SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Come with us as we take you through some of the interesting things you can discover inside one of the country’s most historic stations and the busiest train station in the world.

Japan
(Google Maps • Google Street View • Shinjuku Station • stations • Tokyo Station • train stations • trains • travel)

Google Maps captures “only in Japan” moment as sumo wrestler sneaks a peek at Google car

Meg Murphy
Aug 26, 2016

In Japan, children don’t chase ice cream trucks — sumo wrestlers chase Google cars.

Japan
(Google • Google Maps • Sumo • sumo wrestler • Toshiki Hokutōu)

How to change Google Maps navigation voice to its original settings【Lifehack】

Master Blaster
Jul 6, 2016

Sometimes we get so attached to the voices on our electronic devices that we’d do anything to get them back.

Japan
(Google Maps • Hatori Go • Lifehacks • Miho Noguchi)

Five years on, Google Maps updates images of areas affected by 2011 earthquake and tsunami

Meg Murphy
Mar 5, 2016

Google Maps gives the world an opportunity to see how far the people of Tohoku have come since a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami turned their lives upside-down.

Japan
(2011 Tohoku Earthquake • Google Maps • Great Tohoku Earthquake Archive Project • Mirai e no Kioku)

The Legend of Zelda’s Link is here to help you navigate Google Maps’ dungeons today!

Philip Kendall
Mar 4, 2016

Use Google Maps today and you may notice something a little different…

Games & Tech, Global
(Google Maps • link • nintendo • the legend of Zelda • video games)

Google knows you’re no April Fool, so they offer you Pac-Man playable in Google Maps

Audrey Akcasu
Apr 1, 2015

You may remember Google’s April Fools’ challenge last year, since it was pretty epic. If you missed it, Google came out with a game where you could search for Pokemon on the Google Maps app on your mobile device. It got rave reviews and it’s such a shame that it was only available for a limited time.

This year, Google is reaching out to a slightly older generation of video game lovers, letting us play Pac-Man on real streets of Google Maps!! Of course, being Google and April Fools’ Day, there is a catch, but more or less, you can transform neighborhoods into Pac-Man game screens.

Global
(April Fools' Day • fun • game • Google • Google Maps • pac-man • video games)

Six outdoor Japanese hot springs you can visit right now (with Google Street View)

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Mar 5, 2015

Almost everyone loves soaking in an outdoor hot spring bath, called rotenburo in Japanese. The combination of soothing natural mineral water and being buck naked outside is enough to wash all your stress away. Just look at those little capybara in the photo above. Don’t they look so relaxed?

If you ever have the chance to visit Japan, we highly recommend you take a dip in a rotenburo. But if you aren’t able to make the long journey over to this wonderful country right away, might we suggest taking a virtual tour of six outdoor hot springs in Japan?

Japan
(Google Maps • hot springs • Japanese • rotenburo • travel)

Now you can experience getting stopped by the Japanese police on Google Streetview

ロケットニュース24
Mar 3, 2015

Google Maps has been a great boon to me in my time in Japan. In fact, GPS maps were the biggest reason I got my first smartphone in 2009, followed closely by the ability to write unfamiliar kanji by hand into a dictionary I’d always have with me. But Google Maps was definitely the biggest draw.

In the interceding six years, Google Maps has grown from something useful to something indispensable to many people. It’s not just good for helping you find a tiny store in Shibuya, either, since the maps can open up a whole world of digital sightseeing for people. And where there are bored people on computers, there are also bound to be Easter Eggs and creepy pranks to be discovered.

Internet, Japan
(Google Maps • Google Streetview • police)

What if the 1945 Hiroshima bomb had been dropped on Tokyo instead?

Fran W
Aug 15, 2014

On Wednesday of last week, the city of Hiroshima marked the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing. When the bomb detonated in the air above Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, it destroyed the city and killed up to 140,000 people. Almost everything in a one-mile radius of the target site was immediately razed to the ground. On August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing a further estimated 70,000.

Hiroshima was chosen as the primary target for a number of reasons. The US wanted a target city with an urban area of at least three miles diameter. It also had to have been untouched by other air raids, so that the weapon’s impact could be accurately observed. Hiroshima was also thought to be the only potential target city that did not have any Allied prisoner-of-war camps.

But what if the A-bomb had been detonated over Tokyo instead? Or Osaka? Using statistics collated by Dr. Mark A. Carlson at the University of Nebraska, the Japanese Huffington Post has produced this interactive Google map answering just that question.

Japan
(A-bomb • Google Maps • Hiroshima • Second World War • Tokyo)

National Tanuki Cake Habitat Map aims at conserving the once-beloved but now endangered dessert

Master Blaster
Jul 22, 2014

Tanuki, also known as Japanese raccoon dogs, hold a special place in Japanese culture. Often the center of folktales for their large testicles, magical abilities, and easygoing attitude, you can see them depicted in works of art all over the country.

However, now the tanuki is threatened. Not the actual animal, but a cake created in its image known as the tanuki cake. For many middle-aged Japanese people the mention of such a treat would awaken fond childhood memories. Despite this, the tanuki cake population in Japan has plummeted in recent years to the point of being critically endangered.

That’s why the website Tanuki Cake No Aru Toko Meguri has established the National Tanuki Cake Habitat Map, so that we may monitor and perhaps conserve these noble animal-shaped cakes.

Internet, Japan
(cake • food • Google Maps • Tanuki)

Chinese Air Force chasing UFO believed to have been caught on Google Maps

Master Blaster
May 30, 2014

Back in September 2011, there were widespread flight cancellations across China that were blamed on inclement weather. It was an unusually large disruption to the air traffic across a large country, so some took to the net to ask “What was really going on?” One theory that arose was that the nation’s airspace had been shut down because the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was engaging UFOs.

Over time, however, the rumors subsided and became the stuff that urban legends are made of. Until now, that is, as a discovery on Google Map’s satellite images has turned up what appears to be two planes following a rapidly moving, blurry white object. It’s an image that many are theorizing to be that legendary close encounter.

China
(aliens • Google Maps • Henan • photo • UFO)

Google kicks off April Fools’ Day with a Google Maps Pokemon Challenge that’s actually real…kinda

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Apr 1, 2014

As you might expect, Google is up to its usual pranks in honor of April Fools’ Day, but this time, they’ve created something that’s actually playable that allows any Google Maps user to be the very best, like no one ever was.

The Google Maps Pokemon Challenge was announced in the form of an awesome YouTube video, with specific details on how to gain the coveted title of any 90s kid: Pokémon Master. Brian McClendon, Vice President of Google Maps, explains, “Now using the technology created by the Google Maps team, we’ve prepared the most rigorous test known to man to find the world’s best Pokémon Master.”

But this year, Google has one extra trick up their sleeve, allowing anyone to actually catch Pokémon on Google Maps.