Latest news with #PRTimes
SoraNews24
4 days ago
- Sport
- SoraNews24
Shohei Ohtani's hometown creates rice paddy art and manhole cover in his honour
World-famous baseball player gets a big accolade in Japan… with his beloved dog. Every year in Japan, various rice fields around the country are transformed into massive 'Rice Paddy Art' (or 'tambo art,' as it's known in Japanese), where different varieties of rice are planted in precise positions to create vast, colourful murals. This summer, one particularly eye-catching design has cropped up in Iwate Prefecture — a larger-than-life image of Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani. The art appears in Oshu City's Esashi Ward, which began hosting rice paddy installations in 2009 as a way to promote agriculture and tourism. With the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar being born and bred in Mizusawa, a city that is now a part of Oshu, the massive rice paddy art is a fitting tribute to the hometown hero, and that's not the only honour he's getting, as there's also a commemorative manhole cover dedicated to him. With so much love on display for the baseball star, there's never been a better time for Ohtani fans to visit Oshu, and the adventure begins as soon as you arrive at Mizusawa-Esashi Station. Inside the station, everything is blue, in honour of Ohtani's Dodgers team colour. You'll also see Ohtani's name, '大谷翔平', on a number of tanzaku , paper strips attached to furin windchimes that blow gently in the breeze to make them ring. These particular windchimes are made with Nanbu ironware, a specialty product of Oshu that experienced a boost in sales due to the so-called 'Ohtani effect', with demand for iron kettles becoming so popular that there's now a year-long wait for them. ▼ These summertime windchimes ring with the sound of Ohtani's influence on the economy. Before stepping out of the station you'll want to pick up a 'Shohei Ohtani Hometown Map'. Distributed at tourist centres and local stores in the area, this map has been created by local supporters to help visitors explore key spots related to the baseball star, including his elementary and junior high schools, the grounds where he practiced, stores selling Ohtani-themed goods, and the manhole cover site and rice paddy art vantage point. ▼ The map invites you to 'experience the story behind the legend'. Some public sites may ask visitors to refrain from entering the premises, and if that's the case there's a note on the map reflecting this, but you can visit the junior high school if you contact the school office beforehand, and they'll even give you a commemorative gift. The manhole cover is probably the easiest site to visit first, though, as it's located at the west entrance of the station, and it's one of 12 that feature Japanese MLB players, all set up in each of their hometowns. Image: PR Times Although you can see what Ohtani's manhole cover looks like in the image below, we decided to keep its appearance in-situ under wraps, so as not to spoil the mystery for manhole cover hunters. Image: PR Times After viewing the manhole cover outside the station, the next site you'll want to head to is 'Aterui no Sato', where the rice paddy is located. ▼ You'll be able to spot the site by the watchtower vantage point that stands above the rice field. 'Aterui' was the chieftan and great hero of the Emishi people, an indigenous group who lived in the Tohoku region of Japan where Iwate is located, and this is said to be the site of an ancient battle with the imperial court forces. ▼ Today, it's home to rice fields and a wooden viewing tower. The tower has been giving visitors a bird's eye view of the rice paddy artworks that have been grown here for over a decade. While local characters and historical figures featured in previous years, Ohtani has been the star here in 2019, 2023 and 2024, and there's a photo spot at the base of the tower featuring Ohtani, with the message, 'Let's play baseball!' to help commemorate this year's appearance. The photo panel is a clever way to keep visitors entertained as the viewing tower isn't large so people have to wait to climb the stairs. Climbing to the top, we began to sweat as we felt the heat of the day intensify, but there were butterflies of excitement too as we couldn't wait to see what the Ohtani rice field art looked like. ▼ One more step, and then… ▼ … we were met by the powerful depiction of Ohtani, swinging his bat in his number 17 uniform. Ohtani's batter's stance was incredibly dynamic, with the gentle sway of the rice plants making it seem like he might actually take a swing at an incoming ball. It was awesome to see in person, and heartwarming to see other details included, with the 50-50 referring to Ohtani being the first-ever player in Major League Baseball to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, and the pup by his side being his beloved dog Dekopin, who goes by the English name Decoy. ▼ The fluffy texture of the rice plants look just like the pup's fur, adding to his cuteness. The strong bond between pup and owner is emphasised by their dual look to their left, and zooming in on the details reveals the awesome skills involved in creating the artwork. Rice paddy art is made by placing stakes in the rice field to determine the outlines before planting differently coloured seedlings within them, all individually done by hand. As it's uncertain whether the art will succeed or fail until the rice grows, the process involves months of waiting to see the end result, and it requires great technique as the artists/growers have to consider the issue of diagonal perspective from the viewing spot. ▼ Taking a look at last year's design (pictured below), we reckon the technique is improving every year. The art stretches 100 metres (328 feet) across and changes over time as the rice matures, revealing even deeper contrast between the colours. Peak viewing season is from now until around mid-August, and by September, the whole field turns brown, with the rice harvest taking place at the end of October. After leaving the rice field, there are other Ohtani-related spots to visit in the area. Since it was a school holiday when we visited, we skipped the schools and instead made our way to the Hotel Plaza Inn Mizusawa, where the press conference for Ohtani's debut with the Nippon-Ham Fighters was held. One other important site is the Maesawa Batting Center, where Ohtani used to practice with his Little League mates during his elementary and junior high school days. The batting centre is still operating, and the facility also has karaoke, rental rooms, and a go-kart track, making it a popular place for local children to hang out. Although Ohtani was born into a sports family, he wasn't reared as a sports prodigy so it's amazing to think that the talented, world-famous sportsman honed his techniques at this humble public facility. ▼ Ohtani represents hope for children in rural communities that dreams really can come true when you make the most of what you're given. If you pick up a map at the station you can receive a sticker from the 'Hometown Supporters Group' who says it 'supports the star in good times and bad.' With Ohtani being an active star player who sets records almost daily, people around the world are now showing an increasing interest in the town that helped to shape him. It's a quiet rural area that seems a world away from where the star is now, but the place is filled with heart and a lot of passion for supporting one of their own, and the rice paddy art is just one wow point that makes the area definitely worth seeing. Photos © SoraNews24 unless otherwise stated ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
SoraNews24
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Gacha capsule toy machine you control with your brain/prayers created in Japan【Video】
Designers want Mushin Gacha in arcades, anime specialty shops, and character cafes. We're in a gacha capsule toy golden age in Japan right now, with an unprecedented variety of items available to suit just about every interest and aesthetic taste. But while toy designers are constantly coming up with new prizes to stock gacha machines with, the purchasing process has changed very little: toss your coins into the slot, then turn the handle until a capsule drops for you. But what if instead of turning the handle with your hand, you could turn it with your mind? That's the idea behind Mushin Gacha, a new type of capsule toy machine dreamed up by Tokyo-based neurotechnology and AI research/solutions company Araya. 'Mushin' has a number of possible meanings, but among them are associations with innocence or desire, and those are aspects of the mental state you must achieve to get their Mushin Gacha prize capsule to drop. ▼ Mushin Gacha demonstration video Users don an electroencephalograph head sensor which measures their brain's current level of alpha waves, said to be produced when the mind is in a relaxed state. At the same time, a camera equipped with AI image recognition software will check to see if you've got your hands clasped in a 'please give me a gacha capsule' pose. Fulfilling those conditions, showing an unabashed genuine desire, will activate the Mushin Gacha's motor, causing it to drop your prize capsule. ▼ If you're wondering why it needs a crank at all, it's because gacha is the onomatopoeia of the clunking noise it makes as it turns, so it'd be weird to make a gacha machine without that traditional aural factor, even if it's so cutting-edge you operate it with your brain. Araya says it hopes to install Mushin Gacha machines at video game arcades, anime/manga specialty stores, shopping center game corners, fan events, popup stores, and themed cafes. The preview images show a 'Please insert coin' message on the screen, but it's not clear what happens if you don't achieve the right combination of prayer pose and alpha waves right away. Theoretically, operators could set it to so that players have an unlimited amount of time/number of chances to keep trying in, or perhaps could set a time limit after which no prize is won and the player needs to step aside and let someone else have a turn. Although the unit in the preview video is made out of cardboard, it feels like a safe bet that that's just a pre-production mockup, and that a more substantial and high-tech housing is in the works, and perhaps something Araya has in the works for its upcoming demonstration for visitors at this year's Tokyo Game Show in September. Source: PR Times Top image: PR Times Insert images: YouTube/Araya Inc., PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
6 days ago
- Business
- SoraNews24
Japanese train station building set up in just two hours with the help of 3D printing
It's a license to print train stations. Earlier this year, we reported on rial operator JR West's plans to create the world's first 3D-printed train station building. In a fitting tribute to the speed this technology affords us, the building is already completely set up at Hatsushima Station on the JR Kisei Main Line in the town of Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, as of 22 July. First, to get semantics out of the way, the building itself wasn't 3D printed; rather, a mold to pour reinforced concrete was printed. However, this technique allows more complex shapes using curves and reliefs to be formed in a small fraction of the time of conventional concrete pouring methods. Although the result is a somewhat simple-looking building, Hatsushima Station takes elegant advantage of this with a rounded roof and classical-looking trims. A slice of mikan orange made of concrete can be seen on the front, and a concrete relief of a beltfish is on the side, these being two famous foods of the region. JR West hopes to use this technology to replace a number of its aging buildings, particularly unmanned ones in rural areas such as Hatsushima Station. However, construction projects near train tracks are very difficult, and work can only be done during a six-hour window between the last and first trains of the day. Had the new station building been set up by conventional methods, it would have taken one or two months to complete. But with the help of 3D printing, the pouring could be done offsite in pieces over the course of seven days. These pieces could then be transported on four trucks to the station for assembly, which only took two hours to complete. Not only that, but about 45 minutes of that time was spent swapping out trucks, so the actual construction work was about one hour and 15 minutes in total. The new station building is 9.9 square meters (106 square feet) and has a ticket machine, ticket gate, and a bench that seats two. Osaka-based company Serendix was behind the concrete formation and is also known for its 3D printed houses. The successful creation of the new Hatsushima Station building with the help of 3D printing would suggest JR West will continue to replace its deteriorating infrastructure this way. Not only is this new method considerably cheaper and faster, but the buildings look rather nice too. Source, images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Nintendo and Lego team up for an awesomely accurate the Lego Game Boy kit【Photos】
A 1:1-scale replica of one of the most tangible pieces of video game nostalgia. A little over a year ago, Lego showed off its first ever kit for Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise, one that lets you build one of the woodland environments that adventuring hero Link walks through. For the next team-up between the two companies, though, Lego's designers are recreating the Nintendo video game experience from the player's perspective, with an awesomely accurate Lego Game Boy. The design fidelity extends to the size, as this is a 1:1-scale replica of Nintendo's handheld system that changed the industry when it was released in 1989. Measuring 14 x 9 x 3 centimeters (5.5 x 3.5 x 1.2 inches), the dimensions should feel very familiar to anyone who grew up with a Game Boy in their hands, or who's familiar with the hardware as a current-era retro gamer. Included in the 421-piece set are a pair of replica cartridges, or 'Game Paks,' as Nintendo called them, for two of the platform's most memorable titles: Super Mario Land, one of the Game Boy's launch titles, and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, which opened a lot of eyes to the full potential of handheld gaming in terms of scale, complexity, and artistry. Some might argue that Tetris is the true quintessential Game Boy experience, but Nintendo most likely wanted the Lego Game Boy set to showcase titles that it developed entirely in-house. Featuring the Mario and Zelda franchises also makes for cooler artwork for the bundled screen pieces. In a particularly clever bit of design, these pieces don't attach to the outer surface of the Lego Game Boy. Instead, they fit underneath a clear plastic covering that serves as the replica's substitute for a glass monitor, preserving the overall visual effect of the actual system. There's even a piece for the Nintendo logo that appeared as the startup screen when you turned the system's power on. Other impressive touches include the fact that the D-pad, start, select, and A and B buttons are all pressable, and even the volume and screen contrast dials on the sides of the unit are accounted for. It's all so accurate that it's actually a little unnerving seeing the kit in mid-build, since it looks like an actual electronic device is in inoperable pieces. The Lego Game Boy set goes on sale October 1, but preorders are set to open July 25 through the Lego online store, priced at US$59.99 through the U.S. page here and 9,280 yen through the Japanese one here. Source: PR Times Top image: PR Times Insert images: PR Times, Lego ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Japan Today
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Pokémon theme park area announced for Kanto region, opens in less than a year
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 With each new generation the Pokémon franchise moves to a new region, but as fans fondly remember, the adventures all started in the Kanto region, so it's only fitting that the first-ever permanent Pokémon theme park area is going to be in Kanto too. And no, you won't need to find a way to isekai yourself into the Pokémon anime or video games in order to visit. That's because Pokémon's Kanto region shares its name with the real-world Kanto region of Japan, which makes up the eastern part of the country. Poképark Kanto will be located in Tama Hills, which straddles the border of Tokyo and its neighbor to the south, Kanagawa Prefecture. The park, with an area of around 2.6 hectares (nearly 280,000 square feet), will have more than 600 Pokémon, the designers say, split between two habitats: the Pokémon Forest and Sedge Town. In the Pokémon Forest area, fans can amble along a nature trail surrounded by Pokémon great and small. Some will be out in the open, but others will require a keener eye to spot. Meanwhile, Sedge Town promises to be like stepping into a settlement from the games/anime that Pokémon Trainers pass through on their journeys to become full-fledged Pokémon Masters, with amenities such as a Pokémon Center, Poké Mart, and Pokémon Gym. This is also the part of Poképark Kanto Pokémon where Pokémon parades and meet-and-greet events will be held, and the designers say that the Primarina Fountain in the town square will be a place where you can 'connect with Pokémon Trainers and Pokémon alike' for an 'unforgettable experience,' suggesting that there could be some sort of interactive element to what goes on there. ▼ Oh, and apparently there's also going to be an adorable Pikachu flying merry-go-round too, according to this preview illustration. ▼ Poképark Kanto preview video Poképark Kanto will be situated at the edge of the Yomiuri Land amusement park, which previously hosted the limited-time Pokémon Wonder event. Poképark Kanto, though, looks to be a project on a much larger scale, and also it's going to be a permanent facility that's open year-round. The fact that the park's official website also has an English version indicates that the designers are planning to make its activities and events accessible for foreign travelers to Japan as well. It's not currently clear whether admission to Poképark Kanto will be entirely separate from Yomiurui Land or if some sort of combination pass will be offered. Ticket prices/purchase procedures will be revealed this fall, with Poképark Kanto's grand opening currently slated for spring of 2026. Source: PR Times, Poképark Kanto official website Insert images: YouTube/ポケモン公式YouTubeチャンネル, PR Times Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Will Yomiuriland's Pokémon Wonder attraction be a good place to play Pokémon GO? We investigate -- Poképark Pokémon theme park area announced for Japan's real-world Kanto region -- This Japanese theme park just made a real-world Pokémon forest for you to go Pokémon spotting in External Link © SoraNews24
