Japan

This Week’s Fukushima Earthquake Was an Aftershock From 2011

When a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked the Fukushima prefecture of Japan on Tuesday, fear swept the island nation that it could herald a repeat of the tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima five years ago, both of which were caused by an enormous, magnitude 9.1 earthquake. Mercifully, Japan was spared this time around. But the…

Tech News Maddie Stone

Tsunami Warning Issued in Japan Following 7.4 Magnitude Quake

A tsunami warning has been issued in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture after a 7.4 magnitude quake struck off Honshu at 5:59am local time. The US Geological Survey had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 but then downgraded it to 6.9. It has been revised yet again to 7.4. As this is a breaking story,…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Watch Japan Fix a Massive Five-Lane-Wide Sink Hole in Less Than a Week

You’d assume that when the earth opens up to swallow a big chunk of a crowded city it would take months to fix the damage. But in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, it took repair crews just four days to fix a massive five-lane-wide sinkhole that suddenly appeared last week. https://gizmodo.com/ridiculously-large-sinkhole-gobbles-up-five-lane-road-i-1788695208 The sinkhole maxed out…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Japanese Baseball Player Blasts a Ball Right Through the Stadium’s Roof

An out of the park home run is a feat few ballplayers ever achieve. But Shohei Otani, who plays baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, managed to blast a home run right through the roof of the Tokyo Dome stadium. It doesn’t appear as if the ball actually punctured a hole through the…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski

Someone Turned Nature’s Most Bizarre Creature Into an Adorable Plush Toy

If you haven’t read up on tardigrades, or “water bears” as they’re more commonly known, take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with the microscopic creatures that are nearly indestructible. Then you’ll understand why you must own this adorable stuffed version. https://gizmodo.com/genes-hold-the-key-to-the-water-bears-indestructibility-1786814698 Available from the Japanese online store Village/Vanguard, the plush tardigrades are as anatomically…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Ridiculously Large Sinkhole Gobbles Up Five-Lane Road in Southern Japanese City

Residents of the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka had a rather rude awakening this morning when a gigantic sinkhole formed near the JK Hakata train station. Local officials are now desperately working to prevent the collapse of nearby buildings. The road outside the train station began to collapse in two sections around 5:15am local time,…

Tech News George Dvorsky

This Wacky World Map Just Won Japan’s Biggest Design Award

The centuries-old Mercator projection is a notoriously inaccurate world map. For one thing, Greenland isn’t the massive land mass as shown on the map. But a new map by artist and architect Hajime Narukawa offers what’s possibly the most proportional map we’ve ever seen. You can print out and fold the map, so you can…

Tech News William Turton

Try Not to Think Too Much About This Weird and Wonderful Samurai Captain America Figure

Shouldn’t he be like… Captain Japan? Naming conventions aside, the latest in Bandai’s line of Feudal Japanese takes on Western heroes might just be its best figure yet. https://gizmodo.com/samurai-iron-man-is-ridiculously-cool-1787003733 Revealed at Tamashii Nations 2016, the Movie Realization Captain America joins Spider-Man and Iron Man as a Samurai-ified take on Marvel’s sentinel of liberty. Unlike Spidey…

io9 James Whitbrook

Japan’s ‘Scientific’ Whaling Program Sucks

Once again, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has attempted to create a South Atlantic sanctuary for whales. And once again, it has been thwarted by a pro-whaling coalition led by Nordic nations and Japan—which, in blatant disregard of the UN’s International Court, continues to slaughter whales by the thousands for bullshit “scientific research” purposes. A…

Tech News Maddie Stone

What in God’s Name Is Happening in This Anime?

As a journalist who once covered the anime industry, I’ve seen some stuff. I’ve seen Tokyo destroyed countless times. I saw a piece of candy kick a demon’s ass. I watched KFC’s Col. Sanders slowly creep out of the darkness to menace a young man. I watched whatever the hell Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo was. And I…

Movies Rob Bricken

A 2,400-Page Edition of the Death Note Manga You Could Beat Someone to Death With

Want to check out Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s popular manga before, say, Netflix releases its adaptation next year? Well, this new Japanese release of the entire thing in a single book could be up your street, as well as double as a solid enough weapon against potential home invaders. https://gizmodo.com/the-guest-directors-manga-adaptation-death-note-will-1769525077 This ridiculous tome weighs…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

Toyota Made a Robot Baby to Replace Actual Babies

Japan’s birth rate has been on decline for some time now, so engineers at Toyota have come up with an ingenious solution to help people apparently feel the companionship of kids: an annoying robot. “He wobbles a bit, and this is meant to emulate a seated baby, which hasn’t fully developed the skills to balance…

Tech News William Turton

I Want This Mini Nintendo Famicom So Bad

Nintendo of America will be releasing an absolutely adorable mini NES in November, so it just makes sense that Japan is getting its own baby Famicom. The concept is essentially identical—miniaturized Famicom console that connects to your TV via HDMI. It has two wired controllers (and check out that classic Famicom red) and it comes…

Tech News Christina Warren

New Wind Turbines Could Power Japan for 50 Years After a Single Typhoon

Typhoons are generally associated with mass destruction, but a Japanese engineer has developed a wind turbine that can harness the tremendous power of these storms and turn it into useful energy. If he’s right, a single typhoon could power Japan for 50 years. Atsushi Shimizu is the inventor of the world’s first typhoon turbine—an extremely…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Don’t Look Into This Robot’s Eyes While It Learns to Play the Ball-and-Cup Game

Japan’s popular Pepper robot can guess your mood, dress up in cute clothes and now, it can learn to play simple games. Pepper’s human overlords have demonstrated that their robotic baby can learn how to play the ball-and-cup game virtually on its own. At first, they guide its arm to swing the ball on its…

Tech News Rhett Jones

Samurai Iron Man Is Ridiculously Cool

Remember those Samurai-style Star Wars toys? Well, Bandai has also kicked off a Marvel-themed version, and the results are just as awesome. https://gizmodo.com/bandais-samurai-star-wars-figures-have-gotten-even-bett-1726901505 There’s already been a Samurai Spider-Man from the “Movie Realization” line of Tamashii nations action figures, but now Peter Parker is being joined by Marvel’s Iron Avenger, and unsurprisingly, Tony Stark works…

io9 James Whitbrook

The First US Trailer For Shin Godzilla Is One Big Throwback

The glorious music. The Toho Scope branding. Funimation’s first “Western” trailer for Shin Godzilla really wants to lean into the big G’s classic Japanese filmography. I say “Western,” because although this is the first trailer for Shin Godzilla’s American theatrical release, it’s not like there’s any dialogue subtitled or anything. It’s the same footage we’ve…

Trailers James Whitbrook

These Glowing Rocks Capture One of Nature’s Most Beautiful Phenomena

Looks at first like somebody threw a bunch of glowing beads on some rocks, but what you see here is actually alive. In a series titled “The Weeping Stones,” Tdub Photo, a photo and video company based in Japan, were able to photograph a group of bioluminescent shrimp, which they poured over rocks in the…

Tech News Carli Velocci

A Godzilla Anime Movie Is Coming Next Year

In the wake of Shin Godzilla’s arrival in Japan, there’s been swirling rumors of a new Godzilla anime on the horizon—which would, surprisingly, be the King of Kaiju’s first ever anime series. Now they’ve been validated, although it’s not quite an anime series—instead a new animated Godzilla film is coming out next year. Announced through…

Movies James Whitbrook

Obsessed Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles To Improve Sound

To an audiophile, there’s no such thing as ‘too expensive’ if it means an upgrade to their setup could improve their listening experience. And in Japan, some acoustic connoisseurs are now installing their own utility poles, with custom transformers, to ensure all of their audio gear is getting the purest power possible. The Wall Street…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

This Week’s Fukushima Earthquake Was an Aftershock From 2011

Tsunami Warning Issued in Japan Following 7.4 Magnitude Quake

Watch Japan Fix a Massive Five-Lane-Wide Sink Hole in Less Than a Week

Japanese Baseball Player Blasts a Ball Right Through the Stadium’s Roof

Someone Turned Nature’s Most Bizarre Creature Into an Adorable Plush Toy

Ridiculously Large Sinkhole Gobbles Up Five-Lane Road in Southern Japanese City

This Wacky World Map Just Won Japan’s Biggest Design Award

Try Not to Think Too Much About This Weird and Wonderful Samurai Captain America Figure

Japan’s ‘Scientific’ Whaling Program Sucks

What in God’s Name Is Happening in This Anime?

A 2,400-Page Edition of the Death Note Manga You Could Beat Someone to Death With

Toyota Made a Robot Baby to Replace Actual Babies

I Want This Mini Nintendo Famicom So Bad

New Wind Turbines Could Power Japan for 50 Years After a Single Typhoon

Don’t Look Into This Robot’s Eyes While It Learns to Play the Ball-and-Cup Game

Samurai Iron Man Is Ridiculously Cool

The First US Trailer For Shin Godzilla Is One Big Throwback

These Glowing Rocks Capture One of Nature’s Most Beautiful Phenomena

A Godzilla Anime Movie Is Coming Next Year

Obsessed Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles To Improve Sound

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