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Five fun facts from our favorite articles this week

1) You can propose with a Pokemon engagement ring.

2) The cutest hiragana character is あ.

3) In Japan, you can pee while inside a glass box.

4) Curry made from a 1,300-year-old recipe is pretty tasty.

5) It’s improper to mix your wasabi with soy sauce as a dip for sushi.

New iPhone case looks like sea monster swallowed your phone

It may look like some CG monster out of Cloverfield, but the monstrosity above is actually a giant isopod, a type of crustacean that lives deep in the sea. Yes, that Pekinese-sized pill bug actually exists. And now, you can have an iPhone case that looks just like it!

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Darth Vader flower blooms in Kyoto, total Empire takeover to follow

A peculiar flower that resembles Darth Vader has just bloomed at the Kyoto Botanical Garden, causing rebels in the Kyoto metropolitan area to tremble in fear. With two deep pitted areas and a smaller one in the middle, as well as a bulbous cap with curled edges, it appears the Sith Lord has been reincarnated as a flower.

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Korean woman goes under the knife 120 times in pursuit of perfection

We’ve already covered South Korea’s attitudes about plastic surgery; basically, that it’s considered at worst a necessary evil for some folks to get ahead in life.

That cultural attitude has led the country to be widely considered the world cosmetic surgery capital, and has even led a handful, like this obsessed woman, to spend years of their lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars artificially perfecting their appearance.

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Japan’s “painfully” decorated anime vans【Photo Gallery】

Itasha, literally “painful cars,” are vehicles tricked out with all kinds of crazy body work and paint jobs so that they look like something out of an anime and are supposed to “hurt” just to look at. There’s a vibrant subculture of itasha owners and fans in Japan and they meet up every now and then to show off their wheels and talk shop. Take a look at our photo gallery and see if you don’t get a little depressed over your own car’s lack of fins.

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Shimane Prefecture, located along the northwestern edge of Japan’s main island of Honshu, is commonly the butt of jokes. At best, it’s often confused with neighboring Tottori Prefecture, and at worst, it’s forgotten about altogether.

Despite its natural beauty and historical sites such as the Grand Shinto Shrine of Izumo, there’s no getting around the fact that Shimane is a quiet, rural place. Even in the prefectural capital of Matsue, there’s usually not much going on.

Except, perhaps, for a recent poltergeist attack.

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Rare Turkish rose is the most heavy metal flower you’ll ever see

Until now, we never really understood what all the fuss was about roses. Women seem to love them, and men seem to spend inordinate amounts of money to purchase them for their sweethearts. But now that we’ve seen the pitch-black Turkish Halfeti Rose, we’re starting to understand that roses can be not only dangerous, kind of smelly and enchanting all at the same time, they can also be the perfect centerpiece of the most hardcore heavy metal album or low fantasy book cover of all time.

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Curry of the Dead: Zombie-bait curry that’s good enough for human consumption

So, let’s say you wake up one morning, unlock your smartphone, and find yourself bombarded with all caps texts from friends about some “zombie apocalypse.” And probably a few Instagram selfies, too, just to mark the occasion.

You look out the window and, sure enough, there go a few zombies shuffling down the street, moaning about brains.

What would you do??

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Five facts that will blow your mind

1. Sailor Moon lingerie is a real thing.

2. Japanese idols actually wear (and sell) glasses.

3. Fast and Furious is called Wild Speed MAX in Japan.

4. There’s a book dedicated to drawing men’s butts on sale in Japan right now.

5. You can age wine at the bottom of the sea.

Cakes disguised as Chinese food for under-the-radar sweet sneaking or just confusing your brain

I recently went to a cake shop, but when the time came to order, I said, “I’ll have the soy sauce ramen with a side of fried dumplings.” Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my mind. I was just at a hot new sweets shop in Shinjuku called, Maplise, where the specialty of the house is a decadent dessert that looks like a hot bowl of noodles.

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We live the high life with wine aged in the depths of Japan’s seas

While Japan’s most iconic alcoholic beverage is the indigenous brew known abroad as sake (and as nihonshu at home), there are Japanese winemakers as well. Many are located in Yamanashi Prefecture, where local wineries hold an annual festival which we visited this past fall.

However, the last bottle of vino we enjoyed didn’t age in the mountains of Yamanashi, or the highlands of any other Japanese prefecture for that matter. Instead, our most recently purchased wine spent seven months aging at the bottom of the sea.

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Fans in Japan can listen to Lady Gaga’s latest hits by embracing her life-size doll

Lady Gaga has earned quite a reputation for her forward-thinking song lyrics and strangely obscene fashion sense. Japan, in particular, is enthralled with the pop star and quick to embrace her Asian-inspired appearance and catchy tunes.

Now, in conjunction with Lady Gaga’s latest album release, residents of Japan will be able to literally accept the idol’s music and image into their arms, thanks to the creation of the GAGADOLL, an audio preview device in the shape of Lady Gaga, herself. This life-size doll has a softly playing speaker built into its bust, so when someone lays their head upon her chest they can hear her music in place of her heartbeat.

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Comparatively speaking, Japanese homes are undeniably small. So much so that many traditional furnishings are designed to help maximize the efficiency of what little space there is. Futons that can be stuffed into a closet when not in use, tables that fold up in a snap, and cushions for sitting on the floor all provide the flexibility to quickly and easily convert a living room into a bedroom.

So with space at such a premium, why do so many Japanese married couples choose to sleep in separate rooms?

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Don’t own a television? Japan’s public broadcaster doesn’t care, but still wants your money

Paying taxes works a little differently in Japan. Often, large companies will simply deduct the required income tax from employees’ paychecks, and even file the necessary paperwork for them. On the other hand, workers have their earnings taxed twice, with residency taxes which are based on their income from the previous year and must be paid quarterly. Like most things in Japan, resident taxes can be paid with a fat wad of cash at the convenience store.

But perhaps the weirdest of all are government fees for public television in Japan. Not only do the bill collectors go door to door soliciting payment, but some administrators are looking to make people pay the fees whether they own a TV or not.

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Enjoy buttered potato, muscat, or Japanese pizza…doughnuts

Mister Donut, arguably the most popular doughnut chain in Japan, is full of creative and interesting fried dough creations. Just a few months ago, Misdo (as it’s called in Japan) unveiled Hello Kitty jack o’ lantern doughnuts for Halloween and are currently selling Snoopy and Woodstock Christmas treats. But their newest offering sounds more bizarre than delicious. Officially called “Pon de Umaimon,” these rings of flavor come in eight sweet or savory regional varieties that are sure to make you wonder why such a doughnut exists.

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Finally! Vibrating animal butt charms on sale!

Hey, do you like animal butts? What am I saying, of course you do! Unfortunately, animals are wily and occasionally dangerous making it hard to get your hands on their rear ends.

That’s why (we guess) Tenyu has released Oppoppo, a collection of six animal butt simulation devices that are portable and can easily attach to your gym bag, key chain, or belt buckle!

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Subway train driving on the streets of Tokyo 【Video】

Have you ever seen a subway train driving on the street? One of our Tokyo-based reporters did and it was the first time he’d ever seen anything like it. It all started on the night of November 26…

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Japanese netizens disgusted by Ikea Japan’s bright blue and yellow ice cream

Japan is full of beautifully crafted desserts of natural green, subtle pink and pure white. You’d be hard pressed to find the lime greens and neon blues of many Western snacks, especially those found in the United States. That’s why when Ikea Japan announced their lineup of food to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their Shinmisato branch, many Japanese net users were surprised by their choice of colors. Some are even saying that the unnatural colors are enough to make you lose your appetite.

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Check out this nightmarish sea creature caught in the Canadian Arctic

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?

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Honda’s UNI-CUB is our laziest dream come true

The good people at Honda, seemingly having read our minds, introduced at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show this beautiful luxury chair-vehicle hybrid that we never knew we’d always been waiting for.

Gone are the days of actually having to get out of your seat to retrieve the remote, or that last broken chip from the Pringles can that somehow found its way into the seat cushion of that chair you never use. In fact, with the new UNI-CUB the only reason you’ll ever need to get out of your seat again is to give a standing ovation to Honda’s brilliant – and probably equally lazy – engineers.

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