Who knew that Kumamoto Castle was a Transformer hiding in plain sight all this time?

Kumamoto Castle may be more than meets the eye. 

No trip to Kumamoto Prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu is complete without at least one Kumamon sighting and a visit to Kumamoto Castle, known as one of the top three castles in all of Japan. Sadly, the famous landmark sustained heavy damage in the April 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Although restoration efforts began just two months later, it’s estimated that it will take decades to fully repair the destruction wreaked by Mother Nature.

Thankfully, Kumamoto Castle’s historical and cultural significance hasn’t been lost despite needing a little makeover. Plenty of tourists still go to visit it, including Japanese Twitter user @NiceGuuuy late last week. Upon seeing the particular state of the scaffolding enveloping the building’s structure, he arrived at a humorous realization–that more than a little, the castle actually resembled a robot in disguise:

▼ “Kumamoto Castle looking like it’s about to transform at any moment. It’s tickling my manly senses.” 

今の熊本城、トランスフォームしそうで男心をくすぐられる https://t.co/AIlyJVJW7s

—
ナイス害 (@NiceGuuuy) August 23, 2018

OK, if that’s what the Transformer castle looks like on a more inanimate object-feeling day, what about at night? A second Twitter user followed-up with the photographic evidence:

@NiceGuuuy これが夜中の熊本城です https://t.co/zMsEwiHWDa

—
miminto (@miminto1) August 24, 2018

While Japanese net users were disappointed not to catch the castle in the midst of a transformation, they did leave their various musings in the comments section of the original post.

“The real question is whether it’s an Autobot or a Decepticon.”
“It looks like it would be the final stage of Sasuke [known as Ninja Warrior internationally].”
“I’ve been inside it many times and it’s definitely tough to see it like this. I hope that it’s restored to its original form soon.”

Others got even more in on the fun by drawing parallels to a ’90s Japanese TV show called Ninja Sentai Kakuranger [Ninja Rangers], which included the fused mecha Muteki Shogun (“Invincible General”) whose design drew elements from feudal Japanese castles:

▼ “Is this it?”

@NiceGuuuy これですか？ https://t.co/zusb2zUVTq

—
genkazu（真） (@genkazu1986) August 24, 2018

▼ “So cool!!”

@genkazu1986 @NiceGuuuy (ﾟ∀ﾟ)か、格好いい❗❗ https://t.co/EhdbgfHs7n

—
サム(元アイカツ紳士) (@n1369) August 25, 2018

Here’s one referencing 1988 sci-fi film Mirai Ninja [Cyber Ninja]:

▼ “How about this?”

@NiceGuuuy こんなんどうですか？ https://t.co/hg54wNRStN

—
ashbless (@cpt_ashbless) August 24, 2018

All Hasbro toy and campy tokusatsu jokes aside, please consider purchasing one of these miniature Kumamoto Castles or a Kumamoto-themed Kit Kat if you would like to help support the reconstruction efforts there.

Source: Twitter/@NiceGuuuy
Featured image: Twitter/@NiceGuuuy

Credit:

Here’s what happens when an employee of Final Fantasy’s publisher starts his own Tokyo café

Chamber of Raven would be a cool video game stage, but instead it’s an amazing real-world restaurant.

“Chamber of Raven” sounds like the perfect name for the hub area of a video game. A place where rogues and heroes form unlikely pacts as they exchange information and pledge partnerships before heading out on grand adventures to make themselves richer and/or the world safer.

However, Chamber of Raven doesn’t exist in a virtual realm, but in real-life Tokyo. That said, its mix of Gothic and steampunk aesthetics still make it look like characters from a Final Fantasy game should e hanging around, and in fact the place is said to be owned by a former employee of video game publisher Square Enix.

But people don’t come to Chamber of Raven to exchange their pile of werebeast pelts for a set of upgraded light armor, or to learn the words to the incantation that’s been forbidden since it destroyed the civilization of the ancients, yet is the only way to defeat the evil encroaching on the borders of the kingdom. No, they come to eat and drink, because Chamber of Raven is an ultra-stylish cafe in the Ogikubo neighborhood.

▼ Even the maps to the restaurant look like directions for an epic treasure hunt.

The different rooms of the cafe each have their own unique feel, from the entryway with what looks like the skeleton of a compact dragon on display to the aptly named Crimson Bar.

There’s also a room that can be rented out for private parties, for those who’re dining with several comrades.

Considering the restaurant’s advanced design sensibilities, you might expect its website to be plastered with photos of its fare. Instead, though, it presents a series of masterfully illustrated representations, like something you’d find in the cooking mini-game portion of a passion project RPG.

▼ The most dramatic BLT we’ve ever seen.

▼ The cocktails, like the iced mojito green apple and caipirinha, look like they shouldn’t just quench your thirst, but also cure status ailments.

▼ Even the chocolate atop the banana pancakes is exquisitely decorated.

▼ And because every fantasy franchise needs a cute, comic relief mascot character, the latte art coffee features an adorable little raven.

Despite all the time and effort that’s gone into making Chamber of Raven feel like someplace from a world of magic and mystery, you won’t need to secure bags of gold of fistfuls of gems if you’re planning to go. Drinks run about 800 yen (US$7.30), most food items are around the 1,000-yen mark, and even the fancier items are under 1,500, which is pretty much in line for independent cafes in Tokyo.

Restaurant information
Chamber of Raven
Address: Tokyo-to, Suginami-ku, Amanuma 3-29-10
東京都杉並区天沼3-29-10
Open 11:30 a.m.-8;30 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays
Website

Source: Chamber of Raven via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Chamber of Raven
Insert images: Chamber of Raven (1, 2, 3)

Credit:

Ridiculously buff cat has the bodybuilder physique of dreams, sparks jealousy in netizens’ hearts

“What could that be out…*flexes*…there?”

Bodybuilding is an intense hobby that involves rigorous training at the gym and specially tailored meal plans. It’s not easy to maintain the perfect physique required by bodybuilding competitions, unless, of course, you’re this cat, who seems to have effortlessly attained the body of most bodybuilders’ dreams. 

ジムで一汗流した後、休憩中にふっと外の景色を眺めるネコ。 https://t.co/nMCtsutFWh

—
Green Pepper (@r2d2c3poacco) August 25, 2018

The cat, who was shared by Twitter user Green Pepper (@r2d2c3poacco), must have just finished breaking out a sweat at the gym, and after coming home decided to gaze out the window in a totally casual pose that only shows off every muscle in its body. Just look at those shoulder muscles, the graceful lines of its trapezius muscles, the bulging obliques. What most bodybuilders would give to have such sleek body lines!

“Oh, you were taking a photo,” he says casually as he turns around. “I had no idea.”

Japanese netizens were instantly struck with jealousy at the cat’s perfect body-builder physique:

“How do I get a perfect body like this?”
“He’s massive!”
“That would be what Yujiro Hanma [from anime Baki the Grappler] would look like if he turned into a cat.”
“His muscles are so brawny!”
“He’s so cool…”
“I wonder what his body fat percentage is lol”
“That’s one tough cat!”
“Meow….meowscle builder…”

Some netizens took a guess about what kind of personality the cat might have. “I bet he’s always standing in front of a mirror,” one netizen said. Another guessed that as he gazes out the window, he’s thinking, “This is my land, the domain that I control.” Whether he owns that turf or not, this is one cat you probably don’t want to mess with.

He would likely fit right into Japan’s newest fitness television program, Bodybuilding for Everyone, which also features our favorite buff, Swedish gardener. Or perhaps he might consider joining Macho29, the muscle-y male idol group also responsible for the Macho Cafe. Somebody get this kitty an agent, stat!

Source: Twitter/@r2d2c3poacco via My Game News Flash
Featured Image: Twitter/@r2d2c3poacco

Credit:

Food fight(ers)! Japanese artist turns food samples into fantastic instant noodle samurai

These plastic warriors are trawling for a brawling, cruising for a bruising, and sampling for a trampling.

If you’ve eaten out in Japan before, you’re bound to have seen the (usually) realistic plastic food samples outside countless restaurants, tempting in potential diners. The craftmanship behind the making of these samples is an art in itself, rendering the colours and textures of food, but surely making endless bowls of plastic ramen or fried rice must get a little monotonous. Maybe that was the reason behind some phenomenal plastic art that re-imagines Donbei udon and soba noodle pots and their contents as amazingly cool warriors of a bygone age.

戦う麺類たち #食品サンプル #どん兵衛 https://t.co/Ggi6LKpwwp

—
有村 (@15424578268) August 21, 2018

Graphic designer Taishi Arimura (the same artist behind the beautifully minimalist “city vs. countryside” piece we looked at a few days ago) has posted the photos of his sublime creations on his Twitter page (@15424578268), showing off not only a great concept, anthropomorphised noodles, but also his undoubted skill in having crafted the realistic, individual noodles and the accessories that set the piece off, like the disposable chopsticks sword or the armour made of shards of plastic pot or deep-fried tofu.

While some plastic, or wax, food samples are comparatively easy to make (if we managed to make some, anyone can) with the right equipment, one-off models like these with far more complex shapes and textures are another story, one as mysterious as Nissin’s other famous product, the Cup Noodle’s mystery meat used to be.

These Donbei creations are surprisingly not the first time the instant udon and soba brand has featured in artwork. But unlike their notoriously slippery cousins, don’t look like they’d try and escape if you wanted to eat them — they’d fight back.

▼ What one of manufacturer Nissin’s more pacifistic Donbei looks like.

The long strands of noodle, reminiscent of an Egyptian mummy with its bandages, loop round, widening out towards the torso and feet to form the dining table soldiers’ forms while the weapons and clothing resemble the noodles’ usual accoutrements; we were particularly taken with the tofu material on the back of the lighter-coloured noodle warrior and the shield of the fighter seemingly crafted from darker buckwheat soba noodles.

The works probably won’t be winning any food sample competitions, since they’re not actually a dish that you can order (though if they were, that’s a restaurant we’d be queuing up to eat at). Still, they have us in the mood to do battle with a pot of Donbei udon or soba noodles right now. One pot, one pair of chopsticks, one of me (sigh), only one outcome.

Source: Twitter/@15424578268 via ADB
Featured image: Twitter/@15423478268
Insert image Nissin

Credit:

Popular Japanese celebrity tattoos his family’s names on his arms, gets blasted by netizens

The overwhelming wave of criticism left model and singer Ryuchell shocked and hurt enough to make a response post. 

Ryuchell, a Japanese celebrity, model, and singer, has been making waves in the Japanese entertainment industry for a few years now. Best known for his silly, curly-haired, bright color-wearing, headbanded persona in his early career, Ryuchell became hugely famous for his cute and beautiful androgynous looks, and as a result turned into a fashion icon, inspiring even our writers to get a makeover.

▼ Ryuchell’s early style

Ryuchell married his girlfriend and fellow model, Peko, after two years of dating, and she just gave birth to their first child, a boy they named Link. Ryuchell is very expressive about his love for his wife and his family on his Instagram, and he recently decided to express his love with tattoos of his wife’s and newborn son’s names on each arm.

He made the announcement in an Instagram post on August 19, but it has since been deleted. That’s likely because he received swarms of apparently ugly comments criticizing his choice to get a tattoo.

▼ Here he is doing a makeup video, and you can see the tattoos when he turns his body.

Sadly, tattoos in Japan, even cute and heartwarming ones like Ryuchell’s, are still widely regarded as taboo. Due to their ongoing association with organized crime in Japan, many hot springs and pools deny entry to those with tattoos, and some companies will even refuse employment to or even fire individuals if they are discovered to have tattoos. Despite the increasing popularity of tattoos in Japan, a social stigma against them still pervades.

That’s perhaps why Ryuchell was so harshly criticized for his decision to get not just one but two tattoos. Though the original post has now been deleted and we can’t know for sure what was said about him, Ryuchell posted a follow-up photo of his wife holding their son with a long commentary about his feelings regarding Japanese netizens’ responses, so we can make some educated guesses.

▼ “Thank you for all of the responses,” he says. “I’m going to try to accurately express what I want to say!”

Ryuchell starts off his post thanking everyone for their opinions, but expresses surprise at having received quite so many “prejudiced” comments. “I’m really surprised at all of the people who used to support me and now suddenly hate me and leave cold comments on my posts. I expected some narrow views, but not quite so many. What’s going to happen in this society if we are so prejudiced? ‘There’s no helping it, right?’ Wrong. I want to change it.”

Following, Ryuchell also explains why he chose to tattoo his family’s names on his arms, “I decided three years ago, before getting married, that I was going to get tattoos of my family’s names. For three years I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and have prepared myself for it. With this body, I will protect the smiles of my family. So, I had my beloved family’s names etched into my skin.”

After that, Ryuchell addresses several points, indicating that people took it upon themselves to warn him about the apparent dangers of having tattoos. “You won’t be able to go to pools and onsen!” seems to have been one reasoning, to which he says he didn’t plan on going to either anyway, to protect his children from the paparazzi. “There are many other wonderful things we can do for them,” he reasoned.

▼ Ryuchell and Peko on a walk with Link after his first month checkup.

It looks like another concern of online critics was that “tattoos would be a bad influence on his children”. Undoubtedly a picture of a smiley face with a halo and wings would be extremely devastating to a child, but Ryuchell counters by pledging “I absolutely will not let what I do with my own body interrupt the lives of my children, or the making of their precious memories.”

He even adds some anecdotal evidence, saying that his own father had a dragon tattooed on his back when Ryuchell was born, and he’d never felt any animosity towards it. On the contrary, he appreciated it, he said. He never felt uncomfortable it, and he received a lot of love from his parents growing up, so he firmly believes his tattoo will not have any effect on his children.

“I don’t plan to hide them, but I don’t plan to flaunt them either. I want to live naturally, so that the prejudice can disappear,” he says.

▼ Ryuchell and Peko going to a friend’s wedding

Ryuchell finishes his post by saying that even though he’s afraid of the backlash he could receive from anything he posts on social media, he knows that being afraid and not saying anything will change nothing. He’s going to keep sharing his thoughts and talking about the things he wants to change, to help be a positive force in the world.

After this post, Ryuchell received a new onslaught of comments, many of which are supportive:

“Wonderful! Your and Peko’s way of living is so refreshing.”
“It’s not like it’s going to harm anyone, so I think people should just do as they like…”
“Ryuchell! Don’t give up! I’m rooting for you!”
“Ryuchell, your comment really hit me hard. I don’t know how to say it, but I think it would be great if this world could have a better mix of ‘normal’ and ‘unusual’!”

And yet, some people criticized his commentary, particularly capitalizing on the word “prejudice”, which is one of those dirty words that no one wants to hear spoken about themselves. “People can have their own opinions!” was the chief rebuttal by many disagreeing netizens, and even some celebrities agreed. A member of HKT48, Rino Sashihara, said, ‘”Of course people are going to criticize. You should have been prepared.” Member of comedy duo Downtown and famous television host Hitoshi Matsumoto agreed, saying “You can’t put your opinion out there, and then have hard feelings about it when someone disagrees.”

Several celebrities came to Ryuchell’s aid, however. Blogger and writer Haruka Ito said, “I understand that he’s trying to express that he wants to change the world. I think it’s strange to say that someone coming out and saying the world is strange is an expression of ‘hard feelings'”. MAH, vocalist of rock band SiM, whose members all have tattoos, added, “There’s no point in fighting over what we ‘love’ and ‘hate’. Nobody is going to give in, and there isn’t any reason to anyway. Just leave each other alone. That’s the most peaceful way to do it.”

Still, in my humble opinion, just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you should attack someone who does, verbally or otherwise. As MAH from SiM said, that’s meaningless, and just plain rude. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to do it, or that Japan is going to change its societal impressions of tattoos any time soon, even if the government wants it to.

Source: Instagram/@ryuzi33world929, Yahoo! News
Featured image: Instagram/@ryuzi33world929

Credit:

Japan’s KFC chains fall behind on profits, needs to up the spices to meet the prices

The Colonel’s company can’t convince enough customers to cram their chops with chicken, and that has cold hard cash consequences.

While nowhere near as plentiful as their eternal rival McDonald’s, it’s not uncommon to see one of KFC’s striped red-and-white chicken establishments when you’re out and about in Japan. Company mascot and founder Colonel Sanders is a popular enough fixture in Japanese culture that simply letting him sit down was newsworthy, and the chain is still as synonymous with Christmas as it ever was.

今日は、にわとりの日🐔 ケンタッキーで初めて「とりの日パック」を購入しました☺ オリジナルチキン4個とチキンナゲットが入って1000円😍 いつもタイミング合わなくて28日に買うことなかったけど、お得ですね❗いただきます🍴😃💕… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
  (@two0one799) August 28, 2018

In spite of its strong brand, the Japanese edition of KFC has fallen on some hard times lately. While July showed some recovery, sales had decreased until then for period of nine-months, with recent declarations of sales showing a reduction of 6.3 percent in April, 4.9 percent in May and a 3.1 percent decrease in June. What’s more, this year showed a 1.7 percent decline in sales for the March period, compared to last year which only had a 0.9 percent decline; this could mean sales will plunge further.

Though the figures are complicated somewhat by how not all KFC stores are under the direct management of the company (KFC also runs franchise stores which account for about 70 percent of their 1,153 Japanese outlets), there is a definite issue if the customer base is shrinking across all stores.

It’s likely that one factor in the downwards trend was last year’s sale of the company’s Pizza Hut branches. The Pizza Hut chains started in 1991 and were plagued with a series of managerial problems, so it’s unsurprising that the company chose to sell them rather than hope for more profit. Unfortunately this leaves KFC with just one main business – their titular fried chicken – and business there is hardly booming, either.

▼ Maybe KFC just needs its own cute anime girl campaign?

KFC wasn’t slacking off during these turbulent times: 2016 saw the introduction of bar-style stores, as well as “KFC plus” outlets which served expanded menus with sandwiches and salads. There was even a more upmarket model of store unveiled in Sendai in 2017, “The Table” by KFC. Despite these efforts, and perhaps due to their small number and novelty, sales have remained at a static figure around 60 billion yen (US$540 million).

So where does the problem lie? For one thing, KFC hasn’t bumped up its number of stores in a long time – and those stores all serve the same mainstays, coasting along on its chicken buckets and buttermilk biscuits. Other fast food vendors in Japan like Mos Burger and Mister Donut have branched out beyond their star products in hope of drawing in more potential customers, and the sales reflect it. Even conveyor-belt sushi restaurants offer fried chicken, curries and ramen bowls in their lineup these days!

▼ Mister Donut promotes a tasty bowl of soba noodles

おなかが空いたらミスドゴハン😋♪ 「汁そば」は、塩とチキンをベースにした、すっきりとした後味のスープに細麺が相性ぴったりです💖 #ミスタードーナツ #ミスド #ミスドゴハン ※取り扱いショップはこちら… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
ミスタードーナツ (@misterdonut_jp) July 11, 2018

Global brands like KFC have a unique problem when it comes to adjusting their menu, though. Even in Japan the chain has a uniquely American appeal, and who knows if serving noodles and tempura would do more harm than good for their brand image? They seemed tentative with the safe option of a rice bowl with chicken on top, after all.

Then there’s the fact that KFC’s chicken is so much more expensive than other brands. Commenters on the business news explained how when they felt the urge for chicken they were way more likely to opt for cheaper offerings from a convenience store. Others mentioned that while the chicken is too greasy for them, the burgers are fine – but then, who goes to KFC for a burger when Mos Burger and McDonald’s are right next door?

The safest option for KFC’s company heads seems to be to invest in another project (and not a pizza-based one this time). Rather than tentatively rolling out upscaled chains based on the same old fried chicken, it might be time to head back to the drawing board and build up its repertoire. KFC does show willing in this area, at least: it’s planning to buff up its M&A (mergers and acquisitions) department over the next 15 years.

Feel like lending KFC a (greasy) hand? You can still grab as much chicken as you can eat at these locations, provided it’s a Friday.

Source: Nico Nico News via JIN
Top image: Flickr/JORRY BABSON
Insert image: Flickr/Kanesue

Credit:

Japanese government announces stricter requirements for foreigner student visas

New rules aims to close loophole that lets language school students spend as much of the year working full-time as attending class.

Over the last decade, there’s been a surge in the number of Japanese language schools in Japan. According to the Ministry of Justice, the country now has 711 dedicated language schools (as opposed to universities or trade schools that also offer Japanese lessons), which is 1.8 times as many as there were in 2008.

Obviously, all those new schools couldn’t exist without a growing number of students, too. However, the Japanese government is concerned about whether or not what those ostensible students are doing in Japan actually qualifies as studying.

Foreigners in Japan on a student visa are allowed to work up 28 hours a week. That limit is bumped up to eight hours a day during school vacation periods. Meanwhile, to maintain a long-term language student visa, students must meet certain class-time requirements. Under the current law one criteria is the completion of at least 760 units over the course of one year (one unit being defined as 45 minutes of in-class instruction).

However, some schools also offer short-term intensive courses with a an especially high number of class hours each week. By enrolling in these programs, some students are able to meet their yearly 760-unit requirement in as little as six months. With their visa secure, some of them enroll in no other courses for the year and switch over to working eight hours a day until the next year, meaning that they’re essentially spending as much time working in full-time positions as they are studying Japanese, blurring the line as to whether they’re in Japan for education or employment.

But as of October, the Japanese government aims to close that loophole. That’s when a new set of regulations goes into effect, and from then on language school students will be required to be enrolled in classes for at least 35 weeks out of the year.

“We are making these adjustments to return language schools to their original purpose,” a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said, “as a place where students enroll so that they can learn the language.”

The Ministry of Justice isn’t laying all responsibility for the unwanted situation on the students themselves, however. It’s also criticized language schools that promote their intensive programs, either openly or implicitly, as a way to have a full-time job in Japan without a work visa. The ministry is also addressing the possibility that some language schools might be acting primarily as visa providers and failing to provide their students with proper instruction. The new regulations also include stricter rules for school operators, such as requiring the hiring of additional staff is a single person is acting as director of multiple schools.

Source: Yahoo! Japan News/Asahi Shimbun Digital
Top image: Pakutaso

Credit:

JoJo’s bizarrely awesome Tokyo anime mural hides characters in its sound effects【Photos】

Anime serious famous for its dramatic sound effects and fashionable heroes makes one out of the other with cool and clever artwork trick.

The unmistakable aesthetic of anime/manga JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is built on two pillars. One is the bombastically beautiful poses of cast of its fashionable fighting supernaturalists, and the other is the inventively dramatic sound effects, like “TAKOSU!” that not only fill the pages of creator Hirohiko Araki’s comic, but even visually appear in its recent anime adaptations.

At first glance, this jumbo-sized piece of promotional JoJo’s art seems to be saluting the series’ sound effect ドドドドド (dododododo), which was devised by Araki to represent the sound of tension in the air.

新宿駅ーーーーーーｯｯｯ！！！！！！！ https://t.co/iec1tMJEK4

—
🍖桐谷🍖再録！ザワえ08b (@kiritani88) August 27, 2018

But relax your eyes and let them focus on the bigger picture, and you’ll see that all those sound effects are taking the place of line art, and each ド is carefully sized and oriented to form the faces of some of JoJo’s most important figures.

新宿駅、荒木飛呂彦の狂気炸裂してて 最高だ #jojo https://t.co/iHi9mIfG1p

—
ガッテム竹内(元ハガキ職人) (@gtt214214) August 29, 2018

ジョジョ展の新宿駅ポスターw https://t.co/cWtIxmHCp3

—
1️⃣🐴🍸🎲りかこ@生涯山北推し (@rkk_sakisama) August 28, 2018

The monochrome mural can be found in the Metro Prominade underground section of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, the same stretch of hallway which previously hosted an array of every Yu-Gi-Oh! card ever printed and a collage of decades’ worth of distinctive anime eyes.

▼ Eight key characters, hailing from various arcs of the 31-year-old franchise, are hiding in plain sight.

昨日新宿駅で出会った！！！！😂💓💓💓 早くジョジョ展行かないとな🤔 https://t.co/NFwkcig0kw

—
しいな (@shiiiirabi) August 29, 2018

▼ We’re not sure if this shot was taken at an angle for visual flair, or because the photographer happened to be striking a diagonally oriented JoJo’s pose at the time.

なんかさ？ 昨日新宿駅行ったらこんなのが…← JOJOのコラボなんかな。 全部「ド」で書いてあってん！！！笑 #新宿駅 #JOJO https://t.co/4zaBMq3av7

—
原ちゃん(´・∀ (@satoyan0828) August 28, 2018

While loyal fans will tell you that any time is an appropriate one to stop and appreciate the awesomeness of the Joestar family and their non-normal narrative, the mural is up now to promote an exhibition of Araki’s artwork, dubbed JoJo-Ripples of Adventure, that recently opened at Tokyo’s National Art Center.

▼ Yes, a Japanese government institution realized that it needed to pay proper respect to JoJo’s.

東京メトロ丸ノ内線新宿駅メトロプロムナード、新宿メトロスーパープレミアムセットB面「国立新美術館 荒木飛呂彦原画展 JOJO」 #メトロプロムナード #国立新美術館 #ジョジョ展 #荒木飛呂彦 #ドドド #交通広告 https://t.co/yAPrqQ1YkE

—
USNO (@sephiroticvm) August 29, 2018

新宿駅構内の通路でジョジョ展の看板を発見したドドドドドドドド https://t.co/HxdDd9zJTu

—
Singh (@djsingh_2S) August 27, 2018

新宿駅のジョジョ全景 https://t.co/pLx5uwpNiJ

—
あお002 (@ao002dayo) August 28, 2018

However, while JoJo’s popularity seems to be eternal, there are tighter temporal constraints for the mural. Since it occupies one of the most coveted advertising spaces in all of Japan, odds are it’ll only be up for a few days more. You can still take heart, though, in knowing that the JoJo’s exhibit at the National Art Center runs until October 1.

Related: JoJo-Ripples of Adventure website
Source: Otakomu
Featured image: Twitter/@rkk_sakisama

Credit:

Fukuoka man survives fall overboard from ferry by swimming to deserted island

A 30-minute boat ride turned into a day-and-a-half struggle for survival.

At eight o’clock in the evening on 27 August, passengers were boarding a ferry that would take them from Fukuoka Prefecture’s Hakata Wharf to Shikanoshima with a stop at Saitozaki along the way. Among the passengers was a 53-year-old businessman, Hisateru Soejima, who was in store for the ride of his life.

The entire trip was to take about 30 minutes, and roughly 20 minutes after the ferry set sail, the businessman went onto the deck in order to take some pictures of the beautiful twilight vista his coastal course provided. The combination of having had a few drinks and focusing too much on his smartphone caused him to accidentally topple overboard.

▼ Route taken by Soejima’s ferry

The combination of panic from the sudden fall, the frigid water, and the darkness would have been extremely disorienting, but Soejima somehow managed to keep his head above water and began to do the only thing he could – swim.

Since there were no witnesses at the time of the fall, it is unclear how far he swam, but he was probably attracted by the bright light beaming from Hashima (literally “End Island”) and headed in that direction. Unfortunately for him, its unmanned lighthouse and hundreds of trees were the only things on that island.

▼ Hashima (not to be confused with the more famous “Battleship Island” of the same name)

When Soejima arrived on the Hashima shore he was too exhausted to even call out for help. With no food or water available, he simply spent the entire next day lying down and recovering what little strength he could. Meanwhile, despite there only having been 28 passengers on board the ferry, no one noticed Soejima was missing and went about their lives as usual.

With no one looking for him, Soejima waited and rested until he could begin searching for help by himself. Luckily, on the morning of the 29th, he saw a recreational fishing boat pass by and waved it down.

The waters around Hashima were too shallow for the boat to come close enough, but one of the fishermen on board swam over to him, bringing a bottle of sports drink which he chugged down in an instant.

The fishing boat sent word to the Coast Guard who arrived shortly after in a vessel small enough to pick up Soejima and bring him back to civilization. A medical check revealed no injures and he was able to return home that same morning.

Despite his disappearance going unnoticed, Soejima experienced an extraordinary stroke of luck similar to that of a 2014 incident when a man swept away by the current survived 20 hours at sea by finding a discarded life preserver floating in the water.

These stories are few and far between though, and anytime someone gets lost at sea their chances of survival drop drastically. So, be sure to take as much caution as possible when traveling by boat or swimming in the ocean. Not wandering around the deck drunk is a great start.

Source: NHK, Sankei News West, Nishi Nippon Shimbun, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Wikipedia/Chihaya Sta
Insert images: Wikipedia/Chihaya Sta (edited by SoraNews24)

Credit: