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Osaka (Page 28)

Creative shark exhibit ad for Osaka aquarium goes viral on Twitter

Jamie Koide
Jul 30, 2015
Tweet

Thanks to movies like Jaws and the rare instances of human shark attacks, most people don’t conjure up images like the friendly-looking guy above when they think about sharks.

To clear up much of the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding these sea creatures, the Discovery Channel began airing a weeklong marathon of shark-based programing, named Shark Week, in 1988. Celebrating over 15 years of annual shark science documentaries and mockumentaries in the summer, it’s gone on to be the longest running cable television event in history.

But this July, after the Discovery Channel finished up its Shark Week marathon in the U.S., Japan soon took up the baton with the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan’s Shark World event that began July 17. In order to attract attention the aquarium has been putting up a number of poster advertisements around stations and on trains, leaving those that spotted the ad feeling consumed by surprise.

Japan
(aquariums • funny • Kaiyukan • Osaka • sharks • twitter)

Japan’s 10 best restaurants, as chosen by foreign travelers

Casey Baseel
Jun 30, 2015

People travel to Japan for all sorts of different reasons. Many are seeking a taste of tradition and history, and plan visits to the country’s most important shrines and castles. Some are drawn by Japan’s natural beauty, heading for its mountains and forests, while still others come to throw themselves into its neon-soaked urban entertainment centers.

But no matter what’s on your itinerary, at some point you’re going to need to get something to eat, and when your stomach starts growling, you can rely on the experience of those who made the trip before you with TripAdvisor’s list of the 10 best restaurants in Japan.

Japan
(food • Kobe beef • Kyoto • Osaka • restaurants • sushi • Tokyo • travel)

Pissed-off company president sues building owner for pee splash-back from urinals

Master Blaster
Jun 16, 2015

Earlier this week, what is being hailed as Japan’s “trial of the century” by many (in our office) has come to an abrupt end. The Osaka District Court handed down some rough justice in the case of a company president who sued the building he was renting office space from to the tune of 840,000 yen (US$6,800).

The president’s claim that the building’s urinals had caused excessive splash-back of pee were dismissed due to several reasons including the president’s own “pee experiments” being deemed inadmissible by the courts.

Was the president a quack who didn’t know how to urinate correctly? Or was he a victim of greedy cost cutting landlords and toilet moguls? This is their story based on court documents.

Japan
(law • Osaka • Toilets • urinal • urine)

We find out if one trending phrase can make people from Osaka flip out

Master Blaster
Jun 15, 2015

Recently a certain greeting has become popular over Twitter in Japan. According to internet legend these two sentences will cause someone from Osaka to “punch you in the face.”

It sounded like an outrageous claim and yet people seem to be latching onto it. The story goes that by approaching someone from Osaka with “Heee, Kimitte Osaka Hito nanda. Yoroshikudenganamangana” will cause them to lose their minds with rage.

Has this Twitter user stumbled upon an exposed nerve in the fabric of Japanese society, or is this just another drop in the bucket of specious internet claims? We conducted a small experiment to find out.

Japan
(culture • Japanese laguage • language • Osaka • Osaka-ben)

Super Mega Important Debate: Tokyo or Osaka? 【Poll Closed】

ロケットニュース24
May 23, 2015

You knew it had to happen at some point. Sooner or later we were bound to ask you to choose which of Japan’s biggest and most famous cities is best. That’s right, folks, it’s Tokyo versus Osaka; Kanto versus Kansai; east versus west.

Click the link, make your choice, argue about it in the comments section. No biting, hair-pulling or bringing our mothers into it.

Japan
(cities • Japan • Osaka • poll • Super Mega Important Debate • Tokyo)

Japan Bucket List II: 8 places you need to visit to really understand Japan

Amy Chavez
Apr 22, 2015

We at RocketNews24 believe that to truly understand a country’s people you need to know something about their history and where they came from. So following last week’s popular Japan Bucket List: Things you need to do to really understand Japan, this week we offer you eight places that contributed greatly to the development of Japan, its culture, and people.

Get ready to take your understanding of the Japanese people a step further with eight historical places that have helped shaped them into the people they are today. Let’s go!

Japan
(Ainu • buraku • Edo • Hokkaido • Nagasaki • Nara • Osaka • world heritage sites)

Kansai International: The airport that’s never lost a passenger’s bag

Fran W
Apr 14, 2015

One of the many things we love about Japan is its amazing customer service, from intelligent packing to omnipresent station attendants who pop out of the walls to help you.

So we weren’t too surprised to hear that an airport in Japan has been judged to be the best airport in the world for baggage handling. And the details of the top-notch service that helped Kansai International Airport clinch the title are really quite impressive. For starters, the Osaka airport hasn’t lost a single item of luggage in over 20 years.

Japan
(airports • customer service • Kansai International Airport • Osaka • travel)

You should visit Osaka’s first rescue cat cafe so I don’t have to

Mike
Apr 9, 2015

I’m going to confess something that, this being the Internet, I’m almost certain is going to make me deeply unpopular and possibly get me fired from my writing job: I hate cats.

I hate ’em. I hate them so much that, apropos of nothing, the very idea of cats and how much I hate them pops into my mind a few times a day even when there are no cats around to spur my ire. I hate them when the three or four strays in my neighborhood wake me up in the middle of the night with their incessant mewling and fighting. I hate them when they get too close and trigger my allergies. I hate them in a box, I hate them with a fox, I hate them with a mouse, and I certainly hate them in my house.

That said, I think the new rescue cat cafe, SAVE CAT CAFE, which opened in Osaka on April 1, is just the cat’s meow.

Japan
(animals • cat cafes • cats • cute • Osaka • travel)

We try some chicken ramen-flavored ice cream at Chikira-House in Osaka

Master Blaster
Apr 5, 2015

Alongside Kit Kat bars, carbonated beverages, and potato chips, ice cream is one food Japanese flavor engineers love to monkey with. In the past we’ve seen frozen desserts flavored with great tastes such as scallops, vegetables, and pork.

This time we caught word of a little shop in Shin-Osaka Station offering travelers the cold and creamy taste of chicken ramen-flavored ice cream. So we hopped a train over to check it out and grab a self-heating chiki-bento while we were at it.

Japan
(bento • Chikin Ramen • Ekiben • ice cream • Osaka • ramen)

Undetonated one-ton U.S. bomb found near downtown Osaka

Master Blaster
Mar 17, 2015

On the morning of March 16, workers at a the construction site for a new condo complex in Osaka were surprised when they hit something hard after excavating about two meters (6.6 feet) deep. They were even more surprised to find that what they found was an unexploded piece of ordnance left over from World War II.

The bomb was found very close to one of Osaka’s more densely populated areas and could cause major disruptions in the city as the Self Defense Force (SDF) considers declaring an evacuation zone during the removal operation.

Japan
(bomb • Namba • Nipponbashi • Osaka • Street Festa)

Visiting Osaka’s Umeda Sky Building, one of the “Top 20 Buildings in the world”

Master Blaster
Mar 6, 2015

Built in 1994 and standing just a few hundred meters from Osaka Station, the Umeda Sky Building drew large crowds when it first opened, thanks to its unique design of two high-rise buildings connected at the top by the Floating Garden Observatory.

Once pulling in around a million visitors each year, in the days since attendance had dropped to about half that as the building’s novelty wore off and people became used to its towering presence. Having lived nearby for around a decade myself, I have to admit that I’d never been to see it. It looked nice and all but there didn’t seem to be much of a draw.

But it appears I was wrong. In 2014, attendance to the Umeda Sky Building has shot back up to about 975,000, and there are hopes that it will hit the million once mark again this year. Interested to see what this new fervor is all about, I hopped on a train to have a look around this possibly under-appreciated landmark.

Japan
(Osaka • travel • Umeda Sky Building)

Seven cool things set to happen in Japan during 2015

Casey Baseel
Jan 6, 2015

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that you should always wash your hands after going to the bathroom. If there’re two things we know, though, the second is that you’ll never get anywhere in life being fixated on the past. So while 2014 was a pretty good year for us, we’re already looking to the year ahead, which is already promising seven cool happenings for Japan in 2015.

Japan
(anime • Evangelion • history • movies • Osaka • shinkansen • Smartphones • trains • travel)

Skinny Japanese man isn’t skinny enough, makes greatest face at realization!【Photos】

KK Miller
Dec 6, 2014

Japanese people have a stereotype for being incredibly tiny. Grown men and women can shop in the “junior” section, which is a handy way to save a bit of money, especially when buying some brand name items. But just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should“. One Japanese “baller” finds out the hard way that some children-only items should really only be used by children. Unless you are looking for a new and permanent metal chastity belt.

Japan
(child swing • emergency • Osaka • stuck • stupid)

“Let them eat furikake!” says Mayor Hashimoto as Osaka school lunch saga rumbles on

Fran W
Nov 29, 2014

He’s known for his outspoken and often controversial opinions, from saying that civil servants who have tattoos should resign, to denying the forcible recruitment of South Korean “comfort women” during the second world war.

But it was an intense debate about whether students should be allowed to have furikake seasoning with their school lunch that left city mayor Tōru Hashimoto scratching his head this week as he asked the Osaka Board of Education: “What’s wrong with furikake?!”

Japan
(furikake • nutrition • Osaka • school lunch • Toru Hashimoto)

Store employee uses barcode scanner to defeat knife-wielding robber

Audrey Akcasu
Nov 27, 2014

Being a big city, Osaka falls victim to criminal activity more frequently than the rest of the sleepy countryside surrounding it. But still, the criminals they do have in this “big bad” city, seem to be lacking in… experience? Guts? Commitment?

Back in May we saw the convenience store robber who got outsmarted by a clerk after a series of unfortunate decisions on his part. The other day, another wannabe convenience store robber started his raid out well, but gave up pretty easily after some quick thinking and scolding by the store attendant.

Japan
(convenience store • crime • Osaka • robber)

“We don’t want to be girls. We just want to be cute!” The future of crossdressing in Osaka

Fran W
Nov 23, 2014

Tokyo’s Onna no ko kurabu, or Girls’ Club, has a simple mission statement: it’s a place where anybody can enjoy dressing in girls’ clothing. The bar’s staff aims to help men who may be crossdressing for the first time, providing clothes to choose from as well as a dedicated make-up service.

And now, Girls’ Club is spreading the cuteness a little further, with the opening of a second store in the heart of Osaka’s entertainment district.

Japan
(bar • crossdressing • Osaka)

Osaka man imprisoned on rape conviction released in exceptional reversal of charges

Mike
Nov 20, 2014

An Osaka man convicted of rape three and a half years ago and sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence has been released after new evidence revealed the man’s accuser had provided false testimony.

The man – whom Japanese news outlets are not naming – was accused of raping the same woman in both 2004 and 2008, and sexually assaulting her once again later in 2008. The guilty verdict was apparently based largely on the woman’s testimony and that of at least one eyewitness, but the trial seems to have lacked any physical evidence provided by prosecutors.

Japan
(crime • culture • Osaka • trials)

Osaka police looking for woman who jumped in front of train, lived, and ran away

Master Blaster
Nov 18, 2014

Weirdness broke out on the afternoon of 16 November in Osaka. Several witness claimed to have seen a woman jump onto the tracks of Izumiotsu Station just as a train was approaching. However, after the train arrived there was no sign of injury and the woman was last seen running away on the platform.

How the woman got on the tracks, survived the train, or escaped is unclear and an investigation is underway. Internet detectives well-versed in manga, however, are assuming that she was summoned by a big black orb in an apartment somewhere.

Internet, Japan
(Gantz • jump • Osaka • train)

11-year-old now youngest artist to join Dokuritsu Exhibition, teaches us to look on the dark side

Master Blaster
Nov 17, 2014

One of the words for art in Japanese is bijutsu which contains the kanji character for “beauty” (美). That’s not to say that art is limited to images of beauty alone, however. Sometimes images considered superficially unpleasant can be seen as beautiful works as well. They have the power to push back the darkness of taboos and help us to overcome our own inhibiting fears and prejudices.

Those are pretty heavy concepts for sixth-grader Chifu Onishi, but she seems to have already excelled at them through her celebrated artwork such as Tsuki Ni Asobu (Play on the Moon) which was chosen as a part of the 82nd annual Dokuritsu Exhibition, an annual event that has featured some of Japan’s greatest artists in the past. This acknowledgement also earns the 11-year-old the recognition of being the youngest artist to ever take part.

Japan
(art • Chifu Onishi • Dokuritsu Exhibition • Osaka)

Amazing nighttime video shows Osaka, Tokyo’s rival, has a skyline that’s second to none

Casey Baseel
Nov 15, 2014

Tokyo is so massive and bustling that sometimes it’s hard to remember that it doesn’t have a monopoly on urban splendor in Japan. Take Osaka, for example. Long Tokyo’s rival, in everything from business to baseball to samurai warfare, Osaka is known for its economic ambitiousness, comedic sensibilities, and tasty grub, but there’s one thing that’s often overlooked in media coverage of Osaka.

It looks absolutely beautiful at night.