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Japanese are generally perceived as being particularly fastidious when it comes to bodily cleanliness, what with the special toilet slippers and showering before getting in the bath and all. But it turns out that doesn’t keep some of them from engaging in a much debated activity: peeing in the shower. Read More

Valentine’s Day. It may well be little more than an excuse for chocolate manufacturers to line their pockets, but its popularity in Japan seemingly knows no bounds. For those men in relationships, the day is usually one filled with gifts of fondue toilets and creepy girlfriend-shaped chocolates, but for the singletons out there it’s just another day to feel unappreciated.

But not these young men! Rather than spend February 14 without a little somethin’ sweet, they donned sunglasses and face masks and descended on Tokyo’s Machida station asking for chocolate donations from passers-by. And, would you believe it, they were actually kind of a hit with the ladies.

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Lazy Slobs Rejoice: Upside-down “Desk” To Use While You Snooze

Now all you need is an intravenous drip, catheter and bed pan…

On 7 February, a new day of sloth dawned with the issue of Thanko’s new upside-down laptop desk, aptly named Aomuke Gorone Desk (“Napping Face Up Desk”) for 7,980 yen (US$86).

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Strange Local Laws in Japan, Tax Dollars at Work

Buckle up everyone! We’re gonna talk about municipal ordinances!

We’ve all heard stories of real laws that seem to defy logic like “no petting horses on Sunday” and such.  The survey addicts at MyNavi had asked people about some unusual local laws and what they got were reports of Cupid Committee’s and McMansions.

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Make Tracks to Tokyo’s Train Bars

There are train hobbyists and then there are train hobbyists. Japan’s particular breed of railway aficionados are referred to by the somewhat-affectionate term densha otaku, or train nerds, and are famous for feats like memorizing complex, phonebook-size timetables or visiting every single one of the country’s almost 10,000 stations.

Of course, when they aren’t trying to increase their encyclopedic knowledge of all things rail-related, they are out looking for like-minded people to impress with it. As it turns out, Tokyo offers the densha otaku a wide selection of appropriate watering holes, or perhaps we should call them bar cars. So grab your subway map and let’s go see this elusive creature in his natural habitat. Read More

Avoid a Valentine’s Day Disaster with Valentine’s Insurance

There’s only two weeks until Valentine’s Day. For many men in Japan, it is a day of unease and loneliness. That’s because on Valentine’s Day in Japan, only women give presents to men, usually in the form of chocolate. So much chocolate is given out that Japanese chocolate companies sell half of their annual sales in the weeks prior to Valentine’s Day. With all this chocolate exchanging hands, what happens to the poor slob who doesn’t receive a single chocolate? That’s where Valentine’s Insurance steps in; making sure you’ll avoid the pain of not receiving anything on Valentine’s Day.

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Pervert News: Man Asks for Directions, Informs Woman He is Going Commando 【News Nibble】

Officials in the city of Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, have released a statement urging women to be on their guard after a man stopped to ask a woman directions on the street before telling her that he was going without any underwear.

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Japan Sets Guinness Record for Synchronized Mascot Dancing 【Video】

It’s not surprising that in Japan, the land of cute and cuddly, pretty much everything has a fuzzy mascot. Even prefectural and city governments are getting in on the merchandising mania with adorable (or terrifying, depending on your point of view) characters called yuru-kyara meant to promote tourism and local products.

This week, 141 yuru-kyara from 25 prefectures across the country gathered in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, to make their mark on history by becoming the largest group of mascots ever to do the same dance together. Jaw-droppingly awesome video after the break. Read More

Too Lazy to Clean? Remote Control Mops and Trash Cans are Here to Help! 【Video】

Living in filth but too lazy to do anything about it? Have a penchant for new technology and toys? Today’s your lucky day!

Introducing the new Sugoi Mop and GomibaGo! two new remote controlled devices that enable you to remain firmly planted on your sofa while doing a half-arsed job of cleaning. Operated via video game-style controllers, you can zoom your Sugoi (“incredible”) Mop around the room and bring the trash can to you whenever you need it.

Deliciously over-the-top promotional video and images after the break.

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We Get the Dirt on this Season’s Fad Ingredient. Hint: It’s Dirt.

There is a chic French restaurant in Tokyo’s Gotanda district known to those in-the-know. It’s called Ne Quittez Pas, and it is famous for using high-quality seafood and produce from Kanagawa’s Misaki region. However, they’ve just unveiled a new full-course menu created around a rather peculiar ingredient: actual dirt. Of course, we had to check it out. Read More

This site has covered some frankly ridiculous foods in the past. Who could forget our articles on deep-fried caterpillars, the 1050-bacon strip Whopper, or the bright blue curry challenge? But this is the first time we’ve covered something that actually made me throw up in my mouth a little.

A sandwich shop in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, has conjured up this ungodly creation and, even more strangely, it seems people want to eat it. It’s called the Natto-Coffee Gelatin Sandwich, and that is exactly what it is: natto and coffee gelatin slathered with whipped cream and plopped on some unoffending white bread. For those of you unfamiliar with natto, it is an extremely stinky and sticky food made from fermented soybeans. Yes, rotting soybeans.

Inexplicably, this sandwich has become one of the shop’s most popular items, leading the representative director Koji Suzumura to explain their motivation in creating this abomination. Read More

Recently a bizarre eight legged creature bearing striking resemblance to gold skultullas — the special from gold-backed spiders from the Legend of Zelda series — has been spotted in Hong Kong.

At first glance,you might be inclined to think that you’ve been playing too much Nintendo, but this spider with a seemingly human face is an actual image taken by an eyewitness.

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Shoes for Shorties: Japan Develops Business Shoes for Men that Add an Extra 7cm

Shorter businesswomen wishing to appear taller can experiment with vertical lines, fashion styles and, of course, pop on a pair of enormous high-heeled shoes in order to gain a few inches, but short of wearing platform shoes and styling their hair into ridiculous quiffs, the shorter male office worker is at something of a loss.

Although the average height of both males and females in Japan is on the rise due to increasingly western-style diets, Japan’s men are still a little on the short side. And that dents their confidence. Thankfully, though, a footwear designer in Japan has recently launched a special line of business shoes that, through a slightly elevated heel and a discreet inner-sole, reportedly add an extra 7 cm to any man’s total height.

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Unusual Cuisine: Deep-Fried Caterpillars “Make a Wonderful Beer Snack”

Those of you who abhor the very idea of eating food that’s been anywhere near a creepy-crawly may wish to look away now.

Here at RocketNews24 we like to pride ourselves on our willingness to take up unusual food challenges. If we’re not baking Big Mac bread or gorging on bacon, we’re fighting our way through a kilo of curry and rice for your enjoyment. So as soon as word reached Rocket Towers that a nearby restaurant was serving up genuine insect cuisine, our reporter Mr Sato immediately sprang into action and boarded a train to Takadanobaba.

Who’d have thought that deep-fried imomushi (hairless caterpillars or hornworms) could be so delicious that they could bring smiles to our reporter’s face?

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It’s not easy being a kid. If you’re fat the other kids make fun of you; if you’re skinny the other kids make fun of you; if you get good grades they make fun of you… Kids don’t need a genuine reason to be tease their peers; they can make one up just as easily.

But when your parents name you after their favourite thing – be it the weather on the day you were born, the place you were conceived or their favourite snack food – things get awkward for poor little Windy Latrine Butterfinger.

Although authorities have been known to intervene when parents try to call their child things like Akuma, meaning devil in Japanese, and @ as once rejected by authorities in China, the vast majority slip through the net. Since kanji, the Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system, are based on meaning and can be read in a variety of different ways, parents giving their child a kanji-based name (some choose phonetic kana script, but this is usually just for girls) are able to choose both their child’s name and how it will be written.

For the most part, parents choose names that convey their love or hopes for their offspring, but in the land of otaku nerdism, sometimes parents just can’t help but get carried away.

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Weird Cosplay: When AKB48 and Resident Evil Meet AK-47 Assault Rifles

What could be better than seeing a cute girl dressing as a member of AKB48 and dancing around in a uniform? A cute girl dressing as an AKB48 member firing military-grade weapons, apparently.

The following video and images come from Hyper Douraku, a Japanese gun enthusiast website that has teamed up with otaku favourite and “image” DVD (footage of girls in skimpy outfits in various poses) star Mii Aihara.

Dressed in a variety of hugely impractical outfits from AKB48 to Resident Evil‘s Jill Valentine, Mii heads down to the firing range to squeeze off a few rounds as part of the website’s “Guam Shooting Tour 2012.”

Why? We have no idea. But we still found ourselves watching bizarre video after bizarre video on the site.

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