Kotaku East

New App Makes Japanese Train Rides Less Sweaty and Hellish

Ever wanted to know which train coach was the least crowded? Or what the temperature in each carriage was? Well, in Japan, there’s an app for that. While I live in Japan, I work at home. My commute is from my bed to my desk. Every morning, I’m thankful I don’t get on a crowded…

Studio Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki is retiring from working as a producer. Instead, Sports Houchi reports that he will take on another role at the studio: General Manager. Sounds like he’ll still be involved, but is passing the producing baton to the younger generation at Ghibli.

Japan’s Oddest English Book Is Still Wonderfully Strange

For students in Japan, it sometimes seems like many are only studying English to pass tests What fun is that? English is a tough language—especially for Japanese. In school, they learn all these stiff, formal expressions that might not be useful with dealing with “nama no eigo” (生の英語) or “native English.” All of this is…

Wait, You Might Get in Trouble in Japan for Leaking Spoilers?

That’s according to a Naruto fan site in Japan, known for posting spoilers. The site apparently received a message from a publisher, telling them to delete their articles and kindly asking them to shut down their site. Oh boy. The site, called Naruto Channel with “Naruto Spoilers” in the URL, then deleted all plot point…

Giovanni’s Island is a Heartbreaking Tale of Post-World War II Japan

Giovanni’s Island is a tale of family, unlikely friendship, and growing up in the days after the end of the Second World War. It is also, as you might expect, a film as tragically depressing as it is excellent. Good – A Historical Untold Story Days after the end of World War II, the Soviet…

Japanese Man Contorts Face to Make the Alphabet

Kouki Watanabe isn’t your typical Japanese college student. He has a special skill: He can make the alphabet with his face. On a recent episode of Osaka television show Detective! Knight Scoop, the 21 year-old Watanabe showed off his “kamen arufabetto” (顔面アルファベット), or “face alphabet.” The show specified that this was the English alphabet (英語のアルファベット),…

How to Identify the Basic Types of Anime and Manga

When talking about anime and manga, there are a lot of Japanese terms thrown around that may be more than a little confusing to the uninitiated. But perhaps the most important of these to know refer to some of the different types of anime and manga. This is basic stuff! Long time fans will know…

We knew that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle was coming to the West, but we didn’t have exact dates. Now we do. Bandai-Namco’s fighter hits PS3 in Europe and Australia first, on April 25, with the US release following four days later, on April 29.

Azure Striker Gunvolt is a new 3DS game from Keiji Inafune and Inti Creates. Headed to the Nintendo eShop this summer, Azure Striker Gunvolt was revealed earlier today.

The Coolest 64 Year-Old Cosplayer I’ve Ever Seen

Meet Tomoaki Kohguchi. By day, he’s a consultant. In his free time, he is a coplayer. And today, he is 64 years old. What better way to celebrate that milestone than with cosplay photos? Here are some highlights, from Mr. Kohguchi’s Facebook page: I hope I’m half a cool as this guy when (and if!)…

Watch Us Build Death Traps and Brutally Murder Heroes

In Deception IV: Blood Ties you play a demon princess whose castle is being constantly invaded by heroes. Your only recourse? To build Rube Goldberg-style traps to kill the trespassers. Check out the video above to see exactly what it is like in action. Deception IV: Blood Ties was released in Japan for the PlayStation…

Japanese Superhero Book Called “Detrimental,” Gets Banned

A book featuring Ultraman, the popular Japanese superhero series, has been banned in Malaysia. The government says there are concerns over public safety. The country’s Home Ministry banned the publication of a book titled Ultraman the Ultra Power. Ultraman is a long-running superhero series in Japan and has been broadcasted into Malaysia via satellite for…

Japan’s Real Castle In the Sky Offers Epic Views

This is Takeda Castle. It’s located in Hyogo Prefecture. In the sky. As website JCastle points out, the mountain top castle is now ruins, but it’s amazing that in the 15th century, they got all those rocks up the mountain, to 354 meters above sea level. No wonder the castle is called Japan’s Machu Picchu…

A Game Where You Decide What Your Companions Say (And How They Say It)

Freedom Wars is the upcoming hunting game for the PS Vita where you play a prisoner working off a million year sentence. In the game, players work together along with android companions called “Accessories.” Apparently these Accessories can talk and I want to hear what they have to say. In Freedom Wars, Accessories act as…

Famous Japanese Manga Were Born on These Desks

Our desks say a lot about our work—and a lot about us. Let’s have a look at the desks and tables of many of Japan’s biggest manga artists. These are the birthplaces of some of your favorite manga—and anime. Below, you’ll see photos of each artist’s desk—as well as one of their notable works. Many…

World Domination with a Girl Who Wants to Kill You

First you take a world-shaking event, add some superpowers, and you’ve got, well, the basis for most of your generic superhero stories out there. Now add messed up character relations involving romance and murder, and welcome to Big Order Big Order is a manga that my fellow Kotaku writer, Richard, previously spoke very highly of…

I’m Terrified of Hard Choices, But This Game is About Hard Choices

Whenever I’m given an option in a game, be it choosing what my character says or how he/she acts, I always want to make the “best” choice. So when I’m faced with two equally bad options, I lock up – and right off the bat, it looks like Nippon Ichi Software’s newest game is going…

Hideo Kojima on Why Solid Snake Is Called Solid Snake

Metal Gear’s creator took to Twitter to talk about the conceptual origins behind the name of series protagonist Solid Snake. Over eight tweets. It… makes sense if you think about it, really. Have a look: Did you get that? Solid for battle-hardened, Snake for stealthy. Only a snake can beat a snake, so Solid Snake’s…

Japan’s Most Unusual Bullet Train Has Foot Baths

This is the future of Japanese train travel. And boy, it doesn’t get much faster—or interesting—than this. The bullet train (新幹線 or shinkansen) typically isn’t that fancy—though, the first-class “Green Car” carriages are certainly nice. However, the really fancy Japanese trains, such as the Twilight Express or the Seven Star, aren’t bullet trains but sleeper…

Are you in Japan? Do you like indie games? What about cool music? BitSummit kicks off in Kyoto later this week, with the first public day on Saturday. Click here for more info.