Category: Japan (Page 4)

Japan

99-Year-Old Tea Shop Offers Something New: Green Tea Beer

May 11, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Being in Japan gives you plenty of opportunities to knock back a beer. The country is filled with pubs, and alcohol consumptions is so accepted that should you tell people, flat-out, “My hobby is drinking,” they’re more likely to ask you to recommend a good bar than to stage an intervention. At the same time, Japan has countless places to sip a relaxing cup of tea, whether it’s the strong, frothy variety used in tea ceremonies called matcha, or hojicha, for which the green tea leaves are roasted before steeping. But with two tempting beverage choices to relax with and only so many hours in the day, how can anyone be expected to choose between tea and beer? As it turns out, you don’t have to. Read More

Japanese Man Arrested for Molesting Woman After Being Invited to do so Online

May 11, 2013 by Master Blaster
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On 8 May Wakayama Police announced that they arrested 26-year-old Masaya Ogawa for the indecent assault of a 23-year-old woman aboard a commuter train. Adding a bizarre twist to the story, Ogawa claims that she was asking for it. He doesn’t mean that in the lame wearing-a-mini-skirt-is-asking-for-it way that other sex offenders use. Ogawa says that this was a prearranged session of “molester-play” set up online between him and the woman.

May 11, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Did you know that you can make a quick and healthy frozen dessert just by throwing fruit into a machine? It sounds incredible but it’s true. With nothing else to add, this kitchen appliance aims to save you money, trim your waistline and please your lactose intolerant friends! We didn’t believe it at first but after testing it out, we can tell you that this thing delivers as promised. It’s called Yonanas, and we have all the details of our fruity sweet encounter with it, including video and even 3D photos, after the break.

May 10, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Video games have made pretty steady progress into the cultural mainstream. Even people who aren’t gamers themselves can at least see the entertainment potential of a Mario title with its breezy fun, or the sweeping adventure of a Final Fantasy.

A genre many people have a harder time wrapping their heads around, though, is the dating simulator. Sure, driving games like Gran Turismo let us tune and race cars so expensive we can’t even talk the dealer into giving us a test drive in real life. And while Japan does have a royal family with princesses, the country’s lack of fire-breathing dragons means our chances of having to pick up sword and shield to go rescue them are slim, at best. But a game about going on dates? Couldn’t we just, like, ask someone out in real life?

Apparently some developers feel the same way, and have decided to spice up their dating sims with scenarios that take full advantage of video games’ unique style of escapism. Read More

How Your Lazy Coworker is Like a Can of Vegetable Juice

May 10, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Despite Japan’s famously strong work ethic, even offices here have some employees who coast through the day, oblivious to their more industrious coworkers who exasperatedly wonder how their paychecks remain so similar when their levels of dedication are anything but.

Economist Taiichi Kogure touches on some of these points in his latest work, The Mindset of People Who Will Always Have Low Salaries, which hit bookshelves in Japan last month. Inspired by the book, Livedoor News posted the following editorial analogy based on Kogure’s concepts, titled “Your Salary Isn’t Determined by Your Efforts or Value.” Read More

Japanese Man Arrested for Cutting Off Women’s Clothing While They Slept

May 10, 2013 by Master Blaster
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Police in Saitama City announced that they arrested 22-year-old, Yusuke Sakurai, for allegedly burglarizing homes for cash. However, the money was secondary to his far creepier main objective: cutting off women’s clothes with a pair of scissors while they slept.

May 10, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Wait, do ordinary Japanese schoolgirls really have superpowers? I guess 80 percent of all the anime ever produced wasn’t lying to us…

One day a high school student, known as Chanman on her Twitter account, was hanging out in one of her school’s classrooms with some friends. Just for kicks, one of them struck a fighting pose, while the others leapt into the air as if being tossed back by a blast of chi or psychic energy. One of the girls snapped a picture, which Chanman tweeted to her followers, starting the country’s newest Internet trend.

Chanman and her friends aren’t a group of photography auteurs. This was something they did for fun, so she felt the picture needed a silly, nonsensical battle cry to go with it. Of course, coming up with a funny sounding word from scratch isn’t quite as easy as it seems. Quiquiriqui? That’s now already accepted as the Spanish version of “cockle-doodle-doo.” Cucamonga? A city in suburban Southern California. Heck, I’m still surprised “jackassery” is listed in Webster’s Dictionary, although it is the single most succinct and accurate term to describe most of my life decisions.

In the end, Chanman settled on “makankosappo.”

May 10, 2013 by Rachel Tackett
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Yuki Kashiwagi, from the popular pretty-girl singing group AKB48, appeared in a recent video that became instantaneously infamous for being uncomfortably erotic. How anyone can be surprised by the groups not-so-subtle eroticism after watching the music video of them making out in their underwear is beyond me, but reading the responses to this two-minute clip, you’d think that Yuki recently joined the porn industry! As it turns out, this video is an official AKB48 release and in no way restricts underage viewers from watching it. So what sort of G-rated film has sent so many minds to the gutter? Read More

The Branomics Bra: Keeping Politicians’ Busty Promises

May 10, 2013 by Preston Phro
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This Wednesday, underwear manufacturer Triumph International’s Japan team held a product-release event for its bra that “reflects the times.” On display at the biannual event was the Branomics Bra, based on the Abenomics “Three Arrows” policy. Arisa Watanabe and ALISA, poster girls for the company, wore the bust-increasing garments, striking various poses for the attendees. (As far as we know, tickets to these events are not publicly available. Rats!) Read More

Lotteria Serving Up Ramen Noodle Burgers For the First Time

May 10, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Fast food chain Lotteria has brought us some unusual burgers in the past. But none will compare to their next creation: the ramen burger. It’s a historical first for the franchise, and they’re going all out with the offering, developing the recipe with famous noodle restaurant chain Menya Musashi, and including special details like disposable chopsticks, soup, and an option for kaedama (a second serving of noodles), just like the ones you get at an authentic noodle joint.

May 10, 2013 by Oona McGee
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If it’s taking up residence on beds of sushi, winning hearts with adorable poses or curling up on your face while you sleep, the cats of the world seem to be inching closer to world domination with each passing day. They’ve certainly got a hold of the netisphere, and now they’re writing their names all over it, turning their noses up at the alphabet of boring humans and replacing it with a much cuter one of their own. It’s a free font generator called neko font (cat font), and you can play with it too. It makes even the most boring of words absolutely adorable!

May 10, 2013 by Cara Clegg
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You’d be forgiven for thinking the two girls in this photo were complete strangers, living on opposite sides of the planet. But, believe it or not, these are in fact before and after shots of the very same girl. Read More

Baby’s First Warmachine: the Perfect Mech for Your Tiny Supervillians!

May 10, 2013 by Preston Phro
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As with most weeks in Japan, robots seem to be dominating the news, but this one’s much cuter and waaaay more alarming.

Sakakibara Kikai (or Sakakibara Machines), a well established manufacturing company in Gunma Prefecture, has released a video of their KID’S WALKER CYCLOPS out for a test drive. (No buildings were destroyed by errant missiles in the filming of this video.) Read More

Local 13-Year-Old Boy Commended by Police for Rescuing Woman from Train Groper

May 9, 2013 by Master Blaster
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In a small ceremony at the Ukyo Ward Precinct of the Kyoto Prefectural Police, Chief Suzuki presented 13-year-old junior high student, Ryoga Nomura, with a certificate of appreciation for his bravery during a train ride home. Nomura was recognized for almost single-handedly leading police to the arrest of a drunken adult male for inappropriately touching the woman next to him.

May 9, 2013 by Michelle
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Let’s face it, lamps are boring. There is the occasional exception, like those hip swinging hula girl lamps you can buy in Hawaii or the pantyhose-clad leg lamp from A Christmas Story, but most lighting fixtures aren’t going to start any conversations.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to present you with a lamp to join the ranks of exceptional lighting sources. Created by YOY, a team of two Japanese designers, this light will make it look as if the wall has been peeled back to reveal a portal to another dimension.

May 9, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Big eaters in Japan have a saying: “Curry and rice isn’t something you eat. It’s something you drink.” And as with any beverage, nothing’s better than free refills.

We’ve talked about it before, but it’s worth repeating. The Japanese curry chain CoCo Ichibanya (also known as just CoCo Ichi), provides a free refill of curry sauce to any customer one who asks for it. Read More

Run, Forest! Run to your Nearest Bubba Gump Shrimp for Seafood so Tasty Even Japan is Enamored 【3-D Photos】

May 9, 2013 by Rachel Tackett
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How many of you are familiar with the restaurant Bubba Gump Shrimp, based on the 1994 Oscar-winning film Forest Gump? Speaking as a sweet ol’ Southern girl, raised in the Heart of Dixie, USA, I’m well acquainted with both the movie and the real-life restaurant that it inspired. Bubba Gump Shrimp, with its American Cajun-style cooking, has branches scattered all across the globe, including three within Japan. As the name would imply, the menu features an abundance of shrimp, making it an irresistible spot for seafood lovers. Read More

Japanese Documentary Tells the Real Story of the Daiichi Nuclear Plant Evacuees

May 9, 2013 by Andrew Miller
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Two years after Japan’s great earthquake and the Daiichi nuclear diaster comes a documentary that tells of the citizens who still can’t return home to Iitate Village in Fukushima due to the high levels of radiation.

Over at our sister site, Pouch, film critic Kaori Saito was given the opportunity to check out the film production of “Iitate Village, the Problem of Radiation and Returning Home” (in Japanese “Iitate-mura hoshano to kison”) before it was released to the Japanese public on May 4. Kaori comments that the work deserves particular credit for its delicate treatment of the continuing problem of radiation and the depiction of the struggles of the inhabitants affected.

For the readers who are unfamiliar with Iitate, it is a village that is located 30 kilometers from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant within the prefecture of Fukushima. While it is reasonable to believe that the level of radioactive contamination would be comparatively low for an area this far from the power plant, due to the strong winds, snow and rain that occurred directly following the disaster, the actual levels of contamination far exceeded original estimates. For Japan and Iitate Village, unprecedented levels of radiation poured down, making the land uninhabitable and thus leaving the former residents no alternative but to abandon their village and seek refuge elsewhere.
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Special Edition Ultraman Popsicles May or May Not Melt in Three Minutes

May 9, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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My wife, in her infinite patience, has taught me several things about Japanese culture. Thanks to her, I’m familiar with the proper way to offer incense at a grave, and also how important it is to bring a little present to your neighbors on all sides when moving into a new apartment.

But perhaps the lesson with the biggest impact on my daily life was when she taught me just how good Gari Gari-kun popsicles are. Read More

Star Wars Takes Over Tokyo Disneyland to Celebrate Reopening of Star Tours

May 9, 2013 by Michelle
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Three days after every other person on the internet was posting “May the fourth be with you,” Tokyo Disneyland was flooded with Star Wars fans celebrating the grand reopening of Star Tours: the Adventures Continues. The ride offers a 3-D Star Wars experience with over 50 possible randomly selected story combinations. There’s no greater thrill than feeling as if you are rocketing through space, interacting with familiar Star Wars characters in the third dimension.

But what impressed our reporter, Tashiro-kun, the most was the fanfare that day. With around 200 Disney cast members dressed in Star Wars costume and more Disney-Star Wars merchandise than you can shake a light saber at, Tokyo Disneyland on May 7 was the place to be for Star Wars fans.