Featured

unusual

Starbucks Mooncakes: a beautiful and delicious take on a traditional product

Only available in certain countries for a limited time, these regional cakes come with a number of gorgeous details.

Read More

What is this weird train spotted at a Japanese railway station?

Can you guess what the bizarre-looking vehicle is used for?

Read More

Unusual fish tanks lure visitors to old Japanese shopping district in Nara Prefecture

Inside a phone booth, a table, and in the shape of an old Japanese lantern, these fish tanks are some of the most unusual we’ve seen.

Read More

Japanese driver fails to stop at a yellow light, turns herself in to the police

Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, so it is no surprise to hear that the majority of the Japanese population are law-abiding citizens. How law-abiding are the Japanese? We could pull up some statistics and numbers for you, but we believe that you internet-savvy Rocketeers are more than capable of finding such information online. Here’s a little incident that may be slightly unusual, but just goes to show how serious some Japanese are when it comes to keeping the law.

A driver in Oita Prefecture surrendered herself to the police because she beat the yellow (or amber, if you live in the UK) light at a traffic junction. It wasn’t even a red light. More details after the break!

Read More


Don’t trust your eyes! Let these unique pieces of art challenge your perception of reality

Getting tricked is usually no fun, but not in the case of brilliant art that tricks the eye. Take for instance, the work of Japanese art university student Hikaru Cho, an example of which is shown in the picture above. Does that look like an ordinary cucumber to you? We certainly wouldn’t blame you if you said it does, but read further to find out what the object really is!

Read More

40 amazing finds on Yahoo! Japan’s auction site

In the West, we have eBay. But here in Japan, it’s all about Yahoo! Auctions. By far the most popular auction site in the the country, it’s the one-stop shop for picking up a great deal on anything and everything under the sun. We took a look at some of the items up for bids and came away dizzy from the weird and wonderful possibilities in store. We bring you 40 of the stand-out auction items for you to enjoy.

Read More

Japanese customers are raving about a bath mat made from soil

This bath mat is so popular that it’s sold out on many of its retail websites. The reason for its popularity? It’s said to feel so good and absorb moisture so well that it surpasses anything that’s come before it. Oh, and it’s made entirely from soil.

Read More

Eat Pray Love… and Drink Starbucks Coffee in a Breathtakingly Beautiful Balinese Village

Starbucks is well-known for taking up residence in some unusual places. They’ve had a pop-up store in Tokyo and they even have a historical western-style house house in Kobe.  But in the beautiful mountain village of Ubud, Bali, there’s a more subdued Starbucks. Set up in an old storehouse, and blending perfectly with the environment, you wouldn’t instantly think this was part of a global coffee franchise.

We went to check out this unique coffeehouse and found it to be incredibly beautiful and serene. Out of all the Starbucks stores we’ve visited across the world, this is by far the one we recommend the most. With an exceptionally unique atmosphere, we bring you four reasons why this may very well be the best Starbucks in the world.

Read More

【Photo Tour】 Japan: Home to Nine Little-Known Guinness World Records

OK, so maybe Japan isn’t home to the world’s tallest man, nor does it hold the record for most simultaneous boob squeezes, but the land of the rising sun is still home to some pretty quirky records.

From “station with the shortest name in the world” to “world’s largest flower clock” (seriously), Japan has plenty to offer.

So come with us now as we take a sightseeing tour across the country to discover some of the coolest, most mundane and downright odd world records that few of us even knew existed. Plenty of photos and videos after the jump!

Read More