Japan

Pokémon Go Grandpa Is Now A Mobile Phone Spokesperson

Last year, Taiwan’s Chen San-yuan went viral with his bicycle contraption to which nine phones were affixed so he could play Pokémon Go around Taipei. Now, he has more phones and a new gig: ambassador for Asus ZenFone smartphones. As Apple Today recently reports, Chen now has a whopping twenty-two smartphones rigged up to his…

Japanese Arcades Light Up The Night

In cities across Japan, arcades are beacons of the night. They are a place to take refuge, escape, and unwind, which is what makes them so special. Photographer Victor Gonzalez has started documenting Japanese arcades, hoping to tap into the nostalgia they invoke. For more, you can follow him on Instagram. He will also be showing…

How Anime Art Has Changed Since 2009

Anime art is not static. It is constantly changing with each passing year. Some of those changes are noticeable. Others less so. On 2ch, a forum member has posted the above image to explain how anime art has changed in the past ten years. The comparison shows prevalent stylistic touches then and now. The most…

Anime Pastel Memories‘ Streaming Temporarily Stopped, Home Releases Canceled

Streaming for anime Pastel Memories has temporarily been halted and DVD and Blu-ray releases of the show’s first three episodes have been cancelled. The reason, it seems, could be related to how the show parodies another anime. As announced on the show’s official site (via ANN), the official statement apologizes for the trouble caused by…

The Price Of PS4 Exclusive Judgment Is Going Up in Japan

Last week, Sega halted sales of PS4 exclusive Judgment after actor Pierre Taki was arrested on alleged drug charges. Taki is being replaced in various roles, and suddenly, the original release of Judgment looks like a collector’s item. Pierre Taki is being replaced in TV shows and as the official Japanese language voice of Olaf…

After Nudity Wasn’t Fully Censored, Nintendo Switch Game Temporarily Pulled  

Last week, Super Real Mahjong PV was released on the Nintendo Switch. This week, downloads of the digital game have been temporarily suspended. Warning: This article might be NSFW. The Super Real Mahjong series debuted in Japanese arcades during the 1990s. The series has previously appeared on Nintendo hardware, such as the Game Boy Advance. This…

Cosplay Made Me Want To Steal, Says Accused Burglar

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in Fukuoka, Japan for allegedly committing burglary while dressed in Rei Ayanami’s plugsuit from Evangelion 3.0 “When cosplaying, I wanted to break in and steal things,” the suspected is quoted by NHK as saying. According to the charging documents, the man is accused of breaking into Iizuka City home…

Studio Ghibli Producer Doesn’t Think Hayao Miyazaki Will Ever Retire

Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said in a recent interview that he doesn’t believe Hayao Miyazaki, who previously retired and then unretired, will ever stop working. Back in 2013, Hayao Miyazaki stepped down from feature filmmaking, saying at the time, “I would like to do something else, and that’s not animation.” By 2017, his retirement…

After Cocaine Arrest, Sega Halts Sales of New PS4 Game [Update]

Actor and musician Pierre Taki, who voices yakuza Kyohei Hamura in Judgment, has been arrested for alleged illegal drug use. Update #1 March 13 – 7:30 am: Asahi News is reporting that Disney is looking at replacing Taki as Olaf in the Japanese language version of Frozen 2. The movie is scheduled to open in…

Play Naked Dance Dance Revolution At This Love Hotel In Japan

In Japan, Love Hotels are specifically designed as places where folks can go and have sex. At Hotel Eldia, when they’re done with that, they can play arcade games. As Livedoor News reports, room 211 at Hotel Eldia in Kobe has a Dance Dance Revolution Supernova machine. The room is available for two hours for…

Rumor Leads To Studio Ghibli Fans Trespassing For Instagram Photos

In one of the most famous scenes of Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, the protagonist Chihiro follows train tracks that led into the sea and boards a train. Instagram users began flocking to the spot in Ehime Prefecture after a rumor circulated that a local spot inspired the scene. However, the Spirited Away fans caused…

Octopath Traveler is getting a prequel for smartphones called Octopath Traveler: Tairiku no Haisha (Conquerors of the Continent). Announced for Japan, the free-to-play RPG features and all-new story set a few years before the first game.

Japan’s First “Convenience Store Bar” Opens

Several years ago, Japanese convenience stores began selling better coffee, offering fresh donuts and rolling out eat-in seating spaces for customers. Now, one convenience store chain in Fukuoka has taken the next logical step: a bar. This week, the Poplar convenience store located in front of Fukuoka’s Hakata Station just opened its first bar. It…

On March 20, a new Gundam Cafe is opening in Osaka’s Dotonbori, serving up Mobile Suit themed eats and drinks. It will also sell souvenirs and snacks with Gundam characters speaking in the local Osaka dialect.

Detective Pikachu’s Face Is Spawning Endless Fan Art In Japan

The latest Detective Pikachu trailer shows a rather down-in-the-dumps electric rodent sleuth. Online in Japan, people have fallen in love with this shiwa–shiwa (しわしわ or wrinkly) Pikachu, calling the character cute and creating fan art. Here are some images of the wrinkly Pikachu One Twitter user called the movie’s version “Shiwachu” (Wrinkle-chu). Everyone seems to…

First Look Inside Japan’s New Moomin Theme Park 

On March 16, a Moomin theme park will open in Saitama, Japan. Let’s have a peek inside. Called Moomin Valley Park, it will feature various Moomin attractions, similar to Moominworld in Finland. The beloved Scandinavian characters have long been popular in Japan. Previously, the park’s concept art was revealed, which we can now compare to…

Today, The PlayStation 2 Was Born In Japan 19 Years Ago

On March 4, 2000, the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan. It went on to become the biggest selling video game console ever. The PlayStation 2 would launch later that year in North America on October 26, 2000 and in Europe on November 24, 2000. Since then, over 155 million PS2s have been sold, and some…

That Creepy Momo Sculpture Has Been Destroyed

The “Momo Challenge,” which allegedly caused children to commit violent acts on themselves and others, turned out to be a viral hoax. Momo herself, however, is a real sculpture—at least, she was Since 2018, the Momo Challenge—in which a picture of Momo would purportedly pop up in memes and other media with an explicit or…

Raw Fish Makes For Some Beautiful Food Art

Instagram user Mikyou loves slicing up fish and making some incredible sashimi art. Sashimi, of course, is thinly sliced raw fish (sushi is raw fish served on vinegar rice). Typically, sashimi is made from tuna, salmon, and Japanese amberjack, among other fish. Here is some of the sashimi that Mikyou has sliced for elegant homecooking…

Pokémon Sword And Shield‘s Starters Kinda Look Like Powerpuff Girls

Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble are the starters for the newly revealed Pokémon Sword And Shield. They look familiar. Namely, that people think they look like The Powerpuff Girls. As Twitter user Sazanami Salami points out, Scorbunny looks like Blossom, Sobble look Bubbles and Grookey looks like Buttercup. This image has been liked over 39,000 times.…