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health (Page 17)

Japanese library offers itself and its manga collection as refuge for emotionally troubled youths

Casey Baseel
Aug 28, 2015
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Though summer vacation is a lot shorter in Japan than it is in the U.S., most tudents here aren’t exactly itching to go back to school once it’s done. Even worse, since it falls in the middle of the Japanese school year, the end of summer break is also the start of the second, and more demanding, semester.

Needless to say, a lot of kids would rather blow off school and kick back with a good manga, which is exactly what one library in Japan is encouraging them to do. The reason, however, is far more important than just finding out what happens to their favorite fictional characters .

Japan
(health • Kamakura • light novels • manga • mental health • moving • suicide • youth)

Turn minor cuts and scrapes into fashion statements with these cute Japanese bandage designs

Jamie Koide
Aug 21, 2015

They say being prepared is half the battle, so it’s always a good idea to keep a first aid kit stocked up with adhesives or carry around a few bandages in your purse (or manbag for our fashionable male readers) in case of unexpected accidents. After all, even though that one lifehack said it was okay to use the inside membrane of a boiled egg when you’re in a pinch, we can’t say the idea is very appealing.

Luckily we’ve found the perfect set of bandages to do the trick, and we’re certain you’ll be stuck on them just as much as we are. With gorgeous images of sushi, ninjas, and other traditional Japanese designs, they’ll turn minor injuries turn into badges of original style.

Japan
(art • bandages • cool • cute • health)

Is the world ready for Japan’s new Lemon & Mint Pepsi? 【Taste test】

Mike
Jul 29, 2015

So, mint is an extraordinarily versatile, exceedingly summer-appropriate ingredient. It can add a refreshing bite to savory dishes, is the essential main ingredient in basically all of the world’s best ice cream flavors, and is the star of the show in that most refreshing of summer beverages, the mojito (without which would basically just be watery rum).

Mint is the miracle substance that makes Asia’s hellish, your-buddy-just-spontaneously-combusted-hot summers just the slightest bit tolerable; a fact that beverage and snack makers in Japan are finally catching onto, with each passing year seeing better and more diverse mint-infused offerings.

But lemon and mint? That’s the new flavor combo Pepsi is banking on to be the next big thing with its new “Pepsi Special Lemon Mint” drink offering, and we’re just the slightest bit wary.

Japan
(Beverages • drinks • food • health • lemon & mint • pepsi • summer)

The joy of pancakes, and why they might kill you

Master Blaster
Jun 18, 2015

Although hardly new, Japan has been undergoing something of a boom in pancake consumption in recent years. With several trendy new restaurants opening up around the country, there has also been a significant rise in the popularity of homemade pancakes as well. Yes, with its warm and fluffy texture and mildly sweet flavor it’s certainly hard to turn down a hotcake, isn’t it?

While everyone is having a good time with their pancakes, some researchers and medical professionals would like to remind us all that pancakes and similar flour based foods have the potential to not only make us very ill, but in some cases may lead to death.

But before you go cursing out these wet blankets of science for ruining yet another beloved food with their health warnings, there’s actually an incredibly easy way to not die from eating flapjacks as well.

Global, Japan
(allergy • anaphylaxis • health • mite • pancakes • science)

Just how clean are Japan’s high-tech public restroom bidet-equipped toilets?

Casey Baseel
Jun 13, 2015

After cars and video game consoles, fancy toilets just might be Japan’s best-known technological achievement. In a society that prizes cleanliness, it’s no surprise that being able to push a button and have a warm stream of water wash your backside has become one creature comfort many can’t do without.

As such, just about everyone in Japan is happy to have a washlet, as bidet-equipped toilets are called here, in their home. Some people can’t help but wonder, though, if they’re spraying someone else’s fecal matter back up on themselves when they use a washlet in a public restroom.

Japan
(health • technology • Toilets)

Japan has a pill to cure your pre-speech jitters, and it’s got carrots in it

Fran W
Jun 13, 2015

Agaranzai is a new Japanese herbal medicine which claims to lessen headaches and anxiety brought on by public speaking. Basically, it’s marketed as a cure for the jitters. The makers suggest taking it before making a speech at a wedding, giving an important presentation at work, or going to a job interview. But what’s in it, anyway? And should we buy it?

Japan
(Agaranzai • health • herbal medicine • OTC medicine • public speaking)

Make your tummy happy, eat a kimchi yogurt rice bowl today

Evie Nyan
Jun 11, 2015

In the boring and often mildly terrifying world of being a competent adult, there comes a time when you have to start eating healthily or face the horrible consequences. Junk food somehow seems less appealing when you have to factor in the inevitable side effects such as bloating, stomach cramps, and bad skin.

So we’re always looking for new things to eat that have added beauty benefits, and recently a secret super recipe has come to our attention which involves adding a dollop of yogurt and kimchi to our rice bowls.

Japan, Korea
(food • health • healthy eating • kimchi • korean food • yogurt)

Hardcore tofu consumption lands man in hospital with over 500 kidney stones

Master Blaster
Jun 10, 2015

In the food world, there a few items more innocuous than tofu, with its bland color and taste, squishy texture, and low calorie count. In fact, if you could tolerate eating tofu day in day out, most would say you’re living a pretty healthy lifestyle.

But not so fast! It would appear that looks, taste, and generally positive nutritional information can be deceiving. Just ask one 55-year-old tofu-lover who, over time, turned his kidney into a terrarium with about 500 kidney stones inside at once.

China
(health • kidney stones • tofu • wtf • Zhejiang)

Manga poster’s dreamy guy asks something much more shocking than “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Casey Baseel
May 27, 2015

Two manga high school students, one boy and one girl, stand face to face in a deserted hallway. The guy pounds his fist into the wall behind the girl, executing a perfect kabe-don as he stares into her eyes with a serious look on his face and asks her an earnest, possibly life-changing question. After pausing for a second, the girl gives him her answer: yes.

Is this the birth of another girls’ manga couple? Nope, not this time, as the question the boy just asked isn’t as romantic as “Will you be my girlfriend,” but is no less important.

Japan
(anime • health • manga • youth)

Maiko beauty secrets: Skincare tips from Japan’s apprentice geisha

Casey Baseel
May 21, 2015

Just as with full-fledged geisha, it’s customary for maiko, as geisha apprentices are known, to wear a layer of white face powder, called oshiroi. But those who’ve seen one of Japan’s traditional entertainers close up often marvel at their smooth, healthy skin, remarking that they would be just as beautiful with all of those cosmetic coverings washed away.

But in much the same way that their polished speech and refined mannerisms are the result of years of training, maiko also have a careful routine they follow to keep their skin looking as delicate and pleasing to the eye as it does.

Japan
(beauty • culture • geisha • health • maiko)

Nintendo DS on the menu as Japanese prisons get creative to keep ageing prisoners’ brains active

Fran W
May 20, 2015

As Japan’s penal system struggles to cope with a rising number of older inmates, a number of prisons are taking unusual steps to help inmates stay healthy in mind as well as body.

The number of prisoners in Japan aged 65 or over increased almost five-fold in the twenty years up to 2013. This ageing prison population means institutions are bringing in innovative programmes to slow the onset of dementia in inmates, from yoga to hand-held video games.

Japan
(crime • health • Nintendo DS • prisons • seniors • social issues • video games)

Japanese dentistry association says don’t hesitate to brush right after you eat

Master Blaster
Apr 30, 2015

That might not sound like a shocking headline for those of us whom have been taught to brush right after every meal from an early age. But recent reports from the past decade have been suggesting something different.

Articles from the Mayo Clinic, Colgate, and New York Times among others have been advocating waiting 30 to 60 minutes after eating to brush. Apparently the delayed brushing movement has gotten so strong that parents Japan are beginning to complain to schools making children brush their teeth right after lunch time.

So the Japan Society of Pediatric Dentistry (JSPD) issued a statement telling everyone to not believe the hype and that it’s actually in your best interest to brush right away.

Global, Japan
(acid • dental care • health • toothbrush • wait)

Japanese Fitness expert recommends toddlers play catch, climb on jungle gym, sumo wrestle

Casey Baseel
Apr 28, 2015

Remember when you were a little kid, and your parents would take you to the park to play? Not only were you having fun, you were developing important motor skills as you ran around, did somersaults, and swung on the monkey bars. Maybe when you got a little older and more coordinated, you’d even play catch with your mom and dad.

But did your parents love you enough to have a couple of sumo bouts against you?

Japan
(fitness • health • kids • Parenting • sports • Sumo)

How hung up on a woman’s weight are Japanese men, really? Poll attempts to find out

Casey Baseel
Apr 4, 2015

Sometimes, Japanese guys can seem illogically hung up on numerical parameters when deciding whether or not they find a woman physically attractive. Be it a maximum age or minimum bust measurement, sometimes the amount of technical data being tossed around almost makes it seem more like they’re talking about machinery than women.

But does it really make sense to get so hung up on numbers when dealing with something as subjective as beauty? We’ve seen before that age isn’t anything but a number, so what about weight? A recent survey set out to find out how Japanese men would answer that question.

Japan
(beauty • fashion • health • relationships • romance)

Is smartphone pinky the new text claw? Overuse of mobile devices found to cause finger deformity

Meg Murphy
Mar 11, 2015

For many of us, mobile devices are an inescapable part of daily life. But for all the convenience they bring, we have to remember that there is such thing as too much of a good thing. The spread of smartphones and other mobile devices has brought with it a slew of ailments caused by overuse.

You may have heard of – or even currently suffer from – “text claw,” which is the pain you get in your wrists and hands from constant use. In addition to this and other increasing ailments is what is being called “smartphone pinky“, which is classified as pain and even temporary deformity of the pinky finger from, you guessed it, excessive smartphone use. If you’re reading this on your phone now, you may want to adjust the way you’re holding your mobile device.

Global, Internet
(Docomo • health • smartphone pinky • Smartphones)

DIY hydrogen bath kits all the rage in Japan, our reporter unleashes the bubbles for himself

Krista Rogers
Jan 6, 2015

Morians Kiodo, a firm based in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture, is known for developing a new kind of heat pack that is powerful enough to heat food without having to use a flame. It’s certainly a welcome invention for both outdoor adventurer types and people who happen to be experiencing power outages.

Now, the same company has utilized their technological prowess to create user-friendly hydrogen gas-emitting bath kits, which can be easily administered in the comfort of your own home. So easy, in fact, that our ace Japanese reporter Yoshio decided to–wait for it–test out the water for himself!

Japan
(at home • bath • health • hydrogen • kit)

Toilet slides and turd hats: welcome to Tokyo’s crappiest exhibition

Scott R Dixon
Dec 22, 2014

Imagine crowds of Japanese families donning poop-shaped plush hats and sliding into a huge toilet. No, this isn’t a scene from a dream brought on by a questionable bowl of ramen, this is just one of the many surreal exhibits from a Tokyo educational expo that organizers hoped would inspire visitors to “gain an increased appreciation of toilets.”

Japan
(exhibition • feces • funny • health • odaiba • poop • science • toilet • Tokyo • weird • wtf)

Dumplings that’ll make you pretty! “Gyoza for girls” is the new food trend hitting Japan!

Evie Nyan
Dec 18, 2014

When you think of gyoza, those traditionally Chinese parcels of meaty, vegetable-y goodness that go so perfectly with a frosty mug of beer, do you imagine they’re more likely to appeal to dainty, health-conscious ladies, or undiscerning, ravenous salarymen? Whilst undeniably delicious, gyoza are generally seen as an unrefined food option – good for a quick stuffing, but hardly haute cuisine. That’s all set to change with the invention of “Happy Maru“, a range of colorful boiled gyoza “dumplings” infused with beautifying collagen and polyphenols for the health and beauty-conscious modern woman. But just what’s so different about them?

Japan
(beauty • collagen • cooking • cuisine • food • gyoza • health • Japanese food • women)

Mr. Sato takes a sperm test, passes with flying colors

Master Blaster
Dec 7, 2014

Our ace reporter Mr. Sato is currently into his 40s and during a conversation with one of his peers the other day he learnt that men of that age run a certain risk of diminished sperm. For instance, the man he was talking to recently got tested only to find that his sperm count was dropping to what he called the “requiem” stage.

This prompted Mr. Sato to actually think about what was going on down there, so he decided to get checked himself to make sure he wasn’t in his reproductive autumn as well. Luckily, it was learned that not only is Mr. Sato healthy but there’s a party in his pants…and yes, we’re all invited!

Japan
(health • Mr. Sato • sperm test)

5 amazing health and beauty benefits of eating wasabi

Evie Nyan
Dec 4, 2014

Ah, wasabi, the pungent root that adds spice to sushi and gets up the noses of over-enthusiastic consumers, leaving many a watery eye and a burning palate. It seems that you either love wasabi or hate it, with wasabi-lovers clamoring for a touch of the green stuff in a variety of forms including Kit-Kats and potato chips, and wasabi-haters strictly stipulating to sushi chefs that they require their sushi sabi-nuki de, or sans wasabi. But did you know that the wasabi-lovers actually get to enjoy a host of health and beauty benefits that are denied to those who shy away from this miraculous wonder root? Read on as we unveil the five surprising health effects of regular wasabi consumption!