Kotaku East

Eat These Faux Cheetos and (Maybe?) Avoid a Hangover

If you like drinking, perhaps you like snacking while doing so. What if there was a snack that could help you avoid a hangover? Well, in Japan there apparently is. This winter, Japanese snack maker Koikeya is releasing a special hangover snack. They’re called “Ukoon” (ウコーン). They look like Cheetos—or rather, the Cheeto-like snack Koikeya…

South Korean Politicians Still Think Video Games Are Drugs

In South Korea, some politicians (certainly not all) seem to have it out for gaming. These politicians want video games in the same category as alcohol and even illegal drugs. Last month, for example, Hwang Woo-yea of the majority conservative Saenuri party talked about rescuing “society from evil.” ThisIsGame (via tipster Sang) quotes Hwang as…

Japan’s Space Buses Are Out of This World

Buses tend tend to look like, well, buses. Not this one. It looks like a futuristic spacecraft. No wonder it’s called “Star Fighter.” Japanese bus company Willer Travel has a fleet of overnight buses that transport people across Japan, whether that’s from Osaka to Tokyo or other routes. The company also has the Star Fighter,…

$48 Million Worth of Cocaine Found on a Japanese Beach

That’s a lot of cocaine. According to Japan’s Fuji Network News, a local in the city of Yokosuka discovered four backpacks packed with the drug. Each bag contained about twenty bricks of cocaine, wrapped in plastic and weighing one kilogram each. In total, there were 80 kilos of coke. With a street value of 4.8…

Man Arrested for Allegedly Threatening to Kill Nintendo Execs

A 25 year-old man has been arrested in Japan for allegedly threatening the lives of two Nintendo executives. Apparently, those weren’t his only threats. Sankei News reports that on May 20, the suspect allegedly accessed the online inquiry form on Nintendo’s homepage via his home computer and named two Nintendo execs he was going to…

The Most Dramatic Dinner Plates Will Emphasize Your Meal

How to transform boring french fries and pancakes (the pancake below is actually not that boring) into the most dramatic part of your dining room? The obvious answer is to serve them on special manga plates that’ll make your meal part of the—heavily emotional—panels. Just make sure to place the appropriate food on them properly,…

Adorable Little Girl Practices Bowing with a Korean Robot

Now, this is truly cute. Look at this darling child! My heart, it’s melting. This is a “mannequin robot.” For the past couple of years, a South Korean company called Showbo has been producing robots like this—which, I guess, makes sense! Bowing is a sign of respect in Korea and much of Asia. Robotics is…

Happy Birthday Nintendo Co., Ltd.! On November 20, 1947, Nintendo Co., Ltd. was established as a publicly traded company, making NCL sixty-six years old. Of course, Nintendo itself is older than that (it was founded in 1889), and you can read about Nintendo’s past right here

Here’s Eight Minutes of the New Ghost in the Shell: Arise Anime

Anime Ghost in the Shell: Arise border: 2 Ghost Whisper doesn’t hit Japanese theaters until November 30. But if you can’t wait until then, you can watch the first eight minutes. Right now! In case you missed it, here is Kotaku‘s review of Ghost in the Shell: Arise border: 1 Ghost Pain 「攻殻機動隊ARISE border:2」冒頭8分 [YouTube…

Internet Cats Make Boring Dress Shirts Better

Do cats really make everything better? I’m not sure. But they certainly liven up these dress shirts. Thank the talented artist who embroidered them for that! These are the work of embroidery artist Hiroko Kubota. Just look at her neko (cat) shirts! Incredible. “I’m always making clothes for my son, who is rather small, and…

Kingdom Under Fire II Is Still on the Way. Honest!

RTS-MMO hybrid Kingdom Under Fire II has been in development for a long time. A long, long time. So long, in fact, that some people might be giving up hope—well, don’t. We’ve got some news for you. At South Korea’s G-Star gaming convention, Korean news site inven (via tipster Sang) managed to snag an interview…

The Japanese Thomas Edison Made Awesome Robot Dolls

They’re actually called “karakuri ningyou” (からくり人形) or, literally, “trick doll.” And get ready to be amazed. Throughout history, people all over the world have made robots. The 19th century, in particular, was a great period for automata. In Japan, one master karakuri ningyou craftsman was Hisashige Tanaka, who’s also been called “The Thomas Edison of…

The PS4 Isn’t the Only New Console Sony Released Last Week

Last week, Sony released the PlayStation 4 in the Western world, but that wasn’t the only PlayStation console to make its debut in stores. Japanese consumers this past week saw the release of Sony’s new micro-console, the PlayStation Vita TV. The Vita TV is basically a home console version of the Vita. Instead of a…

Oh, It’s Just a Chinese Building Shaped Like a Cell Phone

It’s not everyday you get to see a building that’s shaped like a cell phone. You do today, though. Lucky you! This building is located in the city of Kunming in Yunnan Province, China. The cell phone structure is quick becoming a landmark in Kunming, reports Chinese site CRI. Probably because it calls for lots…

The Nintendo 2DS is being released in South Korea on December 7. So far, it’s only been sold in the West. Wonder what country is next…

Watch Us Strip Vampires for Fun and Profit

Last week, we showed you one side of the PS3/Vita title Akiba’s Trip 2: its faithful reconstruction of otaku mecca Akihabara. Today we’re going to look at the other side of the game. So watch us as we strip vampires, expose them to lethal amounts of sunlight, and then loot their corpses. Akiba’s Trip 2…

“I feel terribly sorry that I have kept my audience waiting for such a long time.” Fumito Ueda, creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, talking to Edge about The Last Guardian and its various delays

Japan’s Hammock Cafes Are Perfect for Lazy People

Cafes are a great place to have a cup of coffee, talk, and relax. Sofas are nice and all, but the world’s cafes really need to take a lesson from a handful of Japanese cafes: Hammocks. In Japan, there are at least four (maybe more!) hammock cafes as well as cafes that also have hammocks.…

First Look at Hayao Miyazaki’s New Manga

While famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki retired from feature films earlier this fall, he’s still hard at work drawing manga. And damn, his current work looks great. Miyazaki is known for famed anime like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service, among many others. This week’s episode of NHK series The Professional featured Hayao Miyazaki.…

The Worst Black Belts Are the Best Black Belts

To get a black belt, you must train. You must focus. You also must flail like a goof ball. But, be sure to do it quickly. Black Belt Test SFII Edition [Dominic Moschitti@YouTube via ネタりか] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your…