Japanese Company Offers Fake Friends to Make You Look Popular on Facebook
Want to brag about your active social life on Facebook, when you really have no friends? Trying to make your ex jealous by posing with an attractive new partner, but can’t find a date? No need to worry, this Japanese company will happily send you some fake friends or lovers for a fun photo shoot […]
Meet FORPHEUS, the World’s First Robot Table Tennis Tutor
An advanced robot developed by Japanese electronics company Omron has recently been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s first robot table tennis tutor. FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized Automation with Sinic Theoretics) used machine learning to asses the skills of a human player, adjust its game accordingly and provide tips […]
Man Stabs Himself in the Hip So He Could Skip Work, Gets Arrested
A 54 year old man from Kasugai city, in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, was recently arrested after he confessed to stabbing himself in the hip area as an excuse to skip work. He had previously told police that a stranger had attacked him with a knife. It happens to the best of us, we wake up one […]
Japanese White T-Shirts Promise to Finally Conceal Men’s Nipple Properly
Fans of white T-shirts have long been looking to a solution to their transparency problem. No matter how thick the fabric is, you can almost always see through them, and the nipples, being slightly darker than the rest of the skin, are the most visible. Well, a Japanese company claims to have come up with an […]
Cat and Dog Paw-Themed Ice Cream Is Now a Thing in Japan
From jellyfish to miso ramen, Japan has some of the most bizarre ice cream flavors in the world, but a frozen treat that’s supposed to replicate the texture and smell of soft cat and dog paws is a bit too much, even for the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan’s longstanding fascination with cat paws is […]
This Pocket-Sized Device Connects to Your Phone to Let You Know When You Stink
The KunKun, Japanese for “sniff sniff”, is a bizarre device developed by Japanese corporation Konika Minolta that detects bodily odors like smelly feet or underarm sweat and notifies the user about them via a smartphone app. So, yeah, the days of smelling your own armpits when nobody’s watching to see if they stink are over, thanks […]
Japanese Buddhist Temple Holds Techno Memorial Services
In an effort to make his Buddhist temple more accessible to the wider public and draw younger generations to religion, a former DJ turned Buddhist priest has been holding “techno memorial services” at his temple in Fukui City, Japan. Attending one of the unconventional memorial services organized at the Shō-onji Buddhist temple by 49-year-old Gyōsen Asakura feels more […]
The Japanese Train Station Built Around a 700-Year-Old Tree
Kayashima Station, in Neyagawa, a north-eastern suburb of Osaka, is one of the most unusual-looking train stations in all of Japan. Despite being located on an elevated platform, Kayashima has a giant broccoli-like tree pocking out through a rectangular hole in its roof. The Big Kusu Tree of Kayashima, as the camphor tree is commonly known in Japan, […]
New Japanese Gym Lets You Work Out with a Cute Maid
Maid cafes have been a big part of Japanese pop culture for a while now, but the maid phenomenon is transitioning into other areas as well. For example, a new gym near Tokyo’s famous Akihabara district offers patrons the chance to work out while assisted by beautiful trainers wearing maid costumes. Can you imagine pumping some iron with a cute […]
Vladimir Putin Calendars Are Very Big in Japan
You probably didn’t even know that a government-approved Vladimir Putin calendar actually existed, but even more surprising is the fact that it is incredibly popular in Japan, where hundreds of thousands of copies have been snatched up by fans of the Russian president, in the last few months. The official 2017 Vladimir Putin Calendar is […]
Adult Adoption – The Secret to Preserving Centuries-Old Japanese Family Businesses
Japan has one of the highest adoption rates in the world, with over 80,000 legal adoptions recorded every year. Yet when it comes to adopting children, the Asian country is lagging way behind most developed countries. That’s because around 98% of Japanese adoptees are bright young men in their 20s and 30s. At the same […]
Japanese Man Hasn’t Spoken to His Wife in 20 Years, Despite Living in the Same House
Despite living under the same roof and raising their three children together, a Japanese husband hasn’t spoken a single word to his wife in the last 20 years. No marriage is perfect, and spouses sometimes give each other the silent treatment when they’re upset. But either they go their separate ways or try to patch […]
Japanese Boutique Sells Jeans That Have Been Worn for at Least a Year
The Onomichi Denim Project, a chic boutique in Onomichi, Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture, is a popular destination for denim enthusiasts looking for a pair of truly special jeans. The shop is well-known around Japan and even abroad for selling premium jeans that have been worn by select members of the local community for at least one […]
The Unlikely 25-Year Friendship Between a Human Diver and a Fish
Tateyama Bay, in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture, is the meeting place of two very unlikely friends – local diver Hiroyuki Arakawa and an Asian sheepshead wrasse by the name of Yoriko. The pair met 25 years ago and have been visiting each other ever since. Arakawa has been looking after an underwater Shinto shrine located in Tateyama Bay […]
Adult Wrapping – The Japanese Therapy Craze That Recreates the Comforting Feeling of a Womb
Otona Maki, or ‘adult wrapping’, is a Japanese therapeutic method of correcting posture and alleviating body stiffness by wrapping the human body in a large piece of cloth that emulates the comfortable feel of a mother’s womb. Well-known for their long work hours, many Japanese people develop posture problems and body stiffness. For a long time, […]