Apple’s new maps suck. Everyone knows that. They especially stink in South Korea. For example, the Blue House, the country’s executive office, is mixed up with a Chinese restaurant in a Seoul train station. This is among other misses, including overlooking the names of important mountains that everyone knows. According to Livedoor, The Korean government…
With Visualive Persona 4 the Evolution, popular title Persona 4 returns to the stage. Once again, it’s a theatrical extravaganza that mixes multimedia effects to bring Persona to life. Japanese game site Famitsu was on hand to check out the recent performance, which runs until October 9 at The Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo. 舞台”VISUALIVE『ペルソナ4』the EVOLUTION”上演開始！…
Music has always been one of the pillars of Macross—along with love triangles and space wars. But only now, 30 years after the airing of the original Macross, is it getting its first stage musical: Macross: the Musiculture. While such performances are somewhat common (like Persona 4‘s own stage adaptation), this musical is actually an…
Taiwan’s Next Media, famous for its Sims like news recreations, totally pissed off Cathay Pacific when it ran a video showing male passengers pleasuring themselves in business class. The above clip might be NSFW. “Cathay Pacific, of course, did not like the video,” Next Media wrote on YouTube. “It asked NMA to remove the video…
Like the Tales of Xillia 2 bus, here’s a pair of cars (Auris and Aqua) that were turned into Tales itasha. They were spotted by CNET Japan at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro as part of what looks like a viral campaign to promote Tales of Xillia 2 Does this mean most Tales players…
I was told to arrive early—that Nintendo would be announcing something big. Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata stood before the 2005 Tokyo Game Show podium and did just that: he showed off the new controller for the very first time. The console was then codenamed “Revolution”. It was later released as the Nintendo Wii and was a…
They’re called thugs. The Japanese media labels them “bouryokudan” (暴力団), or literally “violence” (暴力) “group” (団). They call themselves humanitarian outfits. The world knows them as the yakuza. Here is a glimpse inside. Photographer Anton Kusters and his brother, Malik, documented two years in the life of the Shinseikai family, which operates in Tokyo’s Shinjuku.…
Osaka is filled with places to visit. But if you are in town, make sure you stop by the Meiji factory and marvel at the biggest chocolate bar you’ll ever see. Just don’t try to eat it. Located in Osaka’s Takatsuki, the factory boasts the largest plastic billboard in the world. It’s even in the…
Whenever Call of Duty games are released in Japan, they always seem to get in-game violence edited or censored somehow. Call of Duty: Black Ops II is no exception. Today, Square Enix explained the edits: “The heads and limbs of soldiers under attack by heavy weapons on the battlefield are amended.” So probably toned down…
So, the Wii U will be lining the shelves in a couple of months (November 18th for the US, 30th for Europe and Australia, and December 8th for Japan). With all the perks of the Wii plus increase capabilities and the new Wii U Game Pad, the new console is sure to be the talk…
A recent geek gathering in Guangzhou, China brought out the cosplayers—as well as the photographers to take photos of said cosplayers. Photos of the event are circulating on Chinese social networking sites. This EXTREME cosplay photography, it seems, happened, with three dudes getting up close and personal, while trying to get the best shot. Not…
Toukiden was one of the titles announced for both the PSP and PS Vita at last month’s SCEJ (Sony Computer Entertainment Japan) Press Conference. A couple of the title’s biggest selling points are that it is being developed as a collaborative project between SCEJ and Tecmo Koei, and that the game will have cross-platform capabilities…
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is joining forces with S.T. Dupont for a bevy of swank pens and lighters. They cost a lot of money. Oda did the design work, which is a Sleeping Mermaid motif. According to sister site Kotaku Japan, the goods will go on sale this December and can be divided into…
Across Japan, it’s harvest time. In September, the rice turns a golden hue. The color—my favorite—is koganeiro (黄金色). Scarecrows stand watch over the rice fields. Most scarecrows in Japan are rather pedestrian—what you’d think a scarecrow would and should look like. Then, there the ones that don’t look anything like scarecrows, taking their look from…
Those wanting a “Flare Red” 3DS might want to act soon. Nintendo recently revealed that the color will soon be going out of production in Japan. The color was launched back in July 2011 in Japan. It was the third color launched there, after Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue. With the 3DS XL out (and…
As part of its fortieth anniversary, Japanese burger chain Lotteria is rolling out two burger towers: one is a cheeseburger tower, and the other a fried shrimp burger. Where the hell are the puns, you ask. The name of the cheeseburger is actually “Super Cheese Day” (スーパー・チーズデー), which sounds like “Super Tuesday” (スーパー・チューズデー) in Japanese.…
Add Haruna Anno, retro game idol and retro game museum curator, to the chorus of cries saying that Resident Evil has lost the plot. Anno notes how Resident Evil is (er, was) the pinnacle of survival horror, and she seems upset that the series has gone from a survival horror game to a shooting game.…
You know how hard it is to cover something in stickers? Like how to get the stickers just right, so they are totally smooth, straight, and free of air pockets? This is like that, but bigger. And on a city bus. A fleet of buses is getting “wrapped” for the “Machi Asobi” otaku (geek) event…
Japanese variety show Waratte Iitomo! (“It’s Okay to Laugh!”) is the longest running, continuously hosted live program in the world. It’s a cultural institution in Japan, and its host, Tamori, is iconic—like the Milton Berle of Japan. And today on that show, guest Lily Franky brought a special guest: his girlfriend, a love doll. Lily…
Last month, rioting broke out in China during a rash of anti-Japan protests. While those protests got plenty of news coverage in Japan, the country’s own protests haven’t. Perhaps the networks are worried footage of such protests would further fan the flames in China… YouTube user Gimmeaflakeman (via Japan Probe) has uploaded footage of a…
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