Kotaku East

Please Don’t Spoil the New Persona Game, Begs Atlus

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, the latest game in Atlus’ popular Persona franchise, comes out on the 3DS in Japan today, and the developers want people to be considerate. It’s in our nature to want to talk about or share the things we like and think are cool. But, just because you’ve seen the…

One City In China Is Cracking Down On Net Cafe Smokers

Secondhand smoke is terrible, but good luck getting away from it when you visit an internet cafe in China. In recent years, restrictions on smoking have been passed on locations such as restaurants and net cafes, but even so, people still smoke. Now, in China’s city of Wuhan, the authorities are cracking down. In a…

Now, Here Is How You Celebrate Transformers

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Transformers. There’s a big expo going on for robots at the Venetian Macao in, well, Macau At the expo, there are over one thousand figures on display as well as giant Transformer statues. Very cool! As pointed out by CITS and CRI, the expo wraps up in early…

Chinese League of Legends Pro Apologizes To Fans For Poor Performance

Professional gamers, like professional athletes, have their up and downs. When they disappoint, they have to face their fans and that’s exactly what a Chinese League of Legends pro did. CaoMei (Strawberry), whose real name is Wei Handong, plays top laner for a Chinese LoL Team, Team WE. After a poor performance in this past…

Thank Goodness This Cat Is Faster Than Racehorses

There was a close call recently at Ohi Racecourse in Tokyo. During yesterday’s race, a cat wandered onto the track, right in front of the oncoming horses. Thankfully, the cat was quick and safely escaped. According to Nikkan Sports (via Yahoo! News Japan), it’s incredibly rare for a stray cat to end up on the…

Nintendo DS title Brain Age has been released on the Wii U’s Virtual Console. The game will be available in Japan free of charge until June 30. After July 1, the game won’t be downloadable and after that its status is TBA. No word yet on a Western release. [Pic: yutaro365]

Fighting Couple Terrorizes Neighbors, Makes a Horrible Mess

Yikes! A video of destruction caused by a couple throwing things out of their window, including pots and pans, has gone viral in South Korea. According to Korean news sites like WikiTree, the fight happened at around 5:30am. The cars in the parking lot, including a BMW M3, were damaged. You can see another car…

This Is Not Aquarium Porn. It’s Art.

For the past few years, Hidetomo Kimura has been dazzling fish lovers with his high-concept aquatic displays. Called “Art Aquarium,” they are probably like nothing you’ve ever seen. As Time Out Tokyo notes, Kimura, a self-styled “art aquarium producer,” creates kaleidoscopes as he references traditional Japanese motifs and culture. In the video below, you can…

When Sushi Turns into Beautiful Boys, You’re Gonna Have to Date Them

I’m no stranger to odd dating sims. In the past, I’ve dated pigeons and even had a homosexual relationship with a piece of meat—so dating sushi seems right up my alley. Love! Sushi Rangers -Choose your target (sushi?)!- is an iOS/Android Otome game—i.e., a game where you play as a girl surrounded by a group…

College Student Called the Cops Over a Cockroach

Taiwan is a tropical country. And as in most tropical places, cockroaches are bad news. But are they worth freaking out about and calling the police? SET News reports how Taiwanese cops must deal with things like geckos, but answering a call about a roach is a bit ridiculous. The news channel reports, as does…

A Hoodie to Make You Look Like an Overweight Cat and Other Tales Merch

This past weekend, Yokohama was host to the Tales of Festival 2014 event. It was filled with news, music, voice actor skits, trailers, and, of course, merch. Lots and lots of merch. There were posters, t-shirts, jewelry, stuffed animals, towels, and a first look at more than a few prototype figures not yet on the…

Two New PS Vita Colors Coming to Japan

Just as the country says goodbye to the PSP, it’s getting two new PS Vita hues: Red/Black and Blue/Black. Game Watch reports that these Wi-Fi versions will be bundled as part of a Super Value Pack, priced at 18,980 yen (US$185). According to Siliconera, the Vitas are bundled with an 8GB memory card pre-loaded with…

Celebrity Plastic Surgery: The Horror Film

Upcoming Vietnamese film Scandal: The Comeback deals with one of the most frightening things on this Earth: showbiz’s plastic surgery obsession. Via Twitch Film, here is the psychological horror movie’s synopsis: Scandal: The Comeback is the story of Bella, a once-famous actress trying to recapture her old glory days with the help of plastic surgery.…

For a Pop Star, This Lady Kicks Ass at Wrestling

Yui Yokoyama is a member of cutesy Japanese idol group AKB48. And she can probably dropkick you silly. Typically, you probably don’t think of popstars, male or female, being particularly good at wrestling. Then again, you probably don’t typically think about who would be good at wrestling or who wouldn’t. Maybe you do! I really…

Here Are the Oldest Pants in the World

Apparently! That’s according to Science News. These trousers were recently discovered in Chinese tombs and radiocarbon dating says they are over 3,000 years old. Researchers are calling these the oldest pants in the world. A graveyard excavation in Yanghai, China turned up two ancient herders wearing wool trousers designed for horseback riding. Their trousers were…

Japan’s Love Affair With The PSP Will Finally End

Today, Sony announced that the PlayStation Portable will cease being released in Japan. That’s nearly ten years after it was first released. The PlayStation Portable launched in Japan in December 2004 and aimed to take on Nintendo in the handheld space it had dominated for so long. During the PSP’s run, the portable won over…

Young Woman Stuck in a Swing Turns to Twitter for Help

If you are young, chances are, you going to do something stupid. But just know that, perhaps you can turn to Twitter for help. Last month, Twitter user Mayuchin climbed into a baby swing at an Osaka park, first tweeting up the above photo of herself in the swing and cracking a joke. Then, she…

Transformers Pens Are More Than Meets The Eye

This is an Optimus Prime Transformer. It transforms into a pen. That’s pretty much it, but goodness, what else do you need? According to GetNews, these are priced at 4,298 yen (US$42). The standard Optimus Prime will be out in September in Japan, while the Black Optimus Prime and the Ultra Magnus will be out…

Celebrity Names Are Driving Up Coke Bottle Prices in Japan

Coca-Cola launched its “Share a Coke” promotion in Japan. And people looking to make a quick buck, er, yen, are auctioning off bottles with celebrity names. On Yahoo! Auctions, celebrity names are being offered as pairs. So, for example, bidding starts at 5,000 yen (about $50) for this “Koshi Inaba” set. Inaba is the lead…

The Attack on Titan Theme Played on…Air Guns

Late last week, Kotaku introduced air gun musician Hihebi. As IT Media points out, that isn’t the only air gun instrumental Hihebi has done. Okay, fine. It’s not a hundred percent match to the original Titan theme, but for an air gun rendition, it’s pretty darn good. 紅蓮の弓矢をエアガンで演奏してみた [NicoNico via IT Media] To contact the…