This is Nama Gundam. He likes to snowboard, dressed in Gundam gear. Bless him.

Technology! It does good things like make our lives better. You know, like making things such as computers, smartphones and talking hug pillows possible.

For years now, maid cafes have been popular in Japan's geek and gaming districts. Most of them are similar and staffed by frilly maids that speak in high-pitched voices. This cafe, however, has a cheeky twist.

You know how in-game romances go: you say whatever it takes to get your love interest. Usually, all you have to do is be nice to another character and willing to listen to their life story for like 30 minutes and boom, they're in the bag forever.

That's the question explored in this week's PBS Idea Channel video.

For the longest time in Japan, to be an otaku was to be an outcast. To be labeled an "otaku" was to be branded with the staple of being an awkward, obsessive social outcast, and/or potential sexual predator/criminal. While the times have changed, it appears that Japanese mass media's preconception of the "otaku…

Maybe you are creepy geek (née, "otaku"). Maybe you're not! But maybe other people say you are, and you'd really like to know whether you are, in fact, a creepy otaku. Good thing there's now a test you can take.

Earlier this week, Yahoo Japan (via Otaku.com) posted a poll that revealed how Japanese females thought they could pick out unpopular guys. The take away? Apparently, if you are wearing pretty much anything, you're so not cool.

If you've ever been to an idol (virtual or real!) concert, you are familiar with Japanese nerd dancing. It's called "otagei" (オタ芸) or "wotagei" (ヲタ芸), which is short for "otaku" (geek) and "gei" (芸), which can mean "performance" in Japanese. In short, it's a bunch of geeks dancing!

Forget people acting like morons on Twitter. That's not scary. It's stupid. What's scary is just how pervasive—meta, even—Twitter has become.

Godzilla and his atomic breath are one of the most recognizable metaphors for the atomic bombings of WWII—and they're also icons of Japanese pop culture. With a steady supply of Kaiju movies, giant monsters nestled themselves comfortably in video games, creating a huge library of monster mayhem-based titles. We have…

Are you a nerd? A geek? A straight male? Then, perhaps you might hit it off with some women in Japan.

There's a stereotype that all Japanese people are very clean and neat. This stereotype is just not true. Some folks in Japan keep a clean house, but some roost in pigsties. And, yes, many of those folks are female.