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Cara Clegg

After discovering anime in her early teens, Cara decided she wanted to live in Japan. Of course her parents thought it was just a fad... but 11 years, a university degree in Japanese Studies, and a whole lot of culture shock later, here she is. She currently works a day job whilst writing and translating otome games in the evenings. Her hobbies include anime, manga, sci-fi & fantasy TV shows, and starting countless things that will never get finished.

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Posted by Cara Clegg (Page 12)

Who earns more: cat lovers or dog lovers?

Following on from yesterday’s compromise between dogs and cats, today let’s take a look at some of the differences between the owners of these popular pets. It’s said that dogs will stay loyal to you through thick and thin, while cats will stick up their noses at you if you so much as look at them wrong.

They each have their own special appeal, and it makes sense that there’d be some differences to be found between dog lovers and cat lovers, other than the suspicion that cat owners are slightly masochistic.

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Dog thinks she’s a cat, is gorgeous either way【Photos】

Meet Tally. She’s definitely a dog, and a very beautiful dog at that. And yet she’s often found in some suspiciously cat-like poses…

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Traffic accidents kill over 300,000 per year in SE Asia, Toyota calls in Taylor Swift to help

For many people around the world, it’s an automatic reaction to buckle up whenever you get into a vehicle. However there are still many countries where, despite having the laws in place, there isn’t much of an awareness of the tragic consequences failing to strap yourself in can have…that’s where Taylor Swift comes in.

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Is this the zombie apocalypse?! Horde of walking dead spotted shambling through Yoyogi Park

If you were in Yoyogi Park this past Saturday, you may have been slightly unnerved to see the apparent signs of an impending zombie apocalypse. On Saturday May 16, I, your intrepid RocketNews24 reporter, rose up as one of the walking dead and joined other brain-hungry biters in a sunny shamble through the park.

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Miffy x Mister Donut collaboration doesn’t actually involve doughnuts, but is still super cute

Heads up everyone, Mister Donut Japan is launching yet another cute collaboration that will have you stuffing your face with donuts in order to get your hands on some exclusive and limited merch.

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Thumbs up! Extend your thumb with totally lifelike silicon digit

Extend your thumb by 15 millimeters! Why? So you can use your phone more easily! With its completely life-like design, no one will even notice! Rakuten is currently offering this stylish thumb made by Rare Mono for just 1,480 yen (US$14.50). It could change your life.

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Earn up to $5,000 per month with a side business in ‘independent’ vending machines

Vending machines are ubiquitous in Japan. You’ll find them on most street corners, outside office blocks, lined up at bus stops, and even on the top of Mount Fuji. Prices vary, but the lowest you’ll find in Tokyo is usually the ‘one coin’ machines where everything costs just 100 yen (US$0.98). How can they sell them so cheap? Are they actually profitable? The answer is yes, and many ordinary business-minded folks are taking advantage of the opportunities they offer to put away a nice chunk of cash each month.

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Denny’s Japan to serve ‘the most delicious food in the world’

From May 27 you will apparently be able to eat ‘the most delicious food in the world’ at family restaurant chain Denny’s! Are they just blowing their own horn here? Well, not exactly.

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Coffee and cats are the perfect combo to help you face the week【Monday Kickstart】

I’ll have a grande caramel macchiato and your cutest cat, to go. Whether your Monday is just beginning, or you’re already partway through and starting to flag, here’s a little pick-me-up for you!

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Easy peasy lemon squeezy: Our writer attempts to make salted lemon

Did you know that salty things have gotten really popular in Japan in recent years? The Japanese word for salt is shio, and these days you can find shio yakisoba (buckwheat noodles), shiokouji (a kind of condiment), shio nabe (hotpot), and the new fad shio tomato. And now it’s even extending into the world of sweets with shio vanilla ice cream and shio chocolate. I’ve had sea salt chocolate before, and I can tell you it’s actually much better than it sounds! The latest addition to the ranks of salty goodness is shio lemon, which you can make at home yourself with just two basic and obvious ingredients.

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Is British food really that bad? Our Japanese writer tries her hand at some UK dishes

Japanese people seem to love telling me that British food is terrible, and the only good thing we have going for us is fish and chips. No one can believe that I actually get a bit tired of Japanese food and pine for my favourite dishes from home! Perhaps to try and change this perception, the British Embassy has been undertaking a campaign called ‘Food is GREAT!’ (for Great Britain, geddit?), and our Japanese writer decided to put some of their recipes to the test.

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Nintendo celebrates its roots with traditional art of their most famous characters

With global phenomenon like the Mario and Pokemon franchises under their belts, it’s easy to forget about Nintendo’s humble beginnings as a producer of traditional Japanese playing cards. This year the company goes back to their roots in their 2014 company brochure with beautiful artwork that celebrates both the old and the new.

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Your smartphone could kill you: Phone-related deaths on the rise in Japan

Look down any crowded train carriage or busy street in Japan and you’re guaranteed to find the majority of people with their heads bent over their mobile phones or other electronic devices. And while there’s no end of anthropologists twittering on about the damage all this constant stimulus is doing to the youth of today, there’s also a very physical risk that can come with cell phone addiction.

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What kind of otaku are you?

Fed up with the overly broad usage of the word ‘otaku’, one Japanese Twitterer decided to divide otaku up into six different categories with varying levels and types of obsession. From the humble fan to the god of nerds, where do you fit in?

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Japanese YouTuber shows you how not to brush your teeth

YouTube isn’t all cat videos and aspiring singers, you know; it’s actually filled with genuinely creative and talented folks. As proof, we present to you a Japanese guy’s channel dedicated to brushing his teeth with guns.

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Race against the clock: Shinkansen staff have just 7 minutes to get bullet train ready to ride

Japan’s shinkansen, or bullet train in the West, was the world’s first high-speed train running at 200km per hour, and today the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the world’s most used high-speed rail line. Impressively, even with over 120,000 trains running on the line each year, the average delay time is a mere 36 seconds!

Part of the reason the bullet train system can run as smoothly as it does is thanks to the ‘hospitality group’ working behind the scenes of the sleek, futuristic facades of these famous trains. These cleaning crews are charged with covering every inch of a train’s interior when it arrives at its final stop and preparing it for the next wave of customers–and they have just seven minutes to do it.

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‘Power harrassment’ in Japan’s police force blamed for officer’s suicide

An investigation into the suicide of a police officer in a Tokyo police station has found that harassment from a superior contributed to his death. While the chief is now facing disciplinary action, it has again highlighted the problem of abuses of authority in Japanese workplaces, also known as ‘power harassment’, or pawahara in Japanese.

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Do actually useful prizes suck all the frustrating fun out of those UFO catcher crane games?

Japanese UFO catchers give the best prizes – if you’re talented or lucky enough to grab them. (Personally, I think it’s all about luck because after many hours and probably hundreds of yen down the drain, I’m still not any better at winning.) But the euphoria of a win is usually quickly forgotten, and you’re left with one more piece of tat to cram into your room. So what about if UFO catchers actually dished out useful goodies? Wouldn’t that be a real win-win situation?!

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Questions raised over the mental state of Korean ferry captain

Rescue efforts for the passengers of Korean passenger ferry the Sewol that sank in the Yellow Sea off the tip of the South Korean peninsula on the 16th are still ongoing, and more information continues to emerge about what exactly went on on board the stricken vessel. There has been an outpouring of shock and anger from the families of the passengers after learning that the captain and some of his crew were among the first to abandon the sinking ship, and many are now questioning what he was doing in command of the huge vessel in the first place.

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