Proof that the Japanese are really creative

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in Video on Wednesday 22 May 2013

When I was a kid, I used to look forward to catching this Japanese variety show, Masquerade or 超級變變變 on TV every week. On it, contestants vy to perform their most creative illusionary skits with old-school techniques — like guys clothed entirely in black and shifting objects about. They almost always some up with the [...]

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Maico Akiba paints modern objects to make them seem 100 years old

Cormack O'Connor Contributor

By Cormack O'Connor in New Art on Thursday 9 May 2013

If you’ve ever wanted to know what your beloved belongings will look like 100 years from now, you’re on the right page. Japanese artist Maico Akiba has been painting a range of everyday belongings to make them appear like they have decayed over time. All items are still fully functional, though. I think it would [...]

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Humans bite back: Japanese restaurant serves gourmet fried piranha

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in New Food and Packaging on Thursday 2 May 2013

Piranhas are some of the most vicious little creatures in the animal kingdom. They may be small, but we shiver at the idea of swimming in the Amazon River and feeling one nibble on our toes. The killer fish can strip something as big as a cow to its bones in a matter of minutes. But now [...]

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One way to make Japanese couples conceive? Let them raise a robot baby first

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in Tech on Thursday 2 May 2013

The cuddly little Japanese robot is called Yotaro. He giggles, sneezes, and smiles endearingly. This little guy might be just what reluctant Japanese couples need to push them over the edge and make them want to raise a child of their own.

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Now your guinea pig can be fashionable too

Rebekah Rhoden Contributor

By Rebekah Rhoden in New Fashion on Thursday 25 April 2013

Let’s face it, a naked guinea pig is a boring guinea pig. Thankfully, a Japanese website called Guinea Pig Fashion makes tiny little outfits for your guinea pig to strut its stuff in. They create clothes for all occasions, such as weddings, ninja outings, or even when your guinea pig wants to look like Harry [...]

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Kanamara Matsuri: Penis festival in Japan

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in New Events on Tuesday 16 April 2013

In Japan, there’s actually an entire festival dedicated to the male appendage. Enough said. According to The Independent, one of the highlights of this annual Shinto fertility festival held in Kawasaki during spring is a giant 2.5m wooden penis carried by locals. Everything you’ll see at the special occasion is likely to be somewhat phallic [...]

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Cafe Scifi-tique: feminist protest against sexist comic book nerds

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in New Trends on Tuesday 9 April 2013

Check out this protest performance a group of Japanese Feminists at a WisCon science fiction convention made against the Maid Cafe trend. Known as Cafe Scifi-tique, the performance features waitresses who mimic robots and  run on a giant wind-up key. ’Maid Cafes’ are a ridiculously sexist craze in Japanese restaurant culture. Imagine a weird, all-you-can-eat buffet that caters to manga nerd men who can’t [...]

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The Transformer Owl

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in Video on Thursday 4 April 2013

Spoiler ahead: owls behaving wickedly. This owl, as seen on a Japanese variety show, knows at least two ways to scare off other beaky threats: puff and fluff up (cute) or supershrink into what looks like a cross between Lord Voldemort and Megatron. It’s a hoot. According to another YouTube user who uploaded another clip [...]

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In Japan, you can get ad-supported underpants

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in New Trends on Tuesday 19 March 2013

In Japan, a company is actually offering free underwear for any guy who’s willing to sport a few advertising messages on his butt. They even have the stats to explain why they think it’s worth convincing people to wear ad-supported underpants: apparently people who don the ads will be exposed to them up to eight [...]

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ANIMATSUDA creates 10 short animations for the Heal Japan Tsunami Appeal

Contributions Reader Find

By Miho Lomon in Video on Friday 15 March 2013

ANIMATSUDA is a pixilation animator and illustrator. I have made a series of 10 short animation to send cheer to people who were affected by the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011. The project is called Pixilate to Heal Japan Tsunami Appeal. ANIMATSUDA is raising money for Save the Children: Japan Earthquake Tsunami [...]

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Stunning photos of lightning strikes over Japanese volcano eruption

Zolton Contributor

By Zolton in New Photography on Thursday 14 March 2013

These breathtaking photos were taken by Martin Rietze, a self-proclaimed “volcano-chaser” and the creative force behind the Alien Landscapes on Planet Earth website. Rietze took these photographs of a particularly angry Sakurajima Volcano while on trip to Japan between February 21 and 26, 2013, risking his wellbeing to capture the raging lava and lightning – [...]

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The art of dissecting oranges

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in New Design on Monday 11 March 2013

Everything in this ad from Shizuoka, Japan, came from an orange, with absolutely no photoshop used. Pieces of fruit was literally dissected and arranged in a meticulous fashion in order to design this beautiful poster for a local newspaper. I can’t imagine the time and effort that went into creating this, but I love the [...]

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A perfectly balanced modern cliff dwelling in Kyoto, Japan

Annie Churdar Contributor

By Annie Churdar in Architecture on Thursday 7 March 2013

This gorgeously modern house perches delicately on a cliff overlooking Kyoto, Japan. It is a perfect triangle, absolutely clean and geometric. One wall is entirely made of glass, allowing for a flood of natural light. The house design Mega is clever and well planned. It sits atop steel beams which provide the necessary support for [...]

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In Japan, girls legs are now walking billboards. Literally!

Rebekah Rhoden Contributor

By Rebekah Rhoden in New Trends on Wednesday 6 March 2013

In Japan, ad agency Absolute Territory PR has begun to advertise on the once-unclaimed real estate of … wait for it … girls thighs. Now any girl over the age of 18 can be paid to be a walking billboard. The only requirements are that they have to wear the stamped-on ad for eight hours [...]

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SushiAirways in Singapore

Low Lai Chow Contributor

By Low Lai Chow in New Food and Packaging on Monday 4 March 2013

Air travel and sushi are two things we love, but don’t necessarily picture together. So it’s pretty neat that SushiAirways boldly mashes up both. Its interiors are playfully modeled after the Douglas DC-3, an American fixed-wing aircraft that was big in the 1930s, while Jap cuisine is served by staff dressed in matching uniforms reminiscent [...]

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