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Dancing bear cubs straight out of Disney movie capture Japanese hearts

Dancing bear cubs straight out of Disney movie capture Japanese hearts

The Japanese Internet is going crazy over recent Finnish photos of a group of bear cubs who appear to be dancing around in a circle, reminiscent of the age-old nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie”.

Valtteri Mulkahainen, a 52-year-old Finnish photography hobbyist, says he thought he was imagining the bears dancing around, even going so far as to say the scene was so magical he wouldn’t have been surprised if they had begun singing. Given the man’s situation as he took the now-madly circulating photos, we can’t blame him for momentarily believing he was living inside of a Disney movie.

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Using our brand new Xbox One console… to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U

Using our brand new Xbox One console… to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U

That’s right video game fans, as of this week, we now finally have a full crop of next (or should that be “current?”) generation games consoles to play with, bringing with them a whole new era of video game magic! Nintendo’s Wii U has been with us for a while now, PlayStation 4 showed its sleek little face over 10 days ago, and we now finally have an Xbox One to tinker with!

The media centre approach Microsoft has taken with its newest home console may not appeal to all gamers, but even if you’d rather play focus on games than flick between live shows and Dead Rising, there’s no denying that Xbox One has one big advantage over its competitors – its ability to receive, rather than simply output, a signal from another device. Microsoft ideally wants us to use this feature to hook up our cable boxes and make the console our living room hub, but being the gaming nerds that we are and already owning every other console, we decided to do something a little different: play PlayStation 4 and Wii U games on our Xbox One. And it works like a charm.

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Get the realistic Tumbler Batmobile you’ve always wanted… for your iPhone

Yarisugi is a Japanese word that means overkill or something done to excess. It’s the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the realistic replica of the Christopher Nolan-era Batmobile announced by Premium Bandai this week. Not because they’ve copied the vehicle in minute detail, as you can see in the image above, but because it is, in fact, an iPhone case.

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PlayStation 4 impressions: An Xbox fan and a Sony lover go head to head

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has been out in North America for over a week now, and is finally heading to Europe this coming Friday. Thanks to the efforts of our game-loving staff in the US, we managed to pick up a few units, and have been tinkering with them for about a week now, so felt it was time to share our thoughts on the new hardware.

Rather than getting all techy and giving you lists of stats or focusing on frames per second, however, we decided to take a slightly more human approach, and talk about how Sony’s newest console rates in the eyes of both a self-confessed Sony fan and a long-term Xbox lover.

Let the mud-slinging begin!

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Impress house guests with toilet paper origami!

Hotel and restaurant bathrooms have really done a number on us by introducing a new level of hospitality through toilet paper etiquette. When the next sheet of paper on the roll is folded into a neat triangular point, we’re made to feel that extra bit special, safe in the knowledge that the area has recently been attended to, as if the place was just done up in anticipation of our arrival.

One lady in the United States has taken the triangular toilet paper fold to a whole new level, incorporating traditional Japanese origami concepts to produce a book of cute, funny and surprisingly beautiful designs to dress up the toilet roll in your bathroom. From swans to candles, who knew toilet paper could be so adorable?

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South Park’s anime-style “Princess Kenny” video arrives in Japan, chuckles and confusion abound

A recent storyline in the often controversial, always hilarious animated series South Park focuses on the run-up to the Black Friday sales, and sees the fictional town’s inhabitants turning into murderous, bargain-hunting zombies prepared to gouge one another’s eyes out if it means getting a new TV for a fraction of the normal retail price.

At the same time, a war rages between the town’s kids over which console – Xbox One or PlayStation 4 – they should band together to nab in the sales, and results in Microsoft’s Bill Gates handing out weapons to young Xbox One fans (one per child, in the name of safety) to aid them in their struggle. Not wanting to be outdone, Sony strikes back by granting the leader of the competing faction – none other than parker-wearing mumbler Kenny – the power to become a real Japanese princess, transforming him into an doe-eyed anime beauty, complete with his own Japanese theme song.

Of course, it didn’t take long for clips from the show to make their way to Japan…

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Sony files patent application for a “Smart Wig”

Smartphones are great and all, but they require your hands, which can be a problem when doing work, sports or raising the occasional barn. Then, along came Google Glass, a brand of smart glasses with promises of a more hands-free future. Unfortunately, it’s hard to interact with people and not have them stare at your right eye the entire time.

There must be a way to combine the discreet practicality of a smartphone with the hands-free functionality of smart glasses. According to an invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office this year, Sony appears to be interested something that just might do that with the “Smart Wig.”

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Finally, your dog can safely leap through flaming hoops with this adorable doggy fire gear

Every dog owner has experienced it: you want your dog to sit, speak, roll over and maybe shake, but your pooch has other ambitions. Bigger dreams. He wants to join the fire brigade (you know this because you taught him to speak), but you’re worried about your little buddy’s safety.

Finally, though, you can let your doggy chase both his tail and his dreams with this adorable doggy flame-retardant suit. Join us after the jump for more adorable photos!

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Prince William would “love to have a PlayStation 4” but wonders if his wife will let him

With Sony’s PlayStation 4 set to launch in Europe in just over a week’s time, it’s not only everyday paupers who are itching to get their hands on the shiny new hunk of black plastic. Britain’s Prince William also reportedly can’t wait to grab one of those touchpad-toting controllers and start taking headshots online.

Apparently, the new father hinted that he hopes Santa will leave a PS4 under the Christmas tree this year, but he’s not sure whether his wife Kate will go for the idea.

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Amazing video wows viewers — see the fascinating world created with a single piece of tissue paper!

What do you normally see in a piece of tissue paper? Is tissue something that’s useful but to be casually discarded without much thought once it’s been used? That may often be the case, but Japanese tissue maker Nepia has created a video which can hopefully change that and raise consumers’ appreciation for this ubiquitous paper product by showing how a piece of tissue can be changed into works of art. Viewers of the video from around the world have apparently been seriously impressed, giving the video a definite two-thumbs up, and we just had to share it with you, since we thought it looked … well, simply awesome!

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Reports of PlayStation 4 “red line of death” appear online 【Videos】UPDATED

Just four days after the launch of the Sony PlayStation 4, and barely 24 hours after we brought you news that over a million units of the console had been sold on its very first day in stores, reports are appearing online of a “Red Line of Death” – believed to be caused by overheating – with brand new PlayStation 4 consoles locking up completely.

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Reading books makes you aware we live in the Matrix, artist depicts

We were all pretty sure we live in the Matrix anyway. Doesn’t that explain deja vu and rainbows or whatever?

Now we have definitive artistic proof that the Matrix is real, and only those that read tons of books ever get it. As this artist rendition shows, reading books makes you more knowledgeable about the world around you in the form of a giant book ladder that lets you climb up and see the real world outside of our digitized quasi-reality.

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Party at Sony’s place! Over a million PlayStation 4 consoles sold in first 24 hours

Pay a visit to Sony HQ today and you’ll no doubt see an awful lot of smiling, and perhaps tired-looking, faces. Following Friday’s launch of the PlayStation 4 in North America, President of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, yesterday shared the news via his Twitter feed that over a million units of the next-generation console had been sold within the first 24 hours of going on sale.

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A chick, a fat guy and an Asian dude were standing in line for a PS4…

It may sound like the start of a bad joke, but when your boss says, “Bring me three PS4s!” you say, “How many games would you like with that?”

And so I found myself in uncharted territory, standing in line at 7am the day before the release of Sony’s next-gen console. I honestly didn’t know what to expect and admittedly grumbled at the thought of living on the street for 17 hours, but after Hooters girls, free swag, and a PS4 presented by the CEO of Best Buy, I’m pleased to report that I came away richer from the experience (although my bank account would beg to differ).

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Japanese Q&A site answerer makes starting a cult seem like legitimately good business sense

Back in the day, starting a cult was just as good a way to make a dishonest living as robbing banks or selling kidneys on the black market, but with the rise of the Internet (specifically, Snopes.com), attracting believers to your bogus religion seems like way too much work. Besides, Scientology kind of already has the market cornered.

Nevertheless, an inquisitive aspiring cultist took to Yahoo! Japan’s Chiebukuro question and answer site as part of his/her cult-founding due diligence, perhaps hoping for some basic advice like “keep human sacrifices to a minimum,” or “promise male cult members multiple wives.”

Instead, what the asker got was a detailed breakdown of what it takes to build a successful cult; an explanation so thorough and well-thought out, we’re actually considering a career change.

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Tokyo Disney Resort marks 30th anniversary with $22,000 Franck Muller watches 【Photos】

Tokyo Disney Resort is approaching its 30th anniversary, and it wouldn’t be Disney if they didn’t have a whole slew of commemorative items in the works. Recently, they announced a partnership with Swiss luxury watchmaker Franck Muller to produce a set of men’s and women’s watches for the occasion. And you can make one yours if you have 2.2 million yen (about US$22,000) to blow.

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Heads up, poké-people! Nintendo just released the Pokémon X/Y soundtrack on iTunes!

If you’re one of the few million people currently eating, sleeping and dreaming about Pikachu and pals following the launch of Pokémon X & Y on Nintendo 3DS, you’ll very likely be wanting something equally poké-themed to listen to while commuting, taking a shower or during especially dull lectures when you can’t get away with playing the game itself.

Well good news! Nintendo, seemingly not content with releasing a special edition album of its 8-bit retro theme songs, has just made the soundtrack to its insanely successful Pokémon X & Y available on iTunes.

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This inappropriate lamp gives new meaning to the phrase “turn you on”

In 1994, the product design company, Propaganda, was established in Thailand to fill the need for playful products in home and work environments. Since then, the fun-loving brand has expanded immensely. Stores can be found in more than 30 different countries, including Japan, the US, and many parts of Europe.

Today we’d like to focus on one of Propaganda’s many tongue-in-cheek trinkets. This peculiar lamp is certain to brighten your day.

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Dazzle us, Ms. Kitty! Hello Kitty is purrr-ly magnificent in her new jeweled look

We’re quite aware that Hello Kitty, the most famous feline in the world, has turned herself into some pretty exclusive high-end products in the past, like a limited edition pink car or even a jewel-studded platinum doll complete with a one carat diamond on her signature ribbon worth approximately US$150,000. But now, it looks like Ms. Kitty’s latest collaborative effort is about to top all of that!
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Hafu: Telling the story of Japan’s mixed-race minority and changing attitudes in society【Q&A】

For such a small word, “half” carries an awful lot of weight here in Japan. Adapted to fit the syllabary, the word is pronounced “hafu” in Japanese, and describes a person who has one Japanese – and of course one non-Japanese – parent. More often than not, the word carries certain connotations, and many Japanese have preconceived, often erroneous, notions that hafus have natural English ability, have spent time abroad, and possess many of the physical characteristics Japanese associate with Westerners. At the same time, the word is immediately indicative of something very un-Japanese, and many hafu – even those who have never set foot outside of Japan and speak no other language – are never truly accepted by society as a result.

The Hafu Project was begun in 2009 as an initiative aiming to promote awareness of racial diversity in Japan and the issues facing those of mixed heritage. It was after becoming involved with the project that two filmmakers, Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi, began a collaborative work that would eventually become a full-length feature film titled, simply, Hafu.

Three years in the making, Hafu was completed in April this year, and has been screened at independent cinemas everywhere from Madrid to Tokyo. After checking out the film for ourselves when it came to Shibuya recently, RocketNews24 talked with Megumi and Lara to learn a little more about the making of the film and how in their opinion attitudes in Japan are evolving.

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