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Pokémon Go released in Japan? We spot a rare “Glasses Pikachu” at Tokyo’s Nintendo headquarters
- Oona McGee
Jul 21, 2016 - Tweet
Because if there’s one place you’d expect to find a rare Pokémon, it would have to be at their home in Tokyo.
- Japan
- (augmented reality • gamers • games • gaming • mobile games • Niantic • nintendo • Pokemon • Pokémon GO)
Catch Pokémon in the real world by checking out their real-life counterparts!
- Oona McGee
Jul 18, 2016
How well do you know your Pokémon? This clever photo guide shows you what your cute little Pokémon buddies really look like in real-life.
- Japan
- (animals • anime • games • gaming • mobile games • Pikchu • plants • Pokemon • Pokémon GO)
6 things people in Japan should watch out for when Pokémon Go lands in the country
- Oona McGee
Jul 18, 2016
With the augmented reality world of Pokémon Go on its way to the Land of the Rising Sun, here are six things people in Japan should watch out for when the game hits its shores.
- Global, Japan
- (anime • augmented reality • games • gaming • mobile games • nintendo • Pikachu • Pokemon • Pokémon GO)
Crane game adds next-level sense of urgency with a disturbing Curious George display
- Master Blaster
May 2, 2016
You monsters! What have you done to George!?
- Japan
- (crane game • Curious George • games • hanging • toys • UFO catcher • wtf)
New sleeping bag Pikachu plush toys coming to game centres in Japan this May
- Oona McGee
Apr 20, 2016
Pikachu plushies snuggled up in Pokémon sleeping bags are the prizes we’ve all been waiting for!
- Cute, Entertainment, Japan
- (anime • arcade games • Arcades • games • manga • Pikachu • plushies • Pokemon • toys • UFO catcher)
Japanese drinks maker offers tiny Street Fighter V figures with cans of Umami Blend coffee
- Jamie Koide
Feb 19, 2016
Japanese beverage company DyDo is celebrating its new blend of canned coffee and the release of Street Fighter V with these awesome, hanging character figures.
- Games & Tech, Japan
- (campaign • canned coffee • drinks • figures • games • Street Fighter V • video games)
This new celebrity catchphrase clapping game is all the rage in Japanese schools【Videos】
- Jamie Koide
Feb 5, 2016
Japanese students test their TV trivia knowledge and their ability to keep up with the beat in this new rhythm game that’s gone viral.
- Internet, Japan
- (games • Japanese schools • Japanese TV • rhythm games • trending now • twitter)
“Flappy Bird” creator teams with Japanese publisher for coming release of a “ninja game”
- Mike
Jan 25, 2016
The creator of Flappy Bird is apparently working with Japanese studio Obakaidem to produce several titles, including a “ninja game.”
- Global, Japan
- (Dong Nguyen • Flappy Bird • games • mobile games • video games)
Man’s amazing Taiko Drum Master moves are sure to bring smiles to your face【Video】
- Meg Murphy
Jan 17, 2016
After some terrible losses in the entertainment world this week, we could all use a little pick-me-up.
- Japan
- (games • Taiko Drum Master • Taiko no Tatsujin • talented • video)
Planned Shinjuku attraction to offer “real life” spy experience—complete with laser tripwires!!
- Mike
Dec 17, 2015
The attraction will task guests with navigating a compound using their wits and spy skills and will even feature a laser tripwire obstacle course. A LASER TRIPWIRE OBSTACLE COURSE!
- Japan
- (attractions • escape games • games • Kabukicho • shinjuku • spies • spy)
Just how much do you love Super Mario? Enough to buy a $700 sweater?
- Kay
Dec 10, 2015
Luxury designer brand Moschino has come out with a line of Super Mario apparel and accessories, but the prices may make you think twice!
Get ready for excitement, Japan—Steve Wozniak’s Comic Con is coming to Tokyo in December 2016!
- Kay
Dec 9, 2015
Comic Con, a festival of pop culture and entertainment, will be coming to Tokyo next year, and they’ve already put on a huge announcement bash!
- Global, Japan
- (comic con • Comics • entertainment • games • pop culture • Steve Wozniak)
Japan’s “escape room” games go foreigner-friendly, into the underground
- Jessica
Nov 19, 2015
I’m slightly claustrophobic. So you might wonder why I would volunteer to have myself locked into a small room with a bunch of strangers. The truth is that I can’t resist a puzzle.
This is an escape room, an immersive puzzle-solving experience that will test your lateral thinking skills and problem-solving, and for the first time in Japan, it’s being offered in English and Chinese.
Japan mourns the loss of legendary illustrator Noriyoshi Ohrai
- Oona McGee
Oct 28, 2015
It has been announced that Noriyoshi Ohrai—the Japanese illustrator best known for producing remarkable poster art for Metal Gear Solid as well as for films including the Godzilla series and Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back—passed away from pneumonia yesterday morning at the age of 79.
With a career spanning over half a century and an impressive portfolio of artworks for novels, games and well-known international movie releases, fans around the world are mourning the loss of a great talent and taking a look back at his extraordinary body of work.
- Japan
- (art • games • Godzilla • Konami • Metal Gear Solid • movies • poster art • Star Wars)
Japanese team combines technology with centuries-old game to reinvent chess for a cyberpunk era
- Preston Phro
Sep 16, 2015
With all its complexities and long history, chess is unquestionably a regal game, but it hasn’t really changed that much over time. The basic rules have remained steadfast, which is actually kind of great if you’re looking to compare games past and present. But what if someone took modern technology and applied it to this hallowed game? What would it be like?
Well, it would probably be like the upcoming game Speed Chess, set to debut this week at Tokyo Game Show 2015! The game is in for a major revamp, complete with a lack of turns and a multi-touch display that glows brilliant neon colors!
- Japan
- (Chess • games • Speed Chess • Tokyo Game Show)
Japanese farming simulator rewards players with actual crops delivered to their door
- Mike
May 12, 2015
Remember back in the day when all of your older relatives and the kids you knew from school but never speak to any more would send you invites to play Farmville? Remember how seeing a new notification on your Facebook toolbar that just turned out to be yet another invitation to play f’$%ng Farmville would fill you with impotent rage?
Well think about how different your reaction might have been if your “friends” hadn’t been backhandedly asking you to help them raise their not-actually-existent virtual ducks and cabbages, but were in fact asking you to help them put real, actual food in their mouths.
One Japanese startup, Telefarm, is hoping that the future is online games that reward players for good performance with actual products delivered to their door. And they’ve been running a farming simulator prototype for a little over a year now to test that model’s feasibility.
- Japan
- (culture • farming • games • online games • Simulators • technology • vegetables)
Enjoy the taste of 1-UP and invincibility stars with new Lotte Super Mario gum
- Oona McGee
May 10, 2015
Joining in the 30th anniversary celebrations for the Super Mario Bros. video game series is popular Japanese gum brand Fit’s. Thanks to this unique collaboration, we’ll now be able to chew our way into the game with the awesome-sounding tastes of “Mario’s Invincibility Star flavour” and “Luigi’s Infinite UP flavour“.
So what does invincibility and an unlimited 1-UP taste like? And what type of gorgeous inside packaging do we have to look forward to? We check out the details ahead of this much-anticipated release.
- Japan
- (Fit's • games • Luigi • Mario • nintendo • retro games • Super Mario)
Two wildly different characters, same voice actor. Twitter users share their shocking anime finds
- Joan Coello
Apr 3, 2015
Are you an anime fan? Do you watch Japanese anime in their original Japanese dialogue? If your answer is “yes” for both questions, then you’ve probably had the experience of picking up on a familiar-sounding voice in a certain anime, Googling to uncover the seiyuu (voice actor in Japanese) behind the character, and then realizing that you’ve actually seen quite a few titles he or she has starred in.
Twitter users in Japan have been digging through the Internet for some drastically different performances from the same voice actor/actress, and sharing their surprising finds on Twitter. Check them out after the break!
What wonders do a Super Potato Lucky Bag hold? Grab your retro gaming hat and let’s find out!
- KK Miller
Jan 6, 2015
When you buy a fukubukuro (lucky bag) from a store in Japan, you can usually be sure that the value of their contents will surpass the amount you paid for the bag; it’s a guarantee, or else no one would ever buy them! But when you decide to buy a fukubukuro from a secondhand store, you certainly can’t feel 100% sure that you will get your money’s worth.
Are your secondhand items going to be in good condition? Are you going to be getting some good value? Or are you getting the games that even the secondhand store just wants to get rid of? Let Tokyo’s most famous used video game store Super Potato help you decide after the break.
- Japan
- (2015 • fukubukuro • games • lucky bag • New Year's • retro • Super Potato)
Help one-million-year-old hag get back her glamorous good looks in new app
- Cara Clegg
Oct 24, 2014
Looking for a new app to pass the time? Why not give Hag of the one million-year-old a try! Tap the screen and work your magic to get the hideous old hag back to her apparently stunning good looks (unconfirmed) of yesteryear.
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Recent Posts
- Japanese hoodie for cat-loving gamers will keep you and your feline friend warm and fuzzy [Pics]
- Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon hits 1 billion views on YouTube and he’s still not quite sure why
- New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
- Two Tokyo neighborhoods to gather on bridge and shift their recognized border through tug-of-war
- Hello Kitty ready to keep you company in the bathroom with new dessert-aroma Sanrio toilet paper
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MOST POPULAR
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Today
Two Tokyo neighborhoods to gather on bridge and shift their recognized border through tug-of-war
Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
Hello Kitty ready to keep you company in the bathroom with new dessert-aroma Sanrio toilet paper
Japan’s new matcha vending machines serve freshly prepared matcha in five different strengths
Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
Restaurant opens in Japan with all-dementia waitresses, serves up ramen, awareness, and kindness
Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon hits 1 billion views on YouTube and he’s still not quite sure why
Cinnabon gets into the Japanese spirit with new Wagokorobon treats
Japanese hoodie for cat-loving gamers will keep you and your feline friend warm and fuzzy [Pics]
Weekly
Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
Starbucks Japan releases now Tokyo Reserve Roastery Christmas drinkware collection [Photos]
First-ever cafe on Tokyo Imperial Palace Garden grounds is now open
Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
Monthly
Pokémon Company announces first-ever permanent Pokémon store to open outside Asia
Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
What’s it like to stay in a Japanese container hotel?
Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
Chainsaw robots helping keep trains running safely in east Japan [Video]
New Studio Ghibli anime gets extended run at the only cinema in Japan where it’s being shown
Osaka’s famous Glico Running Man will be removed and replaced with a new-look sign
Studio Ghibli creates illustrated Kyoto sightseeing map, available at any 7-Eleven Japan store
Yearly
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
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RECOMMENDED STORIES
Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
Restaurant opens in Japan with all-dementia waitresses, serves up ramen, awareness, and kindness
Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon hits 1 billion views on YouTube and he’s still not quite sure why
Cinnabon gets into the Japanese spirit with new Wagokorobon treats
Japanese hoodie for cat-loving gamers will keep you and your feline friend warm and fuzzy [Pics]
Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
Get the taste of the U.K. in Tokyo with 99 Flakes, meat pies, and Jaffa Cakes
Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
Discount retailers known for massive bargains releases massive Japanese egg sandwich
Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
Continuing cyberattacks hit Japanese arcade hard [Photos]
Osaka’s famous Glico Running Man will be removed and replaced with a new-look sign
Japan’s free stock image site of muscular men doing whimsical and mundane things reveals rankings
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