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Fran W

Fran grew up on a farm in Northumberland, England’s most northern and least populated county. She relocated to Nagoya in 2011 to teach English and find better edamame beans. On arriving in Japan, she enthusiastically abandoned a lifetime of vegetarianism and now spends her weekends on the trail of the perfect miso katsu. When not attempting to sing k-pop at karaoke, Fran can often be found loitering in old camera shops, or on a hike wishing the manual camera in her backpack wasn’t so heavy.

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Posted by Fran W (Page 6)

Learn Japanese from YouTube: Amp up your listening skills with this four-step guide

Fran W
Oct 22, 2014
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It used to be that if you were studying a foreign language in your own country, the only listening practice that was easily available to you was hearing your teacher or classmates speak, or listening to the CD that came with your textbook. The first Japanese textbook I ever bought actually came with a cassette tape, which was particularly irritating as it was 2006 and I didn’t even own a Walkman any more.

Then someone invented a website that allowed users to upload short videos for all the world to see. Fast-forward nine years and YouTube is one of the biggest sites on the planet, making it a veritable treasure trove of free online spoken content.

So whether you’re after language lessons, YouTubers who vlog in Japanese, or just want to try watching your cat videos in a foreign language, online videos could be your new secret weapon. The trick is just knowing where to look.

Japan
(language learning • learn Japanese • videos • YouTube)

Man revives woman with AED, branded a “pervert” for removing her clothes to apply electrode pads

Fran W
Oct 22, 2014

A man in Japan says he was questioned by police and branded a “pervert” after providing emergency medical assistance to a stranger. The man was attending to a woman who had been involved in a traffic accident when he believes someone who saw him cutting through the woman’s clothes to apply a defibrillator to her bare chest called the police and reported him for behaving inappropriately.

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) analyses the rhythm of the heart and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock to help it return to normal. AEDs are provided in public places and are designed to be operated by members of the public, even those with no medical background. The man is now calling for better understanding of the correct use of AEDs.

Japan
(AED • first aid • funny • news • odd • police)

Pikachu meets the Renaissance in the wacky paintings of Notre Chauvet

Fran W
Oct 18, 2014

Ronald McDonald towers over distraught men and women in floral wreaths, who reach out desperately to touch his glowing, Christ-like figure.

A 17th-century Simon Vouet painting is reimagined with a female figure from a 1960s comic-book, who shields herself from Father Time’s anger as Ned Flanders looks on laughing.

Welcome to the world of Notre Chauvet. Drawing on their training in traditional painting to combine classical elements with figures from pop culture, brothers Jo and Graeme Hagan create brash, dystopian visions that are as colourful as they are dark.

Australia
(art • mixed media • Notre Chauvet • paintings • Pop Art)

Rare Rodin sculpture with articulated joints discovered, should be called ‘The Mover’

Fran W
Oct 18, 2014

It may be one of the most famous statues in the world, but that doesn’t mean ‘The Thinker’ is unique. There are actually around 28 versions of Rodin’s masterpiece bronze sculpture, and those are just the ones we know about.

That list of Thinkers is about to get a little bit longer, as a research team in Japan has just unearthed a fully flexible, articulated version of ‘The Thinker’. Coming in at less than a tenth of the size of Rodin’s original(s), this incredible bendable figure is only 15.5cm tall!

Japan
(art • Figma • model • Rodin • The Thinker)

Louvre masterpieces heading for Japan for first time in six years

Fran W
Oct 17, 2014

Every year, a small number of Japanese tourists in Paris are struck by an extreme form of culture shock. This psychological distress, caused by the gap between the idealised, romantic image of the French capital, and the reality of the noisy, dirty city, is known as “Paris Syndrome”, and at one point, the Japanese embassy was even running a 24-hour hotline for distressed citizens requiring assistance.

Next year, however, Paris comes to Tokyo, as some of the finest masterpieces of the Louvre museum are to be shown at the National Art Center, Tokyo. The exhibition is entitled ‘Louvre Museum: Genre Painting – Scenes from Daily Life’, and will be the first Louvre exhibition in Japan for six years.

Japan
(art • culture • Louvre • paris • Tokyo)

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire demos are coming! Here’s how to get your hands on them!

Fran W
Oct 17, 2014

One month before the commercial release of ‘Omega Ruby’ and ‘Alpha Sapphire’, The Pokémon Company has announced demo versions – available next week!

To get your hands on that demo, you’ll need a special code – and depending on where you live, your options for getting hold of one are a little different. Join us after the jump to find out more!

Global
(CoroCoro Comic • Nintendo 3DS • Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire • Pokemon)

Mascot costume is so far removed from the original, we don’t know whether to laugh or cry

Fran W
Oct 16, 2014

Say what you will about ‘yuru-kyara‘ – the marketing idea that can be basically summed up as Japan’s “let’s have a cartoon mascot for EVERYTHING!” philosophy – but the vast majority of those funny characters adopted by prefecture and town tourism boards across the nation are nothing if not cute!

Take Princess Miyako, character mascot of Miyako-machi in Fukuoka Prefecture. Designed by illustrator Shiitake, Princess Miyako is the picture of youthful elegance: her fresh purple and green tones are even modelled after the town’s iris flowers.

It’s one thing to design a beautiful anime character in two dimensions. But when that mascot gets transformed into a three-dimensional character costume, bad things can happen. Bad, bad things…

Japan
(funny • mascot • Miyako-machi • Princess Miyako • yuru-kyara)

Yo-kai Watch mania has even reached the vegetable world! Here’s a Halloween pumpkin roundup!

Fran W
Oct 16, 2014

There are still two weeks to go until Halloween, but pumpkin-carving in Japan is already in full swing! And it looks like it’s the new kid on the anime block, Yo-kai Watch, that’s getting all the jack-o-lantern attention this year.

When I used to teach kids in Japan, there were some elementary students who, upon being given a worksheet, would immediately turn any circle on the page into Doraemon’s face. Now, it seems, the face of choice to draw (or indeed carve) into any empty circular space is Jibanyan’s!

Japan
(halloween • Jack-o-lantern • photos • pumpkin carving • Youkai Watch)

Beautiful old footage shows “God of Judo” Kyuzo Mifune gracefully defeat young challengers【Video】

Fran W
Oct 16, 2014

At 159cm (5’2″) tall, Kyuzo Mifune was not a big man. But as this amazing video of the judo master shows, strength doesn’t come from size alone. Mifune is considered to be one of the finest judo technicians ever, and this video of him accepting challenges from high-level younger students shows his incredible power and skill.

Join us after the jump for a sprightly energy burst, as the man they call the “God of Judo” skips, jumps and runs rings around his young challengers.

Japan
(judo • Kyuzo Mifune • martial arts • master • video)

Six of the “20 Coolest Arcades in the World” are in Japan! Want to know what Japan makes of that?

Fran W
Oct 16, 2014

Mashable recently put out a neat list called ‘The 20 Coolest Arcades in the World’, and Tokyo took more spots than any other place! Well, we wouldn’t expect anything less from the birthplace of the video game industry, really.

Turns out though, Japanese netizens were a bit baffled by Mashable’s choices: “That’s cool??” they spluttered into their keyboards. “That’s not even an arcade!”

Japan
(arcade • list • Mashable • opinion • Tokyo • video games)

English learner’s dictionary you must have, my young Padawan!

Fran W
Oct 15, 2014

The English-language study market in Japan is huge, and alongside the more serious stuff there are also some more oddball publications, which pride themselves on teaching everything from the correct usage of the F-word to the phrase “I just took a dump“.

From educational publisher Gakken, however, comes an awesome-looking product that, although it’s very much a movie tie-in, takes itself entirely seriously. This is the Star Wars English-Japanese Dictionary for Padawan Learners, and we can’t wait to get our hands on a copy! Ever wondered how to say “Vader wants us all dead” in Japanese? Well, now’s your chance.

Japan
(cool • English language education • English-Japanese Dictionary • language learning • Star Wars)

“You will need courage!”: We try a sweetfish hot dog

Fran W
Oct 15, 2014

Salt fish hot dog! If you think a word (or two) needs dropping from that sentence, think again.

For a limited time only, a crisp, salty whole sweetfish – in a bun! – can be yours to enjoy at Kyoto Aquarium. Yep. At the aquarium. I don’t know about you, but after looking at aquatic creatures all day I’m not really in the mood for fish…

Not so our reporter Yuuichiro, who was so excited to hear about the fish dog that he headed down to the aquarium cafe and put together this photo review for us! This is his report, eyeballs and all.

Japan
(fish • food • hot dog • Kyoto Aquarium • photos • taste test)

‘Frozen’ gets the 8-bit treatment, and it’s every bit as fun as we imagined!【Video】

Fran W
Oct 14, 2014

The pixellation magicians at CineFlix’s ‘8 Bit Cinema’ have given Frozen a retro video game makeover, retelling Disney’s phenomenally successful fairytale in three minutes of old-school graphics fun, complete with a glorious 8-bit soundtrack.

Yep, the video is cool, but it’s the awesome rendering of the movie’s songs as chiptunes that really impressed us the most.

Global
(8 Bit Cinema • 8-bit music • CineFix • frozen • video)

Tokyo Disney’s pitch-black Halloween snacks look even weirder in real life

Fran W
Oct 12, 2014

Remember that jet-black hot dog Tokyo Disney Sea announced for Halloween this year? Well, we’ve unearthed some pictures of the actual product, and boy, are they nasty.

What’s more, the Black Sausage has been joined by another, even more distressing item – the Black Gyoza Dog, a hot snack so hellish-looking we can’t believe it made it past the product testing phase. It looked pretty weird in Disney’s promotional shots (above), but it looks even more disturbing in real life!

Join us after the jump for a closer look at the reality of this year’s Halloween Disney food. It’s even more shudder-inducing than we expected!

Japan
(amusement park • black sausage • Disney Sea • food • gyoza dog • halloween • weird)

The new seasonal menu at family restaurant chain Jonathan’s is curiously simple…

Fran W
Oct 10, 2014

We’re used to family restaurants in Japan offering their own unique takes on western dishes, with what might best be described as mixed results. But this item on the new seasonal menu at Jonathan’s sees the restaurant branch out into stripped down, über-simple food that’s had some customers questioning: can you really call that a side dish?!

Japan
(family restaurant • food • Jonathan's • menu • twitter)

Hatsune Miku performs “live” on David Letterman! We love it, not sure he does though…【Video】

Fran W
Oct 10, 2014

Hatsune Miku made her American TV debut on Wednesday night, performing on none other than the Late Show with David Letterman. Miku, of course, is a vocaloid, a super-famous Japanese idol who just happens to be virtual. The turquoise-haired star surprised viewers by performing an English song, “Sharing the World”.

Mr. Letterman, meanwhile, looked a little nonplussed.

Japan, USA
(Hatsune Miku • idol • Late Show with David Letterman • TV • Vocaloid)

Hunter finds his car trashed by wounded bear he shot the day before 【Video】

Fran W
Oct 9, 2014

A hunter got more than he bargained for when he shot a bear in the forest in western Siberia – he found his car ransacked the next day in an apparent “revenge attack”.

The man shot and wounded a brown bear while out hunting with two friends. On returning to his car the next morning, he found that it had been completely destroyed by the angry bear – while his friends’ two cars nearby were left untouched.

Russia
(animal attack • bear • car • Russia • video)

A man-made cave of wonders: the world’s biggest underground storm drain in Kasukabe, Japan

Fran W
Oct 9, 2014

Deep beneath the ground, 19 miles north of Tokyo, lies a truly incredible feat of engineering. The G-Cans Project is the largest storm drain on earth, a colossal series of underground silos and tunnels, built to protect Tokyo from flooding during typhoon seasons. Its main hall (actually an enormous water tank) is held up by 59 columns each 25 metres high, and is known as the “Underground Temple”.

The facility is free to visit by guided tour, and the folks at Another Tokyo, a Japanese website introducing off-the-beaten-track places from around the country, recently went to check it out. This is what they found!

Japan
(Another Tokyo • exploring • G-Cans Project • photos • Tokyo • underground)

What’s under Rilakkuma’s suit? Find out for yourself with this insanely cosy onesie

Fran W
Oct 8, 2014

This limited edition 2014 Rilakkuma onesie might just be the most outrageously warm and snuggly thing we have ever seen. It also answers the burning questions that fans of the character have been wrestling with for years: if Rilakkuma is a bear, why does he wear a bear suit? Is he even a bear at all?

Sure, you could wrap yourself in a blanket to keep warm this winter. Or, you could become Rilakkuma with this luxurious loungewear. Wrap yourself up from head to toe in furry goodness, and solve the mysteries of the cartoon bear universe at the same time.

Japan
(fumo • kigu • onesie • Rilakkuma • San-X • winter)

Japanese student suspected of planning to join Islamic State fighters in Syria

Fran W
Oct 7, 2014

A Japanese university student has been questioned by police about plans to go abroad to join the Islamic State militant group. The 26-year-old man, who is living in Tokyo on a leave of absence from Hokkaido University, was planning to leave Japan for Syria on Tuesday, but had his passport confiscated by police on Monday. He was questioned on suspicion of “preparing or plotting to wage war against a foreign state in a personal capacity”.

The man is thought to have responded to an advertisement in a second-hand bookshop in Akihabara, Tokyo, which asked for people willing to travel to Syria.