On November 19th in the early morning, former professional women’s wrestler (and head of Marvelous women’s pro-wrestling) Chigusa Nagayo was involved in a physical altercation after intervening when she saw a man in his twenties physically assaulting his wife, Sankei News reports. While walking through the streets of Sapporo, Nagayo (53) heard cries of help emanating from the third floor of a parking structure. When she rushed to the scene she found a man straddling a woman and grabbing a hold of her leg and neck, with the woman’s personal belongs strewn about the floor. Nagayo called the police, but says she was concerned about how long they would take…

You may remember super talented Japanese university student and papercraft art enthusiast @02ESyRaez4VhR2l (Haruki), who just last month impressed Twitter and even garnered national television coverage in Japan for his awesome reconstruction of an empty Pringles can into a dapper figure of Julius Pringles, the Pringles mascot. If you need a refresher, here’s the original. プリングルズの空箱で工作しました！#papercraft#packingart pic.twitter.com/l8Wx38MXt0 — 晴季 (@02ESyRaez4VhR2l) 2018年10月16日 Now Haruki has outdone himself a group of five Pringles gentleman (from orginal, sour cream and onion, salt and vinegar, bbq, and honey mustard if you’re counting) that are so colorful and lively posed, they could double as a potato chip themed boy band or Japanese sentai superhero group!…

McDonald’s Japan is no stranger to getting inventive with sauces when it comes to spicing up their menu, perhaps most notably with chocolate sauce covered fries. The fast food chain’s popular chicken nuggets have also found themselves dipped in adventurous flavors, as seen recently with the Adult Wasabi Mayonnaise and Naughty Teriyaki Mayonnaise and legitimately spicy K.O. chicken nugget sauces. Now it appears McDonald’s Japan is fancying up their chicken nuggets for the holiday season, announcing larger 15-piece chicken nuggets sets coupled with Merry Christmas Steak Sauce and Happy New Year Lobster Mayo Sauce for a discounted price of 390 yen! 来週のきょうは #勤労感謝の日 😉働き者のみなさんに…クリスマスとお正月をプレゼントしちゃいます👍せーの… #アゲましておめでメリクリ ✨😁✨🎉 #チキンマックナゲット は11/21(水)から #15ピース390円 💥…

It’s hard to express the joy of living with a pet unless you actually have one, but Japanese illustrator and bunny lover Schinako (@schinako) may be doing as great a job as possible with her charming artwork. In her illustrations, Schinako shows some of the simple pleasures that these adorable and fascinating animals can bring to daily activities such as cooking, reading, or simply relaxing around the house. In her profile, she writes that she loves drawing “the happiness of bunny and bunny lovers”, and her delightful art style captures that perfectly. Source: Schinako The Fukushima based artist clearly understands the curious and affectionate nature of rabbits (inspired by her…

Anime fans looking for an iconic series themed restaurant and bar who missed a chance to say “See you, space cowboy” at the awesome Cowboy Bebop-themed cafe will have another shot this year. Starting this week, a Neon Genesis Evangelion bar will be opening up in the Ikebukuro neighborhood of Tokyo, complete with a menu of Japanese pub food and beverages inspired by characters and scenes from the mega popular anime series! Similar to how the Cowboy Bebop cafe teamed up with Animate, the Evangelion bar and restaurant is a collaboration with 46 Shokudo, which regularly hosts anime-themed restaurant events. The Evangelion Sakaba (Evangelion drinking spot) is actually an izakaya,…

If songs like the one below give you fond memories, it may mean that you’re an anime fan who enjoyed the soundtracks of Dragon Ball Z episode and movie dubs. It also now means that you’re listening to music composed by a recently elected United States Senator in Texas. Nathan Johnson (Democrat), known to anime fans as a composer for five Dragon Ball Z film dubs a multitude of episodes as well, defeated Republican incumbent Don Huffines to claim a Texas senate seat on Election Day Tuesday with 54.1% of the vote. While that may be the headline for Dragon Ball Z fans, Johnson’s resume more significantly includes providing pro-bono…

It’s October. The colors of autumn are expected to give us that magical image of Japanese sceneries, yet what does the weather surprise us with? From Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, 354 people across 39 prefectures have reported seeing cherry blossoms blooming, the Weather News reported. According to a survey, which collected responses from all over Japan from 10,940 people, the blooms started around October 9 and reached a peak October 12-14. Written by Japan ForwardThe continuation of this article can be read on the “Japan Forward” site.Cherry Blossoms in Autumn: Japan Weather Expert Explains ‘Surprise’ Sight

The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage, made by Cygames and Bandai Namco Studios for the Mobage mobile social network platform, is a free-to-play simulation game for smart phones where you manage the career of a producer interacting with and training Japanese pop idols on their road to success. The game’s latest function takes interaction a step further by allowing players to use AR to insert their favorite idol character into the real world. デレステARで夢が叶いました。方々の皆様、本当にすみません。#デレステ #デレステAR #橘ありす pic.twitter.com/iBAKyYhnLW — こうや (@ky_gtr) 2018年9月7日 The characters are customizable with a variety of different costumes and impressive 3D modeling (after setting a waypoint in you local vicinity for the idol to appear, you can…

Japan’s sexy daikon radish meme is now a huggable waifu pillow with green grocer clothing Japanese online retailer Felissimo made internet waves several months ago when they added a very peculiar item to the comedic and eccentric lineup of their YOU+MORE! series (a play on the pronunciation of “humor” in Japanese), a cuddly pillow version of a sexy daikon radish. Before being turned into an oversized cushion, the sexy daikon radish actually got its start as a popular meme on Japanese social media, when users would post pictures of daikon radishes that appear to be suggestively crossing their “legs”. View this post on Instagram Sachikoさん(@staregirl325)がシェアした投稿 – 2018年 1月月23日午前6時20分PST View this…

Just when we thought we had seen the ultimate in Japanese summer feline fashion with cat-motif yukata, it turns out there is a purrfect pair for it in the form of cat-shaped traditional Japanese sandals, allowing cat-lovers to show off their fondness for kitties in style. Source: PR Times The three-piece series of cute cat sandals come courtesy of Nara-based geta (traditional Japanese elevated sandals) and footwear maker Narageta, and are called the Nyarageta–a pun combining the maker’s name with the Japanese word for “meow” (“Nya”). Narageta produces a variety of geta designs, combining traditional aesthetics and technique with modern technology for foot comfort and mobility. The Nyarageta are said…

Premium Bandai has no qualms about making giant and sometimes unwieldy novelty items, such as the humongous Snorlax pillow that Japanese people had hilarious trouble with fitting into their homes. Fortunately, their latest hit is something for you to fit it–well, your head anyways. They’ve introduced a personal head bed that simulates being sucked up by Nintendo’s Kirby! The product was designed to answer the question “What would it be like to be sucked up by Kirby?” Well, the personal head space doesn’t steal and replicate your abilities, but it comes equipped with a comfy pillow to hopefully take away your waking hours. You simply insert your head into the…

Dumplings, pot-stickers, or gyoza as they are known in Japan–call them whatever you want, but they’re delicious and a surprising amount of cooking styles make them a meal or side snack for drinking sessions that foodies never tire of. And while Japan boasts a nearly endless supply of great restaurants that offer a variety of different types of gyoza waiting to be eaten, this weekend Nakano’s Forest of Four Seasons Park is hosting the 2018 Gyoza Festival–where dumpling fans can try out 12 different types of delicious gyoza and other treats! Running from October 31st to November 11th, the 2018 Gyoza Festival is conveniently located in the Forest of Four…

You may know Sanrio icon Hello Kitty as cute and cuddly cat mascot with enough merchandising power to have her own shinkansen bullet train in Japan, but DJ Hello Kitty plays by a different set of rules. The official Sanrio character made her debut back in 2010, and ever since she’s been spinning at clubs and events around the world. DJ HELLO KITTY#SPOOKYPUMPKIN2018 #ピューロアンバサダー pic.twitter.com/RBWQ8pt1Ec — かえるのはっぱ@ピューロ (@kaeru_no_happa) 2018年10月28日 And while you might expect that when she turned up at the Spooky Pumpkin Puro All Night Halloween Party event at Sanrio Puroland, a family theme park dedicated to Hello Kitty and similar character, a run-of-the-mill and perhaps wholesome performance to…

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of strolling through the Japanese countryside, you’ve likely been treated to a smorgasbord of sights, sounds, and even scents that can sometimes make it seem as if you’ve been spirited away by nature. Some of the most rewarding finds, however, aren’t in plain sight. Collector, photographer, and nature enthusiast sakanakudo helps shine a light on those hidden wonders by taking pictures of the tiny ecosystems inside Japanese drainage pipes: miniature gardens and animal homes! Source: @sakanakudo Source: @sakanakudo Sloping walls and structures such as these are found everywhere in hilly areas of Japan, and are meant to retain soil and mud from overflowing into…

With the amount of adorable animals commanding attention on the internet each day, it usually takes some particular features to truly stand out–such as this cat pulling off a perfect Demogorgon from Stranger Things Halloween costume, or a super stubborn Shiba who decides when a walk starts and stops. Japanese Twitter user and manga artist @boblim1204 may have found a worthy candidate while exploring the Inokashira Park Zoo, and shared this now viral picture of an “extremely sexy squirrel.” 今日リス園にも行ったけどむっちゃセクシーなリス撮れた pic.twitter.com/pbK8uWIUNO — ぼぶ (@boblim1204) 2018年10月9日 Of course, while it’s simply a timely capture of a squirrel accidentally cupping its chest fur into a suggestive shape, Twitter users found themselves smitten…