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The good, the bad, and the ugly of half-price stickers at Japanese supermarkets
One person’s bargain is another’s burden. One of the small pleasures in working late in Japan is that when stopping by the supermarket late in the evening for a quick pre-made dinner, you’ll often be...
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Guesthouse owner arrested for slashing guest who sprinkled too much pepper on...
Assault and pepper. I remember reading somewhere that in France it’s considered rude to put ketchup on food that’s been prepared by someone else at a nice restaurant or home, the logic being that...
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Rice made out of soybeans is coming
Finally, a rice for vegetaria… Hey, wait a minute. Soybeans never cease to amaze with their versatility, resulting in such wonders as soy milk, soy meat, tofu, miso, and even natto for those who enjoy...
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Subway rivals a traditional Japanese sushi roll with its own traditional...
Jared out, luck in! The Japanese holiday of Setsubun is upon us again! This year it takes place one day earlier than usual which just means we can get our hands on some fully loaded ehomaki sushi...
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Nissin develops instant-yakisoba-flavored instant yakisoba UFO【Taste Test】
The alpha and omega of special-edition flavors. Japan has a long tradition of making certain foods taste like other foods, from sake-flavored KitKats to yogurt-flavored sake to...
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Hot spring in Gunma Prefecture found to reduce COVID-19 infectivity by over...
A disinfectant so good you could bathe in it. With COVID-19 cases continuing to mount, it’s only reasonable to want to try and protect yourself as much as possible. Whether it’s persimmons, balloon...
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Super Crazy Kun wins seat in Toda City Council election
And what a long super-crazy ride it’s been. On 31 January, the citizens of Toda City, Saitama Prefecture exercised their civic duty to elect those who would help shape their future. And among those...
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Some of Japan’s COVID-19 contact tracing apps haven’t been working since last...
It’s not like we needed it or anything. Hey everyone, do you remember COCOA? Of course you don’t. While the most popular answer is probably the beans that make chocolate, in all-caps it’s the COVID-19...
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Drum roll please…Touchscreen rhythm game controller to begin crowdfunding
New peripheral lets you bang away without worrying about your screen. It wasn’t so long ago that you could visit your local game center and see a guy wailing away on Taiko No Tatsujin blindfolded and...
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Unlike real-life counterpart, Tokyo 2020 Olympics video game is going...
New updates over next two months, free of charge and misogyny! If we were to sum up the current status of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, “could be better” would be a pretty conservative estimate. Just as...
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49-year-old comedian can identify any Pretty Cure figure blindfolded
He must be healin’ pretty good about himself now. I remember a teacher once telling me that everyone has something they excel at. However, back then if your talent was, say, making an amazing amount...
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Common ramen ingredient found highly effective at clearing up radioactive...
Ramen-loving researcher mixes business with pleasure. Among types of ramen, one of the most popular is the variety with pork bone broth known as “tonkotsu.” Although not the healthiest of the bunch,...
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Councilman Super Crazy Kun begins work, but considerably less crazy looking
You don’t have to be super crazy to serve on the city council, but it helps. On 31 January, the political landscape of Toda, Saitama Prefecture was rocked by the electoral victory of 34-year-old...
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Government worker leaves water running for a month, forced to pay half the...
Employee forgets to turn off the water, but did employers forget to turn on labor laws? Even the sharpest minds among us occasionally forget to turn off the air conditioner when we leave the house or...
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We try out the hot new social media app that everyone’s talking about,...
It’s…a little different than we were expecting. The online buzz has been all about Clubhouse, the social media app in which people use live audio chat to meet and exchange ideas. The fervor is only...
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Oita woman loses lawsuit and pays damages without ever knowing she’d been sued
A frightening case of using the legal system to commit robbery. If you’re on the receiving end of someone shouting “You’ve been served!” it means you just lost a big dance battle, been sued, or if...
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Saitama begins plans to regulate how to use escalators, prohibit walking up...
Although walking is common practice, support for banning it is strong online. When they were invented around the turn of the 20th century, escalators made a huge splash and quickly replaced catapults...
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21-year-old Nara woman arrested for sending hundreds of nude selfies to woman...
“I still like her,” suspect tells police. When hearing about a story involving stalking or sexual harassment, it’s hard not to assume the typical pattern of a man victimizing a woman. However, every...
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How was last week’s earthquake judged to be an aftershock of the 2011 Tohoku...
Earthquakes have always been largely a guessing game, and this one is no different. At about 11 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, 13 February, a 7.3 Magnitude earthquake hit the Northeast Region...
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Fukushima supermarket sells earthquake-damaged beers as “heroes”
A good beer has character. Despite the violent intensity of the earthquake which struck the Tohoku area on 13 February, it fortunately looks as if no lives have been lost. However, damage was...
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