RocketNews24 / Bringing You Yesterday's News From Japan and Asia, Today (Page 83)

This is the Most Adorable 4-Year-Old Japanese Girl You Will Ever See

Oct 13, 2012 by Steven
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Like many other little girls, 4-year-old Kazuki loves to play dress up, dance around the room and sing her heart out. What sets her apart from other toddler divas though, is that she has a mother just as enthusiastic about her playtime habits as she is.

When Kazuki says she wants to become Hatsune Miku, mom wastes no time in hitting the sewing machine. Once her custom outfit is done, mom sticks a microphone in her hand, starts the music, and its lights, camera, action.

Not wanting to keep her daughter’s talent to herself, Kazuki’s mom created the YouTube channel “Kazuki’s Room” to share their playroom productions with the world. We’ve posted a few of the best below. Just make sure to have a pillow or something soft on hand to squeeze the life out of because these videos are unbearably adorable.

Oct 12, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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Akihabara; world-famous home to everything otaku! Cosplay, electronics, comic-books, videogames, maid cafés, pop idol pubs, trading card stores; Akihabara- or Akiba to the locals- is where it’s at.

For years, swarms of young men with poor social skills (and cool folks like you and me, too…) have been heading into Akihabara to buy figure models of girls in bikinis with disproportionately large breasts, locate hardware for their new gaming PC, or spend an hour in the company of cute girls dressed as maids who giggle as they put “love spells” on guests’ food before sending them home more frustrated than ever.

As reported by Hamster Sokuhou earlier today, a fun new establishment has recently thrown its doors open to Akihabara’s masses, inviting them to come and cook with their cast of female chefs, each ready to guide the hands of young men who, until now, were perhaps too shy to touch a woman’s measuring jugs for real.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Prepare yourselves for the next level in awkward interaction with females in exchange for cash!

Oct 12, 2012 by Kay
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Those of you familiar with our Japanese site are probably aware that our reporters often travel overseas to bring interesting stories from around the world to our Japanese readers. Recently, one reporter shared with us an eye-opening realization he had while traveling, one that could have serious bearing on the reputation of Japanese tourists abroad.

Being Japanese and also very fond of traveling myself, this was a story I couldn’t take lightly! Read More

Thailand not Playing Around When It Comes to Cigarette Warning Labels

Oct 12, 2012 by Master Blaster
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In many countries around the world governments and health organizations have been tightening the noose ever more around the already choking necks of average smokers. By taxing the hell out of them and limiting smoking areas to under the floorboards of your house, smokers can scarcely relax with their favorite addiction.

Then we have the warning labels. Japanese cigarette packs have very minimal labels – for now – with some classy embossed printing. Other countries such as Canada have been using graphic labels for quite some time. They are rather unpleasant images of rotten teeth and people with tubes in their throat.

As bad as those images are they tend to lose their shock value quickly to the point that most smokers hardly notice them anymore. Thailand, however, has taken the graphic label concept beyond unpleasant and into nightmare territory.

Oct 12, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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Electronic idol Hatsune Miku’s popularity seemingly knows no bounds.

If we’re not seeing stories of catastrophic cakes being made in her image, we’re hearing reports that one of her uber fans has spent an exorbitant amount of money acquiring the last Hatsune Miku edition Sony MP3 player ever made.

Clearly Ms. Miku has her share of fans, but when you come to think about it, is dropping a ton of cash really equate the greatest measure of fandom? Surely just about anyone with a computer and some spending can bid on an MP3 player!?

But hand-crafting a tiny, intricately-detailed Hatsune Miku outfit for your pet dog? Now that’s what we call a fan!

Oct 12, 2012 by Master Blaster
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A well-known Chinese writer with some controversial views on education got into dire straits in September after attempting to climb Mount Fuji with his children. The purpose of the climb was a combination of a strict education regiment and as a way to promote Chinese patriotism.

Unaware that the climbing season ended at the end of August, they were turned back short of the summit, but not before being given extra clothing by a Japanese first aid officer.

Oct 12, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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While I was fortunate to have been inland and more than 60km away from the Fukushima power plant when it ruptured, on 3 March, 2011, my co-workers and I nevertheless started to get a little anxious when, just a few hours after the initial earthquake hit north-east Japan, our water supply went off.

Heading to the nearest supermarket in search of bottled water, we were met by the sight of hundreds of locals who had had the exact same idea: buy as many provisions as possible and get back indoors. By the time we found a place to park and got into the store, there was barely anything left on the shelves; it had all been snapped up by (understandably) panicked buyers. Deciding to try our luck at the local convenience store, we drove over to 7-Eleven, but found the shelves just as bare.

Although our sitation never got anywhere close to desperate, and our supply came back on about 24 hours later, the thought of not having any clean, safe drinking water really struck home for a while there.

Until it suddenly becomes unavailable, water is something that we all take for granted on a daily basis. Turn the tap and fill up a glass, fill the kettle and make a coffee, jump in the shower, wash your clothes; we use it almost constantly and can’t get by without it.

So it comes as something of a relief to hear that there are clever people out there creating devices that can do something as unfathomable as turn chemical-filled pool water into something that’s safe to drink in an emergency…

Oct 12, 2012 by Steven
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Among other things, the toilet is a place for peaceful introspection. It provides an isolated and quiet space for us to devote a few minutes from our busy schedules to just sit and think.

Some people seek to enhance the spiritually soothing properties of the toilet by adorning their bathroom in calming pastel colors or setting a bowl of potpourri or other aromatic atop the toilet’s porcelain tank.

One Japanese person, true to his culture, has taken excremeditation to new levels by installing a working traditional Japanese bamboo fountain on top of his toilet.

Oct 12, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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Hot on the heels of its highly successful Super Mario spoof animal fur campaign, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has launched a brand new flash game that centres on kids’ videogame favourite Pokémon, exposing the cruel truth behind the trainer / pocket monster relationship and prompting us all to think a little harder about how we treat animals.

The game, which mimics the style of the hugely popular videogame, has seen thousands of visits since its launch, and asks players to take on the role of captive pokémon as they battle with their abusive trainer for freedom. Read More

Rent a Piece of World Heritage for only $128 a Month!

Oct 11, 2012 by Master Blaster
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So, you’ve seen the stories about dirt cheap 1 yen land in Hokkaido but couldn’t be bothered to actually build something. Then you checked the aucion listing for the 1 yen house in Iwate, and upon seeing it quickly understood why it was 1 yen. Finally you looked into that medieval Japanese town replica complete with castle but found it outside of your budget.

Is there any deal out there that balances the stunning beauty and history of Japan with a reasonable price? Ainokura district says yes. They are offering one of their famous traditional houses for only 10,000 yen (US$128) a month! There’s just one catch, it’s haaauuunted…

…by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Oct 11, 2012 by Steven
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I remember showing “Gangnam Style” to my Japanese friends and coworkers only a few weeks after it was uploaded to YouTube in July. While, like millions of other viewers, I thought the video was best thing to come out of YouTube since Charlie the Unicorn, I was surprised to find that most Japanese people I showed it to would just stare at the screen and mumble a disinterested “hmmmm.”

Were they seeing the same video I was? Did they not notice the horse-riding dance and the rhythmic pelvic thrusting in the elevator? Were they deaf to the addictive melody and blind to the tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendos? I mean, come on people: he’s screaming at her butt.

At the time, I thought maybe I just had dull friends. But after over 400,000,000 views, numerous international media appearances, an American record deal and still only minimal sign of interest from Japan, I’m compelled to think that there is something about PSY and Gangnam Style that the Japanese are simply unable to accept.

Oct 11, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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With every man and his dog having heard tales of Japan’s heated, butt-cheek-massaging, water-squirting thrones or experienced them firsthand by now, the country’s space-age toilets are nothing new.

Why the contraptions haven’t quite caught on overseas yet still amazes me, but Japan continues to do toilets exceedingly well, and few things on this earth please this writer more than opening a stall door and being greeted by a sensor-activated toilet whose lid opens to greet me with the fondness of a dog whose master has just return from a weekend away.

But with all those buttons, dials and functions, Japan’s toilets seem to have peaked. Today’s toilet enthusiasts demand something more! Luxury, ladies and gentlemen, does not come from mere electronics; it comes from spacious, tranquil privacy.

In search of just that, our lucky writer over at RocketNews24 Japan headed out to Chiba prefecture, the home of the world’s most spacious public restroom, documenting the entire process on our behalf. Well, maybe not the entire of the process…

Before we set off, does anyone need to pee?

Oct 11, 2012 by Steven
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Some of you may be familiar with South Korean female dance team Waveya from their sexy dance rendition of international K-Pop hit “Gangnam Style” (see below).

While unable to match the raw sexual energy that made PSY’s original music video so successful, the video has gotten over 40 million views on YouTube and has helped the five-piece unit make a name for themselves domestically.

Last month, for example, Waveya was asked to perform at an all-boys high school in Korea. The girls took the stage and began working their sexiest, most seductive moves on stafe in front of the crowd of adolescent males and, as you might imagine, it wasn’t long before every guy in the room found himself standing erect with excitement.

You know, to see Waveya. Because they’re famous now… Pervert.

Oct 11, 2012 by Master Blaster
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So you’re a middle aged person living in Japan with a mind to tie the knot but can’t seem to find that perfect match. You went to a goukon and followed all the rules but still couldn’t land that potential spouse.

It could be because you’re a geek. Now, that’s not as bad as it sounds. Statistics that I just pulled out of thin air suggest that up to 31% of us carry the otaku gene. Some of our best and brightest are nerds, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Weird Al Yankovic, and Wayne Gretzky.

However, for the otaku, marriage can be as hard to complete as that level in Battletoads where you have ride the hover bike. This is why the town of Washimiya has set up the Otaku Marriage Hunting Masquerade Ball.

Oct 11, 2012 by Karen Bremer Masuda
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A refreshing bubbly drink is desirable in any season, but particularly in hot weather. Pour it over ice on a hot day and you have an excellent refresher.

While it comes after the hot and humid summer has passed, Soda Sparkle, the home soda machine that lets you take plain water and carbonate it, finally came to Japan earlier this year!

Oct 11, 2012 by Yoshio
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A couple in China has invented a “mood detector” that helps to stop couples from fighting.

Couple fights are part and parcel of everyday life. While it is said that small quarrels help to keep the marriage alive, unresolved arguments can escalate into serious conflicts. At times like this, it is always good to have a third-party act as a mediator, but even so, the family counselor cannot be there 24/7. This is when the “mood detector” comes in handy.

Oct 11, 2012 by Steven
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Calendars featuring photos of sexy models posing provocatively are nothing new, but leave it to Japan to come up with a calendar where the date is written on the exposed skin of a woman’s body —and actually make it look artistic.

Oct 11, 2012 by Kay
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From pumpkin flavored ice cream to sweet pumpkin dumplings, I seem to be writing quite often about pumpkins recently, which I guess is not too surprising considering that we are about 3 weeks away from Halloween. Well, this too, is a story about a pumpkin, but is completely unrelated to Halloween. In this case, the pumpkin turned into a potentially deadly “trick” instead of a “treat”. Read More

Are You in the Sexy Zone? If So the Police Would Like a Word with You

Oct 11, 2012 by Master Blaster
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Johnny Kitagawa, 80 year-old former teen idol and boy band mogul is celebrating his 50th year in the industry. And what a better way to do it than with Johnny and Associates’ newest smash hit makers, Sexy Zone!

Shori Sato (16), Kento Nakajima (18), Fuma Kikuchi (17), So Matsushima (15), and fresh young Marius Yo (12) formed Sexy Zone after graduating from Johnny’s Juniors, an extensive school for talented and strapping young men who will do whatever it takes to become stars.

By the way, all previous allegations by former Johnny’s Juniors with regards to inappropriate advances and abuse published in books and newspaper have never been proven in a criminal court of law. I have no idea why I wrote that, but it seemed like it was necessary.

Oct 11, 2012 by Philip Kendall
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McDonald’s Japan has been having kind of a tough time lately…

After the restaurant took peculiar the step of removing menus from its counters, Japanese patrons have expressed their dissatisfaction both online and off, suggesting that the idea was perhaps not the company’s best in recent year, and the Golden Arches have received plenty of negative press as a result.

Perhaps fuelled by this feeling of discontent, a photo shared on social networking site Twitter, which shows an in-store sign alerting customers to the fact that free water will no longer be served, has had Japanese netizens up in arms, and has been shared more than 5,000 times.