While today is April 1st, this is apparently no joke. The air quality in Chinese city Zhengzhou is awful and listed as “unhealthy.” That’s why late last month, bags of air were brought in for its citizens to get a taste of clean mountain air. At the March 29 event, people lined up to breath…
Remember the cardboard wizard who turned Amazon boxes into a Japanese temple? Well, he’s back, and this time, he’s created a remote control cardboard model tank. In the video below, you can see NicoNico Douga user Upuaza Touryou create a Type 97 Chi-Ha, which was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the late 1930s…
Today is April 1st. Be wary! There are some pranks and tricks online that you might fall for. Some of them are not very good. But some of them are. Let’s have a look. Japanese manga Weekly Shonen Jump, a magazine for young boys, is turned into Jumpteen, a magazine for teenage girls. [Weekly Jump]…
Tokyo trendsetter Harutamu looks ready to set another fad: Turning your fingernails into ad space. Harutamu had her nails done up to promote Candy Crush in Japan. The official press release is calling this a “nail advertisement” (ネイル広告 or nairu koukoku). Japanese site GetNews wonders if this is a world’s first. Kia had a nail…
Do you text and walk? Don’t! Here’s computer simulation that shows what will happen. Well, kinda. Recently in Japan, mobile phone carriers like NTT Docomo have been educating the public that using smartphones while walking isn’t safe. Docomo collaborated with Aichi University of Technology to create a computer simulation of 1,500 people walking through the…
This weekend, filming began in Seoul for The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Mapo Bridge was closed to traffic for the production. Below the bridge, a body was discovered floating in the water. Naver (via tipster Sang) has photos of the bridge during the filming on March 30. As previously mentioned, the bridge was closed to…
It’s springtime in Japan. That means, friends and family gather to sit under cherry blossoms and eat, drink, and be merry. This guy, however, is all alone. On Japanese television, people were being asked what time they arrived to get a spot to enjoy hanami (花見) or “cherry blossom viewing.” “I got here a little…
Until he retired last year, Taka Kato was one of Japan’s most famous male porn stars. He recently appeared in a Chinese mobile game commercial, which has raised the ire of the Chinese government. In the commercial, Kato talked about he’s known as “Goldfinger.” With his raised two fingers, Kato says, “I’ve brought happiness to…
Last year, some members of a Japanese comedy site decided to troll Google Street View with pigeon masks. That was just the beginning. This weekend, the same site, Daily Portal Z, held a “Hato Event” at Osaka’s Grand Front shopping center. (In Japanese, “hato” means pigeon.) For the event, people could wear a pigeon mask…
Wear contacts? Don’t want to stick your fingers in your eyes? A Japanese company has created a contraption called “Meruru.” In short, you are looking at contact lens tweezers. You don’t have to use your fingers to remove your lens, but you can use this silicone set, which seems slightly scary. According to the company,…
The new Avengers movie hasn’t started shooting in Seoul yet, but Joss Whedon is already telling the people he’s sorry for the mess and inconvenience the movie will bring. Filming starts in Seoul on March 30, but Whedon has already released an apology video, which is titled “Thank You Greeting.” The apology was released early…
According to reports out of Japan, the president of social gaming giant Gree, Yoshikazu Tanaka, is being sued for allegedly making a young woman get an abortion. Gree is one of the biggest social game companies in Japan. Forbes said its founder is Asia’s youngest self-made billionaire and called him one of “The World’s 12…
You might think that the samurai no longer exist in Japan. That the samurai officially vanished when they were banned from carrying swords in the late 19th century. That might be true, but samurai still exist in Japan. Today, they just wield glowsticks instead. This Cup Noodle ad is titled “Present-Day Samurai” (現代のサムライ or Gendai…
In Japan, if you really screw up, just saying you’re sorry won’t cut it. You might have to grovel. And this is some of the most extreme Japanese grovelling you’ll see. As previously mentioned, prostrating yourself (土下座 or dogeza) is a way to apologize when words alone won’t cut it. It’s a pose that empowers…
This is 19 year-old Kanna Motoyoshi. She got into cosplay as a way to show her love for anime character Tieria Erde from Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Not everyone was so receptive, however. Kanna didn’t always look like this. For example, in junior high school, she weighed around 176 pounds. As the screenshot says, this…
Usually, covers of The Diary of Anne Frank feature black and white photos of its author, Anne Frank. Or, you might see tasteful illustrations. You don’t usually see photos like this! In South Korea, these are the kind of covers you’ll typically see for The Diary of Anne Frank (aka The Diary of a Young…
Japan sure loves smartphone games. A new report (via TechInAsia) states that smartphone games now make up half of the country’s gaming market, increasing 178 percent compared to last year. Wowzers.
In Japan, popstars and celebrities aren’t the only ones with handshaking events: Otters have them, too. According to GetNews, the Ichikawa Zoological & Botanical Garden is rolling out a new “handshake corner” (握手コーナー or “akushu koonaa”) for visitors to greet otters. This isn’t the first zoo in Japan to offer this, and several other zoos…
What did Ryu do? Why is he grovelling? Because of a new series of collectible figurines. As noted by Twitter user Bruce Hsiang, the series is called “Dogeza Strap” (土下座ストラップ), and the straps are for your smartphone or portable game devices. “Dogeza” (土下座) is a type of bowing that’s typically reserved for bowing before incredibly…
China’s pollution is bad. It’s a huge problem. The air quality in Beijing has even been compared to a nuclear winter. But how does that compare to where you live? Website Air Pollution in Asia (via Beijing Cream) tracks China’s Air Quality Index in real time—as well as in other locations around the world. Thus,…
Mode
Follow us
