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Yamaguchi

In Japan, you can now get issued an official license plate with adorable cat prints on it

Japan’s love of silly puns merges with its love of cute animal motifs.

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Walking under the ocean between two of Japan’s main islands via the Kanmon Pedestrian Tunnel

If you want an unforgettable way to go between Kyushu and Honshu, look no further.

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Our reporters Mr. Sato and Yoshio go chasing their youths at a noodle vending machine 【Pictures】

Noodle soup for the soul…served by a machine!

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A visit to Japan’s centuries-old boob temple

While men are understandably drawn to it, it’s women who are said to benefit the most from worshipping here.

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Ramen, fish, and turtle all on the menu at Japan’s most crazily comprehensive ice cream shop

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…snake-flavored ice cream?

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Japanese Twitter user dispels myths about Yamaguchi being boring, inspires us to pack our bags!

If you have summer plans, cancel them. You’ll want to be visiting Yamaguchi Prefecture after this!

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Motonosumi Inari Shrine: a site of beauty in Japan that tourists are yet to discover

There’s more to this unusual shrine than its stunning red torii gates that lead down to the Sea of Japan.

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Round 2 of the ramen ice cream rumble – This time with real ramen! 【Taste test】

Last week, I stopped by the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama to try its just-released Cup Noodle Ice Cream, with its chives, shrimp, and all the other fixings of instant ramen. It was definitely an interesting experience, but I did have one complaint, which is that Cup Noodle Ice Cream doesn’t actually have any noodles in it. Technically, it should be called “Cup Noodle Topping Ice Cream.”

Thankfully, it turns out there actually is a place in Japan where you can get ice cream with ramen noodles mixed in. Since I suddenly found myself with the unlikely title of RocketNews24’s resident ramen ice cream expert, I figured it was time to go another round with this unorthodox class of dessert, and to crown a winner in this battle of the ramen ice creams.

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Strange lights appear in the skies of Japan, but thanks to fish, not aliens

Way at the western tip of Honshu, the main island of Japan, you’ll find the town of Shimonoseki. Shimonoseki is especially famous for its always delicious, naturally poisonous, and occasionally canned blowfish, but fishermen catch all manner of tasty seafood there in the waters off the edge of Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Wherever you have boats and coastlines, you’ll also want to put a lighthouse too. But on a recent night the beacon of Shimonoseki’s Tsunoshima lighthouse wasn’t the only thing shining in the darkness, as observers also roughly a dozen mysterious-looking lights in the night sky.

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Japanese City Changes Name to “Xmas City” this December

On 30 November, the mayor of Yamaguchi, Sumita Watanabe, declared to Nishinippon Newspaper that his city of Yamaguchi will be renamed “Xmas City” for the entire month of December. The move is a part of a tourism campaign which involves a month-long event of festive activities.

More than simply a PR campaign, Yamaguchi actually has a valid claim as being the launching pad for Christianity in Japan and thus the “hometown” of Christmas in Japan. Yamaguchi was where Saint Francis Xavier, the patron saint of Japan, and his followers celebrated their first Christmas.

Gather around kids, it’s time to hear the story of how Christmas first came to Japan.

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