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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 172)

Two restaurants in China accused of adding poppy seeds to food hoping to get customers hooked

Master Blaster
Oct 20, 2013
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Reports out of China have revealed that two restaurants in the Guangzhou area were found to be using ground up poppy seeds in some of their dishes. The reports allege that the businesses were “using the seeds of addictive poppies in an underhanded way to get repeat business.”

China
(crime • food • opium • poppy seed)

Liquidman lets you dance like a maniac on a busy street from the comfort of your own living room

Master Blaster
Oct 18, 2013

Have you ever wanted to start dancing like a madman in the middle of a crowded urban street, but felt restrained by the conventions of society? Our reporter Mr. Sato sure has. So when he learnt about the Halls throat lozenges’ YOUareLIQUIDMAN campaign, he got right on it.

YOUareLIQUIDMAN encourages sheepish individuals to upload a photo of themselves to the Halls website. Their photo is then displayed on liquid man who proceeds to dance like Michael Stipe in front of total strangers.

Japan
(Halls • Liquidman • Mr. Sato • Shibuya • wtf)

Limited edition Gundam cake up for preorder, comes with Char’s custom plate and fork!

Master Blaster
Oct 18, 2013

Some of the lesser-known joys of Japan are the occasional anime/video game and cake collaborations. Sure, taking your favorite hobby and injecting it with some cake is a no-brainer, but these limited offers always bring some very unique collectables with them. Monster Hunter fans who pre-ordered their Rathalos cakes should be getting them next month.

Now we present to you the Char Zaku Cake Set. It’s a cake in the shape of Char Aznable’s custom MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type served on Char’s custom cake dish and fork.

Japan
(cake • Char Aznable • food • Gundam)

We try yogurt which contains euglena… yeah, we had to look it up too

Master Blaster
Oct 17, 2013

Euglena is a microorganism, in some ways similar to algae. However, it is truly unique in that it exhibits feeding habits of both animals and plants. Such a fascinating biological specimen has left us all wondering: What does it taste like?

To answer that, convenience stores all over Japan have begun selling Euglena Yogurt from 15 October. Our brave reporter Usagi went to try some out.

Japan
(beauty • euglena • food • health • yogurt)

We get a sneak peak at stew-flavored Garigari-Kun popsicles! Tastes great with rice!

Master Blaster
Oct 17, 2013

Since a picture was leaked online last week, Japan has been all abuzz with rumors of the latest in the “rich” flavor line up of popular Garigari-kun brand popsicles. Their previous corn potage flavor was deemed a rousing success and now it appeared they were topping themselves this with a potato stew version.

The good news is a release date has been set for 29 October. The even better news is that we already got to take some Garigari-kun Potato Stew bars for a test taste at a presentation in Tokyo two weeks early!

Japan
(food • Garigari-kun • ice cream • Stew)

Kiss’ spicy steamed meat buns are Hotter Than Hell

Master Blaster
Oct 16, 2013

Chinese style steamed dumplings are a staple of convenience stores all over Japan. Known as nikuman in Japan (or other name ending in “–man” depending on the fillings) their round shape allows for a lot of cross marketing creativity. In the past we’ve seen Spiderman, Monsters Inc., the Dragon Quest Slime, Hatsune Miku, and random cute animals all rendered in dumpling form.

What better way for the hard rocking and hard merchandising titans of Kiss to commemorate their Japan tour in the latter half of this month than with the Kiss Super-Spicy Chili Tomatoman? But can a steamed dumpling capture the rock and roll spirit of Kiss? Mr. Sato went on the day of their release to find out.

Japan
(food • Kiss • nikuman • Sunkus)

Japanese police officer sentenced to prison, found guilty of attempted extortion to settle his gaming debt

Master Blaster
Oct 16, 2013

When Takahiro Ueyama was a boy he dreamed of becoming a police officer like his father. Rain or shine, even on holidays, he would remember his dad rushing out to help people when needed. Ueyama studied hard to achieve his goal and in 1989 he was finally able to be like his old man. It didn’t stop there either, up-and-coming Officer Ueyama continued to work hard and eventually outperformed his father in police work, earning an award in the process.

Takahiro Ueyama told all this to the Kobe District Court last month where he stood trial for extortion. By this time his crime had become widely publicized as it was carried out in order to pay off his mounting mobile phone game bills of 500,000 yen (US$5,000).

Japan
(crime • police • Rage of Bahamut)

Man arrested after rice cooker found plugged into neighbor’s home

Master Blaster
Oct 16, 2013

In Kawazoe, Saga Prefecture, a 48-year-old homeowner received a shock when he found a rice cooker plugged into an exterior outlet on his house. He immediately called the police and reported the meal which was being prepared in his yard without his consent. Knowing that time was of the essence, police rushed to scene.

Japan
(crime • food • rice cooker)

To reuse or not to reuse, that is the question for restaurants everywhere

Master Blaster
Oct 15, 2013

The other day I was eating at a restaurant that served their French fries with a small cup. One half was filled with ketchup and the other half mayonnaise. The presentation was quite lovely but it made me wonder. It was about the size of a pudding cup and there was no way I would be able to use all of those condiments in one sitting. What would happen to the rest of it? Would it be thrown out? Surely it wouldn’t end up being served to another customer after I’d dipped my fries and poked around in it for the majority of my meal?

Global
(food • recycle • Restaurant)

Chinese netizens call for education reform after seeing Japanese test question

Master Blaster
Oct 14, 2013

The above question allegedly taken from a children’s test in Japan was posted on Chinese social networks recently. It’s a question that not only teaches us the proper way to use a scale but also a little something about the way we educate our youth.

China, Internet, Japan
(education • scale • Test • wtf)

Japan votes on the musical act they most want to see in the Olympic opening ceremony

Master Blaster
Oct 14, 2013

With the Olympic Games slated to return to Tokyo in 2020 a lot of prep work needs to be done. And as facilities are being planned and developed there’s also the difficult task of providing entertainment, particularly in the opening ceremony. China’s powerful and impressive ceremony raised the bar for what’s expected of a country in terms of presenting their culture in a fun and meaningful way.

To get the ball rolling, the Japanese Olympic Committee held a survey asking everyone which musicians they would most like to see appear at the opening ceremony. A total of 143,394 people responded and the following top twenty artists were recently announced.

Japan
(music • Olympics • ranking • Tokyo)

Legendary mecha designer dreams up the future of Japan’s fire trucks

Master Blaster
Oct 13, 2013

Fire truck manufacturer Yoshitani Machinery Co. recently approached mechanical designer Kunio Okawara and asked him to draw the next generation of fire engine. Of course, when you ask an artistic talent behind the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and other giant robots to make a fire truck, you’re in for a treat.

Behold, The Next Yoshitani Rescue Vehicle!

Japan
(art • fire truck • Gundam • Kunio Okawara)

Shinkansen stopped and searched by police because of passenger who really had to pee

Master Blaster
Oct 12, 2013

No matter what language you speak, words can sometimes have a way of landing us in trouble. Sometimes we exaggerate for the sake of making a sentence simpler by saying things like “just a sec.” Other times idiomatic phrases like “talk someone’s ear off” can lead to absurd literal translations.

And then there are times when a simple turn of phrase can inadvertently lead to a major incident involving the police and talk of a potential terrorist attack.

Japan
(bomb • shinkansen • toilet)

Saiyans, pirates, and Jesus all come alive on Japanese blackboards

Master Blaster
Oct 11, 2013

As we saw from their hilarious textbook doodles not too long ago, Japanese school children seem to be bursting at the seams with creativity. Now, with the slightly more public and temporary space of a classroom blackboard, some students with encouraging teachers were able to create some very impressive murals.

Internet, Japan
(anime • art • blackboard • manga • school • twitter)

Study in China determines Sprite to be the best drink to relieve a hangover

Master Blaster
Oct 10, 2013

So you hit the bottle a little too hard last night and have now awoken in a state of gut-rotting, head-pounding, agony. Standing before the fridge you pretend to be a doctor and judge which drink would be chemically most efficient to chug your way out of this stupor. Water? Coffee? Wheat tea?

Surprisingly, if you chose Sprite, you’d be correct. At least, that’s what a team of researchers at Zhongshan University decided after studying the effects of 57 different drinks against hangovers.

China
(alcohol • cure • hangover • health • Sprite)

F1 Korean Grand Prix future looking grim, complaints of love hotels and no fans mount

Master Blaster
Oct 10, 2013

“Forget the Grand Prix, the real race for the drivers is the flight from Korea to Tokyo tonight on various private jets.” A statement tweeted by F1 writer Adam Cooper on 6 October when the Korean Grand Prix was held.

Sure enough, only a few hours after the race had finished, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso tweeted, “Already in Japan! One of the best GP’s of the year!” This is a move that the Japanese media had taken as a source of pride as well as yet another sign that trouble looms for the beleaguered Korean Grand Prix.

Global, Korea
(F1 • Korean Grand Prix • sports)

High-fashion photos of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure characters featured at Shisedo event

Master Blaster
Oct 9, 2013

Currently underway at the new Shisedo Ginza Building in Tokyo is the Japan Original Beauty event which features a live talk with beauty professional Tadashi Harada. Harada, who works with Shisedo as one of their “Top Beauty Specialists” was the genius behind a series of portraits with models depicting characters from Hirohiko Araki’s manga masterpiece JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Japan
(fashion • Jojo's bizarre adventure • Shisedo)

Manga and anime, my how you’ve changed!

Master Blaster
Oct 8, 2013

Anime and manga have been in the global mainstream for a few decades now and like anything else, they have a way of evolving over time. Sometimes, though, the changes are so gradual that we don’t notice it until someone throws it all up in a handy infographic such as this one that surfaced on the internet recently. In it, the creator points out some key differences between female characters in the 1990s and those of the current decade. Let’s see what’s going on in the translation below.

Internet, Japan
(anime • manga • style)

World’s largest game of tag to be held in Gunma Prefecture

Master Blaster
Oct 7, 2013

Tag is a childhood game loved worldwide although known by different names depending on the region, and Japan is no exception. Here the game is known as oni gokko (demon play) and follows the same rules aside for the “it” person being called oni, which translates to a demon but is probably more akin to an ogre.

If you happen to be in the Gunma area this month and want to relive some childhood fun playing a classic game, Gunma University and J.League soccer team Thespa Kustasu Gunma are working to set up a Guinness World Record breaking game of Oni Gokko.

Japan
(game • oni • sports • tag)

Creepily cute mascot Okazaemon gets female counterpart in Okazaennu

Master Blaster
Oct 7, 2013

April this year saw the nationwide emergence of Okazaemon a regional mascot (called yurukyara in Japan) who operates out of Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. In spite of looking like a strung-out cat that will stab you for its next fix, Okazaemon has captured the hearts of mascot fans with his offbeat charm.

In fact, Okazaemon’s ever-rising star has earned him second place in the Regional Yurukyara General Elections after Funasshi, another breakout mascot success of 2013. And with such notoriety there are bound to be those who emulate the formula. Enter Okazaennu: the female weird kanji cat character.