Japanese

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This Could Be the World's Next Fast-Food Phenom

'Onigiri,' a type of Japanese rice ball, has earned its place in the Oxford dictionary

(Newser) - The word "onigiri" became part of the Oxford English Dictionary this year, proof that the humble sticky-rice ball and mainstay of Japanese food has entered the global lexicon. The rice balls are stuffed with a variety of fillings and typically wrapped in seaweed. It's an everyday dish that...

New Miss Japan Was Born in Ukraine



New Miss Japan
Is a Bit Different
Than Past Winners
in case you missed it

New Miss Japan Is a Bit Different Than Past Winners

Carolina Shiino was born in Ukraine to Ukrainian parents, moved to Japan at age 5

(Newser) - Carolina Shiino was crowned Miss Japan on Monday, but the headlines on her win are focused on the debate surrounding it. The 26-year-old model from Nagoya, who was born in Ukraine to Ukrainian parents and moved to Japan when she was 5, is the country's first naturalized citizen to...

Marvel Writer Quits Over Editor's Alias: 'Changes the Equation'

Steven DeKnight slams CB Cebulski's 'deep lack of ethics' for once pretending he was 'Akira Yoshida'

(Newser) - "How does this man still have a job?" That was just one of Marvel writer Steven DeKnight's tweets upon hearing some news over the weekend about Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief, and before announcing he's cutting ties with Marvel until the matter is addressed. That revelation, at least to...

Leaking Oil Ship Splits Apart
Leaking Oil Ship Splits Apart

Leaking Oil Ship Splits Apart

And remaining fuel is spilling off the coast of Mauritius

(Newser) - The grounded Japanese ship that leaked tons of oil near protected areas off the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius has split apart, officials said Saturday, with remaining fuel spreading into the turquoise waters, the AP reports. Photos posted on social media by the official cleanup effort with support of...

Billionaire to Dole Out $9M in 'Serious Social Experiment'

Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa wants to see if $9K will make 1K lucky winners happier

(Newser) - Money supposedly doesn't buy happiness, but a Japanese billionaire thinks it might at least cheer some people up. Just a couple of weeks after Zozo founder Yusaku Maezawa donated more than $18 million to a Japanese city hit hard by a typhoon, the fashion-minded entrepreneur is back in the...

Hikers Find Skeleton That Goes Way, Way Back

Giichi Matsumura had left the Manzanar internment camp to paint

(Newser) - A skeleton found by hikers this fall near California's second-highest peak was identified Friday as a Japanese American artist who had left the Manzanar internment camp to paint in the mountains in the waning days of World War II, the AP reports. The Inyo County sheriff used DNA to...

License Plate Spotted in Calif. Gets Hundreds Recalled in Kansas

Complaints came in about lettering offensive to Japanese-Americans

(Newser) - Kansas is recalling hundreds of vehicle license plates on the streets containing "JAP" lettering in the wake of complaints that it's an ethnic slur offensive to Japanese-Americans. The Kansas Department of Revenue said there are 731 active registrations containing that random letter combination on standard license plates, per...

Journo Held Captive for 3 Years in Syria: 'Now I Am in Turkey'

Jumpei Yasuda, abducted in 2015 by Nusra Front, is now safe

(Newser) - A Japanese freelance journalist who was freed after more than three years of captivity in Syria said Wednesday he's safe in neighboring Turkey. "My name is Jumpei Yasuda, Japanese journalist. I have been held in Syria for 40 months," Yasuda said, somewhat haltingly in English, in videotaped...

Green Code That Opens The Matrix Is Surprisingly Mundane

Simon Whiteley shares its origins

(Newser) - If you're the type who would take the blue pill and would prefer to "just wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe," stop reading. If you want to discover the truth about a mystery of The Matrix, pop the hypothetical red pill...

The Mystery of Japan's 'Evaporated People'


The Mystery of Japan's
'Evaporated People'
in case you missed it

The Mystery of Japan's 'Evaporated People'

'Time' looks at the phenomenon of 'johatsu'—the 'society underneath Japan's society'

(Newser) - The Japanese have no problem working insane hours—sometimes to the point of death —but when it comes to dealing with life's other stresses, they may simply pack it all in and vanish. It's what's known as "johatsu," or "evaporated people," a...

Japanese Literally Work Themselves to Death

'Karoshi' demises are often from suicide, heart attack, or stroke

(Newser) - Work-life balance is the American worker's goal, but for Japanese employees, work and life may be one and the same. The Washington Post takes a look at Japan's toil-til-you-drop culture, where 12-hour days are typical and there's even a word ("karoshi") that means "death...

Real-Life Face/Off Fugitive Caught in Thailand

Lawyer nabbed by immigration cops who noticed something ... off

(Newser) - A Japanese lawyer who police say altered his appearance through plastic surgery to escape arrest for an alleged stock share manipulation scheme more than a decade ago has been captured, Thai police said Friday. Thailand's Immigration Bureau announced that Yasuo Tsubaki, sought by Japanese authorities for securities fraud amounting...

Why It's Hard to Learn Math in English

Words like "eleven" mess us up

(Newser) - When it comes to learning math, English speakers face a disadvantage that has nothing to do with the classroom environment. Research suggests that the English language simply makes it hard to talk about numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. A key reason comes when kids reach the number 11: A...

'Brilliant' Babymetal Upsets 'Troo' Metalheads

Many critics love Japanese metal-pop band

(Newser) - The Japanese band Babymetal mixes headbanging with J-pop melodies and choreography in a way that "upsets the status quo"—and that's a good thing, writes Adrien Begrand at NPR . While metal fans are divided over the trio of Japanese teen girls (Suzuka Nakamoto, Yui Mizuno, and Moa...

4 Climbers Presumed Dead After Avalanche

Mount McKinley search for survivors impeded by snow and wind

(Newser) - Four members of a Japanese climbing team are presumed dead after an avalanche swept them off a hill on Mount McKinley. US National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition. One team member,...

Typhoon Rams Japan, Heads for Fukushima

5 killed as powerful storm makes landfall

(Newser) - A powerful typhoon made landfall in Japan today, bringing winds of up to 100 miles per hour and causing floods that have killed at least five people . Typhoon Roke is on course to hit Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeastern coast, and flooding there may cause radioactive water from the Fukushima plant...

US Could Learn From Japanese Grace
 US Could 
 Learn From 
 Japanese Grace 
NICHOLAS KRISTOF

US Could Learn From Japanese Grace

Less pushiness, more selflessness is the solution, says Nick Kristof

(Newser) - Japan has long had an extreme dichotomy between its people and its politicians, and last week's earthquake underscored that fault line: "The Japanese government has been hapless. And the Japanese people have been magnificent, enduring impossible hardships with dignity and grace," writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York ...

Man Streams Suicide to Web as Chat Room Eggs Him On

Japanese police get there too late

(Newser) - A Japanese man committed suicide live on the Internet this week, the Telegraph reports. The 24-year-old had been talking about his plans with members of a chat room from his apartment in the city of Sendai. Encouraged by some, he set up a webcam so he could stream it via...

Japan Cultivates 'Rice Farm' Bra

Grow your own

(Newser) - Japan is drawing abreast of cutting-edge green design with a bizarre "rice farm" bra that doubles as a field of dreams. The bra cups (presumably bigger than A's) double as recyclable plastic pots that can be filled with soil and rice seedlings. The wearer waters the crop with a...

Bill O'Reilly's New Target: Tom Hanks

 Bill O'Reilly's 
 New Target: 
 Tom Hanks 
karl rove piles on, too

Bill O'Reilly's New Target: Tom Hanks

Fox News host doesn't get why actor keeps saying we're racist

(Newser) - Bill O’Reilly's favorite new target: Tom Hanks. The Fox News host says the actor is unfairly claiming racism was behind our attack on Japan during World War II ... and behind the current War on Terror. The actor, while promoting his miniseries The Pacific, told Time that we “wanted...

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