vegetables
The popular yakiniku chain is offering the set for the duration of the summer at participating locations throughout Japan.
What better way to start your day than with freshly harvested, local vegetables from Japan’s ancient capital city?
From cucumbers to cabbage and sweet potatoes, this cat can’t resist the allure of a good vegetable.
Passengers were surprised to hear the announcement: “The train will be delayed due to vegetables on the tracks“.
If you work in an urban hub like Tokyo, you can pretty much forget about seeing everyday countryside sights like rice paddies and plump red tomatoes. That is, unless you work here…
The cucumber is a magnificent vegetable. Apart from simply being eaten as part of a healthy diet, they can also be cute, made into art, brought to life, and even given as treats to helpful Shiba Inu. With so many uses, is there anyone out there who could possible hate cucumbers?
Apparently, yes. There’s one town in Japan where it is strictly forbidden to grow or eat cucumbers. Why do they hate the vegetable? And is their rule actually valid or are they all in a pickle over nothing?
Japanese cuisine has a reputation for being super healthy, with its incorporation of nutrition-packed fish and seasonal vegetables. True, the diet of many Japanese today is not at all ideal, but your more traditional Japanese meal still has bragging rights for its healthfulness, and vegetables are still eaten in abundance.
The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare recently released the results of a survey revealing a ranking of the most eaten vegetables in Japan, but what claimed the number one spot? A vegetable you might not even be able to find in your own country!
The beautiful thing about art is that is has no boundaries, no baseline and no rules. You might disagree with someone on the interpretation of how a piece speaks to you, but it is still art.
Everyone remembers their grade school art classes where one of the first assignments was to paint or draw a bowl of fruit, right? It’s a perfect starting point since fruits come in different shapes, sizes and colors, so it’s a great way to figure out how to convert real-life into still-life on the page.
However, there is an amazing artist that is turning that notion on its head, instead of creating a piece of art by looking at the fruit, how about creating art from the fruit itself? This Italian artist is going to blow your mind with his amazing sculptures carved out of a piece of fruit.
In rural areas of Japan you can often see little vegetable stands set up by the side of the road, where farmers sell their surplus produce for small amounts of money, usually 100 yen per bag. The stands are unmanned and work on an honour system, so you just put your money in the little box and take your pick of produce.
The stands are a pretty common sight in Japan, but we had to do a double-take when we saw this Twitter picture of a kitty named “Aubergine” (or eggplant to our readers in the US) apparently offering himself up for purchase – and at 100 yen (US$0.80), he’s a steal! However, he’s not the only kitty to have attempted this little trick…
Remember back in the day when all of your older relatives and the kids you knew from school but never speak to any more would send you invites to play Farmville? Remember how seeing a new notification on your Facebook toolbar that just turned out to be yet another invitation to play f’$%ng Farmville would fill you with impotent rage?
Well think about how different your reaction might have been if your “friends” hadn’t been backhandedly asking you to help them raise their not-actually-existent virtual ducks and cabbages, but were in fact asking you to help them put real, actual food in their mouths.
One Japanese startup, Telefarm, is hoping that the future is online games that reward players for good performance with actual products delivered to their door. And they’ve been running a farming simulator prototype for a little over a year now to test that model’s feasibility.
“Buying local” is about to have a whole new meaning in the Tokyo area soon since the Tokyo Metro is going to start selling vegetables that have been grown really locally. Called Tokyo Salad, these special veggies are being marketed as some of the freshest vegetables that are grown close to home.
But if you look around Tokyo, you’ll be really hard pressed to find much farming land. So where exactly are they growing these local foods?
No, this is not a joke. This is an actual video–number 28, actually–in a whole series of videos made for the sole purpose of trying to find the best ‘method’ to increase a small-chested woman’s bust size.
In this particular excerpt, our unfaltering host Ryoko tries out one of her ideas for natural enlargement by massaging her chest…with summer vegetables?! All of you interested ladies (and men; we know that y’all secretly want to increase your chest size so you can wear one of these little gems), join us after the jump to learn more about this “Method to increase your breast size when harvesting summer vegetables”!
I’ve lived among Japanese fruits and vegetables for 17 years and one thing I can say for sure is that vegetables are waaay smarter than fruits.
Bonsai and sushi are two of Japan’s most well-known cultural exports with fans all over the world. But while Japan may cling to the traditional presentation of these two icons, globalization has taken these Japanese icons and turned them into something new. Not just happy with tiny trees and raw fish on top of vinegar rice, these cultural hybrids have evolved into something far beyond their origins in the Japanese archipelago. Click below to see some very creative bonsai as well as some food that really stretches the definition of “sushi.”
So, apparently numerous ’50s and ’60s B-Movies (and one glorious ’80s cartoon) and a popular, genre-defining video game weren’t enough to deter scientists from playing God with plant-life if the growing number of hybrid vegetables available on Japanese store shelves is any proof.
These days, most hybrid vegetables are created over a roughly 10-year period of crossbreeding certain seeds in what we presume is some kind of laboratory setting, although the practice has been alive for centuries – yielding some hybrids that the general public isn’t even aware are hybrids. The Romanesco, for example, is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, and was created in the 16th century. Side note: It’s also probably mind blowing to look at while high.
But the things we’re seeing increasingly often in Japan these days are just plain weird.
MOST POPULAR
Now
This beautiful up-and-coming Japanese fashion model isn’t actually a person【Photos】
Japanese subway conductor sues city for legal right for his beard to exist, monetary compensation
Japanese Internet confused and intrigued by sudden influx of “choking Sasuke memes”
Chiitan the otter rejected as mascot character for Japan’s Susaki City due to reckless behavior
Man buys CD from amateur musician on streets of Tokyo, stomps on it in front of her face【Video】
American fan meets his idol under the Shinjuku Godzilla, Mr. Sato apologizes for his photos
Seijinshiki 2019: Best wild kimono outfits from Coming of Age Day celebrations in Kitakyushu
The surprising source of the Ohmus’ voices in Ghibli’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Beloved Japanese paper craft wizard turns cookie box into a gorgeous sculpture
Japan’s public broadcaster films science experiment at the country’s most famous porn location
Weekly
- Japanese Internet confused and intrigued by sudden influx of “choking Sasuke memes”
“There are many mentally unwell girls in AKB48” claims ex-member of Japan’s top idol singer group
Japanese woman finds out fiance she met when he “found” her lost phone is the man who stole it- Seijinshiki 2019: Best wild kimono outfits from Coming of Age Day celebrations in Kitakyushu
Japan cherry blossom forecast 2019! Sakura coming earlier than usual to Tokyo
Budget entertainment: 12 fun things to do in Tokyo that will cost you absolutely nothing- Man buys CD from amateur musician on streets of Tokyo, stomps on it in front of her face【Video】
- This beautiful up-and-coming Japanese fashion model isn’t actually a person【Photos】
Buying property in Japan? This mini tower house can be yours for less than $12,000
Tokyo’s new “real-life Mario Karts” make it ridiculously clear they’re unrelated to Nintendo
Monthly
Japanese dad mercilessly beats son to tears in Smash Bros. after he says he wants to be pro gamer
Artist collapses at Comiket and dies, leading brother to make a request of all anime illustrators
Japanese 26-year old single mother arrested for inviting underage high school boy home
Cafe opens in Tokyo staffed by robots controlled by paralyzed people
Otaku husband returns home after argument to find wife has destroyed his anime robot collection
Loving husky dog gives her owner the most enthusiastic greeting, and also the loudest
Japanese idol asks fans to marry her, provided they can pay her 400,000 yen (US$3,550) a month
“He wore Uniqlo to meet me!” Japanese woman shares petty bad date story, Internet bites back- Japan’s public broadcaster films science experiment at the country’s most famous porn location
- Japanese Internet confused and intrigued by sudden influx of “choking Sasuke memes”
Yearly
- Japanese dad mercilessly beats son to tears in Smash Bros. after he says he wants to be pro gamer
Low-quality laughing stock of current anime season sends hidden cry for help in closing credits- Artist collapses at Comiket and dies, leading brother to make a request of all anime illustrators
To combat declining birth rate, Japan to begin offering “Breeding Visas” to foreigners- Cafe opens in Tokyo staffed by robots controlled by paralyzed people
- Japanese 26-year old single mother arrested for inviting underage high school boy home
Miss World Japan: The great-times-20-granddaughter of samurai lord One-Eyed Dragon
Edo-Period Japanese book depicts U.S. history in hilariously awesome illustrations
Shibuya Halloween event turns ugly with toppled truck, perverts, and upskirt photography
Miss Universe Japan debuts Sailor Moon ninja transformation dress as national costume for 2018
RECOMMENDED STORIES
American fan meets his idol under the Shinjuku Godzilla, Mr. Sato apologizes for his photos
Seijinshiki 2019: Best wild kimono outfits from Coming of Age Day celebrations in Kitakyushu
The surprising source of the Ohmus’ voices in Ghibli’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Beloved Japanese paper craft wizard turns cookie box into a gorgeous sculpture
Japan’s public broadcaster films science experiment at the country’s most famous porn location
Japan’s hyper-realistic CG schoolgirl moves for the first time in new video【Video】
Japanese swimsuit models celebrate Bikini Day 2018【Photos】
Wizarding World Cafe: First ever official Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts cafe opens in Japan
Man revives woman with AED, branded a “pervert” for removing her clothes to apply electrode pads
Idol group AKB48 sells 2.5 million copies of new CD, bags full of them end up in trash days later
Evangelion creator says even Hayao Miyazaki anime don’t have enough Miyazaki
Japanese woman finds out fiance she met when he “found” her lost phone is the man who stole it
6 challenges to international relationships (and how to make them work)
Japanese cosplayer wows crowds in Akihibara with four-legged centaur costume 【Video, photos】
-
