Japanese Mascot of the Week - #1 Jinenja

The first installment of a weekly series introducing the strangest yuru-kyara mascots Japan has to offer.

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Hometown: Shiroi City, Chiba Prefecture
2015 Yuru Kyara Grand Prix Ranking: 1070th of 1727

Jinenja is the Jinenjo (wild yam) Ninja from the Underground Kingdom of Neba Land (Sticky Land) in Shiroi City, Chiba Prefecture. When the Grated Yam Princess, Tororo Hime, was kidnapped, the brave Jinenja chased after her mysterious and formidable kidnapper but was attacked and ran away. After barely escaping with his life, Jinenja found himself in the jinenjo fields of Shiroi City where he was saved by a kind farmer. The farmer awarded Jinenja the City's strongest weapon, the jinenjo, and Jinenja began his special training to rescue the Grated Yam Princess. This training is ongoing and, by the looks of it, Grated Yam Princess better not hold her breath.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's "Cute, mysterious, super exciting!" XR ride opens at Universal Studios Japan

The Kyary Pamyu Pamyu XR Ride opens today at Universal Studios Japan, Osaka. The ride's soundtrack has been written by Kyary's producer, Yasutaka Nakata of electronic duo CAPSULE who is also the man behind girl group Perfume.

Kyary promises that no matter where you look, for 360 degrees around you and as far as the eye can see will be "CUTE! MYSTERIOUS! SUPER EXCITING!"

The Unbelievable Paper Cut-Out Art of Akira Nagaya

Summer sparkler made from paper
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Akira Nagaya is a kiri-e (cut-out art) artist who creates incredibly delicate and intricate works of paper art with a concentration so sharp and a hand so steady he could perform neurosurgery on an ant.

Well, close enough.

Miniscule paper ant
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The stairway to "Heaven's Station" is a hell of a climb

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Nicknamed "Heaven's Station," Uzui Station's platform is a 30 meter climb up 10 flights of stairs, making it the tallest in Japan. Located in Ōnan, Shimane Prefecture, the second least populated prefecture in the country, Uzui Station currently gets less than one passenger a day on average, down from its peak of 4 in 2003. The rural station has no lifts or escalators and no vending machines to replenish your fluids after your agonising ascent. There is, however, a single bench upon which to rest as you wait... and wait... and wait... for one of the four daily services to pick you up.

A rare look inside the Japanese Imperial air raid shelter

On August 1st, the Imperial Household Agency released floor plans, photographs, and video of the World War II imperial air raid shelter. The shelter, an annex of the former imperial couple's residential quarters, is situated within the Imperial Palace grounds in Central Tokyo. It is the first time since 1965 that views of the inside or outside of the shelter have been shown to the public.

All aboard the Evangelion Shinkansen

From this Autumn, to commemorate both the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Sanyō Shinkansen line and the 20th anniversary of Evangelion's first television broadcast, Hideaki Anno has teamed up with mechanical designer Ikuto Yamashita to design the "500 Type Eva" shinkansen for JR West.

Hayao Miyazaki to direct Ghibli's first fully CG animated short, 'Boro the Caterpillar'

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Since his (most recent) retirement from directing feature films, Miyazaki has been working on a short CG animation to join the collection of short films shown at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Studio Ghibli Producer Toshio Suzuki announced on the 10th of July. The project, entitled 'Boro the Caterpillar' (Kemushi no Boro), is based on an idea for a feature film Miyazaki envisioned prior to working on Princess Mononoke. The 10 minute film is expected to take 3 years to complete.

While Studio Ghibli regularly employs the use of CG to compliment its 2D animations, the new short film will be the studio's first fully CG work. Mr Suzuki said that Mr Miyazaki is very excited about the new project.

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宮崎駿監督、短編を制作中　ジブリ美術館用の初ＣＧ作品
Hayao Miyazaki at work on computer graphics short