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The future is here: Panasonic unveils interactive, transparent display at CES 2016
- Krista Rogers
Jan 18, 2016 - Tweet
Panasonic showed off a transparent display seemingly straight out of Tony Stark’s lab at this year’s CES in Las Vegas.
- Japan, USA
- (cool • display • interactive • technology • transparent • TV)
Japan’s cats are figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu’s biggest fans【Pics】
- Philip Kendall
Dec 16, 2015
We all know that Japan loves cats. But what do Japan’s cats love? If these photos are anything to go by, the answer is simple: figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu.
- Japan
- (cats • cute • figure skating • funny • Japan • TV • twitter • Yuzuru Hanyu)
Pirate action ahoy! New feature-length One Piece anime to air in December!
- Kay
Nov 12, 2015
Eighteen years after making its serial debut in the Weekly Shōnen Jump Magazine, Eiichiro Oda’s internationally popular manga/anime franchise One Piece is still going strong, even being turned into a Kabuki performance this year.
Well, with the Holiday Season approaching, it seems One Piece fans will have a huge treat to look forward to just in time for Christmas. Yes, a brand new feature-length One Piece anime will air on TV next month, and details have just recently been released. The anime, titled One Piece — Adventure of Nebulandia, will be broadcast on Japanese national TV on December 19, and fans should be thrilled to see some familiar enemies from the past!
- Japan
- (anime • Eiichiro Oda • feature-length episode • new • One Piece • TV)
Thai commercial tugs at our heartstrings, reminds us to call our parents more often【Video】
- KK Miller
Oct 22, 2015
We don’t know what it is about huge companies these days, but they really like to make us feel the feels recently. When did they all have a financial meeting and decide to spend money on making us cry? These commercials are emotional, beautiful and give us hope that even with all the bad in the world, moments of undeniable good can still be found and cherished.
Inspired by true events, this commercial really gives off a “Humans of New York” vibe even though it’s an advertisement for life insurance. Get your tissues ready because, when children show how much they care about their parents, it really warms the cockles of our hearts.
- Internet, SE Asia
- (adorable • family • moving commercial • Superheroes • Thailand • TV • video)
Talk show features machine repeatedly slapping man in the nuts, because Japan
- Mike
Oct 9, 2015
Despite media coverage, Japanese TV tends to lean towards the tame. You’ve got your History Channel-type stuff, your basic daytime dramas, your variety shows that are invariably focused on people eating food and the reactions of people watching said people eat food (spoiler: it’s delicious). You’ve got your movie re-runs and your weather forecasts.
But then, sometimes, you’ve got stuff like this: a man willingly, inexplicably letting a machine paddle him in the family jewels over and over again for what appears to be no reason at all.
- Internet, Japan
- (comedy • Japanese TV • talk shows • TV • weird)
“So you like big guns, eh?” Japan’s TV ad for World of Tanks is surprisingly cheeky 【Video】
- Fran W
Sep 18, 2015
Here at RocketNews24 we’re pretty big fans of funny and unpredictable Japanese TV ads, whether they’re for Cup Noodle, Batman dubs, or English schools.
And just by looking at the thumbnail for this Japanese ad for World of Tanks, the multiplayer online game that just announced that it’s coming to PlayStation 4 this year, we knew we were going to be in for a treat.
- Japan
- (ad • funny • Japanese commercials • TV • video • weird • World of Tanks • wtf)
Son of the richest man in China: Escaping the Chinese system ‘would be suicide’
- BUSINESS INSIDER
Sep 2, 2015
Wang Sicong, the son of the richest man in China, did an incredibly frank interview with the BBC for its three-part documentary on Chinese youth.
We caught the interview via Shanghaiist.
He said that for people in his generation, escaping China’s strict political system “would be suicide.”
- China
- (BBC • interview • life in China • society • TV • video • Wang Sicong)
Genius parents “trick” young children into not watching TV using clever kid logic
- KK Miller
Aug 20, 2015
While television can be a useful way to distract children for a brief period of time, that usefulness can completely backfire on you when you can’t get them to stop watching TV. It gets especially hairy at night when you need them to go to sleep, but they are screaming bloody murder when you turn off Sesame Street.
Thankfully, a clever parent in Japan has an idea that distressed parents can try; just tell your little one to say, “Night night, Mr. TV.”
“Do honky” command Japanese TV show’s T-shirts
- Casey Baseel
Jul 27, 2015
Once a year, Japan’s Fuji TV broadcasts a marathon program called FNS 27-Hour TV. A huge team of A-list comedians, musicians, and media personalities make appearances during the show, and since its beginning in 1997 it’s been a ratings hit for the network.
But as the younger generation increasingly looks to the Internet for entertainment content, this year Fuji TV wanted to remind viewers that TV is still relevant and worth watching. Oh, and also apparently that they should sleep with white people, if you take the program’s T-shirts at face value.
Is Japanese TV really as bad as its reputation?
- Audrey Akcasu
Dec 15, 2014
Foreigners living in Japan, our own editor included, often give Japanese TV a hard time. For many, it’s either too weird, too predictable or too obnoxious. If it really is so bad though, surely shows like Iron Chef and Ninja Warrior (Sasuke) would never have been introduced in the US? Nor would America have created the show I Survived a Japanese Game Show. So if foreign stations are taking cues from the Japanese TV shows, the originals must have some merit, right?
One Reddit user finally asked the big question, “Japanese television. Is it really so terrible?” As you’d expect, the responses poured in, both in favor of and adamantly against it. One user proclaimed that Japan only has three kinds of programs, “Shows about celebrities. Shows about food. Shows about celebrities eating food.” But like TV in any country, there are actually a lot of different kinds of shows, so it’s probably worth a moment to take a walk through some of the programming options.
- Japan
- (drama • game show • Personality • talent • TV • variety show)
Beautiful models and actresses delivering boxed lunches in Tokyo with new bento service
- Casey Baseel
Nov 7, 2014
Bento, Japan’s multi-dish boxed lunches, come in a variety of styles. While it’s most common to make your own or pick one up at a cheap takeout joint, there’s also a whole sub-industry of high-class bento delivery services that cater business conferences and other high-rolling events.
Of course, rich and powerful clients tend to have demands as high as their positions on the corporate ladder. They expect the food to be delicious, the service to be impeccable, and now, with Platinum Lunch, they can expect their bento to be delivered by beautiful models and actresses.
Tokyo court rules that hotels must pay NHK fees according to the number of rooms with TVs
- Krista Rogers
Oct 13, 2014
Last year, we brought you news of a court ruling in Yokohama which stipulated that anyone who owns a device capable of receiving a TV signal, regardless of whether they’ve entered into a contract with NHK (Japan’s public broadcasting station) or not, is legally obligated to pay the NHK licensing fee. An important point to note is that the fees are only paid once per household, and not according to the number of TV sets or devices capable of receiving a signal in the house.
However, a recent court decision seems to be taking the issue of NHK licensing fees in a whole new direction. On October 9, Tokyo District Court ruled in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that the management company behind three Tokyo hotels must first enter into a contract with the public broadcaster. Furthermore, the hotels, all three of which had refused to enter into contracts despite repeated requests from NHK, must also pay their overdue licensing fees in proportion to the number of hotel rooms with TVs.
Just wait til you read how much money that all comes out to be…
- Japan
- (court decision • fees • hotel • lawsuit • NHK • Tokyo • Tokyo District Court • TV)
Hatsune Miku performs “live” on David Letterman! We love it, not sure he does though…【Video】
- Fran W
Oct 10, 2014
Hatsune Miku made her American TV debut on Wednesday night, performing on none other than the Late Show with David Letterman. Miku, of course, is a vocaloid, a super-famous Japanese idol who just happens to be virtual. The turquoise-haired star surprised viewers by performing an English song, “Sharing the World”.
Mr. Letterman, meanwhile, looked a little nonplussed.
- Japan, USA
- (Hatsune Miku • idol • Late Show with David Letterman • TV • Vocaloid)
Japanese sweets and giant robots combine in a new anime series intriguing the Internet
- Scott R Dixon
Sep 30, 2014
If you’ve ever been to Kyoto, then you may know that the city’s food culture includes a rich history of traditional Japanese sweets, known as wagashi, which can be a perfect accompaniment to a day touring Kyoto’s famed temples. While many in Japan associate Kyoto with traditional sweets, a new anime series is about to take this aspect of the city’s food culture and combine it with a giant robot for a one-of-a-kind TV show.
Set in modern-day Kyoto, Domaiga D will center around a dessert shop owner who finds a giant robot beneath his shop right when the city is coming under attack by huge monsters.
Tech FAIL – Japanese man uses butter to try and turn his normal TV into a 3-D TV
- KK Miller
Sep 5, 2014
For those who have never been to Japan, the country seems like a high-tech wonderland. There are constantly reports coming out about new technologies, new robots, and new gadgets; you would think every Japanese person is some sort of tech wunderkind! We hate to shatter your dreams, but Japan is just as full of non-techy people as any other country in the world. No thread shows this better than one that recently popped up on 2channel (2ch). While the rest of the world might be trying to look at leaked photos of celebrities, one 2ch user attempted to turn their normal TV into a 3-D TV by applying…butter. Yeah, we aren’t sure how that’s supposed to work either, nevertheless, we present to you…The Buttering!
- Japan
- (butter • fail • funny • late night • random • technology • TV)
GIF: Chinese SASUKE contestant’s unexpected fail immortalized in Web’s favorite file format
- Mike
Sep 2, 2014
While a little belated, it seems like the world has fallen in love with the Japanese-created obstacle course action game show SASUKE (known as Ninja Warrior in other countries).
The show, for those that somehow haven’t seen or heard of it yet, gracefully combines three things that human beings all love the world over: Competition, people failing spectacularly, and ninja-like acrobatics. Although, in most SASUKE obstacle course runs, you only get either one or the other of those last two.
But, a recent contestant on the Chinese version of SASUKE pulled off an amazing hat trick of all three when he managed a nearly flawless run, only to fail spectacularly just before the finish line.
- China
- (fails • game shows • sports • TV)
Korean video game ads borrow K-pop group’s faces to depict the horrors of war, noodles 【Videos】
- Philip Kendall
Aug 28, 2014
Never willing to be outdone by their island-dwelling neighbours, South Korea upped the ante in the weird olympics recently with a series of ads for free-to-play first-person shooter Sudden Attack. Enlisting the services of popular K-pop group Girl’s Day, the commercials show nary a snippet of footage from the actual game itself, instead focusing on the kind of situations most online gamers will know all too well.
- Korea
- (ads • Korea • online gaming • Sudden Attack • TV • video • video games)
A skeptic’s guide to anime – Five series to ease you into Japan’s most popular export
- Philip Kendall
Aug 28, 2014
Viewed from afar, Japanese animation may appear to be populated entirely by giant-eyed, squeaky-voice schoolgirls and young men who suffer from frequent nosebleeds. Their plots, too, can seem awfully convoluted at first glance, and so anyone who didn’t grow up with anime or have the chance to catch popular series when they were just getting started may feel completely out of their depth when trying to get into it.
If you’re the kind of person who, like me, despite being into Japan and Asia, never really understood what all the fuss was about anime, or who would like to give this strange medium a chance but doesn’t know where to start, then we have a special treat for you today: no fewer than five anime recommendations from members of our very own writing staff, guaranteed to be easy for even anime-skeptics to get into. Who knows, these might just be the gateway shows you’ve been looking for!
- Global, Japan
- (anime • beginner's guide • recommendations • TV)
Japanese viewers spot “real ghost” in TV broadcast, get all freaked out
- Fran W
Aug 19, 2014
As well as barbecues, rooftop beer gardens, and delicious ice-cream, summer in Japan is time for horror. No, not the fear of opening your August electricity bill after all those nights sleeping with the air-con on, but scary stories. Whether you get your scare fix by going to the movies, visiting a pop-up haunted house, or do it old-school by telling ghost stories around a campfire, in Japan, summer is the season to cool off by giving yourself the chills.
I’ve never quite seen the appeal of actual horror films, personally, and tend to find them mildly distressing, although not in an exciting way like other people do. “Well, that’s kind of gross”, is about the strongest reaction I can muster. I do love Japanese TV though, and there’s no shortage of scary programming here in summer. Honto ni atta kowai hanashi (“scary stories that totally actually happened”) – or Honkowa for short – celebrated 15 years onscreen this year with a summer special that went out on the night of August 16th. During the broadcast, something unexpected happened – and viewers took to Twitter to ask the eternal question into the internet ether: “Did anyone else see that, or was it just me!?”
“I know how it’s done!”: Japanese TV guest learns what not to say to a magician on live TV【Video】
- Fran W
Jul 31, 2014
If the first rule of magic is that the illusionist must never tell an audience how a trick is done, the second rule must be that you never interrupt a magician live on air to yell, “I’ve seen this one before! I’ll tell you how he’s doing it…”
Obviously, no one told studio guest Airi Taira that, because that’s exactly what she did during a live TV broadcast featuring Japanese-American magician Sero (セロ) on Tuesday night. Join us after the jump for one flying hoverboard, one defensive peeved magician and more awkward smiling than you can shake a stick at.
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Recent Posts
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MOST POPULAR
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Today
America’s first-ever permanent One Piece store is now open [Photos]
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Weekly
Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
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New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
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America’s first-ever permanent One Piece store is now open [Photos]
Japan’s new matcha vending machines serve freshly prepared matcha in five different strengths
Monthly
Pokémon Company announces first-ever permanent Pokémon store to open outside Asia
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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
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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
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Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
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