If you love Japanese Idols and J-Pop, but feel like there isn’t enough spandex and wrestling, then Up-Up Girls Wrestling is here for you! Up-Up Girls wrestling is both an idol group and a pro-wrestling group, and performs in the Tokyo Budokan. They made their official debut on January 4, 2018, represented by members Miu, Hinano, Hikari, and Raku. The idols/wrestlers had a 20-minute battle: … Continue reading Up-Up Girls Idol Wrestling Debut in Tokyo!

Manga artist Ryo Sonoba has created a program in Yamaguchi, Japan that allows inmates to be sentenced to “hard labor”, but the labor is actually drawing manga! When Ryo saw prison life he realized that some of the prisoners were actually really good artists. Take a look: That’s when he had a great idea–why not see if they would draw some background drawings for the … Continue reading Yamaguchi Inmates Draw Manga!

The Yumeji Art Museum in Okayama, Japan is starting the New Year right, by hiring…a CAT! That’s right, Kuronosuke the cat has been given his own office in the museum, and is expected to show-up to work a couple of time each week. Of course, he has his own uniform–a red string tied around his neck, and his “job” is to welcome visitors to the … Continue reading Japanese Cat Has Office in Museum!

For those that aren’t familiar with it, Japan has an annual NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen or “Year-end Song Festival” on New Year’s Eve. This year, during the 68th Kouhaku three members of the all female idol group Keyakizaka46 collapsed while performing on stage. The group was performing with Uchimura Teruyoshi when Hirata Yurina (16) was visibly shaking during the dance routine. At the end of … Continue reading Three Members of Keyakizaka46 collapse on Kouhaku Stage!

Let me tell you a tale of Samurai chefs, skilled in the art of making ramen. Residents of Seattle know this story well, but I didn’t have to travel that far, because these Samurai have settled part of their clan in Houston, Texas. This is the story of Samurai Noodle (cue cool Japanese music here). For those that want to see how these modern-day Samurai … Continue reading Samurai Noodle Restaurant Review!

Another great item we picked-up at Ramen Expo USA 2017 were Akebono Corporation’s Gokubuto (thick) and Tornado chopsticks. Both chopsticks were amazing! I consider myself an average chopstick user, but with these I felt like I was an expert. We eat quite a bit of Japanese food, and regularly use chop sticks, but the Gokubuto and Tornado chopsticks shine brightest when eating ramen–or any other … Continue reading Akebono Gokubuto and Tornado Chopsticks Review!

As most of our readers know, we picked-up plenty of ramen samples during our visit to Ramen Expo USA 2017. Today, we will be looking at Yamachan Ramen! Yamachan Ramen is a family-owned company out of San Jose, California, and are the only Japanese raw noodle manufacturer operating under Japanese management in Northern California. We decided to make Miso Ramen today, so we used Yamachan … Continue reading Yamachan Ramen-Miso Ramen Review!

A new music festival is coming to Japan—“Fantasia”! It will celebrate Japanese beauty through music, fashion and media art. It will be held at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture on November 18, 2017. Checkout this video about “Fantasia”: The full title is “Fantasia–Episode 1 Princess Kaguya”, which will be based on the Japanese tale “Taketori Monogatari” or “The Tale of the Bamboo cutter.” There will … Continue reading “Fantasia” Music Festival In Japan!