World’s First Hedgehog Cafe Opens in Japan
Tokyo is now home to the world’s first hedgehog cafe, the latest in a long list of animal-themed establishments in the city. Located in the Roppongi entertainment district, the cafe is named ‘Harry’ – a play on the Japanese word for hedgehog. Hedgehogs aren’t native to Japan, but they’ve long since been sold as pets […]
Japanese Cafe Creates Delicious-Looking Salad Cakes to Make Dieting Less Depressing
Japanese food stylist Mitsuki Moriyasu is on a mission to prove that salads can look much better than they taste. Last year, she introduced the world to the concept of the ‘Vegiedeco Salad’, an exquisite preparation of vegetables made in the likeness of a cake. The hybrid dish was initially featured on the menu of […]
Caring Husband Creates Giant Scented Flower Garden to Make His Blind Wife Smile Again
Over 7,000 people visit this beautiful phlox moss garden in Shintomi Town, Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture on any given day in the months of March and April, drawn both by the beauty of this scented purple carpet and the touching story behind its very existence. The story of this popular tourist spot can be traced back to 1956, when […]
This Japanese Restaurant Serves the World’s Most Outrageous Dishes
Even if you’re into weird foods and like trying new and exciting things, you’ll still probably find the menu at this Japanese restaurant too hardcore. With dishes like cooked crocodile feet, grilled piranha and battered, deep-fried whole salamander, this place makes frog legs seem like baby food. Located in Yokohama’s Noge district, Chinju-ya (rare meat monger) Restaurant […]
Meet Tanu, the Japanese Raccoon Dog Taking the Internet by Storm
The internet is going crazy over photographs of Tanu, an adorable dog that belongs to a canine species called tanuki, also known as ‘Japanese raccoon dog’. Most Westerners mistake the tanuki for a raccoon or badger, but it is in fact a canine breed. Tanu became an internet celebrity after his owner, Twitter user @chibi_tori, started posting photographs of […]
Japanese Taxi Drivers Report ‘Ghost Passengers’ in Area Hit by 2011 Tsunami
In a chilling turn of events, some taxi drivers in Japan are claiming to have picked up ‘ghost passengers’ in the aftermath of the tsunami that devastated the nation in March 2011. As many as seven of the 100 drivers interviewed by Yuka Kudo, a student of sociology at Tohoku, admitted to having encountered phantom […]
Japanese Professionals Put on Full-Body Lycra Suits to Escape Pressure of Everyday Life
In a bid to de-stress and break free from the tensions of daily life, Japanese students and professionals are taking to a bizarre trend called ‘Zentai’. It’s a community consisting of people of all ages and walks of life, donning full-body lycra suits and meeting on internet forums, in clubs, at barbecue parties, and sometimes just on the […]
World’s Most Prolific Patent Holder Wants to Beat His Own Cancer by Inventing a Cure
Meet Yoshinari Nakamatsu, aka Dr. NakaMats, a prolific inventor and Japan’s very own ‘Patent King’. With over 3,500 patents to his name, the 87-year-old had no plans to retire – his dream was to live to the ripe old age of 144 and eventually produce at least 6,000 patents. Sadly, there’s a serious obstacle to […]
Japan Railways Allegedly Keeps Train Station Running for Just One Passenger
Last Friday, China’s CCTV News posted a heart-warming story on Facebook about how Japanese railway authorities are keeping a train station in a remote village open for the sake of only one passenger – a high school student. “The Kyu-Shirataki-Shirataki train station is located in Japan’s north island of Hokkaido,” the post read. “Three years […]
Japanese Fashion Designer Has Her 93-Year-Old Cool Grandma Model Her Creations
Meet Emiko, a supercool granny taking the Japanese fashion industry by storm. At age 93, she’s got the spunk and energy of a six-year-old, and she’s positively adorable as she models her granddaughter Chinami Mori’s colorful creations. Chinami is a fashion designer from Osaka, who specialises in Saori – a freestyle hand-weaving technique that produces playful, […]
Kamikatsu – Japan’s Aspiring Zero-Waste Town
We’ve heard many stories of individuals across the world who’ve adopted a zero-waste lifestyle, but it’s not often that we come across an entire community that is trying to become waste-free. The residents of Kamikatsu, Japan, take recycling so seriously that they actually hope to become the nation’s first zero-waste community by 2020. Kamikatsu has no garbage trucks […]
This Japanese Bookstore Only Stocks One Book at a Time
Japanese bookseller Yoshiyuki Morioka has come up with a highly unusual concept for a bookstore – he sells one book at a time in a tiny shop located in Ginza, Tokyo’s luxury shopping district. Ever since he launched the store in May, he has stocked multiple copies of only one title per week. You might argue […]
The Black Boiled Eggs of Owakudani – A Japanese Delicacy
Owakudani, also known as the ‘Great Boiling Valley’, is a large volcanic caldera that formed 3,000 years ago when Mount Hakone erupted. The explosion was so powerful that the area is still active with boiling pools of water and huge vents that expel steam and volcanic fumes of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. That hardly sounds […]
Japanese Company Bottles the Scent of a Cat’s Forehead
Japanese online retailer Felissimo specializes in all things feline, but they really seem to be in love with cat odor. So much so that they’re releasing their second cat-scented product this year! First they came out with a cat paw-scented cream earlier this year, and now they’re introducing a special fabric spray that carries the smell […]
Japanese Company Launches World’s First Washable Mobile Phone
It may look all shiny and new, but your smartphone is probably one of the filthiest things you own. The amount of bacteria and germs it carries is disgustingly huge, which is probably why a Japanese company is targeting germaphobes with the world’s first washable phone. The Snapdragon 410 processor, 5-inch android phone, called Digno […]