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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 16)

Final Fantasy IX gets its own pop-up store in Osaka and Tokyo for 25th anniversary

• Master Blaster
  Jun 19, 2025
• Tweet

Final Fantasies grow up so fast, don’t they?

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• Japan
• (Daimaru • Final Fantasy • Final Fantasy IX • Marunouchi • Osaka • pop-up stores • role-playing games • shopping • Tokyo • Umeda • video games)

7-Eleven selling “Japan’s longest roll of toilet paper” that’s 7.11 times longer than normal

• Master Blaster
  Jun 19, 2025

Outstanding mileage for the size.

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• Japan
• (7-Eleven • convenience stores • longest toilet paper • Marutomi Seishi • shopping • toilet paper • TP)

Identity crises abound with the Okonomiyaki Burger from Lotteria and/or Zetteria in Osaka

• Master Blaster
  Jun 18, 2025

Is it okonomiyaki or a burger and what is the name of this place?

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• Japan
• (fast food • hamburgers • Ikuna Kamezawa • Lotteria • okonomiyaki • Okonomiyaki Burger • Osaka • Zetteria)

Niigata man arrested for stealing over 40 bikes, wanted to build the perfect bike for himself

• Master Blaster
  Jun 17, 2025

And you will know him by the trail of bike parts…

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• Japan
• (bicycles • bikes • crime • cycling • hobbies • Niigata • strange • theft)

Tomato tarts from Japanese dessert shop will make you rethink what a tomato is

• Master Blaster
  Jun 17, 2025

Psycho filler, Qu’il Fait Bon.

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• Japan
• (desserts • edamame • food • OSMIC • Qu'il Fait Bon • soybeans • tarts • tomato)

12 Japanese MLB players to be honored with manhole lids across the country

• Master Blaster
  Jun 17, 2025

These are some manhole league baseball players.

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• Japan
• (baseball • Kodai Senga • Lars Nootbaar • Major League Baseball • manhole covers • manhole lids • Masataka Yoshida • MLB • Roki Sasaki • Seiya Suzuki • Shohei Ohtani • Shota Imanaga • sports • Tomoyuki Sugano • Yoshinobu Yamamoto • Yu Darvish • Yuki Matsui • Yusei Kikuchi)

How do Muji’s Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon soft drinks compare to the wines?

• Master Blaster
  Jun 17, 2025

We dare to mix Chardonnay with Chardonnay.

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• Japan
• (Cabernet Sauvignon • Chardonnay • drinks • grape juice • grape soda • muji • Mujirushi • Mujirushi Ryohin • soft drinks • wine)

Burger King going on tour in Japan, visiting areas where no restaurants exist yet

• Master Blaster
  Jun 17, 2025

They’re making a menu, checking it twice, gonna find out who likes a Whopper with spice…

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• Japan
• (Burger King • food truck • King On Tour 2025 • Nagasaki • pickleball • Pickleball Burger • Sasebo • whopper)

Humans are horrible at healing, according to Japanese researchers

• Master Blaster
  Jun 16, 2025

This news cuts deep and apparently will take a long time to heal.

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• Japan
• (apes • baboons • chimpanzees • healing • health • humans • medicine • monkeys • primates • science • The University of The Ryukyus)

World’s first “transparent paper cup” developed in Japan

• Master Blaster
  Jun 16, 2025

I can see clearly now. The cellophane has come.

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• Japan
• (cellophane • cellulose • JAMSTEC • Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology • paper • paper cups • plastic • plastic cups)

Can putting a giant dragonfly on your head repel bugs?

• Master Blaster
  Jun 15, 2025

If you can’t beat ’em, wear ’em.

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• Japan
• (bug repellant • bugs • COK • dogs • dragonflies • insect repellant • insects • mosquitoes • outdoors • pesticide-free • pets • SNJO • Udonko • wasps)

Is it OK to drink bottled water after the expiration date in Japan?

• Master Blaster
  Jun 14, 2025

The answer may not surprise you but the reason will.

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• Japan
• (bottled water • drinks • expiration date • expiry date • health • PET bottles • water • wellness)

Sausage stepping in for increasingly expensive octopus at takoyaki stands around Japan

• Master Blaster
  Jun 13, 2025

Sausageyaki?

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• Japan
• (COK • food • Horaiya • hot dogs • Japanese street food • Mr. Sato • octopus • octopus balls • sausages • SNJO • takoyaki)

Hokkaido police refuse to acknowledge theft that really seems like a theft

• Master Blaster
  Jun 13, 2025

Unfortunately, not technically being a theft won’t bring the victim’s car back.

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• Japan
• (crazy • crime • fraud • Hokkaido • law • police • theft • weird)

Why you should be worried if someone calls you “Uehara-san” in the Japanese workplace

• Master Blaster
  Jun 12, 2025

You got a lot of nerve calling me Mr. Uehara!

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• Japan
• (business • culture • employment • harassment • Japanese language • Japanese names • slang • society • work)

AR sport Hado added to Shizuoka high school curriculum

• Master Blaster
  Jun 11, 2025

Shoot fireballs for your health!

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• Japan
• (AR • gym class • Hado • health • PE class • schools • sports • technology • video games)

Trying to keep our cool with Amazon Japan’s lowest-rated fan and lucky amulet set

• Master Blaster
  Jun 9, 2025

The lucky amulet will ensure luck in online shopping, starting after this purchase.

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• Japan
• (Amazon Japan • Amazon lowest-rated • fans • lucky charms • Masanuki Sunakoma • misting fans • Omamori • online shopping • summer)

Miso soup as a full meal developed as the next evolution of the traditional side dish

• Master Blaster
  Jun 9, 2025

Soup is good food. It makes a good meal.

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• Japan
• (Japanese food • Miso • miso soup • Misobox • Misovation • Nanohana Miso • nutrition • Yamani Miso)

Can we tell the difference between Black Thunder and Black Thunder Excellent chocolate bars?

• Master Blaster
  Jun 8, 2025

It doesn’t get any better than this Black Thunder.

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• Japan
• (7-Eleven • Black Thunder • Black Thunder Excellent • candy • chocolate • COK • food • SNJO • sweets)

8 people arrested for being fake fortune-tellers, as opposed to… real fortune-tellers?

• Master Blaster
  Jun 7, 2025

Next bad horoscope I get, I’m pressing charges!

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• Japan
• (crime • fortune-tellers • fortune-telling • fraud • psychics • Tokyo Metropolitan Police)

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• Recent Posts

  • Ichiran Japan is giving away free 2027 desk calendars, and here’s how to get them
  • Yesterday’s cooking oil powers 410,000 pink winter sakura lights along Tokyo’s Meguro River
  • Life-size Gundam head going on display in Osaka, hopefully will find permanent home
  • Tokyo police arrest the Ame-zing Spider-Man
  • Ichiran releases an at-home counter kit that turns your desk into a ramen restaurant

• MOST POPULAR

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  Today

  1. Ichiran releases an at-home counter kit that turns your desk into a ramen restaurant
  2. Yesterday’s cooking oil powers 410,000 pink winter sakura lights along Tokyo’s Meguro River
  3. Starbucks Japan releases new Bearista glass tumbler that changes character with every drink
  4. Tokyo police arrest the Ame-zing Spider-Man
  5. Ichiran Japan is giving away free 2027 desk calendars, and here’s how to get them
  6. Life-size Gundam head going on display in Osaka, hopefully will find permanent home
  7. Move aside, Asahi Super Dry – Asahi Spice Beer is in town, and it’s hotter than you think
  8. Starbucks Japan reveals new Joyful Capsule gacha toy release date
  9. KFC now sells takikomi gohan rice boxes in Japan, if you know where to look for them [Taste test]
  10. Japan’s upcoming Romancecar train seeks to end intimacy with its super-wide seats

  Weekly

  1. Tokyo cracks down on Airbnb-style rentals with new laws limiting operator days and more
  2. Ichiran releases an at-home counter kit that turns your desk into a ramen restaurant
  3. America’s first-ever permanent One Piece store is now open [Photos]
  4. Tokyo neighborhood adds new “smart trash cans” to deal with increasing amounts of tourist litter
  5. Two Tokyo neighborhoods to gather on bridge and shift their recognized border through tug-of-war
  6. Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
  7. New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
  8. Pokémon card game’s expansion features art from Fist of the North Star creator
  9. Starbucks Japan reveals new Joyful Capsule gacha toy release date
  10. Japanese hoodie for cat-loving gamers will keep you and your feline friend warm and fuzzy [Pics]

  Monthly

  1. Pokémon Company announces first-ever permanent Pokémon store to open outside Asia
  2. Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  3. Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
  4. Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
  5. Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
  6. Chainsaw robots helping keep trains running safely in east Japan [Video]
  7. New Studio Ghibli anime gets extended run at the only cinema in Japan where it’s being shown
  8. Osaka’s famous Glico Running Man will be removed and replaced with a new-look sign
  9. Tokyo cracks down on Airbnb-style rentals with new laws limiting operator days and more
  10. Studio Ghibli creates illustrated Kyoto sightseeing map, available at any 7-Eleven Japan store

  Yearly

  1. Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
  2. Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
  3. Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
  4. Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
  5. Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
  6. Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
  7. Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
  8. Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
  9. Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
  10. Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa

• RECOMMENDED STORIES

  • Life-size Gundam head going on display in Osaka, hopefully will find permanent home
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  • Starbucks Japan reveals new Joyful Capsule gacha toy release date
  • KFC now sells takikomi gohan rice boxes in Japan, if you know where to look for them [Taste test]
  • Japan’s upcoming Romancecar train seeks to end intimacy with its super-wide seats
  • Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
  • “Sweet sake” with yuzu is coming to Japan’s wonderful world of hot canned drinks this winter
  • Why people in Japan hardly ever say “sayonara,” and what they say instead
  • Yakuza boss sues expressway owners for discrimination against criminals
  • Is hamburger patty ramen a case of too many good things in one bowl? Let’s find out! [Taste test]
  • Historical-themed illumination display returns to Osaka Castle this winter
  • Tokyo cracks down on Airbnb-style rentals with new laws limiting operator days and more
  • Amazing Japanese yogurt spoon scoops up every last drop of dairy effortlessly
  • Tokyo neighborhood adds new “smart trash cans” to deal with increasing amounts of tourist litter

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• • “Sweet sake” with yuzu is coming to Japan’s wonderful world of hot canned drinks this winter
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