Brian Ashcraft

In Japan, Living People Are Lying in Coffins

Death is inevitable. And for many, it’s also scary. In Japan, some are confronting death head on in a rather unusual way: climbing into coffins. Earlier this spring, end of life counselor Atsushi Sakabe and coffin manufacturer WiLLiFE began an “Experience Being Placed in a Coffin” (入棺体験 or “nyuukan taiken”) event. Nikkei reports that the…

Hey Pranksters, Get Your Ridiculous Level-5 Wallpaper Right Here!

Recently, Level-5 held a popularity contest, with the most popular characters appearing in a special wallpaper. Good thing internet pranksters apparently rolled the poll, because the ensuing wallpaper is all kinds of fun. Sure, the airplane is easy to spot, but you find the porter from Aero Porter? Download the wallpaper in the link below.…

Korea’s Photoshop Trolls Make the Internet a Better Place

On June 26, a Korean language Facebook page called “We Do Phoshop” appeared online. The site solicited Photoshop requests, and the ensuing ‘shops weren’t exactly what askers had in mind. Or what anyone had in mind, for that matter. There’s a tradition of these kind of Photoshops online in China. People would ask “Photoshop masters”…

Report: China Is Ending Its Ban on Video Game Consoles

Since the year 2000, video game consoles have been banned in China. According to a new report, however, that is about to change. Video game consoles could soon be legal in the world’s most populated country. The South China Morning Post is reporting that the Chinese government is expected to reverse its 13-year video game…

Japan’s “High-Speed Sushi” Is Amazing

In Japan, your typical conveyor belt sushi restaurants keep a slow and steady flow of food flowing. This is not your typical conveyor belt sushi restaurant. This is Uobei. Like many other sushi chains, it’s not so expensive—one plate of sushi is 105 yen (around $1). And according to online reviews, the sushi is pretty…

Nintendo and Japanese Game Makers Win Another R4 Legal Victory

Today, Nintendo won another legal battle against R4 devices against two Japanese distributors. Upholding the ban on R4 devices, a Tokyo court ruled that the accused, two Tokyo-based R4 sellers, must pay a sum total of nearly US$1 million ($944,921) in damages to Nintendo and fifty or so other companies that had joined in the…

Some of Japan’s Most Annoying Commercials

Japanese television commercials can get rather creative. Some of them (like this) are moving. Others are downright odd. But often in the West, you get a look at the interesting, cool, or peculiar Japanese commercials. What about the annoying ones? According to 2ch, Japan’s largest web forum, here are some of more irritating Japanese commercials…

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is coming to Japanese arcades sometime later this year, Tecmo Koei recently announced.

Bruce Lee Wants You To Be Like Water and Drink Johnnie Walker

Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee is the latest deceased celebrity to re-appear in CG form to sell you things. Joseph Kahn, who directed the video, explains: We shot it in Hong Kong, and then we worked with vfx company The Mill in London to create a completely CGI Bruce Lee over nine months. EVERY shot…

Will Japan Finally Adore This Pacific Rim Star?

Pacific Rim is Guillermo del Toro’s big love letter to Japanese monster movies like Godzilla and anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion. Too bad Japan isn’t exactly in love with Kikuchi. Actress Rinko Kikuchi is Mako Mori, one of the film’s lead pilots to battle the dreaded kaiju in one of this summer’s biggest Hollywood flicks.…

“Weird Paranoia” at Valve, Says Former Employee

Valve is an iconic game company. It has a unique corporate structure. One former employee, however, said it “felt a lot like high school”, complete with popular kids, troublemakers, and everyone in between. Then, there’s the alleged “weird paranoia”. “Now we’ve all seen the Valve handbook, which offers a very idealized view,” former Valve employee…

The Bikini Isn’t the Only Thing Wrong with This Gaming PC Video

MSi, the Taipei PC gaming company, released a new video that shows how to build a MSi Z87-GD64 Gaming PC. Or something. Apparently, all you need is a Philips screwdriver, a bikini, and a bad English language dub. Oh, don’t forget the cheese ball pop music! Because that’s how you build a gaming PC, right?…

In Japan, McDonald’s Just Released a $10 Quarter Pounder

This is the “Gold Ring” Quarter Pounder. Priced at 1,000 yen, it was only available for one day, this past Saturday. The burger was inspired by jewelry. Because jewelry tastes delicious? McDonald’s always had yummy-looking hamburgers in its promotional images—and less delicious-looking ones in real life. But if you are paying ten bucks for a…

As spotted by NeoGAF member Dantis, Atlus registered a domain name for Persona 5 in Japan. Hopefully, that will further help to abate concerns over the future of Atlus. And hopefully, it means Persona 5 info is around the corner.

Asiana Airlines Headline Called “Racist” and “In Bad Taste”

This weekend, tragedy struck. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed in San Francisco. Over 180 people are injured, and two are dead. Nineteen passengers are still hospitalized, with six still in critical condition. Two thirds of the passengers were Asian, which is why the Chicago Sun-Times‘s headline is angering some online. As pointed out by AsAmNews,…

How One Korean Actress Conquered Facebook with Cosplay

Yuri Seo is a voice actress for League of Legends. She’s also a cast member of Saturday Night Live Korea. And recently, she conquered Facebook. When the fourth season of SNL Korea was getting underway, all the cast members were told to promote SNL Korea on Facebook—well, except her. Seo wrote on Facebook (via tipster…

Are These Twitter Images Awful or Awfully Funny?

It’s Friday! Time to relax. Time to unwind. Time to giggle. Online in Japan, a collection of “awful” or “terrible” pics are amusing and delighting internet inhabitants. Previously, Kotaku posted someinteresting Twitter images from Japan. Daily life in Japan is rather pedestrian and normal, but those Twitter images were anything but. Ditto for these! Some…

World War II Battleship Game Angers Players in South Korea

At this year’s E3 gaming expo, Wargaming.net showed off its latest PC title, World of Warships. The game’s new trailer pissed off some gamers in Korea. Here’s why. In the trailer, you can see the Japanese Rising Sun Flag, which was flown during World War II. Obviously, because of what happened during the war, the…

Bandai Namco is thinking about charging 500 yen (about US$5) for one hour of play at its arcades in Japan. Currently, one play is 100 yen.

In Japan, Nintendo Was Hacked

Nintendo’s Kyoto-based HQ just announced that Club Nintendo, its member rewards site, has been hacked. This was discovered when a large number of access errors began appearing on July 2. That’s when Nintendo began investigating the issue. According to Nintendo’s investigation, there were 23,000 unauthorized log-ins (with 15 million attempts) between June 9 and July…