Cannibalism, Salty Fruit, And Conservative Otaku [Sunday News]

by 25 Comments

Every Sunday we gather the week’s weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. Enjoy!

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[threecol_two]Salty watermelon PepsiSalty Watermelon Pepsi Coming Soon to Japan!: I really wish that Western companies like Pepsi and Kit-Kat weren’t afraid to unleash their weird, novelty, and seasonal flavors upon the US like they do with Japan. If America can handle the Dorito taco, why can’t we try salty watermelon?![/threecol_two] [threecol_one_last]Olympic glory? Many in kendo say no thanks: While most people would see inclusion in the Olympics as the ultimate validation for a martial art, practitioners of kendo or kenshi, would rather not have anything to do with the Olympic games. I don’t get it. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to join the ranks of such prestigious sports as curling? Wait, don’t answer that. [via News On Japan]

Toru Hashimoto: Japan’s would-be dictator: Sometimes, politicians’ personalities overshadow their actual work. Tokyo’s governor Shintaro Ishihara is notorious for his off-the-wall, often controversial statements, but Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto is trying to give him a run for his money. A warning to Hashimoto: don’t ruin it for Hashis everywhere, man. [via News On Japan][/threecol_one_last]

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[threecol_one]Man cooks, serves own genitals to 5 paying diners: I passed up running this story in last week’s Sunday News because I thought it was just too damn disturbing, but now that I’ve found a source that tastefully excludes pictures, I don’t feel so bad running it. Still, my advice is to read the headline and leave it at that. Proceed at the risk of reading what can’t be unread. [via News On Japan]

Are Japanese Moe Otaku Right-Wing?: Although the title of this article is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read, Néojaponisme shows us the strange crossroad of otaku and Japanese conservatism. Turns out, it’s more prominent than you might think. Once again, 2ch and its ilk provide an interesting glimpse into a weird subculture.[/threecol_one] [threecol_two_last]Noel GallagherMusician Noel Gallagher Blogs About Encounter with AKB48: There are some groups of people that you just don’t want to mess with, and high up on that list is AKB48 fans. Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher didn’t get the memo, and was flooded with hate mail after insulting the pop group on his blog. Apparently, the strength of J-pop exceeds even that of Britpop. Who knew?[/threecol_two_last]

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Header image by Joshua Rappeneker

  • VikingNieku

    what’s with all the cannibalism lately? bath salt anyone?

  • Tsark

    Now see I have no problem talking about genital removal….but then I do wander into the odd side of Youtube a lot……

  • Stroopwafel

    Salty Watermelon Pepsi…
    Didn’t Koichi once wrote in one of his blogs that he likes to put salt on watermelon? I distinctly remember that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/shanshan.fyksen Shan Shan Fyksen

    wait you mean guys who are into the idea of being with a girl too young to say no or comprehend the complexities of a real relationship would possibly also be into the power trip of conservatism? /sarcasm/ i never would have put those two together.. /sarcasm/

  • http://naturalfrench.wordpress.com/ Kieran Murphy

    AKB48 and Noel Gallagher is the most unlikely pairing ever.

  • Mescale

    After reading Noel’s blog post I think the reactions are a bit blown out of proportion, he’s some working class guy from England, all he talks about is his culture shock. 

    I don’t know has his blog post been edited?
    http://www.noelgallagher.com/#inbox/noel/lord-only-knows-why-i-was-on-there

  • Mescale

    Well here’s a story about it in a bit more detail. Seems a bad translation got 2chand.

    http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/05/29/racist-noel-gallagher-pans-akb48-akb48-fans-attack/

    Now I wouldn’t put it past being edited to be less offensive after the case, as it seems the article did get taken down, then put back up, but then I wouldn’t put it past a bunch of internetizens doing a bad translation on it either, to upset AKB-48 fans.

    I hate not being able to sleep.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    Yeah, that’s the site I first saw it on but it’s so OMGWTFNSFW that I prefer to link to other sites.

    From what I can tell, Gallagher’s post has been edited and/or completely removed, but the timeline is kind of unclear.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    I think I would have been more okay with this story if bath salts WERE involved.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    For better or worse (probably better), I’ve yet to encounter those videos.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    Probably, but I don’t know which one. I’ll have to check with him!

  • http://twitter.com/ayabuns Aya

    I can see why they don’t want to include kendo in the Olympics. The WKC team finals were a prime example for that, at least for me. The lack of proper reiho and their uber competitive spirit affected their kendo and unfortunately, at some point, was disappointing. Ebihara-sensei said it best: “It’s not about how to win. How to be is more important.”

    …And I completely regret reading that man cooking his own genitals article. W2GHASHI. D:

  • AwwYea

    guess wat kind of forum the english part of 2ch is. It starts with a p

  • http://zoomingjapan.com/ zoomingjapan

    Salty Watermelon?? Whaaat???
    Definitely not gonna try that!! The only Pepsi I tried and liked was the Shiso one a long time ago! ^-^;

  • ですこ

     Pew pew! Space forum!

  • kuyaChristian

    Well, at least Noel Gallagher didn’t mess with KPop groups. He’ll get more than just hate mail. Which brings up a good point…who is crazier? AKB48 fans or KPop fans [of any kpop group]

  • ですこ

     But… you implied that K-Pop fans were crazier? Ah?! Your confusion spell was Super Effective!

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    CAN’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU

  • http://twitter.com/ayabuns Aya

    GO AWAY HASHI

  • Foetus_in_Foeto

    I’m jealous! I wish I would be a man and could cut of my genitals (not on my own, of course!)

  • ZXNova

    That article is greatly disturbing… Oh god…

  • kuyaChristian

    Yes, I might have implied it on the first sentence but I still get confused every now and then. I don’t really know much about AKB48 and I’m more familiar to kpop so I stated it as such.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    …wut? D:

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

     Wait. Doesn’t everyone love salt on their watermelon?

  • Sosuke

    とても怖いいい、その話、どうしましたかな！