If you follow Japanese pop, you know that groups don’t get much bigger than AKB48. (Literally!) One of the troupe’s latest singles was allegedly copied by a Chinese variety program. The show, whose title roughly means Enjoy Forever with Your Family, is broadcast on Hunan satellite television in China. Above, you can see a performance…
As far as infamous manga (and meme!) characters go, they don’t get any more infamous than the Yaranaika Guy. And this weekend, he got his own cafe. For one day. In Akihabara, Cosplay Bar Pachinoff was revamped as the official cafe for the 1987 gay manga Kuso Miso Technique. One of the manga’s lead characters,…
Not sure why companies in Japan keep insisting on this kind of imagery, but they do. And this time, it’s not just a Japanese company. As noted by websites Japan Probe and Debito, ANA’s new commercial features imagery that some non-Japanese residents living in the country find offensive. “The end result is crude racial humor:…
We told you not to be surprised! We told you that game designer Hideo Kojima was making MGSV character Quiet all sexy because, um, it’s good for cosplay, or selling figures, or something According to Kojima‘s Twitter, this is the “Play Arts Kai” version of Quiet The figure is still a work-in-progress This doesn’t exactly…
Late last week, a story surfaced on several sites that the pollution in Beijing was so bad, the sunset had to be broadcast on a huge LED screen so people could watch it. You can see the image directly above. The story, however, is disingenuous. Yes, the pollution in Beijing is bad. It’s a serious…
Sometimes the world isn’t very adorable. If only it looked a bit more like this! You know, like it were filled with teddy bears. As recently noted by Korea Realtime, South Korea’s Jeju Island is home to all sorts of interesting museums. There’s a sex museum, a computer museum, and a teddy bear museum, which…
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku might not be real, but her popularity sure is. In Japan, the character, who stars in own line of Sega music games, now also has her own store. Called “Miku Wing Shop,” the store will be opened for a limited time only at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The name “Wing Shop”…
Even with the less than stellar Wii U sales, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said he won’t resign. According to Iwata, “There will be no major management shake-up in the short term.”
Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is the busiest train station in the world. And this video brings it to life with haunting beauty. Using a super high speed camera, photographer Adam Magyar filmed from a train as it pulled into Shinjuku Station. Playing the footage at a normal frame rate makes it look super slow due…
Yikes! This week in Japan, photos of a puppet popped up online. The puppet appeared on a kid’s program in Japan. Online, commenters are saying its head looks “totally” like a dildo. Note: This article contains content some readers might find objectionable. The show in question is called Nihongo de Asobo (“Let’s Play in Japanese”)…
Today, Nintendo released its sales forecasts. The company’s financial year ends on March 31, and Nintendo has modified its sales predictions. In a downward direction, that is. But not all the news is bad. Initially, Nintendo forecasted 18 million 3DS handhelds sold worldwide this financial year. The revised number is now 13.5 million. That’s certainly…
Earlier today, the world’s first Kit Kat “specialty shop” opened in Tokyo. It’s called the Kit Kat Chocolatory, and you can see a photo of it right up there. As previously reported, the new Kit Kat shop offers gourmet Kit Kats. That’s it! There are three flavors currently: the “Sublime Bitter,” which is made with…
The vast majority of book cover art in Japan is fairly conservative. Tasteful, even. But one publisher is trying to “update” classic books by covering them in anime art. Tokyo-based Kadokawa is one of Japan’s largest publishers. In recent years, the company has expanded into movies and video games. Seeming to take advantage of its…
With those Kingdom Hearts games and with new Mickey Mouse cartoons, you’d think being the official Japanese language voice of Mickey Mouse would be a full-time job. For one university professor, it’s not. Takashi Aoyagi’s full-time gig is being a professor at Tokyo Seitoku University, studying Japanese Heian culture, classical Chinese poetry, and Japanese poetry…
This week, a gentleman—no, a hero—named Zhao Ming dressed up as Predator and proposed to his girlfriend at a bar in Changchun, China. According to China Newsand CRI (via ShanghaiIst), his unsuspecting girlfriend, named Zhu Wenjing, entered the bar and was suddenly surrounded by seven individuals dressed as Star Wars characters, Bumblebee from Transformers and…
Hello Kitty is getting a “super robot” toy. Bandai released a trailer for said toy, and it includes a robo Kitty-chan anime. As previously mentioned, the figure is around 4-inches tall and has several different “modes,” like “Underwater Mode” and “Flying Mode.” Kitty-chan even has a “Rocket Punch” that shoots her fist-like missiles. Part of…
What’s the point of making a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service if the cat is going to be CG? No, let me rephrase that. What’s the point of making a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service? Recently on Japanese television, the first images of the movie version of Jiji, the black cat, were shown. If you have never…
Goodness! That’s model Tina Rybakova hanging out in the snow with a large bear. Rybakova is apparently supposed to be Merida from the Disney movie Brave (maybe?), but her costume doesn’t quite match up with the character’s. She does have red hair, which certainly helps pull off the cosplay. Oh, and a bear. That helps,…
Slated to be a PS4 launch title in Japan, DriveClub has been delayed and won’t make its planned February 22 release in Japan. The reason for the delay? Website Inside Games quotes the press release as saying, “Various circumstances.” The game’s release date is now TBA for Japan and will be announced at a later…
Physical goods imported into Japan are taxed. And according to the Japanese media, starting in 2015, foreign downloads will be as well. Content such as digital music, e-books, apps, and games downloaded from foreign servers will levied with a consumption tax, reports Nikkei Going on info from government sources, Asahi, one of the largest papers…
Mode
Follow us
