Kotaku East

Mother Creator Shigesato Itoi’s Memories of Satoru Iwata

When Shigesato Itoi started work on Mother 2 (Earthbound), development hit a wall. Things were at a standstill, and the programming was apparently to blame. That’s when Nintendo suggested Itoi meet with another programmer who could help out. His name was Satoru Iwata. In an interview with GameCenter CX’s Shinya Arino, Itoi recalled how Iwata…

Uniqlo Commercial Pulled In South Korea Due To Subtitle Translation

In a recent Uniqlo commercial, 98-year-old fashion model Iris Apfel talks with 13-year-old fashion designer Kheris Rogers. The commercial is in English, and the Korean-language subtitles have caused the Japanese clothing company to pull the ad. Viewers are accusing the subtitled commercial of forgetting the horrors of Japan’s forced occupation. Apfel speaks English in the…

If You Visit Kyoto In October, Check Out This Spooky Parade

While Halloween in Shibuya might get lots of attention because of the massive crowds (and chaos), Kyoto has an annual yokai parade that sure looks like spooky fun. The parade, which was held this year on October 19, is called Ichijo Hyakki Yakou (Ichijo’s Night Parade of the Hundred Yokai). The street Ichijodori, one of…

Five Words You Must Know Before Visiting Japan

Ah, Japan! On a regular basis, I get emails from readers wanting to know about where they should go on their trip to Japan. Where should I stay? What should I eat? Questions like that. For a moment, forget that. I always feel like visitors to Japan are asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking…

Man Arrested For Allegedly Violating Yu-Gi-Oh’s Trademark With Fake Cards

A 27-year-old university student has been arrested in Fukui, Japan, after selling phony Yu-Gi-Oh cards at a flea market. The fake cards featured Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes White Dragon and went for 86,000 yen ($792) and 46,000 yen ($423) respectively. According to Fukui Shimbun Online, the suspect was quoted as saying, “I didn’t know…

At this year’s Monaco Manga Anime Game International Conference Kyoto 2018, talks are slated to be given by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Yu Suzuki, and artist William Simpson. There will also be a cosplay performance. For more, check out the official site.  

Man Arrested After Sending Death Threats To Hideaki Anno’s Studio

A 35-year-old resident of Okayama, Japan is in police custody after making death threats to Hideaki Anno’s Studio Khara. Best known for the Rebuild of Evangelion anime series, Khara received threats over SNS that evoked the Kyoto Animation tragedy. According to Livedoor News, Noriaki Inukai was arrested for making the threats, to which he has…

Badly Behaved Foreigners In Japan Discussed On Beat Takeshi’s TV Show

Japan is hosting the Rugby World Cup. Fans from all over the world are attending, and a percentage of them have been rowdy. On TV Tackle, one of Beat Takeshi’s television programs, the issue of poorly behaved foreigner tourists was once again a topic of discussion. There has been footage of rugby fans causing chaos,…

Final Fantasy Mobile Game Getting Live-Action Musical In Japan

Free-to-play role-playing-game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius will be turned into a musical for the stage next March. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius debuted on mobile in Japan on October 22, 2015, and went worldwide in June 2016. According to IT Media, the musical version will be written by Fumiya Matsuzaki, who previously penned the Super Danganronpa…

Legendary Japanese Arcade Anata no Warehouse Is Closing

Located in Kawasaki, the arcade Anata no Warehouse (“Your Warehouse”) was designed to look like Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City. The multistory arcade is one of the most unusual in Japan. Make that, was The following notice was posted outside the arcade. It reads that Anata no Warehouse is closing down on November 17. According…

After Distasteful Comment, Bushiroad Exec Apologizes [Updated]

Out of nowhere, it was revealed that the character Lisa in the Bang Dream media franchise has a younger brother. Fans who have been playing the app since 2017 are now learning this in the most recent event. Some are not happy. Bushiroad exec Takaaki Kidani addressed the controversy but made things worse. In the…

Hearthstone Pro Blitzchung Says He’ll Be More Careful About Expressing His Opinions On Hong Kong

Late last week, Kotaku reported that Blizzard had reconsidered its decision to withhold Ng “Blitzchung” Wai-chung’s prize money and ban him for a year after he showed support for the Hong Kong protesters. Blizzard is allowing the Hearthstone pro to keep his prize money and has reduced his ban to six months. In a post-match…

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Goodbye

As my time at Kotaku—and as the curator of this column—comes to an end, it only seems appropriate to end with a fitting song from my favorite girl group of all time. Girls’ Generation’s B-sides are often stellar, and Goodbye is no different (some of my other favorite B-sides include Caramel Coffee from their Oh!…

Riot Says It Hasn’t Banned Casters From Saying ‘Hong Kong Attitude’

With all the protests going on in Hong Kong, League of Legends casters appear to be avoiding saying the team name “Hong Kong Attitude” and seem to even be catching themselves when they do. Riot Games, however, says that it has not banned casters from saying “Hong Kong.” Chinese conglomerate Tencent owns Riot and has…

In Japan, Man Arrested For Modding And Reselling PS3

Forty-four-year-old Tadaaki Abe has been arrested in Kagawa, Japan, for modding a PlayStation 3 and then selling it. According to NHK, Abe is accused of jailbreaking PS3s so game discs could be copied and then played without re-inserting them. He was arrested for selling a modded PS3 for 15,555 yen ($145) to a Tokyo man…

Hideo Kojima Talks About The Challenges He Experienced After Leaving Konami

Back in December 2015, Hideo Kojima announced that he was setting up his own studio, Kojima Productions. He had struck a deal with Sony. It all seemed so easy, but was it? No. But it didn’t hurt that he was Hideo Kojima. Toward the end of a Famitsu interview, Kojima talked about the difficulties he…

Overwatch‘s Mei Is Becoming A Symbol Of The Hong Kong Resistance

After Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai called for the liberation of Hong Kong, Blizzard suspended the Hearthstone player and withheld his prize money. The decision has been widely criticized. Fans have now started posting images of Overwatch hero Mei supporting the Hong Kong protests as a show of solidarity. In Overwatch, Mei hails from Xi’an, China.…

Puma Is Making One Piece Sneakers

This isn’t the first pair of One Piece shoes from Puma. The first collab was based on the Straw Hat Pirates ship the Thousand Sunny. The latest one, pictured, is treasure hunt themed. The Thousand Sunny-themed Cell Endura do look like the ship, I guess. The latest shoes are very shiny! And there are jingly chains…

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Wuthering Heights

As we slide our way into October, and the true beginnings of fall begin to coalesce, it feels only right to listen to a moody track today. Enter Wuthering Heights Lucia (real name Sim Kyu Seon) is a long-running artist who debuted in 2010 with Cat Waltz. She might be most familiar to mainstream K-Pop…

Mario & Luigi RPG Developer AlphaDream Has Gone Bankrupt

Founded in 2000, AlphaDream was originally known as Alpha Star and was staffed with people who had formerly been at Square, including former Square President Tetsuo Mizuno. The studio is best known for the Mario & Luigi RPG series. It was announced today that AlphaDream has gone bankrupt. According to Yahoo! Japan, revenue was sluggish…