefecture
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