Brian Ashcraft

Our colleagues at Kotaku Japan are celebrating their fourth anniversary, complete with a new Kotaku-tan character, a cake, and Red Bull. Congrats!

Samsung Galaxy Allegedly Caught Fire While Gaming, Destroys Man’s Home

After dinner, a man in Hong Kong began charging his Samsung Galaxy S4 so he could play a smartphone game. Then, the man says, the smartphone caused his home to catch fire. According to reports on website IT’s House (via UPI), the smartphone’s owner, a 47 year-old man surnamed “Du,” was on his sofa playing…

Let’s Look at Macho Plastic

At last weekend’s Wonder Festival in Japan, there was an array of plastic figurines and models on display. Many of them were cute, a few of them were scary, and some of them were oh so very macho. Here’s a look at a smattering of the tough figurines and models on display. Robots, mecha, monsters,…

What is XCOM: Enemy Within? There have been rumblings about this, but title recently showed up for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on South Korea’s Game Rating Board site. It’s been on the Steam Database. Hrm… [Thanks for the tip, Sang!] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on…

Man Unsuccessfully Smuggles a Turtle in a Hamburger

A man in China loved his turtle so damn much that he tried to sneak it on an airplane by hiding it in a hamburger. According to Guangzhou Daily (via South China Morning Post), a passenger surnamed Li tried to get his “beloved” pet turtle through Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in a KFC hamburger. When…

Korea’s Take on the “Virgin Floating Hand” Meme

You know hover hands? Those awkward photo moments that are called “instant virgin detectors.” South Korea has them, too, but they mean something else: Good manners. Behold, the “manner hand!” As tipster Sang explains, “manner hand” is basically when male celebrities don’t touch female celebrities while taking photos together. It can also be when celebs…

How To Turn Your Cat into Totoro

Have a cat? Like My Neighbor Totoro? Want to turn your pet into the titular character? Here’s how: This comes courtesy of Japanese Twitter user @bump_take, and the photo has been retweeted over sixteen thousand times. For good reason, too! It’s so adorable. In comparison, turning your cat into the Catbus seems way harder. Then…

Wii U Sales Are Really, Really Bad

It’s no secret that the Wii U is struggling. However, the extent of which the console is struggling might surprise you. According to Nintendo, between April 1 and June 30 of this year, the Wii U sold 160,000 units. Those are global sales figures. Over three months. Ouch. Simple math tells us that the Wii…

In Japan, Square Enix just announced Dragon Quest Monsters 2, a numeric sequel in its popular Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series. As some commenters have pointed out, this is a remake of the original DQM2. The game’s “general director” is Yuji Horii, and it will feature monster designs by Akira Toriyama. It’s also being developed…

Unique Japanese Mail Boxes Are Wonderful in Rain or Shine

Japan Post mail collection boxes tend to look the same: They’re either large and red or large and orange-red. Boring! But then, there are some that are truly works of art. Here’s what post boxes look like in Japan. These are the Japan Post’s equivalent of those iconic blue U.S. Postal Service boxes. These are…

You Don’t Want To Get In This Chinese Swimming Pool

No, really. You do not. This isn’t just a swimming pool in Sichuan province, it’s a sea of people. Website Beijing Cream points out that crowded Chinese swimming pools are famous (infamous?), and if you’d like to see more, there are numerous photos online. This particular video was recently uploaded to Chinese video site Youku,…

Life-Sized Mario Can Be Yours for Nearly $3,000

It’sa him, Mario! Witha you, person who just spent almost three grand. As New Launches points out, this 150 cm (4.9 ft) Mario statue is available on Amazon Japan. It was launched a few years back and is priced at 285,000 yen, which is around US$2,900. This seems like something designed for retail displays—or people…

After a Bad Experience, Former Konami Employee Had To Fight Depression

In an interview with the Asahi News, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, a forty-something year-old man recalled his time at Konami and an alleged unfortunate experience which led to bouts of severe depression. Asahi reports that the man worked at Konami in game development. However, in late 2010, apparently the man’s boss abruptly told him…

How a Japanese Radish Became an Internet Hero

Last fall, a most unusual radish was unearthed in Japan. The vegetable walked—no, raced—from that farm and into our hearts. The result was TV appearances, a calendar, toys, and even a photo book. Behold the world’s most successful radish. If you are not familiar with daikon radish, they are rather large and look like this:…

Homeless Man Is A Walking Street Fighter Wiki

Meet Emanuel. This homeless gentleman is going to talk about one thing today: Street Fighter Art director Ken Lin filmed this interview back in 2010, but recently located it on a hard drive. Explains Lin: “I ran into this homeless guy named Emanuel Swanson who was yelling “Sonic Boom!” to himself. Being a Street Fighter…

Mid-Summer Cosplay Was Wonderful This Weekend in Japan

At its heart, Wonder Festival is an event in Japan for toy models and sculptures. But wherever there are nerds, there are people dressing up! Here’s a look at some of the standout cosplay from this weekend’s Wonder Festival. Many of these outfits (such as the Kamen Rider Wizard and the Raiden outfits, above) look…

A Most Unusual Pokemon Peripheral for the 3DS

This is Pokemon Tretta Lab for Nintendo 3DS. The app is a free download, but the hardware costs 3,800 yen (around $38). In Japan, there are coin-operated Pokemon games that use chipped plastic pucks. Players put the pucks on a mat on the machine, and the mat “reads” the pucks. So, for example, if you…

Japanese University Makes Special “Forever Alone” Dining Tables

One of Japan’s most prestigious institutions, Kyoto University, has installed new lunchroom seats for students who don’t want others to watch them while they eat. Alone. The seats are called “bocchi seki”　(ぼっち席), with “bocchi” meaning “alone” in Japanese. According to Asahi News, Kyoto University first installed the “lonely seats” last spring at its engineering school…

Man Opens Nazi Cafe, Baffled that It Pisses People Off

Who would have thought that a cafe packed with Nazi memorabilia would make people incredibly angry? Henry Mulyana, that’s who. Back in 2011, the Indonesian businessman opened SoldatenKaffee (“Soldier’s Cafe”), a restaurant filled with Nazi emblazoned decor. After the English-language media recently discovered his cafe, Mulyana received death threats and temporarily closed the establishment. According…

For Some Reason, Lightning Returns Has Boob Jiggling

One of the best things about Final Fantasy heroines is that, generally speaking, they’ve tended to be strong females and haven’t really relied on fan service. Until now, that is. At a recent Q&A session with Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s developers, the following question was asked: “Is it true that Lightning went from a…