By now you must be familiar with Engrish… the act of Japanese people and companies trying to use English when they don’t have a full understanding of the words. Using English words in everyday life, especially on signs is a popular practice all over Japan and Asia.

Unfortunatly, this Chinese restaurant learned the hard way that you should never trust a computer translated result 100%. When trying to translate their name into English, the server obviously was having a bad day. Im sure the restaurant owner had a worse day after learning about his error.

Via Boing Boing.

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Technorati Tags chinese restaurant, engrish, translate server error, translator

I had the craving for sushi a few nights ago, but never made it out. But Mona came to the rescue with her Lego Sushi find. It didn’t satisfy my hunger, but it definitely made me smile.

The lego sushi is very well done, and features your popular varieties including different maki, and nigiri rolls. My favorites are the Ebi (shrimp), and the ikura roe. Who would of thought to make sushi out of legos!

Nelson’s Flickr stream via Mona’s FriendFeed.

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Technorati Tags lego maki, lego nigiri, lego sushi, lego sushi pictures, sushi, sushi pictures

A new Dragonball movie post was released by the Sankei Shimbun paper which shows the lead actor Justin Chatwin standing in Goku’s trademark orange gi. The Kanji on the poster literally means “The legend comes to life.”

Also you may notice the opening date worldwide on the bottom. We shall be seeing the Dragonball movie on March 13, 2009. So mark your calanders and be the first in line or else your sitting in the closest seats to the screen. And we all hate that.

Via Anime News Network and Bakaism.

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Technorati Tags dragon ball, dragon ball movie pictures, dragonball movie, dragonball movie pictures, dragonball pictures, justin chatwin

Sankei Newspaper’s entertainment website ZakZak has awarded Yuko Ogura their first ever Gravure Idol Award on July 17th, 2008. Some may consider her a non tradition choice because usually popular gravure idols have a large chest. So its a pleasant change to see that you can have normal and realistic porportions and still be popular in the saturated Japanese gravure scene.

Yuko Ogura is a 24 year old actress, singer, and of course idol from Mobara, Chiba prefecture. She commonly goes by her nickname Yukorin. She is best known for singing the ending theme, Onnanoko♥Otokonoko (Girls♥Boys).

Via J-List.

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Technorati Tags best idol, gravure idol, idol, idol award, idol queen, japanese gravure idol, japanese idol, yuko ogura, zakzak, ゆうこりん, 小倉 優子

With the success Viz Media has had with the Death Note, and Bleach movies this year in the states, they have taken the next step and formed a movie production company called Viz Prods.

What this means is that we will no doubt start to see a lot of the anime and Japanese titles their parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Hakusensha have access to. Great news if your a fan of titles such as Linda Linda Linda, and Kamakaze Girls, and Maiko Haaaan!!! that Viz Media has already released.

Via Variety.

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Technorati Tags death note, movies, production company, viz, viz media, VIZ Prods. bleach

Japan has a history that dates back for millennia. However, for the normal person, it may be hard to get a glimpse of what life was like during even the most recent centuries.

Old Photos of Japan is one way to see how people dressed and lived during 1860 to 1930. Photography was brand new, and everyone around the world were taking the first pictures exposing life as we know it to those that lived far away. Their photos span the Meiji (1868-1912), Taisho (1912-1926), and the Showa (1926-1989) periods.

You can also license the photos, and send them as e-cards to your friends and family. Check out Old Photos of Japan to get a unique look into traditional life in Japan.

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Technorati Tags classic photos, japan photos, meiji period, old japanese photos, old photos, old photos of japan, showa period, taisho period

Well you may remember the Rockstar Bento Boxes. This time, I have bento boxes from the Dragon Ball anime. I could not find the source of these images, only a Youtube clip with screenshots of all the boxes, so if anyone knows the original Japanese source, please leave a comment!

Krillin

Oolong

Master Roshi

Garlic Jr.

Bulma & Krillin

Read the rest of this post

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Technorati Tags bento boxes, dragonball, dragonball bento, dragonball bento boxes, dragonball gt, dragonball z, gohan, goku, krillin

During my visit to the UK in 2003, I discovered so much I like about that country. I was instantly attracted to the music like UK Grime, and Bhangra due to the clever lyrics and strong, unique beats. Food-wise, I’m still trying to find a source of Walker’s Crisps here in the states 5 years after I returned. And the best thing about the UK is British TV. Among the great TV shows from the UK, Top Gear has to be one of my favorites.

You really don’t have to be interested in cars to find Top Gear interesting. The show answers questions normal people have about really expensive super cars. Like, can a Mitsubishi EVO really beat a Lamborghini Murcielago?

While I was working on a few projects today, Travis Parsons posted a link on FriendFeed showing an interesting clip from Top Gear. Now, Top Gear’s version of a race usually involves traveling across Africa in a classic, tiny, beater, car, or racing an actual plane. So when you take a grop of crazy car enthusiast, and travel to Japan, what do you race? Of course you race the fastest moving structure in Japan… the Bullet Train.

Visit youtube for parts 2 - 4.

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Technorati Tags british tv, bullet train, Japan, nissan gtr r35, race, top gear, uk

The Japan / Otaku blog scene now has a new way to prank our friends online!

Heavyweights in the English Japan-focused blog scene Danny, Hector, and James have teamed up to create a Rick Roll video appropriately known as the Tokyo Stormtrooper RickRoll’d video!

Every April 1st (April fools day), it has becoming an internet trend to trick your friends into watching the Rick Astley hit video, Never Gonna Give You Up. Most people send a link to the video disguised as something else, and after you watch it, you have officially been Rick Rolled. Click here for more info on Rick Rolling.

So now go spread the world, and you have just been officially Tokyo Rick Rolled!

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQ0QNi2CzA

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Technorati Tags april 1st, darth vadar, rick astley, rick roll, rick rolling, stormtrooper rick roll, tokyo rick roll, tokyo stormtrooper rick roll

Who wouldn’t want to win to win a trip to Japan? No, I can’t afford to send you there myself, but Shonen Jump is holding a contest for their 40th anniversary to send one lucky winner!

Who’s Shonen Jump? If you know Naruto, Dragon Ball, Bleach, Slam Dunk, Rurouni Kenshin, and One Piece, you should know them! They are behind some of the greatest manga artist and stories the community has ever seen.

In the August issue of Shonen Jump, they are giving away a collectable poster along with the chance to an all expense paid trip to Japan to attend Jump Festa. Check out the official contest page to find out how to enter. You must be 13 years or older, contest ends October 15th, 2008.

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Technorati Tags japan contest, japan travel, jump festa, shonen jump, trip to japan, win a trip to japan

Nintendo revealed some awesome news for the Nintendo DS fans. Coming this winter, we shall see Grand Theft Auto on the Nintendo DS in the form of Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars. Not only is this the first Grand Theft Auto game set on the Nintendo DS, but it’s also the first GTA game to be set in an Asian theme.

Not much is known about this release other than the fact that, like Grand Theft Auto games, it will have some sort of free-range gameplay. With the fact that the DS has built in WiFi, we may be even seeing a multi-player component to GTA Chinatown Wars. Look for it this winter!

Updated with corrections now that more websites have been reporting on the new game.

Via Multiplayers.

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Technorati Tags grand theft auto, grand theft auto chinatown wars, gta china, gta chinatown, gta chinatown wars, nintendo ds

Bandai Japan has created this tiny robot that actually has characteristics of a real crab. It belongs to the Hex Bug line of Bandai, a line of toys that behave like the real life creature.

When you turn on the crab robot, it will run sideways just like a real crab. If you make a noise in front of the approaching crab, it will change direction. (the video below was done on a slick table, so the robot doesn’t change direction very well). Also, if the robot senses its under a protected area, it will try to hide there. The attention to detail is amazing.

Via Gizmodo.

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Technorati Tags bandai, crab robot, hex bug