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Yawning snake is surprisingly cute, hanging on your every word 【Video】

Cara Clegg
Oct 15, 2015
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If you happen to be Indiana Jones or your oldest memory involves waking up in a giant garden paradise, there’s a good chance you find snakes quite repugnant. But even if you’d sooner take a kick to the groin than so much as look at a snake, we have a feeling you’ll find the squirmy little guy in this video quite adorable.

Internet, Japan
(cute animals • snake • video • yawn)

London mayor Boris Johnson takes out 10-year-old Japanese kid during fun rugby match【Video】

Philip Kendall
Oct 15, 2015

It’s not every day that an enormous blonde-haired bear of a man comes to your school, agrees to play a quick game of rugby with you and then proceeds to knock you on your 10-year-old arse rather than let you win the ball.

But then, it’s not every day that London mayor Boris Johnson is visiting Japan…

Japan
(Boris Johnson • international relations • Japan • London mayor • rugby • tackle • video)

Awesome animatronic dinosaur rampages through crowd at train station in Japan 【Videos】

Casey Baseel
Oct 15, 2015

Considering some of the cute critters we’ve seen recently, you might have come away with the impression that Japan is all generous birds and adorable yet spatially confused dogs. But you still shouldn’t let your guard down, because as this video shows, you never know when you’re going to run into a robot dinosaur that breaks away from its handlers and rampages through a crowd.

Japan
(animatronics • awesome • dinosaurs • funny • technology • video)

Dollhouse dumplings! Are these the world’s tiniest gyoza?【Video】

Jamie Koide
Oct 15, 2015

Every area in Japan has its own local delicacies. As a long-time resident of Shizuoka Prefecture, I can tell you one of the best things my area has to offer is Hamamatsu-style gyoza, or pot stickers.

You can find all kinds of places offering up this delicious dish inside or outside the prefecture, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen it get a miniature makeover. How do these tiny dumplings measure up to the real thing? Let’s find out!

Internet, Japan
(cooking • cute • food • Hamamatsu gyoza • miniatures • pot stickers • video)

Hold it! New Ace Attorney game will feature BOTH Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice… again

Evie Nyan
Oct 14, 2015

The Ace Attorney series, known in Japan as “Gyakuten Saiban” (turnabout trial) has established itself as a major player in the interactive visual novel market with five mainstream titles and a variety of cool side-stories and spin-offs like Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

The games, while undeniably Japanese in origin right down to the legal framework, have proved extremely popular in the west thanks to some inventive localisation work which has helped smooth down some of those cultural rough edges. Thus, instead of Ryuichi Naruhodo and Odoroki Hosuke, we’re more familiar with their westernised counterparts Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice. And now the upcoming sixth instalment in the main franchise is set to feature both of these protagonists together in a dual lead role!

Global, Internet, Japan
(Ace Attorney • apollo justice • nintendo • Phoenix Wright • video • video games)

Chinese diving duo makes a splash online with an unusual stunt dive

ロケットニュース24
Oct 14, 2015

Diving is one of the more beautiful Olympic sports, with its careful acrobatics that require near perfect form. While we suppose it’s not quite as exciting as speed-based competitions, the sport can be enthralling nonetheless!

And as this Chinese duo prove, the sport can also be absolutely fascinating when you and your partner try a new take on synchronized diving.

China, Internet
(diving • funny • sports • video)

Exchange student goes to Japanese salon for the first time, comes out totally transformed!【Video】

Jamie Koide
Oct 14, 2015

When visiting or moving to another country, usually eating local food and going sightseeing is par for the course, but sometimes just doing everyday things the local way can be rewarding. After all, if you’re already taking the plunge to change your surroundings, it’s the perfect time to re-invent yourself, too.

This is exactly how one Australian felt after a trip to a Japanese hair salon with friends, which he learned was a surprisingly different experience than getting a shampoo and cut back home.

Japan
(fashion • hair salons • life in japan • study abroad • video)

Korean criminals take a page from Metal Gear with cardboard box burglaries 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Oct 14, 2015

After a vague yet indiscreet falling out with video game publisher Konami, it seems likely that Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear franchise, won’t be working at the company for much longer. As one of the most famous and respected names in the industry, though, we’re sure Kojima will be able to find employment at one of Konami’s many rivals who are licking their lips in anticipation of landing such a prized free agent.

However, we’re not so sure about the future financial well-being of the characters Kojima has created. This video seems to suggest that Metal Gear protagonist Snake has resorted to a life of crime, as multiple burglaries have taken place in Korea with the culprit using Snake’s trademark infiltration technique of disguising himself with a cardboard box.

Korea
(crime • funny • Metal Gear • video • video games)

The Holy Grail is full-sized, features lights, music and the voice of Sailor Moon【Video】

Oona McGee
Oct 13, 2015

Fans of the Sailor Moon anime franchise have been enjoying some extra special items this year; we’ve seen tiny, miniature replicas of the girls’ everyday items, lip balm transformation rods and even Moon Stick pens, and now it’s time to add a life-sized addition to our collections.

The Rainbow Moon Chalice, the magical object that transforms the heroine of the popular anime franchise into Super Sailor Moon, is available now as a 1:1 scale replica from the Proplica series of life-sized props. Featuring lights and music from the series and also the voice of Kotono Mitsuishi, who voices Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon and Chibi Chibi/Sailor Chibi Chibi in the anime, this is one item that can let you play out your fantasies of transforming into a super you!

Japan
(anime • Holy Grail • manga • Sailor Moon • toys • video)

This autumn’s “Sunset Panda” endangered by cloud cover, still pulls in the crowds 【Video】

Master Blaster
Oct 13, 2015

Two days each year, once in the autumn and again in spring, the setting sun passes behind an NTT antenna tower in the Taruyamachi area of Akashi City, Hyogo. Due to the arrangement of dishes and other receivers, as the sun moves behind them, for the briefest of moments the face of a giant cartoon panda appears, like some benevolent forest god looking down on the town below.

This autumn, on 12 October at 5:28pm, people all over Akashi City gathered to witness the biannual moment of celestial cuteness—an event which has come to be known as the Sunset Panda. However, with cloudy skies and light drizzle it became unclear whether the roly-poly sun bear would come out to play this time…

Japan
(Akashi • antenna • Hyogo • panda • Sunset • Sunset Panda • video)

PlayStation Japan’s Pro Evolution ad is actually pretty cool 【Video】

Cara Clegg
Oct 13, 2015

Japanese ads frequently miss the mark, often being overly bizarre or simply cringe-inducing, but sometimes the marketing gurus hit the back of the net, as with this latest TV spot from PlayStation Japan.

Japan
(ad campaign • advertisement • gaming • playstation • Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 • Sony • video • video games)

Fan theory suggests the Pokémon world has a super dark history 【Video】

Mike
Oct 11, 2015

When you think Pokémon, you tend to think cutesy creatures fist-fighting and zapping each other with lightning until one of the creatures is “knocked out.” Also, you may think of widespread, real-world epileptic seizures and perhaps the moral complications of a world in which the local fauna are pitted against each other in fighting leagues, used as slave labor and also happily eaten, despite their astonishing intelligence, but maybe that’s a story for another day.

What you probably don’t associate with the series is a devastating intercultural war that has wiped out nearly the entire adult population, yet there appears to be some rather compelling evidence that that’s exactly what happened in the Pokémon world directly before the adventures of the first game…

Internet
(anime • anime and manga • fan theories • Pokemon • video • video games • YouTube)

A week’s work on a Tibetan sand mandala, captured in eight mesmerizing minutes of video

Meg Murphy
Oct 10, 2015

Artwork takes many forms, from charcoal drawings to oil paintings, clay sculptures to wood carvings. All these types of mediums are durable in a sense, able to last many years if properly cared for. But what would you think of an artist who, after spending weeks on a project, purposefully destroys his masterpiece only a few days after its completion?

That is, in fact, part of the ritual of Tibetan sand mandala, which are symbols in Indian religions, particularly Buddhism, that symbolize the universe. Watch the incredible time-lapse video below of three Tibetan Buddhist monks as they labor away creating one of these beautiful, transient works of art!

USA
(amazing artwork • sand mandala • Tibetan Buddhism • time-lapse • video)

10 Cats have a fancy dinner with salad and kimonos【Video】

Jessica
Oct 10, 2015

With a public holiday coming up on Monday, it’s a three-day weekend here in Japan. As you might imagine, some of us—ahem—are having a little trouble applying our fidgety brains to the task of bringing you the latest Nippon news. There’s been a lot of interesting and important developments this week that we should cover, like the shuffling of Prime Minister Abe’s cabinet and two Nobel Prizes going to Japanese researchers and—OH LOOK, “10 CATS” HAS A NEW VIDEO!!!1!

Internet, Japan
(10 Cats • cats • cute • kimono • video)

Woman in China misses bus stop, jumps out of bus window instead 【Video】

Scott Wilson
Oct 9, 2015

Missing your bus stop has to be one of the worst feelings in the world. You’re trapped inside a vehicle going increasingly further away from the place you wanted to go, you’re suddenly surrounded by unfamiliar territory, and you’re going to have to waste a lot of time just to get back to your original destination.

Still, no matter how bad it gets, most people would never even think to attempt what one Chinese woman did. After realizing that she missed her stop, she climbed out of the bus’s window to exit as quickly as possible. Read on and watch the insane video, but whatever you do, be sure not to try this at home!

China
(bus • crazy • dangerous • escape • video • window • wtf)

When Keanu met Sonny Chiba: Veteran action actor surprises John Wick star on Japanese TV

Evie Nyan
Oct 8, 2015

Oh, Keanu, it’s so obvious by now that you’re a big ol’ Japanophile. In fact, Hollywood mega-star Mr. Reeves seems to be spending most of his time in Japan these days. There was the time he tried to be a regular tourist in Akihabara, despite being followed by crowds of adoring fans. And there was that time he flew all the way here just to meet his idol, Kumamon. We think Keanu should just move to Tokyo permanently!

Yep, everyone here loves Keanu, so much so that when he appeared on Japanese TV this week to promote his action movie John Wick (which is finally coming out in Japan this month) they surprised him with a special gift – a surprise appearance by Sonny Chiba, Japanese martial arts movie star and one of Keanu’s biggest influences!

Japan, USA
(celebrities • Keanu Reeves • martial arts • movirs • sonny chiba • video)

Can robot taxis help rural Japanese towns facing depopulation? This touching commercial says yes!

Preston Phro
Oct 8, 2015

Google’s self-driving cars have gone from being a quizzical project that only the geekiest of geeks cared about to a very real possible future. Of course, Google isn’t the only company making forays into automated transportation, so it’s hardly a surprise that Japanese companies are also working on such technology.

But where Google’s self-driving cars basically look like tiny adorable bugs, Japan’s Robot Taxi is looking to solve the various transportation issues facing Japan—both urban and rural—with one magic bullet. Will they be successful? We have no idea, but this touching commercial will definitely have you rooting for them!

Internet, Japan
(Robot Taxi • robots • self driving cars • technology • video)

The LifeStraw can make all kinds of water drinkable, but does it work on urine? 【Video】

Scott Wilson
Oct 8, 2015

Have you heard of the LifeStraw? It’s a small water filter designed for one person that removes virtually all bacteria and parasites from unclean water. It has saved lives all over the world during natural disasters, helped areas with unclean drinking water, and even won awards for how effective it is.

But of course we had one question for the LifeStraw: can it make pee drinkable? If it’s truly such an amazing device, can it make drinkable water during the worst possible circumstances?

We put it to the test, so read on to see if a LifeStraw will need to be part of your zombie apocalypse kit.

Japan
(bad taste • crazy • gross • LifeStraw • P.K. • urine • video)

Open stall indicators, fresh flowers, and the superb cleanliness of a Japanese highway restroom

Casey Baseel
Oct 8, 2015

On long car trips in the U.S., I didn’t really find the prospect of using a highway rest stop bathroom significantly more appealing than just holding it until I got to my destination, whether that meant waiting until the next city or the next state. Honestly, given how filthy a lot of the public toilets were, I was generally happier with a deserted stretch of road or a grove of trees I could pull over near.

In Japan, though, it’s a different story, as this video of a rest stop bathroom shows it to be cleaner and classier than the one in many people’s homes.

Japan
(awesome • bathrooms • culture • rest stops • Toilets • travel • video)

Oita lures travelers with wonderful montage of synchronized hot spring bathing 【Video】

KK Miller
Oct 7, 2015

Japan may be a small country in terms of area, but it certainly makes up for it with 47 distinct prefectures that have their own vibrant personalities. Prefectures like Tokyo and Osaka dominate with their big city lifestyles, while Kyoto and Nara rely on their richly preserved history. Some have festivals that have survived for hundreds of years, others have geological formations that make them stand out or new attractions that you can’t find anywhere else.

For prefectures to separate themselves from the rest and showcase what makes them special, they have to do something grand. In Oita Prefecture, this means presenting their world-famous hot springs with a synchronized swimming team in what can only be known as “synchronized bathing”.