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Videos of the first four Happy Meal Marios from McDonald’s Japan!

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Nov 26, 2013
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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: McDonald’s Japan has the best Happy Meal toys. In case you haven’t heard, the fast food chain created Mario toys for their “Happy Set” kids meals and they’re awesome. Lucky for those abroad, Japanese fans of the franchise have already uploaded videos of their McDonald’s Happy Meal Marios (say that five times fast). Take a look at just a few!

Japan
(cool • Happy Meal • Mario • McDonald's Japan • toy)

Years of labor and millions of dollars finally yield amazing french fry vending machine

Mike
Nov 24, 2013

For many of the world’s greatest cuisines, there is a fine line separating a stellar example of a particular dish from a loathsome, gag-inducing failure. In the case of the humble french fry, that fine line is a few extra minutes from fryer to your eager food hole; let the fries sit for just a little too long and they transform before your eyes from hot, crunchy guilty pleasure to disgusting, squishy, limp waste of calories.

Apparently deeply affected by a soggy fry incident, the folks at China’s Beyondte Electronics Co., Ltd. set out to perfect a french fry vending machine that would produce hot, crunchy fries on the spot whenever you got a craving, eliminating the need to order them at your favorite fast food joint and carry them home and – a happy side effect – also eliminating the need to actually speak to another human being to get your fry fix.

China
(cool • fast food • food • fries • technology)

Chinese artist blends into background with chameleon-like ease 【Photos】

Scott R Dixon
Nov 24, 2013

Have you ever had one of those moments where you wish you could just disappear and the let the world pass by? Like Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility, Chinese artist Liu Bolin has perfected the art of being unseen. Liu uses his chameleon-like skills (and a great deal of paint) to make himself barely noticeable even in some of the world’s busiest cities. Get ready to test your eyesight and take a look at 38 pictures of Liu hiding in plain sight!

China
(art • beijing • camouflage • cool • hide-and-seek • liu bolin • New York)

Scientist says he can end Japan’s energy woes by turning algae into fuel

Casey Baseel
Nov 22, 2013

Japan is often thought of as an exporting juggernaut, thanks in no small part to the country’s high profile automobile and consumer electronics companies. However, the nation has to turn to importing for much of its energy needs, particularly as it increasingly looks for ways to reduce its reliance on domestically produced nuclear power following the events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.

However, one scientist claims Japan could eliminate its need to import energy entirely by turning algae into fuel.

Japan
(cool • science • weird)

New island created in Japan by volcanic activity

Casey Baseel
Nov 21, 2013

Japan is a crowded place. There’s just no way to get around it. The vast majority of good jobs and schools are found in the major urban centers, which are themselves located on the scarce patches of usable land available in this tremendously mountainous country.

Although few people particularly enjoy living in such dense population centers where you find yourself surprised when you’re not pressed against your fellow commuters on the train in the morning, what can you do about it? It’s not like Japan itself is suddenly going to start getting any bigger, is it?

Actually, it that’s exactly what’s going on, as newly released images show that a new island has recently formed in Japan’s waters.

Japan
(awesome • cool • science)

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

Mike
Nov 21, 2013

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!

Global, Japan
(animals • cool • dogs • fashion • pets • technology)

Sleep in a spaceship and be waited on by robots at China’s newest capsule hotel

Philip Kendall
Nov 20, 2013

Regular RocketNews24 readers will know how much we love capsule hotels – and tiny spaces in general, for that matter – to the point that we were genuinely saddened when one of the country’s premier locations announced last month that it was to close its doors. So when we caught a glimpse of the new Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China, which combines minimalist hotel accommodation with a futuristic vibe similar to that of the Evangelion hotel rooms we’ve drooled over for so long, we could barely contain our excitement.

Join us after the jump for a photo tour of this awesome new capsule hotel!

China
(capsule hotel • cool • hotel • space)

Make way for Ninja Turtle Hello Kitties! Or is it Hello Kitty Ninja Turtles?

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Nov 20, 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! …and Hello Kitty.

As a kid, whenever you heard the TMNT theme song, you knew it was on! What’s better than pizza-loving, Japanese weapon-toting, “cowabunga dude” catch phrased mutant turtles who also happen to be ninjas? That’s right, nothing’s better. Except maybe this TMNT/Hello Kitty collaboration. We know they’re not Pokemon but we just gotta catch them all!

Japan
(cool • Hello Kitty • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • TMNT)

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

Mike
Nov 18, 2013

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.

Global
(art • cool • culture • education)

Heart-shaped lemons from Hiroshima make sour a little sweeter

Casey Baseel
Nov 18, 2013

We’ve talked before about the booming trend of latte art in Japan, in which baristas create intricate pictures in the foam atop your coffee. But what if you prefer to get your caffeine fix from a cup of tea instead of a mug of java? Does Japan have anything cute to brighten your beverage?

Why yes, it does! And if you like a little citrus in your tea, you can spruce up your drink with a slice of lemon grown in the shape of a heart.

Japan
(cool • cute • food • science • weird)

This year’s Mario Christmas Happy Meal in Japan is the best!

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Nov 16, 2013

Kids nowadays have it rough. Sure, they have the Internet, sophisticated video games, and more electronics than fingers, but their McDonald’s Happy Meal toys are awful. I remember the days when you’d get a quality, hard-plastic toy that would withstand anything your imagination could throw at it. Now it’s half-heartedly put together pieces of garbage that are strewn alongside your mini pouch of fries (or apple slices if your mom isn’t cool). But in Japan, everything is different, especially this Christmas. Not only do you get a toy that blows all other modern day Happy Meal toys out of the water, your entire meal comes in a real cardboard golden arches box, just like old times. Read More

Japan
(cool • Happy Meal • Mario • McDonald's Japan • prize • toy)

Soon, you could have your very own ninja domain (name for your website)

Casey Baseel
Nov 15, 2013

There’s nothing particularly wrong with RocketNews24’s “.com” domain name. We haven’t declared ourselves an autonomious principality (yet), so .gov is out of the question. And while some (me) might argue that .handsomeandwittyreporterswhowritesuchgreatarticlesthatmenareinspiredandladiesswoon is the most accurate description of what we do around here, for some reason that’s not available for official use.

So we ended up with plain old .com, our only logical option out of the top-level domains recognized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. But if only RocketNews24 had come into existence a little later, we could have taken advantage of ICANN’s recent approval of .ninja as a domain name.

Japan
(computers • cool • Ninja • technology)

Eight is enough for amazing eight-member orchestra from rural Japanese junior high 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Nov 11, 2013

Poor Shimane Prefecture doesn’t exactly get a lot of respect. Despite being home to cultural sites like Izumo Shrine and Matsue Castle, ironically one of the prefecture’s biggest claims to fame is that many people living elsewhere in Japan mix up Shimane and Tottori, its neighbor to the east, when looking at a map of the country.

Recently, though, Shimane is getting some much needed attention, thanks to a group of amazing students at its Ota Dai-san Junior High School. Like many middle schools in Japan, Ota Dai-san has an orchestra. And like a few schools, its orchestra has won awards. But what makes Ota Dai-san’s orchestra completely unique is that it has only eight members, who rotate between instruments in mid-performance.

Japan
(cool • education • music • video)

10 things Japan gets awesomely right

Philip Kendall
Nov 9, 2013

At the end of our recent article listing the 10 things that we think Japan gets horribly wrong, we assured you that we’d be back soon to focus on some of the positives and introduce the things that we really, truly love about living in Japan. True to our word, we sat down and decided on what we as (mostly) foreigners most love about this great little collection of islands, and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Although Japan is not without its faults, it is nevertheless an incredibly efficient and easy-to-live-in country, and we’ve discovered that there are numerous things that the Japanese get not just right, but awesomely right.

Join us after the jump for our top 10 things we love about Japan.

Japan
(cool • culture • Japan • opinion • top 10)

Honda’s automated valet parking service in action 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Nov 8, 2013

As someone who feels lonely when his car doesn’t have a clutch pedal, the seemingly inevitable march towards self-driving automobiles isn’t exactly my favorite technological trend. Convenience is all well and good, but I can’t help but feel sorry for future generations that may never know the joy of a crisp-shifting manual transmission, or the amazing stress-relieving properties of a quick blast to redline.

Of course, there’s no pleasure to be found in navigating through a crowded parking lot hunting for a space. That’s why Honda is looking to take this task off drivers’ hands with an automatic valet parking system.

Japan
(cars • cool • technology)

An enormous 11-acre artwork in Belfast requires a helicopter to appreciate it fully

BUSINESS INSIDER
Nov 7, 2013

If you’re in Belfast before December, you might want to consider a helicopter ride.

That’s the only way you’ll truly able to appreciate a huge artwork that’s sitting in the city’s Titanic quarter.

Europe
(art • cool • Pull Partners)

Behold: Tokyo’s labrynthine subway map in 3-D form!

Philip Kendall
Nov 6, 2013

If you’ve ever used the Tokyo Metro, or even browsed maps of the rail network online, you’ll know that it is a positive maze of lines, colours, numbers and names that even locals sometimes have trouble navigating. Compared to the London Underground or even New York’s massive subway system, the Tokyo Metro is absolute chaos on paper, making us wonder how it could possibly all run so smoothly on a daily basis.

Thanks to one Tokyo University graduate’s efforts, however, we now know exactly what is going on beneath our feet, with this three-dimensional model filled with coloured liquids representing every twist, turn, climb and dip the Metro’s tunnels make in real life.

Japan
(art • cool • design • Tokyo Metro • transport • video)

Meet The Beetyu, Volkswagen’s one-of-a-kind bathtub Beetle

Joan Coello
Nov 6, 2013

The Volkswagen Beetle (often known as the Bug in the US) has been around since the 1930s, and is adored worldwide for its simplistic and cute rounded design. Though the German automobile has evolved over the years, it still keeps the characteristic bug-like shape that everyone recognizes at a glance.

But will you still be able to recognize a Beetle on the road if it had a Japanese bathtub in its backseat? We’re not kidding, the Beetle makers in Japan really did make such a car!

Japan
(bath • car • cool • dream come true • The Beetle • Volkswagen)

Japanese man awarded by British government for honoring POWs, being generally awesome

Mike
Nov 5, 2013

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II recently made a Mie Prefecture man an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire, which we think means he’s some kind of knight now or something. That or “Hand of the Queen” if standard Game of Thrones rules apply.

What did the lucky man, Sir Isao Toji, do to deserve such a distinction? Well, for the past 20 years, Toji has held an annual memorial service for 16 British servicemen who died in Japan as prisoners of war during World War II.

Europe, Japan
(cool • culture • Tokyo • ww2)

Don’t eat that! We make delicious-looking models of tempura out of wax

Casey Baseel
Nov 4, 2013

Although the language barrier can make traveling or living in Japan tough at times, dining out is a snap. There are plenty of conveyer belt sushi restaurants where you just grab what you want as the plates go by, and at many ramen and beef bowl restaurants you simply buy a meal ticket out of a vending machine, then pass it off to the cook.

Even when technology isn’t there to save you, ordering is still easy, thanks to the numerous Japanese restaurants that display wax models of their menu items, allowing you to bring the wait staff to the display window and point and what you want. There’s a whole industry devoted to replicating food, and we recently tried our hand at making a wax creation of our own.