Philip Kendall

Editor

Hailing from Liverpool in the UK, Philip Kendall made Japan his second home in the summer of 2006 after dolefully abandoning his childhood dream of becoming a ghost buster. Setting up camp in beautiful Fukushima prefecture, he brought joy to literally hundreds of junior high school children as ‘that tall, handsome teacher’ or more often ‘the one with the big nose,’ before relocating to Tokyo at the end of 2011.

Writer, foodie, gamer and eternal student of the Japanese language, Philip now works as a freelance writer and translator, submitting to Tokyo Weekender magazine and website and Learn Japanese Pod, as well as co-running Suds, Grub & Joe- a website dedicated to all things beer, food and coffee-related in Tokyo. Follow his ramblings on his personal blog or on twitter.

All Stories by Philip Kendall

Designer of Gamecube oddity ‘Doshin the Giant’ wants your money, will put you in his new game

20 hours ago by Philip Kendall
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As a big fan of Doshin the Giant, one of the quirkier titles to appear on Nintendo’s 64DD and Gamecube platforms, I literally felt my ears prick up when a member of the RocketNews24 staff uttered its name earlier today. Although we haven’t heard much from the game’s designer, Kazutoshi Iida, in the past few years, his latest crowd-funded indie title Monken is attracting a lot of attention online, with the creator offering investors a ton of freebies as well as the chance to appear in the game itself.

yesterday by Philip Kendall
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Since the average domestic cat’s experience of water is limited to being shut out in the rain or being pinned down and bathed by their owner because, after one too many garden adventures, their fur is a filthy, matted mess (and that was not a fun afternoon, let me assure you), it’s little wonder that there’s a commonly held belief that all cats hate H2O. As the following video proves, however, there are some cats out there that love nothing more than a nice, long dip in the hot water.

2 days ago by Philip Kendall
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Shot by a couple during a visit to Cambodia and uploaded to YouTube just last week, the following video treats us to a ride on one of Cambodia’s “bamboo trains” — worryingly shaky, home-made bamboo pallets balanced on a pair of train wheels and fitted with a disconcertingly large engine.

After all, what trip abroad is complete without experiencing some potentially perilous activity that you’d never dream of doing in your own country?

2 days ago by Philip Kendall
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Sighted in the upper reaches of Amazon Japan’s offices, these elevator doors–designed to resemble the company’s tear-open delivery boxes–were snapped by a Japanese Twitter user and shared online this past weekend. Suffice it to say, they just made our day.

4 days ago by Philip Kendall
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When the photographer said, “Give me passion!” we’re not entirely sure this is what they meant.

As our regular readers will no doubt already know, we at RocketNews24 aren’t afraid to dedicate a few column inches to bouncing breasts and manly chests every now and then, but every so often there comes a time, like with these photos from a recent motor show in China, when “sexy” becomes “What on earth are you doing!?” and you just want the people involved to stop…

5 days ago by Philip Kendall
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For many fitness enthusiasts, exercising in front of a TV while perched a Nintendo Wii balance board might seem like a bit of a joke, and we’re sure that yoga is the last thing on many gamers’ minds when they power up their machine. So when we first caught sight of the following video from Nintendo we weren’t quite sure what to make of it. As it turns out, though, as well as introducing not one but two new Super Smash Bros games for Wii U and 3DS, with new characters to boot, the video itself is actually quite awesome.

6 days ago by Philip Kendall
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Bulletin boards in Japan are hot with rumour and speculation today after videos recorded by an as yet unidentified Japanese male threaten random knife attacks on members of the public at stations in Japan, with Fukuoka’s Hakata Station ultimately named as the spot where the attack will take place.

Although neither the following article nor the videos within it contain any graphic imagery, some readers may nevertheless find their content disturbing.

6 days ago by Philip Kendall
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Japan’s Toyota Motors has announced that it will display its Camatte 57s concept car at the Tokyo Toy Show 2013, which begins tomorrow. The family oriented three seater is designed to be so simple that “even a child could drive it”, and features a body that is fully customizable by the owner, with 57 individual panels that can be attached and removed entirely by hand.

6 days ago by Philip Kendall
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The man brought us the jaw-dropping stop motion videos of battles between iconic Dragon Ball and Street Fighter characters has done it again! This time, he’s brought The Legend of Zelda‘s sword-wielding hero Link to play, and he’s got a sexy gun-toting pal with him…

Jun 12, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Microsoft’s forthcoming Xbox One console will not be released in Asia until late 2014, despite the fact that it will launch in the West in November this year, it was revealed last night.

Jun 12, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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The Google Street View car, once something that people would have simply watched roll by while scratching their heads in confusion, has become so ingrained in popular culture that should we ever spot it trundling down our own street many of us would immediately bound in its direction like excited golden retriever in an attempt to get our ugly mugs plastered on the internet for all eternity.

It’s rare, though, to see the the famous car running into trouble with the law.

Jun 11, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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While it’s easy to get swept up in all the talk of new technology and the future of home entertainment, it’s sometimes nice to take a moment to focus on the more leisurely pursuits that one can enjoy. As we’ve seen before, the kinds of arts and crafts that have been popular hobbies for generations can still manage to impress us, and this piece is no exception– transforming a regular pet into the evil lizard king Bowser from the Super Mario Bros. games.

Jun 11, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, thrilled gamers today when he declared that the company will not impose any restrictions whatsoever on used games. Suffice it to say, the crowd at E3 went wild.

Seconds after the announcement had been made, a video appeared on Sony’s YouTube channel that simultaneously shows how easy it is to trade games with friends while poking fun at competitor Microsoft. Check it out after the break.

Jun 11, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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It’s the moment millions of fans have been waiting for ever since Sony first announced that its new console would be in our hands by the end of 2013: the PlayStation 4 has finally been revealed for the world to see!

And it looks…

Jun 11, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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When it comes to food and drink, there really is no “right” way to enjoy it. Just as some will cringe at the very idea of munching on raw fish dipped in a little soy sauce, others will stare in horror and disbelief as their housemate smothers a baked potato in peanut butter (you know who you are). But when it comes to beer, as many foreigners visiting or living in Japan will no doubt attest, the fondness Japanese have for topping their drink off with an enormous amount of foam sometimes borders on the absurd. “It’s delicious!” Japanese colleagues tell me when I ask why a third of my beer is head. It may well be tasty, but when it takes three gulps of naught but white froth to reach the beer itself, you have to wonder if this is all some kind of hilarious practical joke that the entire country is in on.

But what about when drinking at home? Without a bartender to ensure that beer arrives with a thick head, how can the thirsty foam lover achieve the same results? Enter the Koku Awa beer pourer from Green House.

Jun 11, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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United States Vice President Joe Biden came under fire late last month after a number of Chinese students took offence at comments he made during a congratulatory speech at the University of Pennsylvania, a China Smack report has said.

Jun 7, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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As soon as the teaser trailer for Hideo Kojima’s upcoming video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released earlier this year, gaming news websites and message boards exploded, partly because it was clear that David Hayter, the voice actor who had played the character of Solid Snake since 1998, had been replaced, but mostly because the new voice in the video sounded an awful lot like that of world-famous actor Kiefer Sutherland. Earlier today, those rumours were finally confirmed: Jack Bauer is Snake!

Jun 7, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Convenience store giant 7-Eleven certainly knows its way to customers’ hearts. The store’s current Jump Heroes campaign–a collaboration with Shonen Jump Comics–is giving customers the chance to bag some pretty impressive prizes, with things like games consoles, tablet computers and even free hotel accommodation up for grabs.

Jun 6, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Despite being a made famous by thousands of Japanese TV shows and comics, cute “sailor suit” uniforms and their ilk are not limited to schools in Japan alone. As we’ve seen before, high schools all across Asia kit their female students out with a variety of stylish getups, with the girls themselves often making their own modifications, usually quite aware that they are wearing outfits that millions of people across the world think are cute or just plain sexy.

But it appears that Japan’s reign as the school uniform capital of the world may soon be over. Bringing fashion and cartography together at last, a specially designed map of Taiwan which provides photos of the school uniforms the girls in each particular area are rocking has become a big hit online this week.

Jun 6, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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With just a few days to go until E3–one of the year’s biggest video game trade shows–opens its doors, we’re currently knee-deep in rumour, speculation and digital fancy. Although Nintendo has already broken millions of gamers’ hearts by stating that its presence at the event will be minimal, both Microsoft and Sony are set to show off their newest hardware, as well as give the gaming press a look at the titles we can expect to play in the near future.

According to a recent poll being hotly shared by Japanese gamers today, though, some press conferences are being looked forward to far more than others.