Brian Ashcraft

This Young Woman’s Video Might Surprise Your Heart

If you’ve ever spent time on Japanese online video network Nico Nico Douga, you’ve probably seen young people do all sorts of crap. You’ve probably never seen anything like this. The clip is about two minutes long, and features a young woman who shows off her new bathing suit. Stick around until the end to…

Check Out Japan’s Badass Motorcycle Cops

Today, it was announced in the Japanese press that the country is getting a squad of off-roading police bikes. That’s good, because some of them have been practicing. Since 1969, police officers from across the country have competed in the “All Japan Police Motorcycle Safety Riding Competition.” The goal of the event is to promote…

Final Fantasy Turned into a Religious Experience

The Ise Grand Shrine is one of Japan’s most important Shinto Shrines. This week, as the Emperor and Empress visit, the shrine is launching a new web animation with music from Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. The tune might sound familiar. The composition closely resembles the Final Fantasy “Prelude”—if it’s not, you know, simply that…

Would You Like Some Grotesque Sea Bugs? To Eat?

This weekend, Yokohama’s Omoshiro Aquarium is holding a special event: You can eat those underwater pill bugs called isopods. Delicious! According to Yahoo News, the aquarium’s “deep sea creatures food sampling event” will also include a shark dissection show. The shark will be served as a fillet. Note that people won’t be eating the Giant…

Japanese Man Spends $150,000 To Look Like Michelangelo’s David

Meet “Alan” (アラン or Aran). He’s 20 years old. And in one year, he’s spent a fortune to look like an ageless beauty. But it wasn’t Alan’s money, because he doesn’t have a job. Older women forked out the cash. Above, you can see a comparison of Alan last year, at the age of 19,…

Racism Forces Soccer Team To Play in an Empty Stadium

Earlier this month, a banner reading “Japanese Only” hung inside Saitama Stadium 2002. The incident led to the Urawa Red Diamonds soccer team being punished: This weekend, the team was forced to play in an empty stadium. And yes, the team is being punished for the actions of insensitive fans. AFP reports that the Urawa…

Japan Is Making an Anime Girl Vacuum Bot

Um, thanks? I guess? This is Cocorobo-chan. It’s an anime girl vacuum cleaner you can talk to. The original Cocorobo launched a few years back, and it might look like a Roomba clone, but it’s way smarter, featuring speech recognition software and the ability to utter a few phrases. From Sharp’s Cloud Labs, the idea…

More Chinese Transformers Made from Trash

Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and other Transformers have risen from junked parts in Jinan, China According to People’s Daily (via Beijing Cream), “repairmen” took about twenty days to make all these sculptures. The largest Transformer weighs five tons and is 15 meters tall. The images below are courtesy of Iqilu.com: These aren’t the first Transformer statues…

Cigarettes Are Not Cool: The Anime

To stop Japanese teens from smoking, Okayama Prefecture released an anti-smoking anime. It’s over seven minutes long and features crap animation. Titled “Tabako wa Dasai” (たばこはダサい) or “Cigarettes Are Lame,” the anime was created with the cooperation of a professor in Okayama Prefectural University’s design department. According to The Sanyo Shimbun, this is part of…

Cop Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Another Cop’s Video Game Handheld

According to Nikkei, 21 year-old police officer Ryo Yamashita allegedly took 75,000 yen ($733) and a game portable from another officer’s room in a police dormitory in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Apparently, the theft took place place while Yamashita was off duty and his colleague was on duty… fighting crime. Nikkei did not clarify what type…

Cosplay Makes This The Best Graduation Ceremony in Japan

Kyoto University is one of Japan’s most prestigious universities. And it has a delightful graduation tradition: Cosplay. For years now (save for a brief period when it was banned), students have dressed up in amusing cosplay while they receive their degrees. In Japan, students graduate in the spring, and this month, new grads came out,…

How To Draw a Tiger from a Penis

You will probably never look at dick faces, I mean tigers, the same way ever again. Twitter user Milkuzz recently posted these very helpful how-tos that explain how to use a dick drawing to create tiger doodles. Below, you can see the explanations. While they are in Japanese, just go in numeric order, and you…

Little Dogs Make Attack on Titan Cosplay Cuter

Attack on Titan isn’t exactly an adorable anime. But this doggy cosplay sure is. Twitter user 30miomio3030 created an Attack on Titan dog outfit, complete with Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear made from Amazon boxes. Bravo. miomio3030 [Twitter via Otaku News] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter…

Well, Someone Has To Make Erotic Anime Character Sheets

People in the textile industry work hard. But imagine instead of spending the day making Polo shirts or slacks, they churn out adult anime sheets. Note: This article contains imagery that some readers might find objectionable. Recently on Chinese site TTmop, photos emerged of a domestic factory where hug pillows are made for Japan (and,…

The King of Fighters is getting, um, a rhythm game? Apparently, this February SNK Playmore filed a trademark in Japan for The Rhythm of Fighters. It’s for “game software for computers, etc.”

A Speed Eating Contest for Japan’s “Most Disgusting” Food

Have you ever heard of nattou (納豆)? It’s fermented beans that are slimy, sticky, and smell like socks. I quite like nattou, but many foreigners (and some Japanese) think it’s utterly repellent. Sounds like the perfect food for a speed eating contest! If you are not familiar with nattou, here is a video of people…

Crimea’s New Attorney General Reacts to Her Internet Fandom

After the new Prosecutor of the Crimean republic, Natalia Poklonskaya, gave a press conference earlier this month, anime style fan art started appearing online. But what does Poklonskaya think of all that? In a recent interview (via The Voice of Russia), Russian television channel NTV asked the prosecutor what she thought about her newfound fame…

Some of Japan’s Most Wonderful And Strange Cosplay

Today, Osaka’s geek district Nipponbashi held a big street festival. The area’s main drag was closed off to cars, allowing cosplayers to roam free and cause all sorts of cosplay chaos. Every year at this event in particular, the costumes get more and more outrageous (though, there are some old favorites on display below). Either…

Penguins’ Greatest Enemy? A Piece of Rope.

Who knew a simple piece of rope could cause such consternation? Penguins, that’s who. Last fall, a YouTube user named Smekh Eto Khorosho uploaded a video of penguins struggling to overcome rope tied to rubber rafts. (I believe the video was taken a few years back in the Antarctica.) Earlier today, the video started to…

Giant Gundam Made Even Better with Projection Mapping

The enormous 59-foot Gundam statue in Tokyo is pretty cool. Projection mapping makes it even cooler. Projection mapping certainly isn’t new. But recently, it’s become increasingly popular in Japan. Take Osaka Castle, which kicked off a cool projection mapping show late last year. Japanese site Gigazine recently checked out the Gundam projection mapping event at…