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A radical solution to baseball’s All-Star game problem: MLB Vs. Japan

If baseball wants to increase interest in the All-Star Game for both the fans and the players, there is a radical yet simple solution, but it requires Bud Selig to look across the ocean.

MLB All-Stars vs. Japanese League All-Stars.

While the NFL and its players continue to mull the cancellation of their Pro Bowl due to the lack of interest, Major League Baseball has taken the opposite approach and has gone to great lengths in an attempt to return their mid-summer classic to prominence.

In 2006, Selig tried to artificially increase interest by giving the winner home-field advantage in the World Series. It was a solution that was only slightly less arbitrary than the “alternating years” system that served as the previous method.

Importing All-Stars from Japan’s Nippon Professional League would create genuine interest from both fans and the players.

Here’s how it works:

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  • Jul 16, 2014

Disney meets manga — never before seen crossover announced for new Big Hero 6 movie!

Back in May, we reported to you about how we would be getting our first Japanese Disney hero in the upcoming film Big Hero 6 based on the Marvel comic of the same title. Since then, we’ve found out that the film will be titled Baymax in Japan, after the protagonist Hiro Hamada’s white fluffy companion robot. We’ve also learned from a recent announcement that Disney will be getting involved in a highly unique crossover for Big Hero 6 that’s never been done one with any of their other movies before — in advance of the movie release, Big Hero 6 will be serialized as a manga here in Japan starting in the beginning of next month, and there will even be a prequel manga published as well!  Now, that’s a piece of news we’re certainly excited to hear!

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Japanese people react to reading that “pizza is a vegetable in America”

If you live in the States, you may remember a few years ago when Congress blocked a proposal that aimed to make school lunches for children healthier. One of the provisions which stirred up considerable debate involved increasing the amount of tomato paste necessary to be considered a full serving of fruits and vegetables, but the proposal was eventually nixed, effectively maintaining that the tomato sauce used on pizza could count as a serving of vegetables.

After a Japanese news site broke the story fashionably late last month, Japanese people were incredulous to hear that from a legal standpoint, “pizza is a vegetable” in the U.S. Read on to learn more about the ongoing debate and some reactions of readers.

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21 hauntingly beautiful photos of deserted shopping malls

Hundreds of shopping malls across the U.S. have been forced to shut down following years of debilitating declines in consumer traffic.

In many cases, the shuttered malls are left to decay for years before developers or local governments raise the funds to bulldoze or renovate the space.

Pseudonymous photographer Seph Lawless traveled the country for years to find these forgotten malls and document their decay from the inside.

The photos he captured are haunting and apocalyptic, featuring dead trees and abandoned shopping carts against landscapes of broken glass and crumbling walls.

He compiled the photographs in a new book, “Black Friday: The Collapse of the American Shopping Mall,” and shared some of them with Business Insider.

You can also see his work on Facebook and Instagram.

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Oklahoma farmer loses his cellphone in 140 tons of grain — 9 months later gets a call from Japan

Kevin Whitney of Chickasha, Oklahoma, was working on his farm last October when his iPhone fell out of his shirt pocket and up a grain elevator, where it was deposited into a pit containing 280,000 pounds of grain.

“I never expected to see that phone again,” he told KFOR-TV. It was a reasonable conclusion.

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What’s the best (and worst) cola in the world according to our Japanese writer?

While we usually focus on news from Japan or Asia, sometimes we like to flip things around and give our readers a Japanese perspective on other cultures. We’ve given you a Japanese person’s take on New York ramen before, and today we’ve got another taste-testing piece for you! But this time, we’re casting a slightly wider net by sending one of our writers to try all the Coca Cola flavors on the planet at World of Coca Cola in Las Vegas.

Read on to find out if he likes your country’s cola flavor!

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American rice ball restaurant takes liberties with classic Japanese snack

The humble onigiri rice ball is the traditional Japanese answer to the sub sandwich: it’s a no-frills, on-the-go snack that balances carbs and protein and doesn’t require utensils. And just like subs, onigiri come stuffed with a huge variety of fillings, from salmon flakes to meatballs, seaweed to shrimp tempura.

And, just as “healthy” American sub sandwich chain Subway is making huge headway in Japan recently, onigiri are apparently making the journey the opposite way to American shores… But something has definitely gotten lost in translation.

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Entire Batman manga by 8 Man’s Jiro Kuwata gets English release

Jiro Kuwata‘s 1960s Batman manga series will get a complete English release for the first time in both digital and print formats this year. DC Comics will first release a new chapter online each week beginning on Saturday. DC will then publish the complete run by the 8 Man manga artist in three volumes later this year. The manga will appear in its original right-to-left format.

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Anime Expo stuffs four tons of Nature Valley granola into attendee goodie bags

As the natural culmination to a brilliant social media move by Nature Valley to endear themselves to anime fans, attendees of Anime Expo will be able to sink their teeth into some granola bars come next weekend.

The convention recently tweeted a photo of several pallets piled high with boxes of granola bars.

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Japanese Americans tell STORIES FROM TOHOKU

Filmmakers Dianne Fukami and Debra Nakatomi are sansei (third-generation Japanese Americans) from California who met while serving on the 2009 Japanese American Leadership Delegation, a cross-cultural program sponsored by the U.S.-Japan Council. When the triple tragedy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster hit the northeastern region of Japan on March 11, 2011, Fukami and Nakatomi decided to make a documentary that told the stories of survivors.

They met a woman who managed to recover her old kimono and makes dolls out of the fabric; a struggling organic farmer in Fukushima; a cafe owner who cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner to refugees in a shelter during the first six months after the disaster; and mothers in Fukushima who commute to a kindergarten an hour away so that their children can play outside.

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China’s most pompous millionaire just threw a ridiculously fancy lunch for homeless New Yorkers

Multimillionaire Chen Guangbiao, the self-proclaimed “most influential person of China,” held a massive event in New York City on Wednesday during which he handed out $100 bills to 200 homeless people at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park.

“He’s the man! He’s the man!” one man shouted, throwing his arm around Guangbiao and waving the three $100 bills in the air.

“I wish and hope that you will put the money into good use,” Guangbiao said in remarks delivered through a translator.

“I hope that you will use this money as seed money for whatever job training or job education you will receive so that you can help yourself,” he said.

Guangbiao, 46, then told the crowd that he would like to do this every year. They began to cheer and whistle.

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No console? No problem! Sony tests streaming video games direct to TV sets

Those of you who don’t immediately catch fire the second you step outdoors may not yet have heard of PlayStation Now. Essentially the video game equivalent of Netflix, the service is due to be rolled out on July 31 and will, in theory, allow PlayStation 4 owners to pay to stream and play a selection of PlayStation 1, 2 and 3 games without having to download them first, with all the processing being done in the cloud.

But Sony is not content with going after just existing PlayStation owners, oh no. As promised at the beginning of the year, the company is now starting beta trials of the game rental service for certain high-end Sony TVs. That’s right, even if you don’t own an actual PlayStation console you’ll soon be able to play PlayStation games.

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NASA’s new leek-like supersonic jet design would be perfect for Hatsune Miku’s personal plane

I always feel a little sad whenever I stop and think that NASA’s Space Shuttles are no longer in service. For decades, they served as symbols not only for the pioneering spirit of their mission crews, but for NASA itself, an organization that serves as a gathering point for some of the brightest and boldest scientific minds on the planet.

NASA hasn’t completely gotten out of the high-tech transportation field, though, as it’s moving ahead with a project to develop a supersonic passenger jet. As impressive as its specs are, though, it looks like something quite a bit more down to earth: a root vegetable.

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New York City’s Barcade is all about the classic Japanese games

Nostalgic for Japanese video games from the late 1970s and ‘80s? Barcade, a combination bar and arcade, recently opened in Chelsea, Manhattan with about a dozen classics from Japanese game developers such as Taito, Nintendo, Namco, and Konami.

The games are still only a quarter (there are change machines on site), and the machines are in great condition. Marvel at the old-school graphics of Space Invaders, Galaga, Mappy, Crazy Climber, and Frogger.

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Heads up, Aussie anime fans: Terror in Resonance to premiere at Oz Comic-Con

Hardcore anime fans will no doubt already be itching to get a look at forthcoming TV anime thriller, Terror in Resonance, which is being directed by none other than Shinichirō Watanabe, the man behind smash hits such as Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy.

You may have heard that the anime will be screened for the first time outside Japan at LA’s Anime Expo in early July, but our readers down-under will be excited to learn that just a few hours later, Terror in Resonance will premiere at Oz Comic-Con in Melbourne.

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Disney’s Japanese breakfast in Hawaii probably tastes great, still looks weird

For generations, Disneyland and Hawaii have been two of the most popular destinations for Japanese travelers, so it only makes sense that Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii sees visitors from Japan as a key demographic. But while the main appeal of travel is the opportunity to experience something new, Disney realizes that not everyone rolls out of bed at their most adventurous, and so offers a Japanese breakfast for those wanting to start their day with a taste of home.

It’s a considerate service, and for the most part, the resort’s done a great job. True connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine, however, will probably spot three odd quirks to Disney’s (almost) traditional Japanese breakfast.

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What’s cuter than one kitty cosplaying? Seven cats cosplaying!【Photos】

So we’ve previously seen the fluffy Pomeranian who got an Attack on Titan makeover with its very own hand-made cardboard 3D maneuver gear and sassy Recon Corps cloak. Are cat owners going to sit back and watch as the puppies steal the limelight? Not a chance.

Check out these itty bitty kitties dressed up as well-known movie characters!

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American newscaster can’t stop laughing at crazy Japanese mascot

Japan has more than its fair share of ridiculous mascots, ranging from the absurdly muscled pot sticker, Chaozu-kun, to the snarky Yoshida-kun representing the country’s least popular prefecture.

But of all the crazy characters, our most favorite mascot to ever represent Japan has got to be Funnashi, the jiggly yellow pear. Just one look at his rotund head and undulating belly, coupled with his somewhat creepy high-pitched voice, and you’ve got something so hilariously bizarre, even a professional newscaster for CNN couldn’t keep it together on live TV.

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Millennia of martial arts wisdom distilled in one video: 100 Ways to Attack the Groin

YouTube has really established itself as an invaluable resource for the information age. Through a simple search you can learn how to play the solos from Freebird, tie a windsor knot, get infinite 1-ups in Super Mario, and so much more.

Of course there are plenty of clips that teach us how to fight as well. But even with the convenience of streaming videos, learning a martial art takes patience and training. Actually it did until now. A new video by Ameri-Do-Te Master Ken has consolidated everything you need to know to win a fight in one video: 100 Ways to Attack the Groin.

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Another sensible purchase: Replica Mega Man arm cannon can be yours for just $80!

“Eat solar bullets, evil robots!”

You’re never too old for awesome toys, and the folks over at ThinkGeek are working on your next nerdy purchase as we speak: a perfect replica of platform shooter hero Mega Man’s arm cannon. Guaranteed to make you feel temporarily invincible, frighten your cat and annoy your partner!

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