Right up there with the NERV Android Phone, Team Evangelion Racing has to be one of the more badass Evangelion crossovers we’ve seen. It’s got sleek cars decked out in Eva colors, a team of race queens cosplaying in sexy plugsuit-inspired outfits, and an exclusive lineup of Eva racing apparel for you to throw your money at—what more could a fan ask for!

Run by Run’A Entertainment Japan under the sponsorship of Evangelion production studio Studio Khara, Team Evangelion Racing has competed in the GT300 class of the Japan Super GT racing series since 2010.

Initially they only ran a Toyota Corolla Axio in Eva-Unit 01 colors and had only two race queens, Ayanami Rei (Mizutani Noa) and Asuka Langley (Chiba Yuuna), on the sidelines.

In 2011 they brought back Eva-Unit 01, this time as a Mooncraft Shiden, and introduced a second car, a Porsche 911 GT3 R painted as Eva Unit-02, to run alongside. They also added race “queens” Ikari Shinji (Noro Haruna), Nagisa Kaworu (Uneme Hana) and Makinami Mari (Takatsuka Mana) to their lineup.

For the 2012 season, the Mooncraft Shiden Unit-01 returns to the racetrack along with two Kawasaki ZX-10R road bikes, one painted as Unit-01 and the other as Unit-03, to compete in the All Japan Superbike Championship (MFJ). There are still a few more races left in the season, so if you’re interested in cheering on Team Eva yourself check the Super GT schedule here and the MFJ schedule here.

There is also plenty of Team Evangelion Racing apparel available for purchase online from Run’A Entertainment’s online shop, including a limited-edition pair of handcrafted denim jeans that can only be purchased online until September 30.

Check out more photos of the Team Evangelion Racing cars and race queens from the 2012 season below!

Source: Team Evangelion Racing

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Origin: Start Your S² Engines! Team Evangelion Racing Has Sleek Paint Jobs and Sexy Plugsuit Cosplay
Copyright© RocketNews24 / Socio Corporation. All rights reserved.

During a brief stint teaching English at a rural elementary and junior high school in Japan a few years ago, I was surprised to see how much more fashionable Japanese kids are than their American counterparts.

Not actually at school; they were all in their school or gym uniforms on schooldays (though many elementary schools now allow personal clothes). But when the weekend hit, many of my students would transform into little fashionistas and roam the local shopping mall—with a parent or guardian, of course.

I always wondered where they picked up their fashion sense from, and after seeing a few pages from JS Girl, a semimonthly fashion magazine for elementary school-aged girls in Japan, I think I finally get it, and it makes me a little sad.

JS Girl is a magazine dedicated to “elementary school girls who want to become models and shine as bright as the stars.” After launching in February 2011, there has been a new volume published roughly every two months, for a total of 11 volumes as of October 2012.

“JS” is an abbreviation for “joshi shougakusei”, or elementary school girl, which means the magazine title can be translated as Elementary School Girl Girl.

The images below were all taken from past issues of JS Girl and shared on Japanese internet message boards for laughs, which suggests that even most Japanese people think this is ridiculous.

These first two images share what 4th grade models Airi Tozawa and Misaki Angelica (?) Okamoto keep in their randoseru backpacks:

▼ “Elementary school kids these days keep super cute things in their bag!”

In the first image, we can see Airi brings her DS with a custom-designed case to school. Misaki, on the other hand, carries both a regular cell phone and an iPhone to surf the net and listen to music. As one Japanese netizen comments: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a pack of condoms mixed in as well.”

Next up is the “JS Reader Model” section, where JS Girl shines the spotlight on some of their more fashionable readers. Here we have a week in the life of 6th-grader Nanami Iijima.

▼ “When walking around Shibuya, comfortable and casual is the best!”

JS Girl also surveys readers on what kind of accessories they bring to school, organized by categories such as “Health Care Pouch”, “Lunch Time Goods”, and even “Child Safety Alarm”.

However, as another insightful commenter points out, while one of the kids carries a whistle for safety, the other two reveal that they don’t have anything (as signified by the two hearts with smiley faces in the center of the image). This wouldn’t be a problem if the survey was anonymous, however JS Girl lists both the real name and age of the contributors. If they added the city and maybe school they attend, JS Girl could put together a rather useful guidebook for kidnappers.

If I remember correctly, one of the best things about being a dumb little kid is that you don’t care about fashion or the way you look at all. As long as there was a tetherball or foursquare court open at recess, life was spectacular. Maybe I was just a simple kid, but it’s easy to see how telling little girls that looking like this will make them happy would add unnecessary stress to what should be the most carefree year’s of a person’s life. And until someone invents a makeup that hides cooties, they’re going to have a hard time impressing boys their age, no matter how well they dress.

Source:　JS Girl, Sansei Shobo Online

▼ More photos from JS Girl

▼ And some Japanese elementary school girl model shots, for perspective

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Origin: Japan Has a Fashion Magazine for Elementary School Girls, May Be of Interest to Child Molesters as Well
Copyright© RocketNews24 / Socio Corporation. All rights reserved.

You can tell the models in the pictures in the gallery below are professionals. Not because they’re posing outside in -20°C (-4°F) weather while wearing bikinis, but because they manage to smile while doing it.

The photos were taken on December 31,2012 during a ski performance at Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin City, located in the northeastern Jilin Province.

Close to 40 models were present, some of them even riding down the slopes to promote the event.

I know if I were wearing a bikini in below-freezing temperatures I’d have hard time doing anything other than cursing. Or maybe just break down and cry, like the beautiful young lingerie model Lin Siwi, seen here during a recent photoshoot in Beijing.

Poor girl. Leaning against a freight container half naked in the freezing cold against a backdrop of rubble probably isn’t the highlight of a model’s career.

Source: China Explosion, Sohu

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• Golden Buddha Statue Discovered Inside Normal Buddha Statue in Northern Thailand

Origin: And Now For Chinese Bikini Models in the Snow
Copyright© RocketNews24 / Socio Corporation. All rights reserved.

Recently on stage at Korea at the 2013 NABBA/WFF Korea Championship… tanned, toned and oiled goddesses flowed across the stage, flexing their sinuous musculature to compete for the Bikini and Sports Model categories. One would be chosen as their queen, but who would it be?

These images combine superhuman abs and rockhard thighs with other areas of alluring softness. Like fine bronze sculptures, these women (and men!) have made their bodies their art.

Founded in 1950 in the UK, NABBA is the original National Amateur Body-Builders’ Association, who began the Mr Universe contest won four times by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now there are NABBA organizations in a number of other countries, including Korea.

The 2013 NABBA/WFF Korea Championship featured not only the quest for the biggest muscles, but also the smokin’ hot Bikini and Sports Model categories.

Bodybuilders train hard, eat vast amounts of protein, slather themselves in fake tan and many dehydrate before competitions to achieve that extra-cut look (which can also make them extra shaky when posing). Be that as it may, let these stunning results speak for themselves!

▼Ladies, care to scrub these washboard abs?

▼Even super-toned sports models tend to favor the Arm-Triangle of Insecurity when posing for photos…

▼Hard bodies, lace and short shorts were the winners on the day.

▼Classic muscle-man bicep pose.

▼Show us your definition of muscle.

▼Dude on the right may have seen a ghost. And how do any of these guys find pants that fit??

▼What a knockout. Putting the Model in Sports!

▼Bikini challengers front up

▼Pumping iron at the gym, it’s much more difficult to see your shapely back view.

▼Competition is fierce

▼Strong and sexy

▼Sculpted obliques

▼Bikini models tend to look softer and healthy, as opposed to a dramatic, sharply-defined ripped look.

▼Who will be the winner???

▼Here she is! The incredible Baek Minyoung (백민영) takes the Bikini crown.

▼Lovely and long-legged, she makes these socks look good.

▼The Chinese characters tattooed down her left side, 紛骨砕身, probably express her level of dedication—to work like a Trojan to achieve her goal!

▼A sporting chance?

These sizzling shots send me sprinting back to my local gym to jump on the Chest Press and Leg Adduction machines. Anyone else fancy a workout now?

Images via Kaola

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• Mysterious meat-faced man shows up amongst Tokyo university beauty pageant entrants

Origin: Drool-worthy: Beautiful bodybuilders of Korea strut their stuff at NABBA/WFF Korea 2013
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

There’s no denying that the world looks a whole lot cuter when it’s scaled down to miniature form, and even ordinary train stations are no exception to the rule. Hamamatsu station, in Shizuoka Prefecture, has been given the mini-me treatment, thanks to one of its renowned residents, award-winning modeler Takuji Yamada. On display in the city centre, people from all over Japan are gushing at the model’s remarkable quality and it’s amazing likeness to the original.

▼ The station is built to a 1/150 scale, which gives you a true-to-life perspective from a number of different angles.

▼ Model buffs will enjoy the red sign on the building, which doesn’t actually exist at the real station. It advertises a fictitious sale for G Parts, a well-known supplier of model parts.

▼ Entetsu is a famous department store that does actually exist at the real site.

▼A bird’s-eye view highlights the detail given to the paved walkways.

▼ The lighting is remarkably similar to real daylight, enhancing the realism with spaces of light and shade.

▼ The attention to detail in the roofwork is truly remarkable.

▼ The many levels of the station are included in the model, inviting the eye to explore and the imagination to wander.

▼ There’s even a stand selling Hamamatsu’s signature dish, unagi (eel)

If you’re in the area, be sure to make your way to the 3rd floor of Zaza City shopping centre to catch a glimpse of this model and many more, at the popular Diorama Factory.

Sources: Byoukan Sunday, Soul Art, Hamamatsu Diorama Factory

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Origin: Hamamatsu train station unveiled in miniature form
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Like a migratory bird made of carbon fiber and engine blocks, every two years the Tokyo Motor Show returns to give us all a glimpse at automakers’ visions of the future. RocketNews24 visited this year’s event, and we’re here to share with you our impressions and photos of the massive crowds, newest concept cars, and hottest current models (both automotive and female).

We arrived at the show’s venue, Tokyo Big Sight, shortly after the doors opened in the morning, hoping to beat the crowds. This is when we learned a very important lesson about the Tokyo Motor Show.

You…

…cannot…

…beat the crowds.

Still, we fought through the masses to get the shots and stories we needed. Why? Because we love our readers (also, we love cars… and the models, if we’re being honest).

Nissan had one of the most dramatically-styled concepts at the show with its Blade Glider.

The company claims the triangular layout of the car’s three seats, with the driver front and center, combined with the open top, give the sensation of riding on the wind. Like many other manufacturers, Nissan was looking to talk up its environmental awareness, and boasted that the Blade Glider is a zero-emission vehicle.

On the opposite end of the design spectrum, there was Nissan’s retro-styled IDx.

With its boxy greenhouse, the IDx evokes the Datsun 510 of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The 510 was a popular base car for amateur racers, so naturally Nissan had a racing version of the IDx on display.

Also appealing to racing fans, Subaru attracted a crowd with a competition-spec version of its BR-Z sports coupe, used in the Super GT racing series.

We’d wager money that Subaru’s Viziv Evolution concept will keep its all-wheel drive should it make it into production, while losing its flashy doors. How much of its hybrid drivetrain, with a gasoline engine plus three electric motors (one in the front, two in the rear) will make it into the final car is still anybody’s guess, however.

The packaging for the carmaker’s Levorg is essentially finalized, with the turbo-charged touring wagon set to hit dealers next spring.

At almost every iteration of the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota shows its new idea of how people movers of the future will look. This year, it was the pod-like FV2, accompanied by a woman who looked like she just stepped out of The Matrix.

If all of that plastic and carbon seems too cold and technological, maybe you’d prefer a Corolla covered in comfy denim?

The company’s hydrogen-powered FCV concept is so environmentally-friendly that it apparently is endorsed by penguins.

In describing its LPG-hybrid concept JPN Taxi, Toyota says it wants to create an iconic taxi for Japan, one which will leave as strong an impression on visitors to the country as the cabs of London or New York do for those who travel there.

For those who prefer to drive themselves, however, Toyota brought a convertible concept of its hit GT-86 rear-drive sports car (known as the FR-S in North America).

Honda was also showing off its sporty side with the S660, a 660 cc mid-engined follow-up to the similar Beat it sold from 1991 through 1996.

A concept for the long-rumored successor to the company’s top of the line NSX was also at the show, exciting and teasing fans who have been waiting patiently since production of the previous NSX ended in 2005.

We also got to see Honda’s UNI-CUB in action with our own eyes.

Volkswagen is ready for the smooth, well-maintained highways of a utopian future with the XLT concept.

Or the ruined, gravelly roads of a dystopian one, with its WRC rally car.

Although Isuzu’s passenger car business has been largely phased out, the manufacturer did have the MU-X concept.

And if you’re modeling next to a truck from another era, you may as well dress the part.

Jaguar felt its new F-Type coupe was attractive enough to make do without booth girls.

Renault was similarly confident in its Dezir concept.

As was Kawasaki, with its crazy three-wheeled J concept, with two front wheels that the rider manipulates by pressing the separate handle for each forward or pulling it back.

On the other hand, if your product is something less exciting, like instrument panels, you need all the cute models you can get.

Ditto if you’re selling spark plugs.

Or tires.

▼ Bridgestone gets extra points for having their models’ dresses look like they’re made from tires.

Daihatsu is looking to make liquid fuel cell-powered transportation practical with its FC deck concept, although we’re more curious about how drivers are supposed to keep cargo from sliding off the back of the truck.

The Deca Deca concept features suicide doors, the ability to fold every seat flush into the floor, and even an interior rack for your surfboard.

The Daihatsu booth also displayed two slightly differing versions of the Kopen, a sporty compact concept which picks up the mantle left by the three-cylinder Copen which was discontinued in 2012.

The color-coded tachometer built into the steering wheel is a nice touch.

Not far from the Kopen was the booth for Suzuki, a company whose CEO recently remarked that the poor people who buy his company’s super-compacts have no need for sports cars. That’s not to say Suzuki wasn’t having any fun, though, as it showed the interesting Crosshiker and open-air X-Lander concepts.

At first we felt guilty for snickering at a concept car called Hustler. We felt justified after we noticed you can convert the back into a tent, and read the pamphlet where Suzuki refers to it as “The New Player.”

▼ Haters ‘gonna hate.

It’s clear that Suzuki saves its real exuberance for its motorcycles, such as the electric Extrigger concept.

One demographic that can afford to splurge on style is Lexus buyers, for whom the hybrid rear-drive RC 300H coupe was created.

And for drivers who require even more road presence, there’s the LF-NX, which wins our award for most intimidating front fascia.

Hyundai showed up to talk with visitors about buses, which like all subjects become infinitely more interesting when you stick an attractive young woman in front.

Finally, Mini tried to have a little something for everybody, with booth babes…

…booth dudes…

…and even a DJ, mixing tracks to go along with the eye-candy.

Having finally completed our circuit of the show, with our feet aching (there’s a surprisingly large amount of walking involved with going to the Tokyo Motor Show), we headed for the exits. And while we may have taken the train home, I think we were all secretly making engine noises in our heads.

Photos: RocketNews24

• Toyota’s new vehicle changes colour and suggests destinations according to your mood
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Origin: Tokyo Motor Show 2013: Cars! Crowds! Comely models! 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

There’s a common phenomenon where people born and raised in Japan appear younger than their actual age to people who grew up in the West. On a trip to Los Angeles, for example, my wife and I wanted to shoot pool at a local bar, but were turned away at the entrance. She had forgotten to take her passport with her when we went out, and the doorman wouldn’t let us in without proof she wasn’t a minor, despite the fact that we were both in our 30s at the time.

The effect is amplified when the person in question looks young even by domestic Japanese perceptions, such as with actress and TV personality Maiko Ito, whose age we’d never have guessed by looking at her.

Our Japanese-language sister site ran an article about Ito in 2011. Your website will never be lonely with pictures of attractive women on it, but our readers were particularly taken with Ms. Ito, who’s been making TV and film appearances for close to 30 years. “She just doesn’t seem to age,” said one fan of the Nagoya native.

▼ Ito, as she appeared in our 2011 article

Three years on, Ito’s youthfulness is yet to diminish. And while her fresh-faced looks have of course won her plenty of male fans, she’s also admired by women in Japan who are inspired by the graceful style of her aging (or visual lack thereof).

We suppose now is as good a time as ever to inform you that the girlish-looking Ito is in fact 49 years old.

▼ Still looks too young to be a convincing Mrs. Claus

Ito isn’t shying away from the limelight as she approaches the half-century mark, either. On January 26 she appeared on variety program Akiyoshi Hansekai, looking as effervescent as ever. The actress announced that she’s set to release her first ever set of swimsuit photos. The collection will be available in April as part of a calendar Ito is selling through her official website, but she did give viewers a sneak preview. Waiting until spring to buy a calendar is a bit unorthodox, but we imagine plenty people will make an exception after getting an eyeful of the accompanying snapshots.

▼ Sorry guys, we didn’t add the mosaic. It was put there by Ito’s managers to ensure you buy the calendar when it comes out.

In the meantime, you can tide yourself over by viewing more of Ito’s photos, along with her English-language profile, on her official website and Facebook page. Just make sure you mind your manners. Nothing makes a person less attractive than coming off as immature.

Related: Maiko Ito Facebook page, official website
Top image: Facebook
Insert images: Twitpic, Facebook, Maiko Ito official website

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Origin: Believe it or not, this Japanese swimsuit model is not in her 20s (or 30s)
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

So today, we’d like to talk about a website called Jigadoribu. We won’t beat around the bush, it’s a site full of pictures of swimsuit models. And to all those of you who haven’t immediately skipped to the photos after reading that last sentence, thank you. Your display of self-restraint is an inspiration to us all, especially if you’re in the office, as this isn’t the sort of thing you want to be reading at work.

Sadly, our bosses won’t pay us for features that consist entirely of the phrase “And check this girl out!” repeated a dozen times. Likewise, we imagine you’d have some explaining to do should someone peek over your shoulder and see you perusing this article. So, as we did before, we’re going to mix appreciation of the female form with a little Japanese language lesson.

Let’s start with vocabulary word number one: jigadori, or selfie.

Okay, did everyone memorize that? Great. Here’s your reward.

So let’s examine the etymology of the word jigadori, and learn the kanji characters for it as we go along. First, we’ve got ji / 自, which means “self.” We’re going to combine that with the kanji 画, which means “picture” and is read as kaku when it’s by itself. Put it in a compound with another kanji, though, and the pronunciation changes to ga, so our combination of 自画 becomes jiga, or a picture of oneself.

▼ For example, this is a jiga

With us so far? Good. Wait, where are your eyes going? Back down here, please!

Unfortunately, the limited syllabary of the Japanese language means there are only so many possible sounds to work with. A short word like jiga could easily be mistaken for one of its several possible homonyms, such as 自我, the psychological ego. This, of course, presents potential communication problems.

▼ Many guys take psychology classes as a way to meet girls, but the field is a much slower-acting antidote than bikini models for the sleepless nights when they fail to obtain said female companionship.

So in order to ensure that your request for pictures of scantily clad women isn’t mistakenly answered with a book on the theories of Sigmund Freud, you need to add a little more detail to plain old jiga. The Japanese word for “take,” as in “take a picture,” is toru. Like all Japanese verbs, it ends in the letter U, but as is often the case, we can change it into a noun by swapping that terminal U for an I and making it tori.

▼ Phew, that was a lot of grammar. Let’s take a second and recharge.

But as much as we’d like to just slap jiga and tori together, we’re not quite ready to do the deed yet. The ga-ta combination sounds needlessly harsh to Japanese ears and is kind of tough to pronounce, so that hard T gets softened into a D, giving us our final product, jigadori, a self-taken image, or selfie. Add in a final bu / 部, meaning department or team, and you’ve got the website’s name, Jigadoribu, or The Selfie Department.

Ready for more fun with linguistics? We fudged the details a bit when we said Jigdoribu is filled with shots of swimsuit models. Technically they’re guradoru, a term used to denote female models in a number of skimpy outfits. Unlike jigadori, guradoru doesn’t have any kanji characters. Instead, it’s written in the phonetic script called katakana, because it consists of two English loanwords pressed together.

▼ Did we just go two paragraphs without giving you a break? We’re sorry. Here, have a double dose of guradoru.

These words sinking in yet?

So, the word gravure means a cut or engraving, and is connected to the term photogravure, an early method of printing photographs. Somewhere along the line, the word got appropriated in Japanese to mean “fashion models who show a lot of skin.” No, we’re not sure how this happened either, but bear in mind Japanese is the same language in which hair bands are called kachusha because of a character in a Tolstoy novel.

Once again, though, the Japanese syllabary means that gravure gets corrupted to gurabia, and cutting this in half gives us the first portion of guradoru.

▼ Let’s double up our vocabulary usage: This is a gurabia jigadori.

Some of the most popular gurabia go on to build sizeable fan bases, not unlike the idols of the Japanese music industry. If you’ll forgive us for trotting out the Japanese syllabary explanation one final time, though, the pronunciation of idol in Japanese is aidoru. Take the last two syllables of that, stick it on the truncated form of gurabia we talked about above, and now you’ve got guradoru, a gravure idol.

Even though there’s a whole industry of professional cameraman waiting for the call to take pictures of guradoru (as well as, we’re sure, legions of willing amateur volunteers), the models aren’t immune to the power of the online-shared selfie. This is the point in our story where Jigadoribu comes in, as the site’s mission is to collect and catalogue these privately taken snapshots of exhibitionism.

Coincidentally, this is also the point in our story where we’ve run out of Japanese grammar and vocab to help justify all the time you’re spending on this page. Feel free to stick around as long as you’d like though. Next period is match class, by the way.

▼ The volume of a sphere is equal to four-thirds times pi times the radius squared.

Source: Jigadoribu
Top image: Jigadoribu
Insert images: Jigadoribu, Blogspot

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Origin: Learn Japanese with us and this website of nothing but swimsuit model selfies
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Images of the 2014 Japan Self-Defense Forces calendar depicting beautiful women in uniform have been popping up on portal sites around Japan. The calendars were created to raise awareness of the JSDF and to “lift morale.” However, with this year’s choice to use, not actual members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, but bikini model Azusa Yamamoto, among others, we have a feeling this calendar will be lifting a lot more than morale.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the calendar pages:

▼ Japanese idol, Anna Konno

▼ Bikini model and actor, Azusa Yamamoto.

▼ Actor Narumi Konno

▼ Actor Erina Matsui

▼ Voice actor Mai Fuchigami

▼ Actor Mai Hakase

▼ Idol Rina Nagai

▼ Another shot of Rina Nagai.

Applications for the Self-Defense Forces increased by 20 percent with the addition of three moe mascots on their recruitment posters. We wonder how many young men and women this models-turned-military calendar will inspire.

Source: My Game News Flash
Images: Sina

• Applications for Japan Self Defense Force increase by 20% thanks to moe
• Japan Self Defense Force Recruitment Posters Kill with Cute
• JSDF recuiter uses lines from ‘Love Live!’, baffles Internet
• Japan’s defensive military sees surge of popularity thanks to… anime tanks?
• Self-Defense Force hopes people will answer the call of duty (and cute anime girls)

Origin: Japan Self-Defense Forces show off their feminine side with 2014 calendar
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Despite having a love of giant robots since childhood, I never really got into the hobby of building models of them. I barely have the manual dexterity to properly feed myself, let alone glue small pieces of plastic together, so I was always sure the finished product would never look as cool as the fighting mecha in anime series like Macross or Escaflowne.

Of course, I may have to rethink my stance, now that there’s an easy way to make your models appear to shoot laser beams that doesn’t require any fine motor or photo editing skills at all.

While it may look like the Gundam pictured above is firing a blast of energy, it’s actually something far less destructive. The shaft of light is actually a strategically placed glow stick.

In Japan, not only can you find glow sticks in gift and craft stores, but shops specializing in electronics and anime goods also stock them, since fans going to idol singer concerts always make sure to carry a pair. Of course, if you’re a hard-core idol fan, it’s not going out too far on a limb to guess you might own one or two robot models or cute anime girl figurines. So if you’re sitting in your living room and notice you have both a miniature warmech and an unused glow stick, inspiration might just strike.

Of course, if Japanese animation has taught us anything, it’s that not all energy blasts come from robots. Trained martial artists, destined saviors of humanity, and ordinary high school students are all capable of shooting a beam of inner ki power from their palms, as we see here.

So if you’re cleaning house, come across a half-used pack of glow sticks from last year’s Halloween party, and are tempted to throw the remnants out, just remember there’s still an awesome-looking way to use them.

▼ NHK mascot Doku-kun’s kitten killing tendencies have been greatly exaggerated, but as this shot suggests, he just might have the capability.

Source: Togech
Top image: Twitter
Insert images: Photozou, Twitter (2, 3, 4, 5)

• Giant Patlabor robot stands tall in Tokyo even as film’s director calls it “useless” 【Photos】
• Apparently short on cash, Gundam takes a part-time job at 7-Eleven
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• Good news for robot and pop idol fans: new Macross anime series is on the way!
• Japan’s giant robot proliferation continues as filming starts on live-action Patlabor movie

Origin: How to make your model robots shoot laser beams without using Photoshop
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Japanese media seems to be run on the principal that adding attractive women to anything makes it better. Commercial for beer? Cast a high-profile actress. Serious news program? Let’s make a former bikini model the co-host. Posters encouraging people to fill out their census forms? We think they’ll be more effective if we use 75 percent of the space for a picture of a girl with a cute smile.

A new TV program seems set to carry this strategy to its illogical conclusion. Instead of enhancing the appeal of something men generally like or feel indifferent towards, broadcaster TV Tokyo’s idea is to create a miniseries that’s nothing but a good-looking girl chewing out the camera.

The program offers exactly what’s implied by its title, I Want Risa Yoshiki to be Angry at Me. Yoshiki is a popular gurabia, one of Japan’s subset of models that specialize in seductive and suggestive photo shoots that stop short of full nudity. In the series, which airs early Friday mornings in August at 1:53 a.m., Yoshiki is dressed fairly conservatively for her line of work, but makes up for it with some extremely provocative language.

In the preview producers released to YouTube, from which these images are taken, we see Yoshiki in a variety of outfits and settings, but one thing remains the same. She…

…is…

…pissed!

Each episode lasts just five minutes, but we imagine they feel a lot longer given the amount of fury the model is shown spitting out. The four planned installments will have different themes, in which Yoshiki pulls no punches in showing her disdain for men who dis their subordinates at work by saying they’re part of a lazy generation, don’t listen and put words into others’ mouths, think they’re being cool when trying to pick up a girl at a hostess club, or can’t help leering at girls.

She seems to have a particularly nasty bone to pick with men past their mid 30s, which by Japanese media standards makes them pitifully over the hill. Among the remarks the 27-year-old Yoshiki lets fly:

You’re way too damned old to be getting excited over manga!
Hey, hey, hey! Hello? Is there something wrong with you?
Just knock it the hell off already, ass!
Where the hell are you staring?
You’re in your late 30s! Shouldn’t you start acting like an adult?
Dumbass, listen when people are talking about pancakes!

For many people five minutes of nonstop squirming will be all they get out of I Want Risa Yoshiki to be Angry at Me. It seems pretty clear that the target audience, though, is happy for the simulated personal attention, as demonstrated by the clip’s closing line, where the exasperated model yells, “I love you guys, dammit!”

▼ Umm, thanks Risa! We think you’re swell too…don’t hurt us, OK?

Honestly, Yoshiki seems so upset, we’re starting to feel like we should call her and apologize, even though we’ve never met.

Source: Kai-You
Images: YouTube

• Sleepy? PC program dispatches anime girl to wake you up with encouragement, angry outbursts
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• 27-year-old in Japan arrested for 3-D printed pistol, says he didn’t know it was illegal
• Japanese fashion mag’s bust augmenting technique: button your shirt wrong
• Beautiful 43-Year-Old Japanese Model Masako Mizutani Makes it Big on Chinese TV, But Something Seems Different…

Origin: Beautiful when she’s angry? TV series features model yelling at the camera, and nothing else
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

We have a hard time imagining that anyone but the dimmest Gotham City resident would be especially shocked to learn that mysterious millionaire and occasional shut-in Bruce Wayne was the man behind the Dark Knight’s mask all along, but we doubt anyone saw this coming.

This series of fantastic photos taken by a blogger known only as Gigabeetle features modded Godzilla figures in a variety of hilarious poses. As well as revealing the true identity of the Big G, the pictures show a side to the monster that we never knew existed, catching him dancing around wearing top hats, doing his best Sailor Moon impressions, and, um, indulging in a little bit of nose powder…

Picked up by Kotaku Japan yesterday, these photos quickly became the talk of the town here in Japan. We think you’ll have no trouble understanding why.

▼ Sailorzilla invokes the power of the moon to make him purdy.

▼ Sirzilla, meanwhile, enjoys a tipple while sporting a magnificent moustache.

▼ Who knew Godzilla had such moves??

▼ Luizilla is what we imagine would happen if Bowser and Luigi had a baby.

▼ The less said about Blowzilla the better, really…

▼ And of course then there’s the man himself, Batzilla.

After seeing this, is anyone else waiting for a slot in Bruce Wayne’s forehead to open to reveal a team of hamsters working the controls??

There are many, many more hilarious Godzilla photos to be enjoyed over on Gigabeetle’s Tumblr, so be sure to head over and check them out. Fantastic work, Gigabeetle. Thank you, whoever you are!

Source: Gigablog via Kotaku Japan
Photos: Gigablog

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Origin: Godzilla…is…BATMAN!! (And Sailor Moon, and Luigi too, apparently) 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Being an illustrator is definitely one of the coolest jobs in the world. It requires a ton of work and dedication, but there’s something undeniably magical about the way artists create something out of nothing but ink and pencil. However, even the best artist sometimes needs a hand when it comes to anatomy, which would explain why poseable models are always popular. After all, the morgue would be packed if every artist had to cut open a corpse to learn how the body works!

So it’s little surprise that an app for the iPhone, called ArtPose, has recently been making waves on Twitter in Japan. But the reason for its popularity might not be what you expect!

iTunes (ArtPose)

Costing only 300 yen (US$2.99), ArtPose might just be the perfect iPhone app for a starving artist struggling with anatomy, perspective and shadows. According to its description, the app provides a model which can be manipulated and posed as necessary, as well as a movable light source. If you can’t quite figure out the placement of a particular body part or shadow for your 10-foot-tall mural of Mr. Sato in full glam mode, ArtPose will help by letting you set up the pose and a light source and giving you a movable, zoomable camera.

▼Basically like this.

ArtPose、男性と女性のモデルがあり、各300円。良い買い物をしました…… http://t.co/kQ8R7DpOzz—
ゆきむら燎 (@ykmrkgr) August 21, 2014

“ArtPose has both male and female models, and each of them are 300 yen. It was a pretty good purchase!”

Which is all pretty damn nifty, if you ask us–but that’s not only reason why the app is getting tweeted and retweeted in Japan. It turns out that the models are a little too poseable! Just check out this image tweeted by @aza_me.

▼”Hellooo.” (Said in George Takei’s voice.)

Twitter (@aza_me)

Well, that’s certainly what nightmares are made of! Maybe it would help if we dialed things back a bit. Check out this attempt at the Mega Man pose. It almost worked!

itunes.apple.com/jp/app/artpose…
このアプリでロックマンのポーズをつくってみたけど、このポーズって実際にやろうとするとよくわからない感じね。 http://t.co/qQf3HdDuRA—
こめぬか (@komenuka2) August 19, 2014

“I tried to make a Mega Man pose with this app, but when I actually did it, I felt like the pose itself didn’t make sense…”

Now that we’re looking it, we have to wonder…just what the hell is Mega Man doing??

Here’s another example of the flexibility that ArtPose provides you with. Which might actually be pretty helpful if you’re trying to do a collage of hilarious ragdoll death scenes from Grand Theft Auto.

▼”Run over by ambulance. AGAIN!”

Twitter (@you629)

ArtPose can also help you relive the most heartbreaking scene in all of Western cinema…

▼If you’re not tearing up, you’re either a monster or you need to watch Terminator 2.

Twitter (@machikasu)

It looks like ArtPose might also be pretty useful for all of our doujinshi artists!

Twitter (@machikasu)

It’s also just a great way to kill time on the train…

▼”ArtPose is too much fun! LOL!”

Artpose楽しすぎwww http://t.co/wpEurf5IzT—
Shintacos (@shinta_cat) August 19, 2014

So, it turns out that playing with ArtPose itself is pretty entertaining! In fact, it looks like people are having so much fun playing with the app that we’re starting to wonder if anyone is doing any actual drawing…

▼It turns out that the answer is yes! Kind of…

ArtPoseっていうデッサン人形アプリ買った！これで絵がどんどこうまくなるどー！ http://t.co/iqKAuenx7V—
盛岡 (@kozzzo) August 21, 2014

“I bought the sketch doll app ArtPose! See how well I could draw just with this!”

Umm…well, we guess there’s no shortcut to becoming a good artist, is there?

Even so, we think ArtPose would definitely be a great addition to any artist’s toolbox. Especially if they’re sketching while out and about! Or if they need a good laugh while taking a break…

Sources: ITMedia, iTunes
Images: Twitter (1, 2, 3, 4), iTunes

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Origin: Japanese Twitter users have discovered ArtPose, and they can’t stop playing with it!
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In recent months, there’s been no video game or anime franchise more popular among Japanese kids than Yo-Kai Watch. The story of kids teaming up with traditional youkai spirits (some of whom look like adorable kitty-cats), seems to have landed right in the sweet spot between adventurous, cute, and traditional, making it a huge hit for creator Level-5 (and promotional partner McDonald’s).

As a matter of fact, Yo-Kai Watch has even been gaining traction against Pokémon, the reigning champion of kids’ entertainment in Japan for the last decade-plus. Now, one fan seems to be turning Yo-Kai Watch’s towards another anime institution, by combining its characters with the giant robots of Gundam.

For casual fans who just want to have a figure to pose on their shelf, it can be pretty hard to see the appeal of model kits that you have to put together yourself. The payoff for all that extra work, though, is the ability to fine-tune the finished product just as you like. For some people, that might mean a custom paint job, or recreating the battle damage of a famous scene. Or, in the case of Twitter user Taku Morino, grafting the head of one of Yo-Kai Watch’s cat spirits onto the body of the RX-78 Gundam.

▼ Do his dual burning tails provide extra propulsion as he flies through space?

Technically, this is the SD, or “super-deformed” version of the original Gundam, with stubbier limbs and a stockier body that really help accentuate the silliness of that face. Tweaked proportions aside, though, it still wields all of the combat accouterments of Japan’s most respected mecha, including its beam rifle, shield, and beam saber.

Don’t let its playful origins fool you, either, as Mobile Suit Yo-Kai is more than capable of stabbing an adversary right in the robo-face, just before being overcome by pathos and dampening the battlefield with tears.

This true soldier is quick to recover psychologically, though, as he’s back to smiling in almost no time.

What sort of inspiring content does that book hold, that it could bring about such a sudden change in his mood?

Ah, pictures of bikini-clad catgirls. Well, whatever he needs to take his mind off the horrors of war is his business, and who are we to judge his methods?

▼ Enjoy your well-earned rest, brave, horny warrior.

Source: Hamster Sokuho
Top image: Twitter
Insert images: Yume no Gotoshi, Twitter

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• GPS-lacking Gundam gets lost on the streets of Taiwan, asks locals for directions
• Oh, Uniqlo has skirts on sale for nine… What the hell is that?!

Origin: Anime all-stars combine in fan-crafted Mobile Suit Yo-Kai Watch 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Earlier this week, we talked about Thailand’s Tom subculture. Stemming from the word “tomboy,” Toms are women who follow the fashion trends and speech patterns of men, oftentimes so completely that they win over the romantic affections of other women.

Today, we’re crossing over to the other side of things with a look at rising Japanese celebrity Ao-nyan, whose feminine looks and girlish style are winning fame and fans, even though the model is a guy.

While Ao-nyan, who’s also known as Midori Kamo, is the sort of individual who challenges a lot of the labels society uses, linguistically he falls into what Japan calls otoko no musume. Literally meaning “man girl,” otoko no musume are men who make their professional appearances as women.

Among otoko no musume, Ao-nyan is starting to stick out from the rest of the pack and catch the eye of the mainstream media. In July, photos of the model were featured on Fuji TV’s Mezamashi TV morning show, and Ao-nyan himself was a guest last month on the same channel’s afternoon talk show Viking.

▼ Ao-nyan in the dressing room before his Viking appearance.

All of this seems to be translating into commercial success for the model, as well. Ao-nyan’s most recent photo collection disk, titled Boku to Anata to Anata Dake no Atashi (Me, You, and the Me Only You Know, with a shift from the masculine boku to the feminine atashi between the two instances of “me”) proved so popular that all copies are currently sold out, with a second printing currently being considered.

▼ Some of the tamer photos from the collection

Ao-nyan is apparently photogenic regardless of which gender he dresses as. For a recently concluded photo exhibition in Tokyo’s Harajuku, Ao-nyan posed for pictures in both men’s and women’s clothing.

Still, the model seems most proud of his otoko no musume portfolio, regularly tweeting new pictures of full-on photo shoots or simply a girlish sock/shoe combo he’s trying out.

After all, if you want to beat the girls at their own game, you’ve got to sweat the details.

Source: Ao-nyan Livedoor Blog
Top image: Rulez, Twitter (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Livedoor, Rulez, Twitter (1, 2)

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• LadyBeard is stirring up a storm with a “dangerous” new tweet! 【Photos】

Origin: Ao-nyan: Japan’s super-feminine model who’s, yes, actually a guy 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Underwater photography can produce some pretty spectacular images of everything from exotic fish to magnificent submerged landscapes. It can also give us a new spin on old ideas–like the images of girls in knee-high socks underwater that were so popular last year.

In anticipation of a new photo collection of more models underwater in knee-high socks, photographer Manabu Koga has posted more photos of an underwater model–this time wearing a school uniform.

Due to go on sale on October 20, Manabu Koga’s new collection Underwater Knee-High Girls Plus sees the photographer/filmmaker returning with more submerged ladies. In addition to women with scuba gear, it looks like Koga has been a bit more creative with props–some of the models are apparently using large bionic, exo-skeleton legs and other looks like they’re better prepared for a rainstorm than a dip in the pool.

▼Maybe they help with buoyancy.

Amazon

Amazon

▼”Rain drops keep falling on my head…”

Amazon

But even if knee-high socks aren’t your thing, you may still be interested in the promotional photos Koga released over the weekend. This series of images features Rina, one of the knee-high sock models, back in the pool, but this time wearing a sailor suit. We’re fairly sure that wearing clothes underwater is a great way to get yourself drowned, so we’ll ask all our readers not to try this at home.

▼”Heeeeeead, shoulders, knees, and toes!”

▼Not drowning but posing… we hope.

▼Splash!

▼This kind of stuff is why mermaid myths exist.

If you’re interested in seeing more photos of women in various states of dress underwater, be sure to check out Koga’s books, which can be purchased through Amazon JP. You can see more pictures of Rina on Koga’s Tumblr, where you’ll also find a slew of other aquatic photos. For those of you living in Tokyo, Koga will also have an exhibition with free entrance at Pater’s Shop and Gallery in Harajuku, open from October 24 to November 5.

Sources: Tumblr, Twitter, Qetic, Kai-you, Amazon
All images from Tumblr (Manabu Koga) unless otherwise stated

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• Experiment hints that humans aren’t necessarily evil after all

Origin: Time to get wet: Underwater photos of girls in sailor suits and… plastic exoskeletons?
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Love it or hate it, long-division is a necessary and practical skill to learn. While I certainly don’t use any of my high school calculus in daily life nowadays, I do occasionally whip out a pen and paper to calculate how many cat sushi figures I can buy for my yen’s worth, for instance.

Recently, our minds were blown when we stumbled across a picture that illustrates the ways that people in different countries calculate long-division problems. Which style were you taught to use in school?

One Japanese forum user recently uploaded a picture of what appears to be a page from an elementary school textbook illustrating the various models that people use to compute long-division problems in different countries around the world. Take a look for yourself:

The text in the photo reads, “Let’s compare division styles from around the world,” and asks students to discuss the differences that they see. Starting from the blue box in the upper left-hand corner and moving clockwise, the countries included are Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Israel, Netherlands, France, Portugal, Turkey, and Argentina.

As an American, I was taught in elementary school to divide using the same model that is shown for Japan and South Korea. In fact, I had no idea that so many other models existed! Can anyone confirm the actual existence of the other styles?

Source/Image: Livedoor Blog (Agohigekaizokudan)

• Japanese elementary school teachers may tell you “5 x 100 = 500” is wrong
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• Our Gluttonous Reporter Mr. Sato Devours a 65-Strawberry Parfait Tower!

Origin: How do you divide? Intriguing models of long-division problems from around the world
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Fashion, as with any other sort of art or design, can be a very subjective matter. What one person considers beautiful and thought-provoking may be unappealing or just plain odd in another’s eyes.

But a fashion show recently held in China invited controversy not due to the apparel being exhibited but the way in which it was presented. The event featured models suspended from the ceiling as if walking on air, offering the audience below an entirely fresh perspective…

A shopping mall in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province organized an extraordinary fashion show within their premises earlier this month, with models fitted with wire cables which enabled them to “walk on air” as they showed off their fancy threads. Instead of strutting their signature style on the catwalk, the girls were to “sashay” down an imaginary runway that was six storeys above ground level.

An air fashion show! Sounds like an awesome idea, right? Except that the organizers seemingly neglected to consider one thing: the view from directly below.

As the dolled-up models tiptoed through the air as if walking on a tightrope, dozens of people below whipped out their camera phones and began snapping away. Taking photos at a fashion show is of course nothing unusual, but on this occasion it was predominantly the male spectators who could be seen reaching for the shutter button. Sadly, this wasn’t the birth of a new generation of male fashion aficionados, but simply a bunch of dudes who could, like, totally see up that’s girl’s skirt, and just had to capture the magical moment of floating panties.

▼ Why is she wearing her safety shorts under her knickers instead of over them…?

The male audience seemed to be delighted with the show, but it definitely didn’t sit well with the ladies present, who commented that this was little more than “an upskirt exhibition”.

Upon witnessing these photos, some Internet users attempted to throw in a dose of rationality, commenting, “What’s there to see when they’re all wearing safety shorts?” and noting that “there’s nothing much you can see when they’re six storeys above you”.

Whether the organizers simply neglected the possibility of upskirt views, or fully intended for the audience to get an eyeful as a means of drumming up publicity, we can’t say. Either way, it certainly seems that few people will have left this particular fashion show thinking about this season’s styles.

Source: Chinanews.com via ETToday
Images: Chinanews.com

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Origin: Mall in China holds a fashion show in mid-air, men rejoice while women scorn
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Sisters Elle and Jess Yamada from Indonesia do everything together, and that includes making a name for themselves on the fashion blogosphere. The lovely ladies are in their early twenties and have a combined total of nearly 250,000 Instagram followers, write for their popular blog on their website, and run a clothing line called Gowigasa. They’re also apparently really awesome at hulahooping, and won their high school’s hula hoop competition.

But we know what you really want is to get a good look at these two beauties, so read on to find a selection of photos after the cut.

▼ Jess and Elle model their own clothing line as well as doing sponsored deals with other brands.

▼ The girls did a photoshoot and video at the first IKEA to open in Indonesia.

These two have a long, prosperous future ahead of them as fashion models if you ask us!

Source: Asian Town Blog
Images: Elle & Jess

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Origin: Pretty Indonesian sisters share everything including good looks and sweet style 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Bento, Japan’s multi-dish boxed lunches, come in a variety of styles. While it’s most common to make your own or pick one up at a cheap takeout joint, there’s also a whole sub-industry of high-class bento delivery services that cater business conferences and other high-rolling events.

Of course, rich and powerful clients tend to have demands as high as their positions on the corporate ladder. They expect the food to be delicious, the service to be impeccable, and now, with Platinum Lunch, they can expect their bento to be delivered by beautiful models and actresses.

As you might guess from its overarching name, Social Capital Research Institute is a company with varied business interests. One of its recent endeavors was a bento delivery service for customers with special medical needs, and while that’s definitely an admirable niche market to serve, the company received complaints about its delivery staff.

This got the company thinking about offering bento delivery that focused not only on flavor and convenience, but also on hospitality and beauty. To that end, Social Capital Research Institute partnered with talent agency Platinum Productions, and Platinum Lunch began operations this week.

▼ One of Platinum Lunch’s deliverywomen…Oh, and also an unagi bento.

The idea of employing a team of up-and-coming actresses and models to deliver food to businesspeople might seem like the daydream of a group of lonely old men, but the idea for Platinum Lunch actually came from a female employee at Social Capital Research Institute, where 70 percent of the staff are women. The company sees Platinum Lunch as a win-win for everyone involved, as shown by a statement regarding the venture:

“For new actresses and models, this of course allows them to supplement their incomes during downtime in the afternoon. We also believe it provides them with an opportunity to learn etiquette and polish their manners.”

As such, Platinum Lunch isn’t just handing off a pallets of bento to any Platinum Productions member with a pretty face and shoving her out the door. Instead, it provides training and guidance in serving technique, grooming, and how best to explain the dishes to diners.

But while the comely delivery staff is the icing on the cake, it’s important for the food to taste good, too. Customers can choose meals from one of Platinum Lunch’s roughly 20 partner restaurants, which encompass Japanese, Western, and other Asian cuisines.

Prices for each bento range from 1,500 to 5,000 yen (US$13 to $44). That makes Platinum Lunch bentos a fairly affordable luxury, on a per-person basis, but the minimum order size is a total of 30,000 yen (onto which a 10-percent service and delivery fee is added). And just in case you’re willing to splurge and gorge yourself to have one of these ladies bring a meal to your apartment, you should know that Platinum Lunch delivers exclusively to corporate functions, not private homes.

Currently, delivery is only available for the Minato, Chiyoda, and Chuo wards of central Tokyo, where the offices of the city’s movers and shakers are clustered. Platinum Lunch’s website asks customers located outside those three areas to contact the company about the possibility of arranging delivery. You’ll also need to plan ahead, as order must be placed three days ahead of time.

There are two final points to bear in mind. First, it’s luck of the draw for which model or actress will bring you your bento, as clients aren’t allowed to specify which delivery person they’d like. Second, and the stipulation most likely to disappoint creepily obsessive diners, no, you can’t take the lunch box home with you to enshrine after the lovely delivery lady hands it to you. Platinum Lunch collects all containers once the meal is over.

Still, as long as you don’t have any issues with the service’s conditions, Platinum Lunch is an easy way to add a little glamour and eye candy to your business lunch. Just make sure not to get so carried away staring at the would-be starlets that your food slips out of our chopsticks and falls onto your presentation notes.

Related: Platinum Lunch website, Facebook
Source: Niconico News
Feature image: Facebook
Insert image: Platinum Lunch

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Origin: Beautiful models and actresses delivering boxed lunches in Tokyo with new bento service
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