Kotakueast's posts - English uPOST

Brian Ashcraft Aug 16, 2019 at 18:00.

Diorama Theme Park Coming To Tokyo With Sailor Moon And Evangelion Miniatures

Like dioramas? In 2020, Small Worlds Tokyo will open. It is purported to be the world’s largest indoor diorama theme park.

Small Worlds Tokyo will have several areas, including Towns of the World, Kansai International Airport, Space Center, Sailor Moon, Tokyo, and Evangelion Neo-Tokyo 3.

Below is a preview of some of those dioramas.

Small Worlds Tokyo is slated to open next spring.

Brian Ashcraft Aug 16, 2019 at 17:00. 1 comments

Square Enix Hit With More Death Threats, Cancels Game Tournaments

Arcades Crime Japan Kotakueast Square Enix

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Starting this weekend, there was supposed to be events for mecha arcade game Starwing Paradox at four cities across Japan. Those events have been canceled due to death threats.

According to an official Square Enix...

1 Comments

Martin Drkos Aug 16, 2019 at 17:44

These children making death threats need to have their toys taken away.

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Seung Park Aug 16, 2019 at 15:00.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Bangkok

k-pop Kotakueast metapost South Korea Soyou

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Oh, will you look at that: I spend the majority of a column bemoaning the loss of Sistar’s summer songs, and bam, one of its former members comes out with a bangin’ summer song.

Soyou has built up quite the solo...

Seung Park Aug 15, 2019 at 15:00.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Yes I Am

k-pop Kotakueast Mamamoo metapost South Korea

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned to count on with MAMAMOO, it’s that they will always keep things interesting in K-Pop land.

This four-member girl group has always marched to the beat of their own drum since...

Brian Ashcraft Aug 14, 2019 at 16:51.

Pokémon Manholes Installed Across Japan

game freak Japan Kotakueast Pokemon

Japanese cities and towns across the country have their own manhole designs. Each one is unique and reflects the local culture, history or beauty. Fittingly, the country now has Pokémon manholes.

Earlier this year, the city of Ibusuki unveiled a series of Eevee theme manholes. Here was what the city’s typical manholes look like:

They’re pretty nice! But check out the Eevee ones:

Why does...

Seung Park Aug 14, 2019 at 15:00. 2 comments

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Tiki-Taka

k-pop Kotakueast metapost South Korea Weki Meki

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

This year’s neverending summer seems, well, neverending. Maybe that’s why Weki Meki is releasing the season’s best warm-weather bop in the middle of August.

I haven’t been very impressed with this year’s roster of...

2 Comments

Murderlin Aug 14, 2019 at 18:00

aesthetic goals

sploolps Aug 14, 2019 at 16:32

Love Weki Meki

Crush was fantastic (by both I.O.I. and Weki Meki)

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Brian Ashcraft Aug 09, 2019. 9 comments

Excellent Cosplay Heats Up Summertime In Japan

Cosplay Japan Kotakueast Tokyo

It’s August! That means two things: First, the weather is hot; second, it’s time for some great Comic Market cosplay.

The bi-annual event is underway, with cosplayers showing off their creative creations. This year’s stuff is particularly great! The photos are terrific, too.

Comiket 96 runs from August 9 to August 12 and is being held at Tokyo Big Sight.

9 Comments

Dinky Earnshaw Aug 09, 2019

I can’t even imagine being in that Totoro costume in the summer heat. If you ever gone up to the attic during the summer in Texas, you’ll never want to do it again.

Peter P. Aug 09, 2019

OH GOD. Me neither. Texas heat is shit . And if you’re in Houston, dealing with that humidity? That’s a death wish.

crann777 Aug 09, 2019

If it’s based on Adam Savage’s design, it’s actually relatively roomy inside and you can probably add a couple of fans to circulate the air if necessary.

Ciaran Aug 09, 2019

These are great!

What are some good events for cosplay spotting in japan? Cause I went to a couple of events in Tokyo and didn’t see a lot of cosplay. Heck, I went to a cosplay specific event held in the park around tokyo dome and it was mosly store bought MHA cospl ays all around, mostly younger kids.

On a related note, I tried doing the zoro ‘hold sword with teeth’ thing when I was yonger, and boy, it wasn’t plesant...

jesterspawn Aug 09, 2019

“You wanna know how I got these scars?...”

Redcavalier Aug 10, 2019

Comiket is probably the best. There’s also wonderfest among other big cosplay events . Personally I used to go to odekake raibu fairly regularly when I was living in Sapporo. It’s a series of monthly cosplay events happening in several cities, I believe.

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Seung Park Aug 09, 2019.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Fantasy

k-pop Kotakueast metapost Pink Fantasy South Korea

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Pink Fantasy’s latest song, Fantasy, gives me some serious Dreamcatcher-esque , anime-opening vibes. Which is to say: I love it.

This eight-member girl group debuted in 2018 with Iriwa, which was composed and...

Brian Ashcraft Aug 08, 2019. 18 comments

Beware Of Fake Retro Games

Japan Kotakueast Nintendo Retro Snes super famicom

While fake retro games are certainly not new, now is a good a time as any for a reminder to watch out when shopping.

In the past few years, more and more retro games have been sold in Japan via e-commerce sites Mercari and Yahoo! Auctions. Twitter user Jabberlooper cautioned that many phony versions of rare games are being sold this way and that quality of the fakes is getting better and...

18 Comments

Project89 Aug 08, 2019

I hate scummy sellers that try to pass of repros as the genuine article. I’ve come across more and more instances of this online and in brick and mortar retro game stores in the last couple of years. Always ask to see the PCB and compare it to images on NesCartDB. Once , I almost spent $100 on a copy of Panic Restaurant (NES) online that was surely a fake. I was temporarily blinded by the prospect of finding one in the wild until I decided to check the seller’s history and feedback. Even though the seller had 100% positive feedback, there were some giant red flags, 12 of them in fact. As in he had recently sold 12 copies of the game. I asked the seller point blank if this was real or a reproduction. He assured me that it was real. I asked to see a picture of the PCB and he never responded.

greyman Aug 08, 2019

My son has run into this sort of thing while trying to find a handful of old Zelda and Mario GB and GBA carts on the Amazon Marketplace.

In one instance t he game that shipped was clearly not the one the seller had posted pictures of, and about ten seconds of inspection proved them out as forgeries.

To their credit, I guess, in two out of three cases he’s seen this the sellers were quick to offer full refunds and one of them even sent us some potential contacts for where to find the legit games. I’d almost be willing to say they didn’t realize they bought a fake in the first place. In the third case (the one with the fake photos) the seller told us a refund was on its way but never processed it. We had to go through Amazon’s fraud claims system, which took forever.

notmotivatedenough Aug 08, 2019

I know this is beside your point, but doesn’t finding something “ in the wild” mean you come across it in person, at a store or flea market or garage sale, as opposed to acquiring it online?

crews200 Aug 08, 2019

Selling them as real legit copies is a true dirtbag move. But if they are selling them at dirt cheap prices, I’m not going to complain. You see a lot of them on eBay these days . Especially for US N64 carts. I have yet to buy one only because I’m weary that they will actually work. I might try one sooner than later. Goldeneye and/or MarioKart for $20 isn’t a bad deal. And if it doesn’t work it’s not a bad reminder as to why you don’t buy these for the future.

Mackleless Aug 08, 2019

Y eah like if your goal is to play, and maybe display, then getting cheaper carts sounds like a score. But I get how it could suck for collectors.

ZweiNor Aug 08, 2019

Yeah, as long as it’s cheap, who cares? I saw someone on twitter make this argument too. He wanted to buy a zelda game, and he went for a repros. People were bashing the choice, but as long as it works, and he bought it to use it, who cares?

View all 18 comments

Seung Park Aug 08, 2019.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Cherries Jubiles

k-pop Kotakueast metapost South Korea Yukika

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Yukika first popped up on my radar as the artist behind the lovely, city pop-esque throwback Neon . Cherries Jubiles may sound a bit more pedestrian at first, but stick around; there’s a payoff.

The payoff being,...

Brian Ashcraft Aug 07, 2019. 7 comments

Sex Toy Maker Proves You Can Buy Nearly Anything From A Japanese Vending Machine

Japan Kotakueast Tenga Vending Machines

While the vast majority of vending machines in Japan sell drinks, there have been examples of a wide variety of goods offered ranging from bananas to books. Now there is a new vending machine selling masturbatory aids.

Sex toy maker Tenga has been clever about how it brands itself. Last year, for example, it released a Transformers-style Tenga toy and prior to that it created its own Power...

7 Comments

Kspraydad Aug 07, 2019

I really enjoy hearing about Japan and the vending machine culture.

Whats the background though...why are they so ubiquitous and basically non existent in other cultures?

Mud's Not Yer Buddy, Pal Aug 07, 2019

Everything else closes early.

They’re only source of light for kilometers.

Money under a tenner is all coins and they’re heavy.

Great to lean against when you nearly pass out in a drunken stupor.

Where else you gonna get a can of corn potage?

wohdin Aug 07, 2019

It’s part structural and part cultural. Extremely limited space overall means that if you can effectively replace a whole corner store with a few vending machines (and save money in the process), it’s a no-brainer to do it. If you can avoid having to interact with strangers by using a vending machine instead of going into a store, that’s the preferable option for the OVERWHELMING majority of Japanese people.

mystic headlock Aug 07, 2019

So what’s the deal, people put those up their butts? Do they have any for beginners? Those seem a little heroic.

Joe the Tech Aug 07, 2019

I could be wrong, but I think those are more like Fleshlight s.

Probably Redundant Comment Aug 08, 2019

I’m not exactly sure why, but your comment sparked a couple minutes of hard laughter.

I think it’s partially the assumption of assplay and the wording of “people put those up their butts?”

Either way. Thanks.

View all 7 comments

Brian Ashcraft Aug 06, 2019. 6 comments

Yokohama Train Station Covered With Pikachus

Japan Kotakueast Pikachu Pokemon

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Each summer, a “Pikachu Outbreak” event is held in Yokohama. It features marching and dancing Pikachus. This year’s event not only featured the sights of Pikachu, but also the sounds.

Sakuragicho Station, the adjacent...

6 Comments

ninjagin Aug 06, 2019

Oooh yeah ...

They won’t hurt you as long as you leave strategically placed bottles of ketchup around to distract them.

techinsanity2011 Aug 06, 2019

Okay, explain the top picture. (those look too small for a human to fit inside, unless they’re either short people, or children)

PouncePounce Aug 06, 2019

Computer rendered

uyarndog Aug 06, 2019

This year’s Pikachu Outbreak goes from August 6 to August 12.

Unfortunately , we’re still years away from an effective topical cream being available to the public. Over-the-counter suppositories are, however, on sale now at your local grocery store or apothecary of choice. Remember, only you can help prevent the spread of the yearly Pikachu Out break.

SOCdriver Aug 07, 2019

They have stations set up at 7-11 and Family Mart to help detect the early signs of Pickachu Outbreak in you. They all sell the preventative suppositories.

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Seung Park Aug 06, 2019.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Hit

k-pop Kotakueast metapost Seventeen South Korea

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Seventeen’s latest, Hit, is a powerful, thumping, anthem-esque banger of a song that deserves a spot on many a workout playlist and gym soundtrack.

The chants at 2:35 are especially motivational, and it doesn’t...

Brian Ashcraft Aug 05, 2019. 4 comments

Japanese News Station Apologizes After Misquote About Kyoto Animation Fire Victim

Anime Japan Kotakueast Kyoto Kyoto animation

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Fuji TV, one of Japan’s largest television networks, has apologized after an unfortunate misquote that called director Yasuhiro Takemoto an “idiot.” Takemoto was one of the victims of last month’s tragic Kyoto Animation...

4 Comments

Toshi Aug 06, 2019

Someone might have inserted that on purpose to be a jerk. You never know. I f eel like you can’t just “accidentally” do something like that.

LineupHitters Aug 06, 2019

“I feel like you can’t just “accidentally” do something like that.”

Actually, that’s exactly how Freudian slips work. You do something like that completely by accident/unintentionally. I have definitely meant to type one word while getting distracted and accidentally typing in a different one. Fortunately, my mistakes didn’t end up on a national broadcast about a tragedy.

Toshi Aug 08, 2019

That’s a fair point. I’ve done that too. Didn’t think about that.

KataStrofy91 Aug 06, 2019

Doubt it’s just a typo. At least on a Windows computer, Aho only needs 2 button presses (A+Ho) and Tensai needs at least 4 (4 to type it out, and 1 or 2 to convert it to Kanji, Te+N(+N) +Sa+I, spacebar to pull up a popup with word-selections, press up/down till you find the correct kanji)

View all 4 comments

Brian Ashcraft Aug 02, 2019. 10 comments

If Only This Pikachu Painting Was Pokémon Card Material

Japan Kotakueast Pokemon

Gomi Kuzu Tarou is a talented artist. He recently did a painting of Pikachu, but he says he hasn’t heard back from the Pokémon people.

Hachima reports that submissions were accepted with the winning art being turned into cards. Here are said winners.

I guess his painting wasn’t picked because it’s freaky.

Then again, so are the paintings that he usually does.

While it’s unlikely, I really...

10 Comments

ArmosKnight Aug 02, 2019

I love it. I only ever collected the cards as a kid because I liked the pictures. And while at the time I sort of brushed off non-Sugimori artwork, it’s exactly the weird takes on Pokemon that I appreciate a lot more these days. The little plasticine models were especially cool! Can’t remember the artist’s name, but she’s featured in my “Art of Pokemon TCG” book.

AddaDaDaDa Aug 03, 2019

Oh yes! Those little 3D model ones that look like they’re either made with plastic figures or clay? *chef kiss* Fabulous. I also really like the cards that form a panoramic scene when you put them together.

gokartmozart Aug 03, 2019

Pika chub.

gokartmozart Aug 03, 2019

The color pallet reminds me of Fernando Botero’s works. If you don’t know who that is, you may still be familiar with at least one of his paintings that found a second life as a meme 4 decades after it was created:

Constant Colors Aug 03, 2019

It’s more akin to northern ren aiss ance art styles with those extreme contrasts in light and dark and the odd chunkiness of everything.

But I agree that the colors have a strong Spanish influence.

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Brian Ashcraft Aug 02, 2019. 12 comments

Publisher Of Satoru Iwata Book Says Unauthorized Translations Will Be Subject To Criminal Charges

Japan Kotakueast Satoru Iwata

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

A collection of Iwata Asks interviews done by former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was recently published in the book Iwata-san. The book is in Japanese, and there are talks about doing official translations.

The book is...

12 Comments

wohdin Aug 02, 2019

Honestly, just saying this out loud is kind of like asking for someone to do it, so I don’t understand the impetus behind this statement at all. Then again, if you don’t want anyone to make a fan translation, the best way to avoid that is to just immediately publish an official one, so... maybe hurry it up? :shrug:

AddaDaDaDa Aug 03, 2019

Yes, my contrarian disposition immediately demanded that I buy this book and do a crappy Google translation version. I won’t do it because I’m lazy, but I did think about it for a moment.

Someone’s definitely going to translate this anyway though, even with the silly criminal charges associated with distributing a fan translation.

Taliesin_Merlin Aug 02, 2019

“In the meantime,” the official site continues, “please note that translating this book into any languages for public distribution is a clear violation of copyright and will be subject to criminal charges. We ask for your understanding.”

Of course. Distributing a translation publicly without their approval would be like piracy. If it has been five or ten years and there are no signs of releasing a copy in a language , then perhaps the ethical stakes will be low enough that it will be okay, and of course if someone is translating for their personal use or under fair use, more power to them. Otherwise, of course Itoi and his company should protect their work.

Lenny Valentin Aug 02, 2019

Translating an entire book would never constitute fair use under any circumstance. That’s not how fair use works.

Taliesin_Merlin Aug 02, 2019

Yes.

So if someone is translating under fair use, they obviously aren’t translating the entire work. As someone who knows fair use, that should have been clear to you.

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Brian Ashcraft Aug 01, 2019. 5 comments

The Nintendo Live Gaming Expo Will Be This October In Kyoto

Japan Kotakueast Kyoto Nintendo Nintendo Live Nintendo Live 2019 Kyoto

This October, Nintendo will once again hold a dedicated game expo in Kyoto, Japan. It’s called Nintendo Live 2019 Kyoto.

Last year’s event was called Nintendo Live 2018 Tokyo and was held in, wait for it, Tokyo.

The expo will have game tournaments, stage events and playable demos of new games. Included in the stage events are a Splatoon music show and a Super Mario Maker 2 stage show with the...

5 Comments

Ciaran Aug 02, 2019

Tried reading through the site, but my kanji is not up for it yet...

Are tickets on sale already? And how much?

Finally a gaming event I might be able to attend, it took me 30 YEARS!

Papigiulio Aug 02, 2019

It doesn’ t mention anywhere about fees, so maybe we can assume its free entry?

Papigiulio Aug 02, 2019

Found it:

出場・入場に料金はかかりますか？

各大会への出場、会場への入場は無料です。各会場への交通費は出場者、来場者のご負担となります。

Entry is free!

OtakuMan24 Aug 02, 2019

This ought to be good! Arino-Kacho and Hamaguchi-san have been doing things on Nintendo’s YouTube channel for a while now, and it’s always been a hoot to watch.

Here, we have Arino-Kacho given a chance to make a course for Hamaguchi-san to play through.

And right after that, we see Hamaguchi-san play through Arino-Kacho’s stage.

Those two have been fooling around with it for a while now.

Seeing their shenanigans live ought to be a treat

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Seung Park Aug 01, 2019. 1 comments

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Happiness

k-pop Kotakueast metapost RED VELVET South Korea

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

This week marks the fifth anniversary of one of my favorite contemporary K-Pop groups, Red Velvet. They arrived on the scene with Happiness in 2014. (Where does the time go?)

Red Velvet’s debut wasn’t the...

1 Comments

snafu Aug 01, 2019

While this is a total banger and I love RV, I’m still wondering where the fuck f(x) is at?? It’s their 10th anniversary, SM should let them out of purgatory for that, right?

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Brian Ashcraft Jul 31, 2019. 24 comments

Glitch Reveals Popular Young Streamer Is A Middle-Aged Woman

China Internet Kotakueast

Qiaobiluo Dianxia, also known as “Your Highness Qiaobiluo,” was racking up followers and donations on DouYu, a Chinese live-streaming platform. The photos she uploaded and the short clips she posted showed a young woman, leading her growing number of fans to think this was her. It was not.

Here are some of the photos Qiaobiluo uploaded, leading to those assumptions:

As noted by Asia One,...

24 Comments

Velduanga Jul 31, 2019

Your Highness Qiaobiluo ended up getting an outpouring of support after the incident, racking up well over half a million followers and becoming the most-searched streamer on DouYu.

What is this I’m feeling... it feel s familiar. Is this... faith in humanity? No, that can’t be right. I thought my soul was drained of that years ago.

chronoboy Jul 31, 2019

Don’t worry, I’m sure they just follow her ironically.

Krag Jul 31, 2019

Faith in humanity? It sounds like she lied to get money.

jonnewtu3 Jul 31, 2019

Not gonna lie, I lost it at “becoming a rapper”. Live the dream Granny Q.

chronoboy Jul 31, 2019

You say that, but have you heard any Chinese rap? It’s not the most audibly pleasant language. Try Chinese opera and you’ll know what I mean.

eresa Jul 31, 2019

i went YES GET THAT FAME GRANNY at that part.

View all 24 comments

Seung Park Jul 31, 2019.

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Summer Night

Gray k-pop Kotakueast metapost South Korea

Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

As we close the book on July and move into August, it’s important to remember that autumn—and its welcome respite from the oppressive summer heat—is still almost two months away. The only thing to do, therefore,...

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