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Audrey Akcasu

Audrey was born in Michigan, raised in Los Angeles but has felt most at home in Nagasaki, Japan. While teaching English in Omura, she discovered her love of nature, the countryside and ultimately Japan. When not working on her black belt in Ryukyu karate, or mastering her Nagasaki dialect, she wrote for and ran the English language magazine Nagazasshi. She loves traveling, frolicking all over Japan and Asia (with a few stints in Africa and Europe). But her best trip to date was her two-and-a-half weeks hitchhiking from Nagasaki to Aomori. Although she has relocated back to the States, she will probably be out the door to somewhere new in no time. Until then she’s enjoying the great outdoors and the bugs that come with it, doing anything from running to rafting, although her current "boom" is rock climbing.

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Posted by Audrey Akcasu

We find the crappiest capsule toy out there… literally

Audrey Akcasu
May 3, 2016
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What’s brown, lumpy, and can now be purchased via capsule toy machines in Japan? If you guessed “a turd,” then you have a gross mind, but are also entirely correct!

Entertainment, Japan
(capsule toys • gashapon • Japan • poop • unko • weird)

The perfect work out equipment for your fingers is waiting inside Japanese toy vending machines

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 25, 2016

Because why wouldn’t you buy mini-workout equipment for your fingers? We saw the need, and so we tested out some of these weird capsule toys.

Japan
(capsule machine • capsule toy • fingers • gachapon • toys • weird • workout)

Kansai Electric celebrates turning 65 with a look into the past

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 19, 2016

The Osaka area’s Kansai Electric Power Company, also known as KEPCO, has recently released a new commercial that’s a nostalgia-inducing picture-walk through the last 65 years of life in Japan.

Culture, Japan
(anniversary • commercial • culture • electricity • Kansai Electric • video)

Filipino youths with special needs find their place in the world through art and awareness

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 11, 2016

The work of many young Filipino artists living with autism was recently showcased to celebrate their achievements and bring awareness to their cause.

Art, SE Asia
(art • autism • awareness • Philippines)

Garrett’s Popcorn Shops releases exclusive tin: Nagoya Gold

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 3, 2016

Calling all Chubu region popcorn fan! Garrett’s Popcorn Shops has released a geographically exclusive popcorn tin: Nagoya Gold.

Food & Drink
(garrett's popcorn • gold • Nagoya)

Are you a true Sailor Moon fan? Well, here’s your chance to join the official fan club!

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 28, 2016

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a Sailor Scout, now’s your chance, as the Pretty Guardians are recruiting for their official fan club.

Anime & Manga, Internet, Japan
(fan club • Pretty Guardian • Sailor Moon)

The new fitness test that’s sweeping the Chinese net

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 21, 2016

What can you tell from one blank sheet of paper? According to Chinese netizens you can tell if you’re fit or flabby.

China, Internet
(challenge • fitness • health • paper)

Facebook’s “reactions” get a facelift with Reaction Packs: Sailor Moon, Pokémon and more

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 14, 2016

Even haters of Facebook’s new “reactions” may reconsider after seeing all of the fun modifications you can make with this new browser extension.

Games & Tech, Internet
(add-on • Chrome • facebook • Firefox • reactions)

We put a can of condensed milk in a pressure cooker and the results are sweet and delightful!

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 14, 2016

What happens when you put a can of condensed milk (can and all) into a pressure cooker? You make a can of delectable nama (raw) caramel, that’s what!

Food & Drink, Japan
(caramel • condensed milk • cooking • nama caramel • pressure cooker • sweets)

Celebrate Pokémon’s 20th anniversary with a quick poké-history lesson【Video】

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 8, 2016

A lot has happened in the past 20 years of Poké-history, and now we have it conveniently summarized for us in nine info-packed minutes.

Anime & Manga, Games & Tech, Global, Japan
(game freak • history • nintendo • Pokemon • video • video games)

Images of 1930s China emerge online, leave us wanting more【Photos】

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 1, 2016

Twenty-four enchanting images of China now available to us thanks to quite the unexpected source.

China, USA
(1930s China • black and white • culture • history • photos)

You don’t want to mess with this bad-boy alpaca

Audrey Akcasu
Mar 1, 2016

Just because you’re an alpaca, doesn’t mean you can’t have the hair and the attitude of a Shibuya bad-boy. Meet Nagasaki’s “Yankee Alpaca.”

Japan
(Alpaca • animals • funny animals • Nagasaki Biopark • Yankee)

Spot the difference? Japanese women’s hairstyles in the 1910s were amazingly… similar

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 23, 2016

How many variations can you make of the same 1910s hairdo? A lot apparently—so many that we can barely tell the difference between them!

Japan
(1910 • hair • hairdo • history • Japanese hairstyles • Vintage)

Trending technique for breaking apart chopsticks turns out to be clever new design by Muji

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 16, 2016

A tweet seemingly suggesting a clever new way to snap apart disposable chopsticks turns out to be an awesome product prototype for Muji.

Japan
(chopsticks • design • muji • twitter)

Spooky cosplayer dressed as Japanese urban legend ghost plays pranks on passersby in Akihabara

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 16, 2016

Akihabara may be known as a mecca for cosplayers, but it’s not every day that you run into the horrific “Slit-Mouthed Woman” on the street!

Japan
(Akihabara • kuchisake-onna • prank • scary • Super Sonico • video)

Beautiful, intricate drawings of snowflakes from Edo-era Japan

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 10, 2016

We’ve all heard the old adage, “No two snowflakes are alike.” While the saying may be old, this book from Edo era Japan—featuring 86 drawings of snow crystals—may be older.

Japan
(art • crystal • Edo • snowflakes)

Ten common characteristics of Japanese graphic design

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 9, 2016

Ever wonder what makes Japanese design so…Japanese? Here are ten techniques observed by the graphic design world that typify Japanese style.

Japan
(art • design • graphics)

【2016 Lucky Bag Roundup】The contents of Muji’s menswear lucky bag could make any man hip

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 5, 2016

What’s simple, cheap, yet super fashionable? The loot from Muji’s lucky bag! The takeaway from this no-frills retailer was well worth the early wake up call.

Japan
(fashion • fukuburo • lucky bag • muji • new year)

Man hospitalizes himself after gorging on cup ramen and cola

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 5, 2016

A young man recently had a brush with death after his epic snacking caused his stomach to fill with so much gas that it nearly exploded.

China
(Cola • cup ramen • food • gas • health • ramen • stomachache)

Father of shojo manga hosts yearly one-man exhibit with new and classic artwork【Images】

Audrey Akcasu
Dec 30, 2015

In 1957, Macoto Takashi revolutionized the manga world. Now, the 81-year-old artist continues to produce astounding art and shares it in an annual one-man exhibit.