Asia’s growth: Navigating regional opportunities amid global disruption
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) adds another structural layer. The region’s middle class has expanded rapidly, creating ...
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Samarkand hosts first CITES summit in Central Asia, gathering nations for wildlife protection
Delegates will discuss sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystem restoration, and regional cooperation initiatives.
Pokémon and hot spring bathhouse collaborate to bring Pokémon to your bath and sauna sessions
Bathhouse just north of Tokyo provides rubber Psyduckies, Ditto sauna stones, and other sights and scents to soothe tired Trainers.The focus of the Pokémon Sleep mobile game/wellness app is, of course, promoting good sleep habits, but that’s all in the service of helping people feel good both mentally and physically. In that sense, Pokémon Sleep shares the same goals as hot spring baths and saunas, which brings us to a collaboration between the game and Japan’s Yunoi Soka Health Center bathhouse
Japan’s buzzword of the year nominees: A great way to learn and be baffled by Japanese vocabulary
We need to tell you to take a look before the new slang of today outruns us all… eh ho eh ho…As you advance in years, it is easy to start marveling at how the world keeps changing, from technology to popular culture. Perhaps one of the most rapidly evolving things is language, with new generations utilizing words in different ways to those in the past, or inventing completely new words. That does mean, however, that it is easy to get shipwrecked by the neverending waves of change, and be left be
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Soon, you could have a pod that washes your body for you in your home bathroom.When you straight-up name your organization “Science,” you’d better be prepared to make some pretty high-tech things, and the Osaka-based bathroom fixture company did just that when they created the Mirai Ningen Sentakki, which translates to “Future Human washing Machine.” Officially dubbed the “Human Washer in the Future” in English, it’s a 2.3-meter (7.5-foot) long pod in which you lie down, close the lid, and lay b
KFC Japan introduces a new burger 8 years in the making
We find out if this Japanese flavour was worth the time and effort it took to develop.How well do you know your fried chicken? That’s the question KFC appears to be challenging us with at the moment, thanks to the grand unveiling of a new burger that’s been eight years in the making.Called the Chicken Tatsuta, this burger veers away from the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices to provide us with a more specialised Japanese flavour. Unlike the nation’s most well-known type o
Samarkand hosts first CITES summit in Central Asia, gathering nations for wildlife protection
Delegates will discuss sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystem restoration, and regional cooperation initiatives.
I had no idea you could win crane game prizes in Japan the way my friend won this Dragon Quest Slime
This black Slime plushie had become his white whale until something I’d never experienced before happened.A friend of mine recently visited Japan, and since he’s an avid gamer who runs a video game website, we hit up the local arcades while he was here to see what sorts of cool prizes they had in their crane games/UFO catchers. As we made the rounds, my friend got really into collecting Dragon Quest Slime plushies. For example, here he is posing with a compact keychain-strap Slime, one of severa
Shizuoka senior charged with firearms violation after giving toy guns to the police
No good deed goes unpunished.Last summer, we reported on an announcement by the police that a certain toy gun found in crane games across Japan was deemed a real gun. Honestly, it’s a little laughable, since even though the toy barrel is large enough to hold a real bullet and the toy hammer is correctly aligned enough to fire the bullet, chances are the whole thing would probably just blow up in a would-be shooter’s hand. Still, the National Police Agency is clearly leaving nothing t
Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke getting live-action kabuki adaptation, main cast announced
Hayao Miyazaki’s darkest anime film will be his second to become a kabuki play.It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the upcoming Evangleion kabuki play. Ah, wait, it literally was yesterday. And yet, there’s already another gigantic development in the anime-to-kabuki adaptation world, with the announcement of a kabuki version of Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke.Originally released in the summer of 1997, Princess Mononoke was originally intended to be Mi
Starbucks Japan’s new S’mores Frappuccino has something extra, but do we want to drink some more?
We taste-test Starbuck’s latest Japanese S’mores Frappuccino, plus their first-ever hot apple cider.Starbucks Japan knew that the day would come when we’d be craving some more S’mores Frappuccinos. That desire is right there in the name, after all, and on November 26 they obliged us with the release of the brand-new S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino.But while the name of the new drink had us licking our lips in anticipation, it’s a little odd in two ways. First off, the “Chocolate” Part is redundant
Studio Ghibli releases new anime envelopes in Japan with interactive features
Stationery goods allow you to animate the characters. Studio Ghibli is never short of clever ideas when it comes to character creation and storyline hooks, and that ingenuity is also evident in the official merchandise sold through affiliated retail chain Donguri Kyowakoku.With January on the horizon, the store is preparing a special range of New Year’s goods to help celebrate Japan’s most important holiday season, and one brand new offering is the Mado Tsuki Pochibukuro. “Mad
Duolingo to open first pop-up store Duomart in Japan for a very limited time next month
The store will be stylized after a typical Japanese convenience store and will feature goods of the beloved green owl mascot character and more. U.S.-based free language learning app Duolingo is about to expand its horizons by opening its first pop-up store in Japan called Duomart in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya neighborhood. However, it will only be open for a very limited time between December 18 and 30, making it a shopping destination you’ll need to get to before the country more or le
Evangelion getting live-action kabuki adaptation, Shinji and Kaworu actors announced
Eva’s special friends take the stage for a special event at series 30th anniversary celebration.In February, the Evangelion:30+ ; 30th Anniversary of Evangelion fan event is set to take place at the Yokohama Arena indoor stadium in Yokohama, about half an hour south of downtown Tokyo. Some might say that the numbering is slightly off, seeing as how the Evangelion anime TV series premiered in 1995, making 2026 the 31st anniversary, but the TV series’ original run ended in 1996, so maybe that’s th
Japanese train company is letting fans buy its actual ticket gates for their homes
Sotetsu’s would-be scrap is going to be someone else’s treasure.Sometimes, when a train is being taken out of service in Japan, the rail operator will sell of parts of it as memorabilia. For rail fans, owning even something simple like a hand strap or destination plate can serve as a keepsake of a special trip they took on the train, or be a symbol of their local pride if it comes from the train they commuted on every morning.But Sotetsu, also known as Sagami Railway Company, had something a lit
Ikea Japan’s matcha sweets fair is back, and with all-new green tea desserts!
Matcha Fair is now underway at Ikea Japan with brand-new green tea sweets for the winter holiday season.In Japan, Ikea is arguably as popular as a place to fill your stomach with something nice at an affordable price as it is to do the same to furnish your home. Since its opening, the chain’s cafeteria and refreshment stands have been earning fans for their Swedish meatballs and ice cream, and right now is an especially great time to stop by an Ikea Japan branch for a bite to eat, since they’ve
Wakayama senior uses AI to identify wild mushrooms, gets poisoned shortly after
There’s mushroom for improvement.AI is certainly handy for a lot of things. For example, anytime I want to know what a life-sized pick-up truck made out of orange peels looks like, I can get it visualized in seconds. But I’d stop short at using it for anything important involving health or money, mostly because everyone knows it would be impossible to get orange peels of sheet metal size to realistically build a full-sized pick-up. An AI with true intelligence would understand that i
Hello Kitty says hello to Godzilla in new kaiju/Sanrio crossover collaboration
The King of the Monsters is the newest friend of the queen of cuteness.If someone makes friends quickly, easily, and joyously, we call that person a social butterfly…but maybe we should call them a social Kitty instead? After all, it’s hard to think of someone who expands her social circle with more energy and aplomb than Hello Kitty, who just within this autumn alome has been hanging out with the casts of the Evangelion and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises, as well as Japanese sign language
Sushi passed up by ramen in survey of foreign tourists’ favorite thing to eat in Japan, but why?
Foodies today might be the dishes in a very different light than they did a generation ago as sushi now sits in the number-three rank.The ramen restaurant industry is booming in Japan these days, with analysts estimating the size of the market to soon hit 7.9 billion yen (roughly US$52.65 million). That represents a growth of about 60 percent since 10 years ago,Ramen has been rising in popularity among pretty much all demographics. That includes inbound foreign tourists as well, and as proof of
Studio Ghibli adds “komorebi” Totoro plush toys to its anime merchandise range in Japan
The Small, Medium and Large Totoros finally get their time in the sun. Last month, Studio Ghiblispecialty retail chain Donguri Kyowakokuannounced the grand reveal of its “Komorebi Series“, a collection of plush toys that plays upon the charming word “komorebi“, or “dappled sunlight“.The range shines a light on Ghibli characters that tend to appear out of the shadows, but there was one type of character missing from the lineup: the Totoros from My Neighbour To