Category: Japan (Page 7)

Japan

Fujiyamashita Station: Crushing Dreams Since 1928

May 7, 2013 by Master Blaster
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It looks like Mt. Fuji is well on it’s way to becoming an official piece of World Heritage, which means the area can expect an upswing in tourism. Around 200 km away in Gunma Prefecture, workers at Fujiyamashita Station are also bracing for an increase in foreigners mistaking the tiny station for the closest stop to the majestic mountain.

For Hirokazu Nagumo, the operator of a single car train for Jomo Rail, this is bad news. The disappointed faces of heartbroken visitors over his 18 year career is an image he has trouble shaking from his memory.

May 6, 2013 by Preston Phro
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When it comes to Japan, Akihabara is one place you’ll find on almost every tourist’s map. The name alone immediately brings to mind everything from games, manga, anime, figurines and AKB48 to Gundam, computers and electronics. Still one thing stands out as being particularly iconic: maid cafes.

Most visitors to Tokyo have stopped by one of these cafes at least once, and even if you haven’t, you’re probably familiar with the concept: cute, young women in fluffy “maid” skirts serving drinks and food while giggling with customers and, often, putting on shows. But have you wondered where these cafes came from? Read More

Swimsuit Scene Deemed Too Raunchy for American Audience

May 6, 2013 by Cara Clegg
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America is known for being particularly prudent when it comes to sex and nudity, and the censors have been at it again in the US release of new Fire Emblem Awakening content. Someone somewhere has judged an image in the game to be far too naughty for sensitive American eyes, incurring the wrath and bemusement of fans around the globe. Read More

Which is More Loved in Japan: Cats or Dogs?

May 6, 2013 by Master Blaster
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It’s the eternal struggle of pet preferences. There’s no question that the top two choices for pets are cats and dogs and the human race is ultimately divided between so-called “cat-people” and “dog-people.” Since there can only be one animal to take the number one spot as “favorite pet,” large scale surveying website Research Planet asked nearly 30,000 Japanese people straight up, “Which do you like better, dogs or cats?”

May 6, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Meet Mari, the cute Shiba Inu who likes to play hard-to-get. If Mari looks familiar, it may be because she’s a bit of a movie star on the Internet. She’s appeared in dozens of short films with her owner, playing the roles of train passenger, religious sect founder and even tambourine player in her master’s two-piece band. She’s also spent time as a strict homework supervisor. Now Mari seems to be showing her true colours, refusing her owner’s requests to pucker up for a smooch, with all the scorn and indignation of a displeased cat. This clip is one of their cutest and most hilarious pet-owner collaborations to date! Check out their video after the jump.

May 6, 2013 by Preston Phro
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Should you happen to be in Tokyo this Golden Week, you have until Tuesday (May 7) to check out a free (!!!) art gallery displaying some beautiful works by Amano Yoshitaka. If the name doesn’t ring any bells, some of the projects he’s worked on surely will: Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and the incomparable Sandman: the Dream Hunters.

And if you happen to have a few extra yen laying about, you can also pick up some original pieces! The least expensive one we found was only about 40,000 yen (US$402), and the most expensive we spied was about 3.8 million yen (US$38,381). Even if you can’t pick up the original art, you can still get postcards, posters, notebooks, and calendars with Amano’s brilliant art. And! You’ll get a poster just for coming by!

Photo and event information below! (Some of the photos are not safe for work!!!) Read More

Looking for Love? Break the Ice Over Red Meat at this Barbecue Joint Famous for Turning Patrons into Couples

May 5, 2013 by Mike
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Typically a heaping plate of raw meat isn’t exactly the type of food you’d picture putting people in an amorous mood, but this tiny watering hole-slash-barbecue joint in Kanda (one station over from Tokyo) is famous for bringing patrons together through the magic of a hot grill, cold drinks, and very, very close quarters.

The interior of the restaurant, Rokkakai, is only 6.6 square meters, meaning complete strangers are pretty much forced to crowd around and share a single, rectangular table. We can see where this might result in the odd coupling, but that’s apparently not the only secret behind the location’s uncanny ability to bring people together.

May 5, 2013 by Oona McGee
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State-sponsored textbooks issued to 870,000 first and second grade elementary school students in Korea this year have mistakenly used photos featuring Japanese people on their covers. The mishap was confirmed after much speculation about the nationality of the subjects in the photos. They were said to have different features to Koreans, namely more defined double-creased eyelids and less-defined cheekbones.

May 5, 2013 by Cara Clegg
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Say ‘sushi’ and you automatically think ‘Japan’. But a recent taste test by the experts suggests that the perfect sushi may not be 100 percent Japanese. Read More

Double the Fries in One Container! Is the Mega Potato Coming Back to McDonald’s Japan?

May 5, 2013 by Michelle
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According to rumors on a 2ch thread and “confirmed” by a current “McDonald’s employee,” the Mega Potato is coming back to Japan and it’s just as awesome as the name implies. Consisting of the equivalent of two large orders of fries, the Mega Potato is said to arrive in a specially made doublewide vessel on May 17.

May 5, 2013 by Master Blaster
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A group of local residents around the Nation of Japan had established a plan to issue “I Conquered Nation of Japan” certificates to people for 500 yen (US$5) a copy. The plan was a small way to help promote tourism to the area. However, when the news broke, people from all over the country wrote in, protesting the scheme and calling it “inappropriate.”

May 5, 2013 by Cara Clegg
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As if two anime series, two manga series, a game, and countless merchandise weren’t enough, the popular light novel series Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (English title: I Don’t Have Many Friends) is now to be made into a live action movie and is currently looking for extras. Read More

Cute Kyoto! We Taste Hidden Delights From a Traditional Sweet House in Pontocho

May 5, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Pontocho is one of Kyoto’s most beautiful geisha districts. With traditional tea houses, restaurants and bars all crowded together along atmospheric, stone-paved narrow lanes, this area breathes the air of an old, timeless Kyoto. Within its maze of weaving, intersecting alleyways, there are plenty of secrets to discover and hidden areas to explore. Walking through Pontocho, you might notice one of its many mysteries: the area is dotted with Japanese paper lanterns, all bearing the mark of the chidori, the plover bird. They’re incredibly beautiful, but why would a cute chidori design come to be on such traditional products?

May 4, 2013 by Rachel Tackett
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Across the globe there seems to be this stereotype that Japanese men are feminine and weak-willed. You can see it in the slang term for this new generation of young Japanese men, “herbivores,” implying that they have absolutely no craving for womanly flesh. A Chinese journalist even went so far as to say that the sex drive of a Japanese male is as underdeveloped as a third world country. Harsh words from a writer in a country full of virgins.

But is there any truth to this claim? And more importantly, does this mean that Japanese men are bad in bed?! Japanese media decided to get a better perspective on the matter by asking foreign women to dish about their Japanese boyfriends’ bedroom performance. Their responses spoke only of satisfaction and should serve to stroke a lot of Japanese male egos. Read More

Students in Japan Create a Robot That Can Balance on a Ball

May 4, 2013 by Michelle
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Oh Japan, you never disappoint in the robot department. This one in particular may look a little plain compared to the femme bots in Shinjuku or a $1.25 million giant robot, but it’s still really cool. Created by two students at Tohoku Gakuin University in Japan, this little guy is able to perfectly balance on a ball while carrying a load and moving.

May 4, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Your drink’s icy cold but the manga ice cubes in your glass are h-h-hot! Now taste the palpitating sound effects from your favourite comic books thanks to these new Manga Kōri, Comic Ice silicone molds from Runa Corporation.

Coming in three designs, ゴゴゴ (go-go-go, the sound effect for rumbling), ドドド (do-do-do, the sound of running, galloping and whirring machinery), and あ゛あ゛あ゛ (a-a-a, best translated as “Arrgh”), all appear in your glass in the same font that’s often scrawled over tense moments in a manga character’s storyline.

May 4, 2013 by Preston Phro
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Teaching is not always the most financially rewarding job, is it? Even in Japan, where getting a good education is highly valued, teachers can find themselves on hard times, like this unfortunate young woman from Osaka.

A 29-year-old teacher from Osaka has resigned from her position after receiving a six-month suspension for taking a part-time job as a call girl.

May 3, 2013 by Master Blaster
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When people think of Japan they often think of Hello Kitty, portable watermelon fridges, or haircuts that look like tomatoes. It’s a country often under-appreciated for all the nature it has to offer.

It being the Golden Week holidays here in Japan and time to kick back, we’re going to take you on a whirlwind tour of the nation, making stops at some of the most beautiful natural areas around. These places range from local favorites and national treasures, to some places even Japanese people aren’t aware of.

We’ll be working our way right down to the Ryukyu region, but let’s begin our photo journey at the northernmost tip of the country in the vast, unspoiled wilderness that is Hokkaido…

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For Butter Lovers: Easy, Greasy Japanese!

May 3, 2013 by Rona Moon
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Toast in Japan is taken seriously. If you order the “breakfast set” at a restaurant in Japan, you will probably be confronted with one of the thickest slices of toasted bread you’ve ever seen. If you manage to peer over it, you might spot a boiled egg and a small, sad amount of salad cowering there.

At the supermarket, some popular toast spreads which come in a squeezy tube are chocolate, cinnamon, melon and “french toast” flavour, but for many people, toast means butter, and the more butter, the better. For butter-lovers, the new Easy Butter Butter-Former will transform hard butter straight from the fridge into soft and cotton-like butter threads, ready and easy to be used. Sound too greasy to be true? It probably is.

May 3, 2013 by Oona McGee
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If you’ve ever found yourself at the counter of a sushi restaurant, nervously watching and copying other customers around you, don’t worry; you’re not alone! It turns out that even Japanese people aren’t too sure of themselves when it comes to dining with sushi.

Thankfully, Japan has etiquette guides for everything – from how to wear a suit to how to eat a hamburger – so proper tips aren’t hard to find. We’ve sourced a compilation of sushi manners that outlines some of the finer points, while also giving us an insight into the type of things that confuse Japanese sushi customers.