Latest news with #Koda
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Mie: Tourists Can Experience Training As Ninja in Japan's City Said to Be Ninja Hometown
The Yomiuri Shimbun The writer tries his hand at throwing shuriken at Ninja Museum of Igaryu in Iga, Mie Prefecture. IGA, Mie — The word ninja conjures up images of people clad all in black, operating in secret. Many have envisioned them playing a significant part behind the scenes in Japanese history, but their actual activities and lives remain cloaked in mystery. Anime and movies show ninja dramatically vanquishing their enemies with shuriken ninja stars, but how did they really fight? Seeking answers to these questions, I experienced the real ninja world at Ninja Museum of Igaryu in Iga, Mie Prefecture. The Iga region is believed to be one of the birthplaces of ninja. I thought it would be better to get into the mood before entering the ninja world, so I changed into a rental costume at a kimono shop in the city. Walking along the street in my black clothes, foreign tourists shouted 'Ninja!' at me. When they turned their cameras to me, I felt a little shy but was excited. At the museum, I tried my hand at throwing shuriken stars. Curator Chiharu Koda taught me the basics. You may have seen a ninja holding a bunch of shuriken in the palm of one hand, bringing the other palm together horizontally and rubbing them quickly to perform successive shoots. She said that it is only in anime and manga. 'Actually, you have to throw them like you're flinging them down vertically,' Koda said. According to her explanation, real ninja would hold a shuriken star with the thumb and forefinger at a vertical angle, put a foot forward on the opposite side of the dominant hand, and then throw it fully snapping the wrist, like a baseball pitcher throwing a ball. From stones to shuriken Shuriken made of stainless steel are used for the museum's demonstrations. They're the same model used in shuriken throwing contests, Koda said. They were lighter and smaller than I had expected, and a lot of physical power seemed necessary to throw them a long distance. The Yomiuri Shimbun Shuriken knives stick into a wooden target. I made my first throw toward a wooden plate about five meters away. The shuriken hit the target, but didn't stick into the plate, bouncing back instead. 'The knack is not to rely just on power when throwing, but to minimize the rotation and throw straight,' Koda said. I kept trying and finally made the shuriken stick into the plate. When I could hit near the center of the target, I felt like I had become a real ninja. After more practice, I became able to skillfully use my wrist and stick the shuriken into the plate more often. Once I was finished, I asked Koda about the history of shuriken. Many people likely visualize shuriken as cross-shaped, but Koda said they were not that way in the beginning. The Yomiuri Shimbun The writer passes through a dondengaeshi hidden door. Ninja originally used stones or pieces of kawara rooftiles lying on the ground as impromptu weapons during the Sengoku period, late 15th century to 16th century, she said. From the early Edo period in the 17th century, shuriken became more sophisticated in tandem with the development of martial arts, ultimately resulting in cross-shaped shuriken. 'This resulted from martial arts performers pursuing beauty and functionality in peaceful times,' Koda said. Hidden door Next, I visited the Ninja House, a re-creation of the type of house ninja are believed to have lived in. Inside, subtle tricks are installed everywhere to hide ninja's secret skills, such as methods to mix gunpowder and medicines. Kunoichi Suzu, a guide for the house, showed me around. Kunoichi means 'female ninja.' There's a sword hidden in a part of the floor. A wooden plate pops up when you stomp hard on the side of the threshold and a hidden sword appears. Suzu performed the trick, needing only one second to finish drawing the sword. 'Amazing!' I shouted. The Yomiuri Shimbun Kunoichi Suzu draws a sword which was hidden under the floor. Visitors can also experience such tricks as a dondengaeshi hidden door where part of a wall turns to reveal a secret door. I felt like I had wandered into the world of samurai dramas. 'Ninja tend to be depicted as loving battle in anime and movies, but their real duties were collecting information,' Koda said. Actual ninja are believed to have undertaken tasks of secretly collect information on enemies — castle structures, the storage of war supplies and current movements — to minimize the harm to soldiers on their side. Real images to foreigners Last fiscal year, about 115,000 people visited the ninja museum. Inbound foreign tourists numbered about 26,800, or more than 20% of the total. The Yomiuri Shimbun The writer poses riding on mizugumo, believed to have been a ninja tool used to walk on water. Many were from Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States. Overseas broadcasts of such anime series as 'Nintama Rantaro' and 'Ninja Hattori-kun' have boosted popularity, according to the museum. 'While respecting the images that visitors have in their minds of ninja, I want to present what ninja actually were,' said Koda. I have heard that an old book on ninja skills states that ninja emphasized human relationships and psychology, saying: 'Always smile. Information will come in naturally if you do.' That seems like timeless advice, good for a news reporter too.
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Woman Starts Cleaning House—What Dog Does in Response Has Everyone in Tears
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The internet's hearts have melted over a very good dog who helped his owner clean the house without being asked. Margaret Anne Neal, 28, lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with her 9-year-old dog Koda, who she adopted as a puppy while in college. "He was found in the road by a sorority sister of mine," she told Newsweek. "He'd just been abandoned there at only a few weeks old with a broken tail. "As soon as I saw her Facebook post about needing someone to adopt him, I knew he was my soul dog." Since then, Koda and Neal have been through it all together, with her loyal dog by her side as she graduated college and grad school, bought her first home, started a business, and got married. "I feel like we've lived 100 lives together. Every year his face gets a little more grey and it reminds me that even 100 more years would never be enough with him," she said. "My dad always says 'Koda is one of the smartest dogs I've ever met,' because he's truly so human-like." Now a video showing one of Koda's intelligent and adorable moments has gone viral since being posted to Neal's TikTok account @margaretanneneal on May 25, racking up close to half a million views. In words over the video, she wrote: "When I tell you my dog is perfect, I mean he saw me cleaning the house and cleaned up all his toys and put them in one place and stood next to them until I noticed." From left: Koda gets a head massage from his owner, and right, the toys he tidied up himself. From left: Koda gets a head massage from his owner, and right, the toys he tidied up himself. TikTok @margaretanneneal The clip showed the older dog lying across Neal's lap, looking totally relaxed as she massaged his head—a proper reward for cleaning up his toys. It then panned to the living room, where a pile of his toys could be seen neatly stacked in the middle of the room. Neal wrote in the caption: "No one can tell me he's not absolutely perfect in every way." And TikTok users agreed, awarding the sweet video more than 140,000 likes, as one commenter sweetly declared: "Everyone thinks they have the best dog and everyone is right." "I'm so glad you noticed and had that conscious moment with him," another said, while another described the video as "the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Others shared their own stories, one recalling: "My grandma taught her dog to clean up his toys, and one time he came over and I have three dogs and their toys are always all over, and he picked them all up and put them in their toy box." But another admitted: "Aww my dog follows behind me ripping cotton out of his toys while I clean." Read more Is your dog secretly a genius? Expert reveals 6 signs Is your dog secretly a genius? Expert reveals 6 signs Neal told Newsweek Koda had "never" cleaned up his toys like this before, but has always been a "very observant" dog. "I work from home most days so he is my shadow. I'll say 'let's go to work' and he knows to run into my office and sit by my desk. Usually with a toy in tow!" she said. Dogs can process speech quickly, and are good at observing instruction words such as sit, stay, or down—or in Koda's case, let's go to work. However, they don't learn words in the same way as adult humans, but in the same way as babies, which is why dogs only learn a handful of words rather than a big vocabulary, according to a 2020 study by the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. Neal added about her adored pet: "He's truly one of the best things in my life. He is a lover boy in every way!" Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Wales Online
26-05-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
'I'm Italian and pizza is serious business': Ooni pizza oven is now at cheapest price
'I'm Italian and pizza is serious business': Ooni pizza oven is now at cheapest price The Ooni Koda pizza oven, which even Italians love for its authentic creations, has dropped to a much cheaper price - but it won't be around for long The Koda pizza ovens cooks fresh pizza in seconds (Image: Ooni ) With summer on the horizon, more people across the UK will be looking to spend time in the garden. Having just spent a sunny Saturday having a BBQ in the garden myself, there's one latest Bank Holiday sale that's caught my eye. As Ooni slash the price of its fired pizza ovens. The outdoor appliances from Ooni can cook authentic homemade pizzas in seconds, and produce a gas flame for a wood-fired taste. I myself am one of many shoppers looking for patio gadgets I can share with my friends and family, and who doesn't love homemade pizza? Ooni has launched a huge 20% off bank holiday sale, available on a range of its gas-powered pizza ovens. One that caught my eye is the 12' Koda, that can be 'carried anywhere' for pizza on the go, and it's now dropped to a much cheaper price of £239.20. READ MORE: Matalan's 'luxury' £20 white bedding set is on offer for 50p in limited-time deal stack READ MORE: Limited 40% off sale on teeth whitening range that shoppers claim leave 'teeth looking amazing' The brand has cut £59.80 off the price of the model, which reaches 500 degrees in 15 minutes, meaning pizzas take seconds to cook. Plus, out of all the models offered by Ooni, it's their lightest one, the most recommended for taking out on picnics, to friends, or to the end of your garden. As Ooni says on their site: "Our lightest and easiest to set-up oven. Ultra-portable gas-powered convenience." The set-up is said to be simple, as 'it can be used straight out of the box' all users need to do is unfold the legs and connect to gas. Ooni also isn't the only brand offering this price, fellow retailer Lakeland has also reduced the price of the 12-inch Koda, to £239.99 in it's rival summer sale. Lakeland shoppers can also find discounts on other brands, including Sage and its high-end £769.99 Smart Oven Pizzaiolo. The Koda 12 is designed to be taken on the go (Image: Ooni ) Unlike Ooni, the Sage model is made to use indoors on the kitchen worktop but still has a 'woodfired' setting. For other outdoor shoppers, Gozney is also hosting a sale, with up to £200 off - which is where we spotted the Dome model, however, the brand's prices are a lot more expensive. Despite being a more affordable pick than Gozney's Dome or portable Roccobox, which is currently £80 off in its sale. The Ooni has a lot of rave reviews from users who say they taste authentic. As one shopper said: "I am Italian, and pizza is a serious thing. Thanks to Ooni koda 12 I can make professional pizzas at home for me and my family. It is an excellent product, and the dimensions are small even for small spaces" Another shopper said: "The koda 12 is awesome. Once it's up to temperature, this thing cranks out a pizza a minute - we've had 30 people over and as long as the kitchen is assembling pizzas, this oven can keep up! Super fun." Over at Lakeland, another Koda user said: "Fantastic little oven, cooks pizzas in a couple of minutes. Apart from making the dough it's all pretty quick and you get fresh stone-baked pizza." While another shopper said: "The oven was easy to set up and ready to use in 30 minutes. However, be aware that the pizza peel does not come as part of the oven. I had ordered one, but it is currently out of stock. Article continues below "Not realising how essential this is, and having promised the grandchildren pizzas, we tried using fish slices and cake tin bases with some success. The results were not pretty, but it did taste good. I feel strongly that the oven should be supplied with this necessary piece of equipment." Shoppers can also buy the Ooni Accessory Bundle for a sale price of £96, which includes a pizza peel, pizza oven brush, and thermometer. However, as the above shopper pointed out, this isn't included in the sale of the Koda oven.
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Destiny 2' Reveals Next Four ‘Fate Saga' Expansions, New ‘Edge Of Fate' Details
Destiny 2 Bungie The new Destiny 2 saga after Light and Darkness is officially called The Fate Saga, which begins with The Edge of Fate on July 15. Bungie also announced the upcoming four expansions in total, The Edge of Fate, Renegade in December 2025, Shattered Cycle in summer 2026 and The Alchemist in winter 2026. The saga will explore the nature of fate and the foundations of the universe itself. It's focused on the Nine, who we learn are actually nine individual beings with their own personalities, goals and rivalries. They are heavily involved in our solar system and this saga does not appear to be leaving our solar system as previously forecast. The first destination is Kepler, which is not an out-of-solar system planet like it is in real life, but a Nine-infused place at the edge of our system. Vex are there to study the Nine, Fallen are there too. Vex have new units called Kobolds, Fallen have flying corsairs. People have been there for a long time including new Gordon Freeman-looking guy, Koda(sp?). Ikora is the main returning exiting NPC. Destiny 2 Bungie There is a gameplay trailer repeating SIVA directives over and over, though I did not see many other SIVA hints there. Would be odd if it was not involved, given that. There are now World Tiers in zones for better loot farming and harder challenges. Gear also has a new tier system with higher content giving her tiers of loot. In terms of specifics here, D1 exotic No Land Beyond is showing up. There was a new focus on a Kepler-specific mechanic using Dark Matter mixed with our late. Part puzzle, part combat. An example is a guardian turning into a Samus Aran energy ball that can zap energy but go into small spaces for flanking and puzzles. A void ability lets you teleport through laser walls. Strand 'matter morph' lets you move/build objects. A lot of this is puzzle stuff, but also with combat uses. More generally, the idea is that Destiny 2 has too many barriers to play and know what to do, so the new 'portal' screen replaces the planet destination screen to more easily get into activities that are clearly labeled, very quickly, plus reward previews. Destiny 2 Bungie 'Major updates' will be Into the Light scale, not a full season. There are technically season names that span the entire duration of the expansion, so six months, but not formatting like a traditional season. One example is returning to the Plaguelands for Ash and Iron. One activity, one exotic mission. Destiny 2 is finally adding its shooting range back with actual scoreboards and such. They're making a new sparrow that can actually shoot things, available before the season in its Brigs vs. Tank event. Renegades is a very clear homage to Star Wars in addition to being an important part of the Fate saga. This would almost have to be a licensed collaboration given how 'inspired' it is. I'm still processing all this, but it didn't strike me as some new crazy era of Destiny. It really only is plot-wise, it seems. But we'll know more in two months and we can see how it feels then. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Yahoo
Cat rescued from commercial freezer in Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The latest call for Animal Charity of Ohio took one of its agents to rescue a cat from a commercial freezer. Read next: Woman loses nearly $15,000 in bank card scam: Police Kali the cat was found in a locked freezer at a Youngstown gas station. It is now in safe hands at Animal Charity. Animal Charity believes the cat's owner is the same as the owner of a dog named Koda, which was shot in the neck and paralyzed. The dog was in the hospital for several days, and Animal Charity spent $15,000 saving her life. 'The investigation is looking into the fact that the animal was put into the freezer and abandoned there and also the safety aspect of an animal being shot and then not subsequently receiving veterinary care,' said Jane MacMurchy with Animal Charity. Animal Charity is taking donations to help meet those expenses. It's also hoping the owner of both animals will face criminal charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
