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Japanese moms tweet the stupid things kids do during summer vacation that drive them crazy

Scott Wilson
Aug 13, 2015
Tweet

Oh summer vacation. For little kids (and big kids too!) it’s a time to finally throw off those backpacks, forget about homework, and have fun all day long running around outside or playing video games. If you’re the mom or dad of one of those kids, though, you’re often left to clean up in their wake.

And the same is true in Japan too. For the most part it’s moms who’re left to run after kids giddy with the freedom of no school. They’ve even started a Twitter hashtag for it: #SummerVacationStupidKids.

What kind of things do Japanese kids do to drive their parents crazy? Are they the same as the rest of the world or completely different? Read on to find out!

Japan
(funny • kids • mothers • Parenting • summer • summer vacation • twitter)

Gotta catch em’ all, especially if they’re “Free!”

Joan Coello
Aug 5, 2015

Birds of a feather flock together, so the saying goes. And that concept applies to non-humans as well; it’s not uncommon for pets and their owners to act, and sometimes even look, somehow similar after spending years together. Even in the super popular anime and game series Pokémon, where the aim of the game is to collect as many pokémon as possible, many of the pokémon trainers in the series use pocket monsters that somehow resemble them.

But what the characters of the anime series Free! were pokémon trainers? Which creatures would they have under their well-toned wings? Find out as this Japanese fan puts her imagination to work in a series of awesome Pokémon x Free! crossover illustrations!

Japan
(anime • fan art • free • Pokemon • twitter • video game)

Creative shark exhibit ad for Osaka aquarium goes viral on Twitter

Jamie Koide
Jul 30, 2015

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)

Japanese Twitter celebrates new “Muslim Lolita fashion” trend 【Pics】

Scott Wilson
Jul 24, 2015

Japanese culture has spread throughout the world with food, anime, video games, and more. But one region that hasn’t taken in as much of what Japan has to offer as the rest of the world is the Middle East and other Muslim countries.

Until now. Pictures of young Muslim women incorporating Japanese Lolita fashion with their traditional hijab head scarves have been exploding in popularity online. Could this start a new trend toward Muslim idol groups and cosplay conventions?

Japan
(fashion • islam • lolita • Lolita fashion • muslim • twitter)

Teacher rejects student’s declarations of love through comments on class worksheets

Aleisha Riboldi
Jun 20, 2015

I’m sure we all harboured a secret crush on a school teacher at least once during our formative years. The operative word here being ‘secret’, mind you.

Spare a thought for this poor Japanese teacher who was faced with open declarations of love, and even a marriage proposal, from one of her students, but who responded to them all with real aplomb.

Japan
(love • school • student • teacher • twitter)

What is this kitty trying to tell us? The online mystery of the cat and the cotton swabs

Evie Nyan
Jun 17, 2015

The internet’s full of weird stuff. Usually, it’s really out-there, kooky, insane, bizarre-o weird stuff, but every now and then something comes along which is weird in a baffling way. Take this video of a cat poking some cotton swabs around as if trying to arrange them in a particular way. It was favourited 1.5 thousand times on Twitter, yet nobody commented on it, possibly because no one knows what to make of it.

What is the purpose of the video? Is the cat some kind of feline savant? Is there some deep, philosophical meaning behind the placement of the cotton buds? See if you can work it out…

Global, Internet, Japan
(cats • conspiracy theories • mystery • twitter • weird)

How to protect your umbrella from rampant umbrella thieves in Japan

Scott Wilson
Jun 15, 2015

Japan has a reputation for being home to some of the safest cities in the world. Having your dropped or lost items returned to you is not uncommon, and the police have enough free time to create life-like ice sculptures outside their offices.

So it comes as a surprise to many Japanese people when they suddenly realize they’ve been the victim of a most heinous crime: umbrella theft. Most buildings in Japan ask you to leave your wet umbrellas in a stand right at the entrance, and people finding their umbrellas missing when they leave is becoming more and more frequent.

How can you protect yourself from these shameless thieves? Read on to find out!

Japan
(crime • theft • twitter • umbrellas)

Japanese Internet users amused by CIA Twitter feed, led there by United States Forces

KK Miller
Jun 13, 2015

Public programs and government agencies are going out of their way to reach and connect with people as much as possibly, creating mascots and getting on social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) joined Twitter a year ago, and while many may fear the agency, the CIA saw this #Twitterversary as the perfect occasion to reach out and try to find common ground with the people of the Internet. So, they compiled a list of five reasons why you should be following them on Twitter, and it didn’t take long for Japanese users to find the tweets! Can you guess which one caught their attention and got them all aflutter?

Internet
(cats • CIA • twitter • Twitterversary • U.S. Naval Forces Japan)

Tweet all the things! Japanese vs American reactions to earthquakes

Evie Nyan
May 29, 2015

You might have heard that we experienced a magnitude-5.6 earthquake last week, which got everyone in the area a little shaken up (except for this super chill gorilla, of course). While Japan experiences earthquakes incredibly frequently, this one was a little bigger than usual, and had many in Japan diving for cover.

Oh, no, wait, they dived for their smartphones instead…

Internet
(disaster • earthquake • tweet • twitter)

How hentai are YOU? Find out with this Japanese personality test!

Fran W
May 27, 2015

This Japanese personality test, which is doing the rounds on Twitter this week, claims to reveal the inner workings of your subconscious by putting you in an impossible situation and asking you to choose between four equally unpleasant options.

We’re not making any claims about the accuracy of this test, but we do think it’s pretty hilarious. Join us after the jump to find out how big a pervert you are.

Japan
(funny • Personality test • twitter)

Japanese mom teaches nine-year-old son the horrors of the internet, posts the hilarious results

Scott Wilson
May 17, 2015

Parenting in the internet age is a whole lot more difficult than it was before our world was taken over by machines. Back then, the scariest conversation you had to have with your kids was about the birds and the bees, but now it’s the birds and the bees and the creepy old guy pretending to be a high school girl in an online chatroom.

One Japanese mom posted the conversations on Twitter that she’s recently had to have with her nine-year-old son, and they’ve been getting a lot of attention online. Read them for yourself and you’ll crack up over both how true and how hilarious they are.

Japan
(child safety • funny • internet • net safety • Parenting • twitter)

Possibly the most considerate pedestrian crossing button ever installed

Aleisha Riboldi
Apr 28, 2015

Push-buttons at a pedestrian crossing are a pretty standard safety feature at most intersections.

But how long does a push button need to be? And we’re not talking about the length of time waiting once you press the push button, but the length of the actual push button…

Japan
(funny • traffic • Traffic light • traffic safety • twitter • weird • wtf)

Top 20 anime photobombs in historical photographs

Scott Wilson
Apr 24, 2015

If you haven’t heard of the Twitter account Anime in History yet, then you need to follow them right away. They put out near-daily pictures of anime characters flawlessly Photoshopped into historical photographs, making you swear that they were actually there.

With over 100 pictures and counting though, we figured it was about time to do a list of the best pictures released so far. So we here at RocketNews24 present to you the top 20 anime photobombs throughout history, as made possible by Anime in History.

Internet, Japan
(anime • funny • historical • Image editing • Photoshop • Studio Ghibli • twitter)

Introducing the new PikaChu! Amusing character mash-ups bring the Japanese internet to giggles

Krista Rogers
Apr 20, 2015

Ever wondered what Pikachu would look like fused with other familiar characters from manga, anime, and video games?

Neither have we, to be honest, but now we can see what the love-children of those amalgamations would look like thanks to Japanese company Mountain Graphics, a maker of t-shirts and other apparel. “Cardcaptor Zakura,” “Wapire-chan”…their series of character mash-ups are sure to tickle your funny bone!

Internet, Japan
(anime • art • characters • mash up • twitter)

“Insta in my Hand” is the latest smartphone trend among high school students in Japan

Krista Rogers
Apr 17, 2015

The latest social media craze to hit Japan is called “Insta in my Hand,” for which net users share photos which look like they’re holding a transparent version of their Instagram or Twitter homepages in the palm of their hands. The boom was apparently imported from South Korea earlier this month, after Key, a member of K-Pop group SHINee, uploaded his own “Insta in my Hand” picture to his Instagram account. Japanese high school students have since tweaked the trend to include “Twitter in my Hand” shots as well.

Now you too can create your own “Insta in my Hand” images with our handy English guide, right after the jump!

Japan
(art • cool • Instagram • smartphone • social media • twitter)

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!

Internet, Japan
(anime • games • seiyuu • twitter • voice actors • wtf)

12 things that shock Japanese people: “Did you know kids leave out cookies and milk for Santa?!”

Scott Wilson
Apr 3, 2015

Foreign cultures are always going to have things that surprise outsiders. Roasted shellfish snacks may be perfectly normal to Japanese people but not quite so appetizing to us, whereas kids dressing up on graduation day is endearing to us but downright terrifying to Japanese people.

The Japanese website CuRAZY recently compiled a list of 12 extremely popular tweets that revealed some sort of “surprising information.” Far more surprising than the tweets themselves though is the fact that so many Japanese people actually found the information surprising in the first place.

Japan
(crazy • list • surprising • twitter)

Twitter users display their unusual, enchanting family chopsticks

ANDRES OLIVER
Mar 11, 2015

Whether it’s a ragged, lovingly stitched kitchen towel inherited from a grandparent, a banged-up knicknack collecting dust on a shelf, or a pair of old baby shoes, the seemingly mundane objects scattered around a house serve as a window into their owners’ hearts and minds. In the case of a family, any given eating utensil might go through the hands of children, siblings, parents, and even guests, collecting a little more history with every pass.

Japanese netizens recently charmed us all with a nostalgic glimpse of their family chopsticks, with designs ranging from Sailor Moon to Star Wars that positively ooze character. We take a look at the highlights below.

Internet, Japan
(cool • culture • cute • twitter)

Suntory encourages responsible drinking with bizarre guide to declining party invitations

Mike
Mar 6, 2015

There are two types of people that, no matter how much they love the culture, are ultimately going to have a bad time in Japan: Vegetarians, and teetotalers.

Basically every meal in Japan has some type of meat in it, and the more strict you are with your vegetarian/vegen diet, the more difficult it’s going to be to find something to eat. Even supposedly vegetarian options sometimes contain pork or chicken broth or other sneaky animal product additions. And when it comes to those who choose not to drink, or can’t because of medical conditions, it’s almost as hard to get by, if not harder.

Thankfully, Suntory is here to help. Sort of.

Japan
(culture • drinking • funny • parties • Suntory • twitter)

Fantastic fujoshi just wanna have fun, Japanese netizens say, “No!”

KK Miller
Feb 25, 2015

Fujoshi, (literally: “rotten girls”) are fans of manga and novels which feature romantic relationships between men, a genre is often referred to as “Boys Love.” There are an increasingly large number of women around the world that identify themselves as fujoshi and in Japan they take the fandom far beyond just reading manga or watching anime.

In summer 2014, these “rotten girls” enjoyed turning themselves into their Boys Love counterparts but only now has that trend come to the attention of the rest of the Internet. Japanese forums and websites are bustling with comments about girls drawing themselves as men, but there is one negative thought that, if you’ve got time to remember one more Japanese phrase, is startlingly more prominent than any others: kimochi warui (“nasty”)!