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We Test Drive the World’s First Augmented Reality Car Navigation System “Cyber-Navi,” It’s as Good as We Hoped

Master Blaster
Jul 30, 2012
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In May 2012, Pioneer announced the newest model of Carrozzeria Cyber-Navi. This breakthrough device, which is set to hit stores soon, has been getting a lot of buzz for moving car navigation from the dashboard to about 3 meters in front of your car.

I (Mr. Sato) was able to get an sneak peak test drive in a car equipped with a Cyber-Navi, and it was a surprisingly comfortable ride with clear visibility.

Japan
(augmented reality • car navigation • Cyber-Navi • Mr. Sato)

Land Yourself an Educated Partner with “The Smell of a Freshly Printed Book”

Master Blaster
Jul 29, 2012

A new perfume has been created inspired by this quote of Karl Lagerfeld, a heavy hitter in the fashion world working with the likes of Chanel and Fendi among others.

“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”

Well, hmmm, I never really thought about it before, but I can distinctly recall the smell of a fresh book after reading his words – so he could be onto something. But does it really make you smell like a book? And would people actually go for it?

Global
(book • Karl Lagerfeld • perfume)

Snow Cone Inspired Pasta May Deliver Us From the Heat, The Best Part Comes After You Finish!

Master Blaster
Jul 29, 2012

This summer isn’t even half way through, but everyone in Japan can firmly agree that it sucks – hard. For the past two weeks the temperature has hovered around 35℃ in many parts of the country with a hardly a cloud to weaken the scorching sun.

Walking around in the streets, heat exhaustion has me pining for winter like it was a long lost lover whom I’m willing to forgive for cheating on me with 10 dudes as long as she comes back for one precious moment to ease my soul.

Just then some news hit me like a bucket of cold water. There is a restaurant in Ginza called Fresh Pasta Monster that is serving “Shaved Ice Fresh Pasta” for a limited time Now that’s something to make me forget about that tramp, winter.

Japan
(Ginza • ice • pasta)

Newly Developed Projector Lets You Make 3D Animations That Can Interact With Real Objects

Master Blaster
Jul 29, 2012

A couple months ago when Tupac “appeared” at the Coachella Festival, they incorrectly called it a “hologram” when in fact it was a style of 3D projection—the same that is used when Hatsune Miku makes live appearances. Now you can make your favorite murdered rapper or vocaloid come to life with similar 3D projections using your tablet computer and “Hakoani!”

Japan
(3D • hakoani • ipad • projector)

Japan Makes POS System That Scans Bread Terminator Style

Steven
Jul 27, 2012

Ah, Japanese bakeries. Rows and rows of delicious, fresh-baked treats ready for you to harvest—if you can decide among all the variety. And if you think choosing which bread to place on your tray is hard (I usually spend at least 5 minutes walking in circles with hungry tongs in hand), imagine how stressful it must be for part-time bakery staff who need to remember the names of every baked good in the store.

Luckily, Japanese web development company Brain Corporation has teamed up with the University of Hyogo to develop a POS system that uses a camera to instantly identify the kind of baked good customers have on their tray.

Check out the video below, it looks a lot more impressive than it sounds.

Japan
(bakery • Barcode • bread • computers • technology)

The Apex of Eraser Technology Has Been Met with “Resare Premium Type Plastic Eraser”

Master Blaster
Jul 24, 2012

I’m a man of fine taste and refinement. I write only the highest quality documents on the highest quality paper with the highest quality pencils. However, when I make only the highest quality mistakes I demand that only the highest quality eraser be used to correct them. That is why on 10 August, I will be going to the highest quality stationary store to buy the Resare Premium Type Plastic Eraser – the eraser to end all erasers.

Japan
(eraser • rubber)

Attention Cat Lovers: This Intoxicating Liquid Supplement Could Help Keep Your Feline Friend Healthy!

Kay
Jul 23, 2012

Can you guess what the product in the above picture is? Well, it’s a liquid supplement developed especially for cats that has been gaining attention among cat owners in Japan recently. The supplement, called “Matatabi Blend”, is scented with the smell of the silver vine plant, known as “matatabi” in Japan. The silver vine plant is known to have an intoxicating effect on cats, much like catnip, but the purpose of the supplement is not to provide cats with pleasure, but to help keep them healthy. Apparently, this supplement can help prevent certain types of ailments common in cats. Read More

Japan
(cats • pet supplements • pets)

Olympics-Schmolympics, Who Makes the Better McDonald’s Burger; France or Japan?

Master Blaster
Jul 23, 2012

Fresh off the most recent stint of Big America burgers released in McDonald’s restaurants across Japan like the Texas Burger, Idaho Burger, and Broadway Burger, the taste of the month now has turned its eye toward France.

This time though McDonald’s Japan has completely copied one of French McDonald’s sandwiches, the Le Grand. To see if it lives up to the original I tried one in France and Japan for a tête-à-tête taste test.

Europe, Japan
(france • Le Grand • McDonald's)

“Lina Blue Cooled Ramen” is More Than Just a Slick Name, It Might Add Years to Your Life While Keeping You Cool This Summer

Master Blaster
Jul 22, 2012

On 18 July, a ramen shop in Nipponbashi, Tokyo called Bee Hive Genki no Moto had introduced a novel chilled ramen that’s equally cooling to the eyes, ears, and stomach – perhaps even the life.

Japan
(bee hive genki no moto • blue • ramen)

What Happened With These DVD Packages? They Don’t Look Anything Like the Anime We’re Familiar With!

Kay
Jul 22, 2012

Fans of Japanese anime may be familiar with the popular animated film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (Kaze No Tani No Naushika), created by successful anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Since its initial release in 1984 (gosh, has it really been 28 years?), the film has been much loved by the Japanese public, both the young and old alike. The anime, which touches on timeless topics such as non-violence and humanity’s struggle to coexist with nature, has become a Japanese classic, and even today, it holds strong appeal and is broadcast in Japan from time to time on prime-time television. Read More

Europe, Japan, Oceania, USA
(anime • DVd package • Nausicaa)

Japanese Civil Servants Can’t Have Tattoos While Chinese City Workers Can’t Receive a Piece of Hard Candy; Regulations Run Amok

Master Blaster
Jul 22, 2012

With just one week left to vote for the most evil employer of 2012, we’d like to shed some light on an overlooked “black corporation” – city governments. Sure, government workers often get a bad rap as being slow and overpaid with ridiculous job security. But in the words of Bob Dylan “the times they are a-changing.”

In Osaka, government workers will be forbidden to have any tattoos and a drinking ban is in talks for all the city workers of Fukuoka. But to really see the slippery slope that these labor reforms can lead to, we should turn our attention to the People’s Republic of China.

China, Japan
(government • labor • regulations)

Man Creates Waste Basket That Targets Flying Garbage and Catches It by Itself

Master Blaster
Jul 21, 2012

Have you ever seen a sci-fi movie about the future where robot garbage cans move by themselves to pick up our waywardly thrown garbage? You’d think humanity has reached the level of technology to make that happen, but no.

Evidently the people lazy enough to want an autonomously moving waste basket are also too lazy to create one. That is until a mysterious mad scientist by the name of FRP created his own and recorded a video outlining the entire process.

Japan
(Kinect • robot • waste basket)

At “Robot Restaurant” You Can Accentuate Your Meal with Girls in Bikinis Riding a Neon Tank and Gigantic Fembots, We Investigate

Master Blaster
Jul 21, 2012

A new restaurant modestly named “Robot Restaurant” has opened in Shinjuku on 18 July but already has generated a lot of buzz on the internet. Its quick surge in popularity may have to do with the rumored post-apocalyptic giant robot show that goes on while you eat and is said to cost 10 billion yen (US$127M) to create. We had to go and see if this is for real.

Japan
(fembot • Robot Restaurant • tank)

Blistering 160km/h (99mph) Fastball Pitched by High School Student

Master Blaster
Jul 20, 2012

The baseball world in Japan has been shaken to its core by a pitch so fast it stands among the fastest in the world – and it was done during a high school game.

The pitch, thrown during a televised semifinal match between Ichinoseki Gakuin and Hanamaki Higashi, has focused all the attention of professional baseball onto young Shohei Otani, the pitcher for Hanamaki Higashi High School.

Japan
(baseball • fastball • high school)

Child’s Birthday Coming Up? Why Not Get Them a Life-Sized Brachiosaurus?

Master Blaster
Jul 20, 2012

It seems you can buy just about anything on the internet these days, and here’s another bit of proof to put on the pile. What’s the one thing you could add to your home and garden that would make you stand out among your neighbors?

You got it; an 18 meter (59’) tall, 3 ton (2205 lbs) Brachiosaurus statue.

Internet, Japan
(brachiosaurus • dinosaur • statue)

Rejoice, Fashion-Challenged Men! Now You Can Have a Hottie Stylist Dress You

Jessica
Jul 20, 2012

A new online service called Bemool has just been launched in Japan targeted at men who don’t know how to dress themselves. For a meager service fee of 5,000 yen (about $60 US), a stylish and pretty expert will go out and buy some outfits for you, something that is no doubt a god-send for shopping-averse–hell, going-out-in-public-averse–net denizens. Read More

Internet, Japan
(Bemool • personal stylist)

Future and Past Collide as Long-Awaited “Evangelion and Japanese Sword Exhibit” Opens

Master Blaster
Jul 19, 2012

You may have read our previous report about how Japan’s top sword makers had been called upon to bring your favorite weapons from the hit anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion off the screen and into reality.

Well, the day has finally arrived as the Bizen Japanese Sword Museum has at long last opened their “Evangelion & Japanese Sword Exhibit” utilizing traditional sword making techniques to create swords of the future Evangelion universe.

Japan
(Evangelion • lance of longinus • sword)

Apoopalypse Now! We Use Twitter and Japanese Linguistics to Track the Toilet Habits of Japan

Master Blaster
Jul 19, 2012

It seems the days of keeping novels or magazines on a stand by the toilet are slipping away from us as more and more people are taking their smartphones into the loo to pass the time. On top of this, social media has paved the way for everyone to update the world on all their daily minutiae.

And what could be minuter than broadcasting our bowel evacuations to the world. On an individual basis such information might be meaningless to others but when analyzed en masse we can learn something about the pooping habits of a nation.

Internet, Japan
(twitraq • twitter • unkonau)

A Cool Sight for the Hot Summer! See Penguins Fly – at a Rooftop Aquarium in the Middle of Tokyo

Kay
Jul 19, 2012

Okay, is everyone ready for summer? You may already have vacation plans, but if you’re going to be in Tokyo this summer, you may want to consider visiting the Sunshine Aquarium in the Ikebukuro area. Why? Because you’ll be able to see “flying penguins” there this summer! Read More