If you’re reading this, it means you’ve survived another week.

And what a week it’s been!

We’ve seen the arrival of a device that lets us share smells via mobile phone, members of the public quite literally caught with their hands down their pants, an invaluable list of turn-offs for girls to watch out for, and photos that reveal smoking-hot Japanese porn stars to be perfectly ordinary women and not from space after all.

As for me, when I wasn’t glued to my computer, marveling at the fact that the internet still manages to surprise, amaze and creep me out, I was wrestling with Japanese bureaucracy in the name of obtaining my spouse visa, getting stuck on trains in central Tokyo because of “an animal on the line” (thankfully, no-one started playing the guitar), nursing a slight hangover one morning when I discovered that beer and Japanese rice-wine don’t mix so well, and getting a head spa.

The head spa was a totally new experience for me, and was both recommended and paid for by my wife, who’d been heralding it as “the best thing ever” for months, urging me to put manliness aside and try it.

At first I scoffed at the very thought of having a stranger wash, shampoo and massage my noggin for 20 minutes, since, were I to undergo such a treatment in my home town of Liverpool, I’d likely be paraded through the streets by the menfolk, forced to wear a frilly pink dress and a sign that reads “Girlie McGirlson”. But having tried it for myself, I’m a changed man, and will no doubt find myself in head spa rehab a few months from now, sipping weak coffee and swearing that I could quit any time I wanted to…

Those guys paying to hang out in maid cafes are all nuts- head massages are the future. You heard it here first.

But before the next head massage, another week of work lies ahead. Monday will be upon us before we know it, so do yourself a favour and stock up on awesomeness with these stories. See you on the other side!

▼ This Week’s Best Bits: Top 5 Most Popular Articles from Oct 21 – 27


1.  Japan Develops Smartphone Application That Sends Smells

Send perfume to your partner or farts to your foes; science makes smello-grams a reality.


2. Leaked Images of Japanese AV Actress Without Makeup Prove Porn is Just Smoke and Mirrors

Never underestimate the power of few dozen layers of makeup. One of Japan’s biggest porn stars shown au-naturale in a way she’s probably not used to…

These pictures really have to be seen to be believed.


3. Japanese Model Crowned “Miss International 2012″ in Beauty Contest Held in… Japan

The world’s most beautiful (apparently) women come together to be judged and talk about world peace and dolphins and stuff.

But is something amiss when an almost entirely Japanese panel proclaim the Japanese representative to be the overall winner?


4. Ladies Beware! 9 Things Men Don’t Want to Find in a Girl’s Room

Take notes, girls!

Nine things guaranteed to turn a man off when he enters the sanctity of your womanly chamber. What!? Your bedroom! Geez…


5. Burger King Japan’s Pumpkin Bomb Burger, Five Times the Pumpkin For $1.25

Burger King Japan breaks out the big guns for Halloween.

Even better- for a limited time, customers are able to stack on extra slices of pumpkin for just 100 yen…

▼ Honorable Mentions!


■ Snacks! Underpants! Nudity! A Sneaky Peak Inside China’s Internet Cafes!

The above image says it all, really.

This shocking photo gallery shows the seedier side of China’s internet cafes. Best viewed at home and with the blinds drawn…


■ Our Japanese Reporter Eats a Donut Burger in Search of “Real American Hamburger”, “I never want to eat that again”

Poor Yoshio assaults his stomach in the quest for Americana during his recent trip to southern California.

With Yoshio unable to reach his keyboard while he’s hugging the toilet for dear life, RocketNews24‘s senior editor Steven did the honours and documented the experience…

Head spa image: Qlep