Kotaku East

Senpai, Notice My Anime Sand Art 

At Ayaha High School in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, junior members of the tennis club celebrate their senpai’s graduations by making elaborate sand art. Notice it! As a show of respect, gratitude and well-wishing (probably some obligation, too!), each kouhai (後輩), or junior, works together to create these works, using only sand and negative space and…

A Touching Pokémon Tribute in GIF Form

Here we are, celebrating Pokémon’s 20th anniversary. The best tribute I’ve seen so far is this GIF made by Japanese Twitter user Memi. It’s beautiful. Thanks, Roy for the tip! 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, bringing…

Japanese TV Meets Shuhei Yoshida, Thinks He’s Just Some Guy 

Recently in Tokyo, the mainstream Japanese media attended an exhibit about the history of video games and had no clue it was talking to one of the most well-known people in, well, gaming. D’oh! Instead of stating “Shuhei Yoshida President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment,” television program Mezamashi TV introduced him simply…

Japanese Artists Show Off Their Workspaces

One thing Japan does not have a shortage of is illustrators and artists. Some are famous. Many are not. Some are professionals, while others draw because they love it. Here’s a look at where they create. For well over a year, professional and amateur artists alike have been uploading photos of their workstations under the…

Hollywood Ghost in the Shell Movie Finally Gets a Japanese Actor: Beat Takeshi

Famed filmmaker, actor, and comedian Beat Takeshi is joining the cast of the Hollywood Ghost in the Shell movie. You know, the one that is starring Scarlett Johanssonand some other white people. According to Variety, “The story follows the exploits of a female member of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission’s covert ops unit (Johansson),…

Mountain Range around Iiyama Toyoda-shi, Nagano-ku, Japan. By Jason Capp. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Japan Looks to Relax Rules for Foreign Animators

Do you dream of making anime in Japan? The country’s government is working to make that more of a possibility by hopefully easing up on rules and regulations for foreign animators. According to the Nikkei Asian Review (via Mulboyne), the Japanese government has created a bill, which also includes designers and cosmetic professionals, that will…

Cat Looks Just Like a Studio Ghibli Character

This is Gimo. It’s a black Scottish Fold. Next to it is Makkuro Kurosuke, a character created by Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki. Makkuro Kurosuke (aka Susuwatari) are translated as “soot sprites” or even “dust bunnies.” They appear in My Neighbor Totoro when Mei, Satsuki and her father move into their new house. They’re also in…

What Grand Theft Auto III Looked Like on the Drawing Board

Today Tokyo saw the opening of Game On, an exhibition showcasing the history of video games and exploring the question “Why are video games so interesting?” One exhibit is a recreation of the planning board used to visually plot out the missions of PS2 classic Grand Theft Auto 3 Each of the three whiteboards represents…

Sunset from the Rainbow Bridge Loop. Tokyo, Japan. By Mike S. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Famed Manga Artist’s Seven Rules for Happiness

Last year, at the age of 93, Shigeru Mizuki passed away. Here are the seven things he felt led to happiness. Mizuki is best known for creating the manga GeGeGe no Kitaro and reviving the country’s interest in yokai. After surviving World War II and after losing an arm, he led a long, varied life.…

Welcome to Titan-Killing Simulator 2016

If there’s one thing you do a lot of in the new Attack on Titan game, it’s slaughter titans. From Omega Force, the studio behind the Dynasty Warrior games, Attack on Titan looks a lot like them with its tons of enemies to cut through and its expansive maps. But while the game uses the…

Street Fighter V Was Going to Look Realistic 

During the course of development, video games can change. Take Street Fighter V, for example. Early on, the game certainly didn’t look like it does now. It used to look realistic. Speaking with GameSpark (via EventHubs), Street Fighter V producer Koichi Sugiyama said that when work began, SFV didn’t feature the brush-style exaggerated graphics the…

Visiting Okochi Sanso Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan. By Andy Ruehmkorb. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Osaka Overrun for the Glory of Satan, Of Course!

You might know Kumamon as the official mascot character for Kumamoto Prefecture. Or you might know Kumamon as the bear from the “For the Glory of Satan” meme. Whichever, there are now a ton of them dotted throughout Osaka Station. Sankei News reports that famed architect and Osaka-native Tadao Ando is supervising the project, which…

A Dragon Ball Z Figure So Intense, It Shakes 

Everyone gets emotional sometimes, even Vegeta. Dragon Ball Z fans know about the time the character was moved to tears when he realized he was no match for Frieza. The moment, which can be seen here, is now immortalized in this collectible. [Image: Bandai] [Image: Bandai] Premium Bandai has the figure up for pre-order in…

Sony Is Killing the PlayStation TV in Japan

The PlayStation Vita TV (aka PlayStation TV) launched in Japan back in November 2013. Today, via AV Watch, Sony confirmed that it will cease shipping the hardware (in Japan, at least) at the end of February. That’s today. According to AV Watch, the reason Sony gave is that, in Japan, while the PS Vita TV…

Sensoji. Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. By Kenji Sugahara. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

The Seven Samurai Looks Glorious in 4K

Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai is over sixty years old. Film prints have become worse for the wear, which is why movie studio Toho is going back and restoring the picture in 4K, making it more beautiful than ever. NHK and AV Watch report that Toho converted the film’s nearly 30,000 frames into digital data…

The Most Anticipated Games in Japan 

Every week, Japanese game magazine Famitsu releases a list of the most anticipated games. The list varies somewhat from week to week, but it does give you a good idea of what Japanese gamers are looking forward to. The poll is done via postcard forms that come with magazine, and one section asks readers for…