Every once in a while, an invention will come along that changes everything. Unfortunately, rarely does that invention come from Japan. More often than not, Japanese inventions walk the line of being helpful for something extremely specific and being completely useless. But God bless ‘em, those Japanese scientists keep churning out these inventions year after [...]
Easy Rider, eat your heart out. Seriously Japan? Seriously? Every time I think that Japan’s invented the most ridiculous thing, whether it’s a burger made out of poop, sex doll dentistry robot, or a toilet-based video game, Japan just keeps taking it to the next level. All of these inventions are basically past the point [...]
Japan can be kind of tricky to pin down when it comes to religion. Religion in Japan is pretty complicated, with people believing lots of different things, and lots of people believing in no one thing in particular. Most religious Japanese people believe in a unique blend of Shinto and Buddhism that’s a little hard [...]
It’s no secret that Japanese people are known for their longevity. Japan has long boasted a huge number of centenarians (people 100 years old or older) in the world, and one of the highest life expectancies on the planet. People have wondered for some time how the Japanese live so long, but if you ask [...]
All of you out there are probably all familiar with the concept of adoption. A child is given up by his or her biological parents for whatever reason, and another family welcomes the child into the fold and raises his or her as their own. You might know somebody who was adopted (I do), or [...]
One of the hottest things in Japan right now is the idol group AKB48. This army of teenage singers, besides experimenting with creepy, Frankenstein vocaloids, has taken the world by storm, topping Japanese pop charts for close to three years. But are they more than just your run-of-the-mill idol group? Majirox reports that recently the [...]
When you think of Japanese food, what do you think of? Sushi? No, you’re thinking too gourmet, think of a food worse than that. Street ramen? No, even worse than that. Ok, I’ll just cut to the chase, think instant noodles. If you’ve ever wanted a hot meal in three minutes with no more than [...]
Crime in Japan is incredibly low compared to most other countries; it’s generally regarded as one of the safest countries in the world. So when there is a crime in Japan, it definitely gets noticed. Did you know that one of the biggest crimes of all time in Japan happened nearly 50 years ago, and [...]
A blood type towel: not as gross as it sounds. Sometimes, it’s the small cultural differences you notice more than the big ones. For me, one of the most interesting things about Japanese culture is the fascination with blood types. It’s a pretty small aspect of Japanese culture, but it’s so different from what I’m [...]
Bob Dylan, esteemed Japanese linguist Languages are always changing. The English that you and I speak today is almost completely different than that English people spoke a hundred years ago, and it’s even a little different than the English people spoke in the 90s. (Who says “tubular” anymore?) Japanese is the exact same way, but [...]
