Japan

Everything you need to know about butts, farts, and Japanese water imps

Of all the ways to die, the most ignominious demise is having a kappa — or a Japanese demon — pull a magical orb out of one’s asshole. You can repel the beasts with a burst of powerful flatulence, but you must be certain that your fragrant blast is muscular enough to bowl them over…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

This is what 200 tons of sardine carcasses look like

Yes, you read that correctly — 200 TONS worth of dead sardines. That’s how many fish are believed to have washed ashore in Japan’s Isumi City since June 3rd. Even more disconcerting? Nobody’s really sure what’s causing the massive die-off. Some outlets are reporting that the fish died due to lack of oxygen; but while…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This Beach Is Made from the Blood and Bodies of 200 Tons of Dead Sardines

In Japan, there’s a scary sight on a port in Isumi City of Chiba Prefecture. The ground has been covered by 200 tons of dead, rotting sardines and the ocean has been stained red with their blood. It looks like a beach from hell. According to Japan Today, the rotting sardine beach started crashing onto…

Biology Casey Chan

There Is Now a Phone That Combines Pantone and Radiation Detectors

Gimmicky or not, Sharp is not averse to wedging weird and new(ish) technologies into their phones. As such, they’ve teamed up with Japanese cellphone peddler Softbank to release a phone that not only has a radiation detector, but comes in eight Pantone-certified colors. The “Pantone 5 107SH” is a 3.7-inch, Android-based phone that apparently is…

Tech News Adrian Covert

Crazy Shoulder Robot Turns Your Friends Into Jiminy Cricket

Have you ever been talking to a friend on the phone and lamented the fact they were so far away? That’s exactly the problem this bizarre shoulder-mounted MH-2, or ‘miniature humanoid’, seeks to solve. By turning them into a Jiminy Cricket sitting on your shoulder, minus the good advice. Powered by a hefty-looking backpack full…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Russia Will Build a Permanent Moon Base

We knew Russia had ambitious plans for interplanetary exploration, and on Tuesday, an announcement from the head of the country’s space agency really drove that point home. Russia wants to go to the Moon; and they want to stay there. https://gizmodo.com/leaked-documents-reveal-russias-ambitious-new-space-exp-5893531 “We’re not talking about repeating what mankind achieved 40 years ago,” said Vladimir Popovkin,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

When a vampire bootleg Mickey Mouse tried to invade Japan before World War II

Continuing right along with our unofficial exploration of all things simultaneously insane, horrific, and Disney-related comes “Toybox Series #3: Picture Book 1936,″ a 1934 Japanese propaganda cartoon by Komatsuzawa Hajime. https://gizmodo.com/vintage-disneyland-character-costumes-were-the-fabric-o-5912099 https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-mickey-mouse-gas-mask-from-world-war-ii-5888018 Like American propaganda of the era (1, 2), this animation also channeled Walt’s happy cartoon creations. Unlike those cartoons, this short featured Mickey…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar

Ditch Your Old Brown Bag for a Stylish Bento Box

Bringing your own grub to work will help you save money, but the dinky tupperware you carry it in isn’t exactly impressing anyone. Besides, you’re too old to use your Spiderman box from junior high. Stylish and cheerful, the Ojue Lunch Box ($46) is the grown-up version of your old lunch pail. The bento box…

Tech News Leslie Horn

Classic video game characters, drawn in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock art

Artist Jed Henry has taken famous characters from the video game console pantheon and reconfigured them as samurais on centuries-old Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The results are pretty clever — I’m liking how Mega Man’s defeated robot masters have become a cloud of oni. Henry’s not done with this series yet, as his next illustration…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

There are few things goofier than the girl from The Ring, kaiju-sized

To promote the upcoming installment of The Ring saga, Sadako 3D, advertisers have been driving a giant version of scary videotape girl Sadako Yamamura around the Shibuya neighborhood in Tokyo. Behold a movie monster that has absolutely no business being the size of an ice cream truck. To get slightly autobiographical for a moment, years…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The Psychedelic Japanese Cityscapes Of Decades Past

If older science fiction designs are any indicator, the city of today should look like a bundle of broken Christmas tree lights during the middle of a Peyote trip. Here’s a sampling of fantastic retrofuturistic metropolises and architecture by Japanese artists from the 1960s-1980s. Given our technological advances, there’s really no reason we shouldn’t all…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Japan’s Softbank Carrier Unveils Earthquake-Proof Floating Cell Towers

Even as Japan begins to emerge from the devastation from the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami, seismologists are predicting another 9.0 within the next four years. To protect its invaluable telecommunications network the next time around, Japanese carrier Softbank will deploy an emergency balloon network. Softbank is a major player among Japanese carriers, providing both internet…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

Holy heck, these Japanese hobbyists are building a 12-foot-tall pilotable mech

Microsoft Kinect has been used for some novel hacks, but this is straight out of Ghost In The Shell. Meet Vaudeville, a twelve-foot-tall, five-ton mecha that’s manipulated using Kinect, or that XBox peripheral commonly known for its embarrassing dance party games. https://gizmodo.com/every-office-needs-an-eye-of-sauron-to-boost-worker-mor-5784124 https://gizmodo.com/how-to-make-your-own-vigo-the-carpathian-painting-using-5854524 https://gizmodo.com/star-wars-kinect-includes-slave-bikini-leia-dance-off-c-5888547 A group of Tokyo mecha enthusiasts are building this imposing machine…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The ‘Jewel Caterpillar’ is the most bizarre-looking creature you’ll see this month

We live in a strange, beautiful, and often alien-looking world. Case in point: the crystal-clear Jewel Caterpillar of Central and South America, pictured here in all its translucent glory. This particular caterpillar (which is known more formally as Acraga Coa, and metamorphoses into this equally stunning orange moth) was spotted by photographer Gerardo Aispuru near…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This Real Transformer Toy Amazingly Shapeshifts on Its Own

One second the toy rolls up as a car, the next it’s automatically transformed itself into an upright fighting machine that can move around, tip toe and deliver uppercuts. It’s unbelievably awesome and it’s what every kid (and adult) should want for Christmas or their Birthday or any day, really. The toy was built by…

Tech News Casey Chan

Chain of tank-like fortresses would protect Japan from natural disasters and human enemies

These gloomy citadels are just a concept design, one that imagines a massive defense network that could surround and defend Japan. Using a chain of breakwaters and drainage channels, these fortresses would protect the coast from tsunamis, while serving as an added layer of defense for man-made threats to the islands. Victor Kopeikin and Pavlo…

io9 Lauren Davis

Lost Pet Parakeet Found Its Way Home By Telling the Police Its Home Address

Squawk! Birdie’s lost! Squawk! Take me home! In an amazing story of animal ingenuity, a lost pet parakeet found its way back to its owner by telling the police its full home address. The owner had trained the parakeet to squawk her address just in case the parakeet ever got lost. The bird, called Piko-chan,…

Biology Casey Chan

A Harley That Washed Up In Canada Will Be Returned To Japanese Tsunami Survivor

Here’s some news that will brighten your day. While strolling the sands of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii Islands, a beachcomber named Peter Mark recently found a Harley Davidson swept away in the Japan tsunami last March. He had no idea what had happened to the person it belonged to. But the story has a happy…

Tech News Leslie Horn

Harley Davidson Lost In Japan Tsunami Washes Up in Canada Fully Intact

About a week ago, a soccer ball that belonged to a 16-year-old survivor of the Japanese tsunami was returned to him, after it was discovered on the Alaskan coast. But a beachcomber in Canada has since stumbled across an even more fantastic find: A Harley, with all its parts in still place. https://gizmodo.com/japanese-tsunami-survivors-football-returned-via-the-a-5904234 Peter Mark…

Tech News Leslie Horn

What it’s like to tear down an abandoned Japanese highway on a motorbike

It’s The Walking Dead Gumball 3000! Like a real-life version of the short animated movie Ruin, this cameraman thought it would be a fun idea to tear ass down a derelict stretch of road in Japan as fast as possible. Nifty, albeit not advisable! https://gizmodo.com/this-post-apocalyptic-short-animation-deserves-its-own-5894011 Semi-related: Norway’s techno train. https://gizmodo.com/watch-a-7-hour-train-ride-through-norway-set-entirely-t-5689179 [Airamasked via Neatorama]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Everything you need to know about butts, farts, and Japanese water imps

This is what 200 tons of sardine carcasses look like

This Beach Is Made from the Blood and Bodies of 200 Tons of Dead Sardines

There Is Now a Phone That Combines Pantone and Radiation Detectors

Crazy Shoulder Robot Turns Your Friends Into Jiminy Cricket

Russia Will Build a Permanent Moon Base

When a vampire bootleg Mickey Mouse tried to invade Japan before World War II

Ditch Your Old Brown Bag for a Stylish Bento Box

Classic video game characters, drawn in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock art

There are few things goofier than the girl from The Ring, kaiju-sized

The Psychedelic Japanese Cityscapes Of Decades Past

Japan’s Softbank Carrier Unveils Earthquake-Proof Floating Cell Towers

Holy heck, these Japanese hobbyists are building a 12-foot-tall pilotable mech

The ‘Jewel Caterpillar’ is the most bizarre-looking creature you’ll see this month

This Real Transformer Toy Amazingly Shapeshifts on Its Own

Chain of tank-like fortresses would protect Japan from natural disasters and human enemies

Lost Pet Parakeet Found Its Way Home By Telling the Police Its Home Address

A Harley That Washed Up In Canada Will Be Returned To Japanese Tsunami Survivor

Harley Davidson Lost In Japan Tsunami Washes Up in Canada Fully Intact

What it’s like to tear down an abandoned Japanese highway on a motorbike

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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