Posts by Ben
Ben Hwang is involved in a number of online publications and also writes at his personal blog, LUX.ET.UMBRA. When he's not in the middle of starting companies and dreaming up new ventures, he is heavily involved in local community efforts. Currently resides in North Carolina.
K-Pop Star Rain Joins South Korean Army
K-Popstar Rain takes a temporary hiatus from his stardom to join the military as required by South Korea: “The 29-year-old singer and actor gave a military salute to tearful fans Tuesday before walking into a boot camp in the city of Uijeongbu north of Seoul. Many of the hundreds of fans gathered in front of the base were from Japan and China.” Like many countries in Asia, all abled body males are required to join [...] Continue »
Dole Japan Launches Search For Dole Dance Ambassador For Banana Commercial
Dole Japan is setting up to find their “Smile♪ Dole Dance Ambassador” who will make $11k per hour for singing and dancing with SMAP singer Shingo Katori in a commercial. Not really my cup of tea, even for $11k an hour, but I’m sure there are some of you out there that are willing to do it. To apply, visit the Official Dole Japan Facebook Page. [Editor's Note: And you'll probably have to be fluent [...] Continue »
War of the Arrows Movie Review: Cinematographically Awesome
Distributed by Lotte Entertainment, War of the Arrows is directed and written by Kim Han-Min. The film is something I’ve been wanting out of Korean films for a long time: an epic action film that keeps you on your toes but also has a great story line. The original film premiered in South Korea this August under the name: Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon (최종병기 활). Personally, the new English name seems a lot more fitting.
Richest Self-Made Woman is Chinese
Not Oprah? What? This can’t be! But no, quite on the contrary, it seems that the richest woman in the world happens to be Wu Yanjun, executive director of Longfor Properties Co., who has a net worth of $6.6 billion. Interestingly enough, most of the wealth amassed by Chinese women seem to happen in the crazy real estate market. And I know that for a fact judging by Shanghai condo prices last time I spoke [...] Continue »
NTT DoCoMo Releases Smartphone Radiation “Jackets”
NTT DoCoMo has released a smartphone that comes with a radiation jacket. The company will “show off three kinds of ‘jacket’ for use with a model of smartphone loaded with the appropriate software. As well as radiation, the company said it would also demonstrate a case that determines if the holder has bad breath or smells of alcohol as well as checking levels of skin-damaging ultraviolet light.” Sounds to me like a smart cover of [...] Continue »
Hong Kong Mobs Its First Apple Store
Apparently, people don’t just camp out at Apple Stores in the United States Oh no – the Chinese have had lines for almost two days for the grand opening of their first Apple Store. Being that Apple’s products are the rage world wide, it’s actually no wonder that this would happen with the authentic products considering the amount of counterfeit goods that arise in China already.
Club KT Shibuya Store Opens As DJ Hello Kitty Spins To Japanese Teenagers
In Japan, Sanrio opened Club KT Shibuya, a new store for Hello Kitty merchandise. But this isn’t your typical Sanrio shop. “Teenagers want to experience club culture for themselves, but they are not allowed to go into places where alcohol is served. Here they can experience club culture,” Tohmatsu [spokesman for Sanrio] told AFP. It’s a neat idea because it’s basically the club culture inside a retail place which allows the younger generation to experience [...] Continue »
Teijin Chemicals Develops Radioactive Detecting Plastic
In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster, Teijin Chemicals has developed a polyester resin that will glow blue in the presence of radioactivity. This product, Scintirex, will help push forward cheaper radioactivity detection equipment: “Scintirex ‘will help to reduce the total cost of radiation detectors by slashing the production cost of scintillators to one tenth or less of current levels,’ the company said in a statement.”
Is Gaijin Just a Word or a Racial Slur?
A piece written by Eddie Landsberg for Japan Today hits home for not only the word gaijin, but any other racial word or slur. In a short form, the article is about how a Caucasian moved to Japan and his experiences in not only being called a gaijin, but how he was treated in both positive and negative scenarios.
DUDE WTF ASIA: Japanese’s Calorie Burning Underwear
Before you watch this commercial for Japan’s “Calorie Shaper” underwear, make sure that you have two minutes of your life to wonder what the hell you just watched. And you might want to get the wastebasket ready when the 70′s era music hits your eardrums. The idea of “functional underwear” is actually pretty interesting, albeit something that I would probably never spend on forty dollars on (2,940 yen is about $38USD). Basically, the Calorie Shapers [...] Continue »
Japan Looks Towards Geothermal Energy
When it comes to quakes, Japan is known to have some of the best sensors and detection technology in the world. But for energy, they seem to stray from geothermal which only makes up one percent of their energy production. Alas, it usually takes a tragedy like the recent 9.0 quake and Fukuishima nuclear plant disaster to drum up support for interest in geothermal. Even more ironic is the fact that Japan is number one [...] Continue »
DUDE WTF ASIA: Japanese Woman Accidentally Kills Self and Husband in Pitfall Trap
One young woman in Japan decided to play some sort of joke on her husband for his birthday and spent the better part of a day digging a 2.5m hole in the sand with a couple of the guy’s buddies. Then she covered it up with a sheet and sand on top, and invited her husband out to the area later that night. As expected, they both fell in, but instead of the amusing “ha [...] Continue »
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