Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Korea (Page 15)
When I first started using Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3, almost everything about its enormous size annoyed me. I couldn’t text with one hand. It barely fit in my pocket, or didn’t at all. I felt silly holding it up to my ear to talk on the phone. It was the least subtle or elegant phone I’d ever seen.
Even my friends were horrified. I’d plop the Note onto a table or I’d whip it out to take a picture, and anyone I was hanging out with would double-take.
“What is that thing?!” they’d gasp.
There’s probably a scientific explanation for almost everything in the world, and that includes ice cream. Of course we knew there was some science going on in those delicious scoops of frozen creamy goodness, but this laboratory-themed ice cream parlor in Busan, Korea, works the science right in front of your eyes!
If you’ve never had ice cream made straight out of a laboratory flask, topped with syringes and droppers, read on!
Last April, a case of overdose on Photoshop caused a group of ‘Miss Korea’ contestants to look like cloned beauties produced by the same plastic surgeon. Though it is now clear that the ladies were not high technology clones created to take over the pageant, the incident made some of us feel that beauty pageants these days are geared towards finding a certain type of beauty standard, rather than celebrating the beauty in different women.
Is it really necessary to “enhance” the beauty of these already stunning women? Let’s take a look at the Miss Korea pageant ladies before the era of Photoshop and cosmetic surgery!
Here’s a striking example of how strained the relationship is between South Korea and Japan: The latest survey from Asian Institute for Policy found that among South Koreans, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un scored higher in favorability ratings than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A picture is worth a thousand words. That’s certainly the case with the following collection of stunning photographs taken in Korea between 1890 and 1903 by visiting foreigners. The diverse, everyday scenes they depict shed light on the lifestyles of people at the time. Interestingly, this pictorial set was circulated around the Internet in Thailand, where people were surprised to see such vast differences in lifestyle as compared to the lives of South Koreans portrayed in modern-day K-dramas…a lot can change in a hundred years! You don’t want to miss a single one of these photos or the reactions of Thai people after seeing them!
Samsung made a few product announcements today, including a new water-resistant phone, the Galaxy S5. But the coolest announcement of all may be its new fitness tracker, the Gear Fit.
The Gear Fit is entering a crowded market. Nike, Fitbit and Jawbone have been innovating on wearable fitness tech for years.
But the Gear Fit’s sleek design, curved glass, robust set of features and multi-color screen make it more alluring than any fitness device that’s currently available. The battery lasts 3 – 4 days.
We got our hands on the Gear Fit at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona. It won’t be available until April 2014, but you can check out big beautiful pictures of it now.
Mention the Winter Olympics or figure skating to any South Korean this week and they’ll likely respond with a scowl or a shake of the head. After an almost completely flawless performance at Sochi, 23-year-old figure skater and darling of South Korea Yuna Kim looked sure to claim the gold, but when the judges presented their scores for her performance, which came to a total of 219.11, the stadium erupted with cheers from Russian spectators who knew that the top medal would instead go to their own Adelina Sotnikova, who scored just five points more.
But the official scores don’t seem to matter much in Yuna Kim’s native South Korea, since one broadcaster pretty much just awarded her a gold medal anyway.
Like many of the world’s largest and oldest metropolises, Seoul owes part of its development to its location on the banks of a river. In the case of the Korean capital, being situated along the Han River contributed to the flow of goods and resources necessary for a large community centuries before the development of trains or automobiles.
The Han River still flows through Seoul today, where the body of water is crossed by the Mapo Bridge. But while the bridge was built with the purpose of serving as a transit artery, it’s also been darkly co-opted by those looking for a place to end their own lives, and the site sees more suicides than almost any other in Korea. Unfortunately, a public service campaign looking to reverse the tragic trend has had the opposite effect, with suicides at Mapo Bridge increasing more than sixfold since the campaign began.
We’ve seen plenty of cat cafés, maid cafés and even owl cafés here on RocketNews24, but putting living things aside, this themed café in Seoul which features the characters of a Korean online comic MAJO&SADY, could probably top our list of cute cafés!
The simple yet chic café provides a cozy and relaxing atmosphere that anyone can enjoy, even if you’re unfamiliar with the comic’s characters. Check it out!
The South Korean Olympic Committee has filed an official protest of the result of the women’s figure skating event at the Olympics over ‘biased judging,’ according to the Associated Press.
We previously introduced you to the daring and rather saucy reviews posted by Korean online shoppers, but it seems even customer reviews can’t be trusted every time. An ingenious netizen in Korea posts product reviews and photos of herself holding each item she’s providing feedback on, which in itself is nothing surprising, but there’s a twist. She doesn’t even own the product.
If you’re thinking that she’s just using one borrowed from a friend or perhaps getting handy with Photoshop, think again.
Here’s how she does it.
This week saw a bizarre incident in the world of Korean pro basketball, when a coach decided that the usual method of yelling at one of his players just wasn’t enough to get his point across. His novel solution? Tape their mouth shut.
The Olympics gives the world’s most talented athletes a chance to show their abilities to people all over the globe. It also gives the world’s most wealthy marketers a chance to show their products to that same audience.
Among the Games’ biggest sponsors is Samsung, whose Galaxy Note 3 was granted the title of official phone of the Sochi Olympics in thanks of its manufacturer’s generosity. Some reports are claiming that the Korean electronics maker isn’t showing a respect for healthy competition, though, by asking athletes with iPhones to make sure they cover the Apple logo when on-camera.
Twelve years ago, South Korea’s Ahn Hyun-soo crashed into Apolo Ohno a few feet from the finish line in the men’s short track 1000m at the Olympics.
It sparked an intense rivalry between the two skaters that peaked at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, where Hyun-soo won three gold medals to Ohno’s one.
On Saturday night in Sochi, the Hyun-soo won gold again. But now his name is Viktor Ahn, and he skates for Russia.
I remember when I was a senior in high school and hung out with a sort of goofy crowd, we all spent several weeks wracking our brains trying to find a way to inject some kind of originality into our senior photos. We knew anything too outrageous or offensive would get stopped by yearbook censors, so about the only thing we could come up with was growing some dirty-looking caterpillar mustaches.
If only we’d been in Korea, where some high schools – realizing that senior year is the last time in their lives that youths really get to act like kids – allow nearly any kind of wacky individual and group photos the kids see fit to take:
Today, we’d like to talk to you about Seo-yeon Park, a young woman living in South Korea. Ms. Park used to have a respectable position at a business consulting firm, but being an attractive young woman, she discovered that she could attract a large audience by posting videos of herself online. Many of the people watching can’t do the things she does, others can but feel they shouldn’t. Deep down inside, though, everyone who watches Park’s videos, in which she gives herself the pleasure and satisfaction most can only dream of, secretly longs to follow her unbridled example.
Eventually, Park’s online activities, which started out as a hobby, became so encompassing that she quit her job. Her online exhibitionism is now a full-time gig for which she has adopted the stage name The Diva.
As we’re sure you’ve already guessed, Park has crossed over completely into the world of producing Internet videos of herself eating piles of delicious food, and is making a comfortable living from it.
Everyone wants to feel the joy of a simple kiss; the intimacy, the passion, the physical closeness, it’s all so nice. But there are many hurdles to successful kissing – the biggest being the fact that you need a willing and kissable partner! So what about the single people of the world? How can they fill their friends’ Facebook feed with annoying photos of themselves caught in the moment and having a nice smooch?
Enter slightly eccentric Japanese blogger Keisuke Jinushi, who lives by the mantra “There’s no time like the present” and is a self-dubbed “perpetual loner”. After his hugely successful “girlfriend hand” selfies wherein he tricked the world into believing he had a real girl of his own to feed him food and wipe ketchup of his face, Keisuke now introduces us to a foolproof technique for anyone who wants to make people think they have a kissable partner! You might get a few funny stares, though…
Kids’ hopes and dreams for the future can change from one minute to the next and very often depend on the TV shows they watch and whatever their friends are talking about on any given week. But a recent survey conducted by human resource consulting company Adecco has revealed some interesting information about the future aspirations of children from Japan compared to those of kids from other eight other Asian countries.
You like sausage, right? Of course you do. But no one ever wants to see how the sausage is made. So why did this plastic surgery clinic in Seoul think it was a good idea to display two towering columns filled with the jaw bones of their past patients? It’s enough to make you rethink your pursuit of the perfect chin.
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
Harajuku Station’s beautiful old wooden building is set to return, with a new complex around it
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Anime girl English teacher Ellen-sensei becomes VTuber/VVTUber and NFT
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Celebrate another year of life by putting it in jeopardy with this birthday candle flower
We tried Korea’s way-too-big King Tonkatsu Burger at Lotteria 【Taste Test】
Sakura tree falls on man at Sannenzaka near Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto 【Breaking News】
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo to Kyoto
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Studio Ghibli glasses cases let anime characters keep an eye on your spectacles
Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center
Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour TotoroJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
New Japanese KitKat flavour stars Sanrio characters, including Hello KittyAll-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutionsMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Celebrate another year of life by putting it in jeopardy with this birthday candle flower
We tried Korea’s way-too-big King Tonkatsu Burger at Lotteria 【Taste Test】
Sakura tree falls on man at Sannenzaka near Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto 【Breaking News】
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
Japan’s massive matcha parfait weighs 6 kilos, contains hidden surprises for anyone who eats it
Nope, these AREN’T eels — Gunma Prefecture’s ‘Nasu no Kabayaki’ blows our reporter’s mind
The most preposterous “adult” gacha capsule toys at Akihabara Station
“Hey, Japanese taxi driver, take us to the best seafood joint in Otaru!”
The Portable Watermelon Fridge — Could It Be The Perfect Gift For The Person Who Has It All?
Cops in Japan use police box as shag shack, one goes on to have second affair with other officer