Animal donuts! Japan has animal donuts, and holy mackerel, they look adorable. Delicious, too. In Japanese, they’re called “doubutsu doonatsu” (どうぶつドーナツ) or, literally, “animal donuts.” And recently, these cute snacks have been delighting those with a sweet tooth and a love of things kawaii. The two donut shops in Japan known for their animal rings…
In the past two weeks, Twitter has been news in Japan. I don’t mean Twitter itself. Oh no. Rather, it’s the idiots Twitter finds. This has been a trend of late, especially in the service industry. Previously, Kotaku covered the Japanese convenience store employee who crawled into his store’s ice cream freezer. That employee was…
Nintendo games appear on Nintendo hardware. That’s the rule! But is Nintendo’s honcho Satoru Iwata interested in bringing the company’s games to competitors’ consoles? Nope. Here’s why. When asked by CVG about the chances of Nintendo’s games appearing on rival systems, Iwata replied, “If I was to take responsibility for the company for just the…
Fakes. Copies. Knock-offs. Cheap imitations might get a bad name, but that doesn’t mean they are uninteresting. Take these phony Transformers, for example. They’re pandas! And they’re wonderful. Japanese site Fake Toy Gallery does a bang up job of cataloguing knock-offs found throughout Asia over the years. Of particular interest are the fake Transformers. Some…
I’ve decided that I don’t want to buy new consoles at launch anymore for a variety of reasons. Many of them are highlighted in this wonderful School House Rock style video. How about you? Game Launch Rock! [brentalfloss@YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft
Earlier this summer, Japanese site Omocoro tried to see if Photoshop could turn an “ugly” staff writer into a beautiful woman. At the time, it wasn’t doable. Now, Taiwanese Photoshop masters have taken up this seemingly impossible challenge. But did they succeed? Omocoro, a comedy site, described staffer RiqRique as “The Most Atrociously Ugly Person…
Nintendo DS game Daigasso! Band Brothers (aka Jam with the Band) is getting a sequel. It’s called Daigasso! Band Brothers P, with the “P” standing for “producer” and “professional.” Like in the previous game, you can lay down tracks with various instruments. In the latest one, you can pick from 72 different instruments. You can…
To mark the release of 3DS title One Piece: Unlimited World, Nintendo is rolling out two One Piece branded 3DS XL units for Japan. One is “Luffy Red”, and the other is “Chopper Pink.” Priced at 25,980 yen (around US$260), the units come packed with a download version of the game and will go on…
Have you ever wondered about what it’s like in the Korean game industry? Like, the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly? Recently, a poll of over one thousand (1,203 people to be exact) folks working in the Korean game industry was collected in “A Report on Game Industry Professional Working Condition.” The poll…
Toothpaste tanks. Slipper birds. Flowers made from bras. Welcome to the world of Chinese retail, where in-store displays can get wonderfully creative. In the West, there have been a number of impressive soda can displays—and China has seen those, too. But it’s also seen suits of armor made from pots and pans as well as…
Japanese game company 5pb has ateaser site up that reads “Shield Energy.” Make of it what you will.
Land can come at a premium in Japan, especially in big cities. For urban dwellers, sometimes the only option is to build small. Real small. In Japanese, these cramped abodes are called “narrow homes” (狭小住宅 or “kyoushou jyuutaku”). Typically, they’re built on plots of land that are less than 50 square meters. The notion is…
According to this image, which is apparently from an upcoming Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, popular anime Attack on Titan is getting a 3DS game this year in Japan from Spike Chunsoft. To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture,…
In Tokyo, mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo just unveiled a huge yellow warning plastered all over a Shinjuku Station staircase. It reads, “Walking while using a smartphone is dangerous.” Under the warning, in parenthesis, it reads, “But those people probably didn’t see this announcement.” Oddly, this kind of reminds me of health warnings you see…
Late last week, Japanese Twitter users set a new Twitter world record: a staggering 143,199 tweets per second. This was no accident. And it will, no doubt, make Twitter better. According to the verified account of Twitter’s Japanese branch, the record breaking number occurred last Friday at 11:21:50 PM Japan Time. Why? What caused this?…
Dildo bats. Adult video stars. Alien anal probes. Yep, this is the world of Saints Row. That doesn’t mean everyone making the games have been happy with how Saints Row has been handled or happy about porn star producers. In an interview with Edge, Saints Row IV associate producer Kate Nelson talked about how the…
In an interview with VG247, Capcom producer Tomoaki Ayano explained that making each numeric entry in the Street Fighter series takes a long time. A long, long time. “If you look at the history of the series,” Ayano said, “it took six years to go from Street Fighter II to Street Fighter III, and nine…
When Studio Ghibli fans visit Japan, they typically make a beeline for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. But there’s another spot that should be on any fan’s list. Make that every fan’s list. Back in 2005, a full-scale replica of Satsuki and Mei’s house from My Neighbor Totoro was created for the World’s Fair held…
Check out this footage of the upcoming Sonic Lost World, which is headed to the Wii U and the 3DS this October. To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft
This month, a new shop dedicated to PC gaming opened in Tokyo’s Akihabara. It’s called G-Tune: Garage and looks pretty slick. The retail space sells G-Tune computers, which are branded the “ultimate gaming machine.” In case you are not familiar with them, they’ve been around for a while from Tokyo-based Mouse Computer. The shop puts…
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