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Master Blaster

Writer / Translator

Master Blaster is the two-man translating team of Canada’s Steven Le Blanc and Japan’s Masami M, a pair who in addition to writing work are in English education and created the StudyNow app for Japanese students of English.

Together they have written somewhere around 1,500 articles for RocketNews24 covering such diverse topics as Chinese men selling sanitary napkins to each other and a Japanese guy dragging an ear of corn around the Tokyo train system. A few of these were actually good, but don’t take our word for it! Here’s what our beloved readers had to say:

“One isn't always in the mood for bold tastes. But when I'm in the mood for bold flavor I turn to you.”
“Stupid article. Who cares what the Japanese think it's cool. You don't call a monkey, "gorilla".”
“You know, this is about the most cogent explanation of how a turbocharger works that I have ever seen in the non-motorsports world.”
“Thanks for the article peter!”
“It's people like you who make exploitation possible.”
“It looks yummy and the story was great. Thank you for the smile.”

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Posted by Master Blaster (Page 143)

Leiji Matsumoto begins project to build real Galaxy Express 999

Master Blaster
Jul 9, 2015
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It’s been nearly 40 years since the Galaxy Express 999 first departed for the Planet Prometheum and all of the emotional existential adventures in between. It became a manga and anime series that filled viewers’ heads with fantasies of romantic space travel on a locomotive.

Now it seems series creator Leiji Matsumoto is tired of dreaming and is readying to construct a real Galaxy Express 999. Before you ask: No, he’s not high.

Internet, Japan
(crowdfunding • Galaxy Express 999 • Leiji Matsumoto • Seibu railways • trains)

Japanese cosmetic company Shiseido expects to have baldness cure on the market by 2018

Master Blaster
Jul 8, 2015

Three more years…

For much of my life I’ve been waiting for this moment. Even throughout my youth I glanced at the hairlines of relatives and wondered what would become of me. At the same time I figured medical science would have to have developed something by the time my hair would start falling out.

However, as I entered my thirties and began to look more and more like an octopus was attacking me when my hair got wet, there still seemed to be no true cure for baldness on the horizon. They were out there cloning sheep and growing ears on the backs of mice, but they still couldn’t give me a little action up top.

And just as I raised my razor to go the Bruce Willis route, a ray of hope shone on my news feed. It said that the cure to baldness actually lies inside me and my delicious stem cells, and that the key to unlocking it would be available in just three more years…

Global, Japan
(baldness • cure • hair growth • iPS cell • Shiseido • stem cell)

One-of-a-kind Ultraman violin to be sold this November

Master Blaster
Jul 6, 2015

Coming to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theater Concert Hall on 2 November is the Ultraman Symphony Concert 2015. At this event music from the high-culture tokusatsu masterpieces of Ultraman and related shows will be performed by a full orchestra.

It’s sure to be a luminous evening of sci-fi splendor, but to mark the occasion a single Ultra Violin, the only official Ultraman violin in existence, will be sold to one lucky buyer.

Japan
(musical instrument • tokusatsu • Ultraman • violin)

Gackt lashes out at Cool Japan: “Almost no results of Japanese culture exported overseas”

Master Blaster
Jul 3, 2015

While visiting friends who were a part of the recent Naruto stage production, Japanese film and music star Gackt was left with a bad feeling. Having watched one of the overseas Naruto performances, the singer couldn’t help but notice the lack of people in the audience.

Gackt doesn’t rule out possible flaws with the play such as too much material crammed into a short time. However, as he wrote in a recent impassioned blog post, he thinks the real culprit may be the Japanese government and their Cool Japan promotional program, which he feels is anything but.

Global, Japan
(cool japan • culture • Gackt • government • Naruto)

Hong Kong supermarket’s new offering may take crown as “murderer of sushi”

Master Blaster
Jun 29, 2015

Hong Kong is famous for lots of great food, but it’s also famous for its avant-garde culinary creations like you might find at Akimasa Sushi (Japanese pronunciation). Last year we reported on their menu which included gunkan sushi topped with sweet beans and mayonnaise as well as fruit jelly and wasabi nigiri sushi.

Their creations have only gotten weirder since, and Akimasa Sushi has earned the nicknames “murderer of sushi” and “sushi hell” from locals. However, now the internet in Hong Kong is buzzing over a new sushi variant that some believe might strip Akimasa Sushi of those titles with its own uniqueness.

China
(Akimasa Sushi • food • Hong Kong • Shoaji Sushi • sushi)

Government begins study into tattoo bans in public baths

Master Blaster
Jun 28, 2015

On 23 June the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) announced that it would be conducting a first-of-its-kind study into public bathing facilities such as onsen (hot springs) and sento (bath houses), and their rules regarding tattoos.

Visitors to Japan are often warned that if they want to visit one of Japan’s hundreds of natural springs or meticulously designed baths they can’t be inked up. But how widespread is this rule in Japan really, and is it doing more harm than good in this day and age? These are the things the JTA hopes to learn more about in the weeks to come.

Japan
(Japan Tourism Agency • law • onsen • public bath • sento • tattoo)

Osaka International Airport has a sake tasting machine for 100 yen a cup

Master Blaster
Jun 25, 2015

There are many lovers of nihonshu (often called sake in English) in Japan, but a challenge of a true nihonshu fan is finding that perfect brand to suit their tastes. With the hundreds of different kinds each with their own flavors and ways to serve, you might drink for years without being able to settle on a type to call your favorite.

In addition to time, it can also be a burden on the wallet to go through bottle after bottle searching for that right one. Luckily, Mr. Sato stumbled upon something that might help speed up and cheapen the sake selecting process.

It’s a sake taste testing machine in Osaka International Airport that sells cups from nearly 30 different brands for only 100 yen (US$0.81) each.

Japan
(alcohol • drink • nihonshu • Osaka International Airport • sake • travel)

We bump into Kuratas, the 120 million-yen robot, at the Tokyo Toy Show

Master Blaster
Jun 23, 2015

Many of you may recall the three-meter-tall (12.5 feet) ridable Japanese robot known as Kuratas which we have covered many times before. Earlier this year the real-life mecha made waves when it went up for sale on Amazon for the sum of 120 million yen (US$978,000).

For years now, Kuratas has been charming wannabe mech-pilots around the world until its most recent offering in January, but since then things have been quiet on the giant robot front. So you can imagine our Mr. Sato’s surprise when he stumbled upon one by chance during a trip to the 2015 Tokyo Toy Show.

Japan
(Gagan Gun • KURATAS • robot • Takara Tomy • Tokyo Toy Show)

Natto Boys want to take their smelly beans to Africa, but they need your help

Master Blaster
Jun 19, 2015

Natto Boys (Natto Danshi) are a group whose sole purpose is to share the ancient and traditional Japanese food natto with the world. However, with its acrid smell and texture of an alien autopsy subject, those are some high hopes.

Already in about half a year, the Natto Boys have established a website featuring over 100 serving suggestions for the fermented soy beans to help promote the food at home. Now, they want to take the next step into the world’s second largest continent, Africa, and to do this they have turned to us for help via crowdfunding.

Africa, Internet, Japan
(crowdfunding • food • natto • Natto Boys • Natto Danshi • Tanzania)

The joy of pancakes, and why they might kill you

Master Blaster
Jun 18, 2015

Although hardly new, Japan has been undergoing something of a boom in pancake consumption in recent years. With several trendy new restaurants opening up around the country, there has also been a significant rise in the popularity of homemade pancakes as well. Yes, with its warm and fluffy texture and mildly sweet flavor it’s certainly hard to turn down a hotcake, isn’t it?

While everyone is having a good time with their pancakes, some researchers and medical professionals would like to remind us all that pancakes and similar flour based foods have the potential to not only make us very ill, but in some cases may lead to death.

But before you go cursing out these wet blankets of science for ruining yet another beloved food with their health warnings, there’s actually an incredibly easy way to not die from eating flapjacks as well.

Global, Japan
(allergy • anaphylaxis • health • mite • pancakes • science)

Bandai to launch online capsule machines controlled by smartphone

Master Blaster
Jun 18, 2015

Last week Bandai hinted that they would be announcing something big in their line of Gashapon capsule toy machines. Thinking I’ve seen it all in the capsule toy world I didn’t give it much attention. I figured it was probably just another series of sushi-cat hybrid s or sausages shaped like giant isopods, same old same old.

It would seem I was wrong. Actually, Bandai did have something big up their sleeve and will be soon offering their line of capsule toys for random purchase from anywhere you happen to be holding your smartphone. That’s because next month they’ll be doing test runs on the sophisticatedly named Net de Capsule: remote operated Gashapon machines accessible over the internet.

Internet, Japan
(Bandai • capsule toys • gachapon • gashapon • Net de Capsule)

Video from India shows fast way to load construction equipment…or die, whichever comes first

Master Blaster
Jun 17, 2015

If you were charged with the task of putting a mini excavator like to one pictured above onto a flatbed truck in under two minutes, what would you do? If you’re like most people you’d probably find a ramp of some sort.

Or, if you have just that right balance of gutsiness and lack of self-preservation instinct, you might do what these guys in India did. Luckily, they recorded it on video for our enjoyment and as evidence preventing any lawsuit against the makers of the excavator.

S Asia, W Asia
(dangerous • India • loading • mini excavator • video)

Culturally confusing Vietnamese Burger King found selling Japanese food

Master Blaster
Jun 16, 2015

Recently our Southeast Asia correspondent Kowloon Kurosawa took a trip from his current residence in Cambodia to the neighboring country of Vietnam. Following standard RocketNews24 foreign travel protocol he soon made his way to a Burger King in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, what he found surprised even our cholestorol-hardened reporter. This Burger King has a special combo menu called Rice King. Not only that but it contained a teriyaki tonkatsu combo!

SE Asia
(Burger King • fast food • Rice King • tonkatsu • Vietnam)

Pissed-off company president sues building owner for pee splash-back from urinals

Master Blaster
Jun 16, 2015

Earlier this week, what is being hailed as Japan’s “trial of the century” by many (in our office) has come to an abrupt end. The Osaka District Court handed down some rough justice in the case of a company president who sued the building he was renting office space from to the tune of 840,000 yen (US$6,800).

The president’s claim that the building’s urinals had caused excessive splash-back of pee were dismissed due to several reasons including the president’s own “pee experiments” being deemed inadmissible by the courts.

Was the president a quack who didn’t know how to urinate correctly? Or was he a victim of greedy cost cutting landlords and toilet moguls? This is their story based on court documents.

Japan
(law • Osaka • Toilets • urinal • urine)

We find out if one trending phrase can make people from Osaka flip out

Master Blaster
Jun 15, 2015

Recently a certain greeting has become popular over Twitter in Japan. According to internet legend these two sentences will cause someone from Osaka to “punch you in the face.”

It sounded like an outrageous claim and yet people seem to be latching onto it. The story goes that by approaching someone from Osaka with “Heee, Kimitte Osaka Hito nanda. Yoroshikudenganamangana” will cause them to lose their minds with rage.

Has this Twitter user stumbled upon an exposed nerve in the fabric of Japanese society, or is this just another drop in the bucket of specious internet claims? We conducted a small experiment to find out.

Japan
(culture • Japanese laguage • language • Osaka • Osaka-ben)

Hardcore tofu consumption lands man in hospital with over 500 kidney stones

Master Blaster
Jun 10, 2015

In the food world, there a few items more innocuous than tofu, with its bland color and taste, squishy texture, and low calorie count. In fact, if you could tolerate eating tofu day in day out, most would say you’re living a pretty healthy lifestyle.

But not so fast! It would appear that looks, taste, and generally positive nutritional information can be deceiving. Just ask one 55-year-old tofu-lover who, over time, turned his kidney into a terrarium with about 500 kidney stones inside at once.

China
(health • kidney stones • tofu • wtf • Zhejiang)

Iwashita New Ginger to release commemorative penlight! It is so a penlight!

Master Blaster
Jun 10, 2015

In Japan, the is no more dominant name in the ready-to-eat pickled ginger game than Iwashita New Ginger. Their stalks of sweet and spicy roots soaked in vinegar and sugar are sure to satisfy those looking for an all-natural snack.

But don’t think for a second that Iwashita is resting on those laurels. They are constantly creating innovative promotional ideas to make people aware of just how satisfying their pickled gingers are. Starting on June 20 they will be opening the Iwashita New Ginger Museum, and to commemorate this opening they’ll be selling the exclusive Iwashita New Ginger penlights pictured above!

Internet, Japan
(food • Iwashita New Ginger • penlight • pickled ginger)

We try serving a steak in 8.6 seconds, turned out to be surprisingly erotic

Master Blaster
Jun 6, 2015

The steakhouse chain Ikinari! Steak! is all the rage in Japan right now thanks to its unique method of cooking your steak immediately after you tell them how you want it. Combined with standing tables, it provides regular steakhouse quality meat at speeds that rival fast food joints.

It got our staff to thinking about how the speedy service of Ikinari! Steak! is so popular. If we, too, could get steak into the mouths of customers within just a few seconds of them ordering, then maybe we could get into the restaurant game and be even more successful.

And so, research into such a steak service was underway, but as often is the case with our research, things somehow devolved into a cheesy porno starring one of our male writers in a bikini.

Japan
(Ikinari Steak • Mr. Sato • Sanko • steak • wtf)

Japan Basketball Association considering prohibiting zone defense to minors

Master Blaster
Jun 5, 2015

As much as I sometimes wish I were young again, there’s no denying the fact that youth has its drawbacks. For example, just think of all the things someone under the age of 15 can’t do in Japan: they can’t enjoy a glass of elephant poop beer, vote for some naked, sword wielding guy standing in municipal elections, go to an Edo period erotic art show, or buy a carton of Marlboro and exquisite steak curry at the same place.

And if the muckety mucks in the Japan Basketball Association have their way, anyone under 15 may soon be prohibited from playing zone defense. However, the JBA would like to remind youths that it’s for their own good, and hurts the association more than it does them.

Global, Japan
(ban • basketball • FIBA • JBA • sports • Tokyo Olympics • zone defense)

Looking for a great meal in Tokyo? Try this cigarette stand

Master Blaster
Jun 2, 2015

When starting a restaurant, creating a good appearance is important. In a way, the look of an eatery reflects the quality of food that it serves. Looks can be deceptive, however, as just like people, the beauty of a restaurant might be limited to the surface.

The opposite also holds true, though, as our own Mr. Sato learned during an excursion to the Dogenzaka area of Tokyo. Inside this unassuming cigarette stand that you wouldn’t even realize was a restaurant, he found one of the best meals he ever had.