Japan

THANKS, OBAMA!

Never celebrate too early kids.

Giant isopods (daiogusokumushi in Japanese) are passionately loved by some people in Japan. They found the creatures mysterious and cute. A giant isopod in Toba Aquarium has eaten no food for over 4 years. This giant isopod doll is close to the real ones in shape. The doll has cute round eyes and is very soft and comfortable to the touch.

Every two weeks JPCMHD creates a compilation of Japanese TV commercials. Which one is your favorite?

Cat cafes, establishments that allow you to make feline friends while you enjoy your coffee, already exist in Paris and Japan, and the concept will soon hit San Francisco.

A Canadian student studying in Japan created this video tour of a few of Japan's best cat cafes.

This coming November, Japanese fragrance startup Scentee will unveil Hana Yakiniku ("Nose Grilled Meat"), an add-on device for smartphones designed to upgrade your dining experience by giving off the aroma of a delicious Yakiniku BBQ dinner. Basically, it's a BBQ-scented air refresher, although we're not sure whether it will be an enhancement or a really cruel tease for those who can't afford that every night. The scent cartridge is priced at 3,480 yen ($35.57 USD) and comes in three scents (short ribs, beef tongue and buttered potato) along with a free smartphone app.

With this weekend's official announcement that Toyko won the bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, the internet has been talking about who predicted this 30 years ago. Akira, the cyberpunk manga from the 1980s, set in 2019 against the backdrop of the upcoming 2020 Neo-Tokyo Olympics, what we call the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Is Japan World Cup 3 a horse racing game or a collection of everything WTF ever? Whatever it is, thanks Japan.

Japan's robotics research collective Bravo Robotics unveiled a preview of its latest prototype model for a remote-controlled sports car that transforms into a bipedal robot, which will be presented during the upcoming Maker Faire in Tokyo. The 1/12 scale model is operated by a modified PS3 controller and comes equipped with a missile launcher on each arm and a wireless camera that feeds into mobile devices like iPad.

Shut Up and Take My Money of the Day is a feature series dedicated to highlighting the latest innovations and visions in the world of consumer product design and gadgetry.

A zoo worker at the Maruyama Zoo in Hokkaido, Japan, scares the bejesus out of a twin baby red panda.

Omote 3D Shashin Kan is the world's first 3D portrait studio that uses a handheld scanner to produce a three-dimensional scale model of your entire body, which is then sculpted into a intricate plastic figurine. Created by Japanese advertising and branding company PARTY and located in Tokyo's youthful Harajuku neighborhood, the studio offers three different sizes for your luxurious mini-me sculpture: 3.9 inches (¥21,000 / $258), 5.9-inches (¥32,000 / $394) and 7.8-inches (¥42,000 / $517). It's hard to call it a downside, but 3D printing isn't exactly a instantly gratifying process and the models take about a month to complete.

Meanwhile in (X) of the Day is a feature series bringing you the latest buzz from all over the continents with a special focus on non-English speaking parts of the world.

Japanese LEGO brick artist Talapz showcases his super intricate pop-up model of Tōdai-ji, a well-known Zen Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan.

Japanese gizmo maker Takara Tomy Arts unveils its line of batterly-run, lifelike Robofish toys (￥2,980 / $37 per fish) at the 2012 Tokyo Toy Fair.

Shut Up and Take My Money of the Day is a feature series dedicated to highlighting the latest innovations and visions in the world of consumer product design and gadgetry.

Check out this gameplay footage from Japan World Cup 3, not your average horse race betting game.

The G-Cans Project (formally known as the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel) is the world's largest flood water drain facility located 50 meters below ground in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. Built between 1992 and 2009, the massive underground tunnel system is equipped with four jet-powered turbines and five gargantuan water silos that can drain floodwaters at an impressive rate of a 25-meter swimming pool per second.