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You guys, Donut Selfies are totally the next big thing

Mike
Oct 29, 2014
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If there’s one unwritten, universal rule of the Internet (other than Rule 34), it’s that you can’t purposefully make something “go viral.” As you read this, there is almost certainly a team of marketing people in a boardroom somewhere trying to figure out a way to leverage that crazy “Shibe Doge” into an ad campaign that will almost certainly never succeed.

But one former Microsoft employee apparently thinks she can buck the trend with her new invention, the “Donut Selfie.”

Global, Internet
(donut selfie • technology • video • viral • weird)

I Won’t Let You Down: new music video from OK Go wows us with Honda drones and unicycles

Oona McGee
Oct 29, 2014

OK Go, the alternative rock band who blew us away with their unique treadmill choreography in the music video for their 2006 hit Here It Goes Again, have come out with an even more impressive video, this time featuring dozens of Japanese girls, a drone and a motorised unicycle from Honda.

Filmed in Japan and inspired by the group’s trip to the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo, this latest music video was released on October 27 and has already reached close to two million views on YouTube. Check out the video after the break to see just how awesome these boys can be when they team up with a leading director and choreographer from Japan.

Internet, Japan, USA
(bands • music • video)

The most famous cat in Japan shows us exactly how he fits his chubby body in a box

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Oct 24, 2014

Cats have been trying to shove themselves into boxes two sizes too small even before YouTube and filming your pet’s every waking moment became a thing. Maru, Japan’s most popular and arguably cutest cat, has made a name for himself by adopting the “If it fits, I sits” philosophy. His latest video, titled “-Plastic box and Maru.-” offers us a clear view of exactly how this sleepy Scottish Fold crams himself into the tiniest of spaces.

Internet, Japan
(cat • cute • maru • video)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will support EIGHT-PLAYER offline battles 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Oct 24, 2014

Earlier today, Nintendo released a very special video listing 50 facts about the upcoming Wii U version of chaotic brawler Super Smash Bros. The 35 minute-long video contains a wealth of information for fans of the series to drool over, but perhaps the most exciting announcement of all is the fact that up to eight players can now take part in the same battle.

Time to buy some extra controllers, folks!

Global
(eight-player battles • nintendo • Super Smash Bros. • video • video games • Wii U)

South Korean shoppers literally leap off walls for free The North Face goods

Audrey Akcasu
Oct 22, 2014

Teaming up with the South Korean ad agency Innored, popular outdoor brand The North Face set out to promote their slogan, “Never Stop Exploring,” by challenging unwitting customers to prove that they are worthy of the pricey goods that they were trying on.

Based on their expressions of confusion, shock and utter fear, none of these customers were planning on being especially adventurous that day, but as the floor opened up beneath them and a selection of The North Face goods was dangled before their eyes as they clung to the wall, they soon found their inner adventurer.

Korea
(advertisement • Never Stop Exploring • The North Face • video)

Food envy: Pizza Hut Korea launches new cream cheese cranberry crust pizza

Philip Kendall
Oct 21, 2014

Japan gets all kinds of delicious seasonal and limited-edition treats, so it’s not often that I find myself wishing I lived in one of its neighbouring countries instead. Today, though, I have most definitely been paid a visit by the green-eyed monster, as South Korea’s Pizza Hut has just launched a brand-new pizza with a crust filling that looks so mouthwateringly delicious that I can honestly say I wish I were having lunch in Seoul rather than Tokyo today.

Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, prepare to feel very, very hungry.

Korea
(cranberry • food • Pizza Hut • video)

Video of guy giving pandas medicine is insanely cute, unless you’re the guy

Master Blaster
Oct 21, 2014

Could there be any job better than panda keepers? Sure “chocolate-peanut-butter combination inspector” would be better if that job existed, but sadly it does not. What a dream it would be to spend every day with the world’s cutest animal!

Then again, like anything I suppose you’d get a little desensitized to the puffy black ears and roly-poly physique only to be left with constant bamboo eating, butt-scratching, and all the poop that goes along with such a lifestyle. Just watch as this panda keeper tries to give a couple cubs their medicine. The result is a cuteness-packed two minutes for us and a two-on-one wrestling match for the guy in the video.

Internet
(cute • panda • video)

Shocking footage of accident on Japanese highway reminds us of the fragility of life 【Video】

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Oct 20, 2014

A truck crashes into a smaller car on a highway, compressing it like a cola can. The heap of metal then continues to plough though a line of cars, scattering them like billiard balls. Mere seconds later, intense orange flames engulf the entire segment of the highway and thick, black smoke fills the air.

This sounds like a scene right out of a Hollywood action movie, but unfortunately this is real life. If you can stomach the intense footage, check out the following video from Japan’s ANN News channel, which shows an everyday highway scene turn into a mess of metal and flames in the blink of an eye.

Japan
(accident • car accident • fire • highway • video)

Gripping footage of a cat walking backwards on two legs is today’s must-see cat video

Mike
Oct 18, 2014

In a scene we’re not sure belongs in a Three Ring Circus or a feline-themed sequel to The Exorcist, a Japanese YouTuber managed to film their cat somehow not only walking on two legs – a somewhat rare occurrence compared to dogs – but doing it backwards like it does it all the time.

Internet, Japan
(animals • cats • cute • funny • video)

Late to the game, but Japan does Halloween right【Video】

Audrey Akcasu
Oct 16, 2014

Ask any Westerner what’s so special about October 31 and you will get the same answer: Halloween – a modern-day version of the ancient Celtic harvest festival Samhain. In Japan, however, October 31 was just any old day until fairly recently, with the haunted hijinks never really catching on until a few years ago.

But here’s the kicker: the Japanese might already be doing Halloween better than we do!

Japan
(costumes • halloween • Shibuya • video)

Beautiful old footage shows “God of Judo” Kyuzo Mifune gracefully defeat young challengers【Video】

Fran W
Oct 16, 2014

At 159cm (5’2″) tall, Kyuzo Mifune was not a big man. But as this amazing video of the judo master shows, strength doesn’t come from size alone. Mifune is considered to be one of the finest judo technicians ever, and this video of him accepting challenges from high-level younger students shows his incredible power and skill.

Join us after the jump for a sprightly energy burst, as the man they call the “God of Judo” skips, jumps and runs rings around his young challengers.

Japan
(judo • Kyuzo Mifune • martial arts • master • video)

Somebody turned a Disney Channel cartoon into an anime and it’s pretty awesome

Mike
Oct 16, 2014

There are a lot of topsy-turvy world “What if…?” scenarios to ponder. Like, “What if I’d invested the money from my crappy summer job as a kid instead of blowing it all on Fruit by the Foot?,” “What if John Candy had lived to make Cool Runnings 2?,” or even, “What if cats ruled the world?” (oh wait, that one’s true…).

But if you were ever wondering what the world would be like if Disney were run entirely by Japanese people, it looks like a particularly talented animator with a love of anime has taken the time to give you a short glimpse of that scenario with this awesome anime tribute titled, “What if Gravity Falls was an anime?”

Global, Internet, Japan, USA
(animation • anime • cartoons • cool • video)

‘Frozen’ gets the 8-bit treatment, and it’s every bit as fun as we imagined!【Video】

Fran W
Oct 14, 2014

The pixellation magicians at CineFlix’s ‘8 Bit Cinema’ have given Frozen a retro video game makeover, retelling Disney’s phenomenally successful fairytale in three minutes of old-school graphics fun, complete with a glorious 8-bit soundtrack.

Yep, the video is cool, but it’s the awesome rendering of the movie’s songs as chiptunes that really impressed us the most.

Global
(8 Bit Cinema • 8-bit music • CineFix • frozen • video)

Hunter finds his car trashed by wounded bear he shot the day before 【Video】

Fran W
Oct 9, 2014

A hunter got more than he bargained for when he shot a bear in the forest in western Siberia – he found his car ransacked the next day in an apparent “revenge attack”.

The man shot and wounded a brown bear while out hunting with two friends. On returning to his car the next morning, he found that it had been completely destroyed by the angry bear – while his friends’ two cars nearby were left untouched.

Russia
(animal attack • bear • car • Russia • video)

“Beautiful foreigner walking a polar bear” spotted at Shibuya’s famous crossing

Philip Kendall
Oct 9, 2014

Twitter was set ablaze last night after dozens of people shared photos of “a beautiful foreigner walking a polar bear” between throngs of pedestrians at the world-famous Shibuya Scramble crossing in Tokyo.

Join us after the jump to see a video captured by an onlooker and learn more about the group to which this mysterious bear-keeping stranger apparently belongs.

Japan
(LALSH • polar bear • publicity • Shibuya • video • weird • wtf)

Japanese mothers react to being called by their first names after years of just being “Mama”

Philip Kendall
Oct 8, 2014

It might sound strange, but in a lot of Japanese households, the use of first names tends to become increasingly rare after the arrival of children and grandchildren. Although plenty of parents in the western world will also refer to each other as “Mommy” or “Daddy” in an effort to help their newborn or toddler pick up the words, or sometimes just to be cute, a man calling his wife “Mama” or “Okaasan” even after their kids have long flown the nest is perfectly common in Japan.

But what happens when a husband suddenly starts calling his wife by her first name, just like when they first started dating or had not long been married? Japanese cosmetics company Pola recently conducted an experiment to find out how simply being called by their first name can affect the health and physical appearance of young women who have over the years come to be known simply as “Mama”.

Promo or not, the effect was surprisingly powerful.

Japan
(culture • family • moving • name • video)

We can’t stop watching this dog eat corn on the cob

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Oct 7, 2014

Eating corn on the cob is a daunting task for some. Whether you have braces, wear dentures, or just don’t like getting dozens of tiny pieces of food stuck in your teeth, nibbling on those yellow kernels seemingly glued to a single core is not something you enjoy. However, if you’re this adorable golden retriever in Japan, then eating corn straight off the cob is one of your favorite things to do. And it’s not just corn that this doggy loves; she’s happy to chomp on a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including an entire head of cabbage, a slice of watermelon, and a raw cucumber.

Internet, Japan
(cute • dog • video)

Japanese TV show’s prank delivers laughs with the utmost speed, zero mercy 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Oct 7, 2014

Speed is the name of the game in modern entertainment. With thousands of competing channels and websites just a button press or click away, you can’t afford to waste any time delivering the goods, and that goes double for comedy. Get in, do the job, and make your exit before the laughter dies out.

Take this insane Japanese video for example. Woman enters room, sits down, and BOOM – punchline! And we mean that “BOOM” literally.

Japan
(crazy • funny • Japanese TV • pranks • video)

YouTuber lists the “10 types of Japanese men” as according to Japanese women

Philip Kendall
Oct 7, 2014

If you or someone you know were described as a cabbage roll, how would you react? What if someone called you a hyena or said you were especially “creamy”?

There are apparently 10 distinct categories into which men fall in Japan, with women knowing exactly the type they’d like to get to know better or avoid altogether. Join us after the jump to find out whether you’re a Soy Milk, Bacon Asparagus, Creamy, or Cabbage kind of guy, or to learn how to apply these unusual tags to the men you meet in Japan.

Internet, Japan
(categories • dating • herbivore • meat eater • men • Personality • video)

【Monday Kickstart】Kitty defends tissues【Video】

Cara Clegg
Oct 6, 2014

This Monday is being made all the harder for Japanese folk with the buffeting of Typhoon Phanfone, so here’s a little something to warm you up, wherever you are.