Some of Japan's Best April Fools' Jokes

Today is April 1st. Be wary! There are some pranks and tricks online that you might fall for. Some of them are not very good. But some of them are. Let’s have a look. Japanese manga Weekly Shonen Jump, a magazine for young boys, is turned into Jumpteen, a magazine for teenage girls. [Weekly Jump] Have long fingernails? Don’t want to get your phone สล็อตฟรี all smudged up? Google Japan introduced a “magic hand” device to input Japanese characters into smartphones and tablets. [Google Japan] A can of Kirin “Mini” beer. So cute. [Kirin Beer] Here’s noodle chain Hanamaru Udon’s “magma ankake udon.” Note that the chain actually traveled to Hawaii just to film this gag! [Hanamaru Udon] Kodansha has a manga reader for your arm, called Kebo Arm. [Kodansha] Audi is getting into the sushi business in Japan, with a word play on “Quattro” (クワトロ or kuwatoro) and “toro” (トロ) or “fatty tuna.” [Audi] A photo of an artisan making Pocky snacks. [Glico] Capcom สล็อตฟรี is making its games available in cat lingo. Nya~n! [Capcom] Japanese researchers are developing “alert smells” for each Tokyo train station to go with the distinctive music some stations have. [The Japan Times] Sega’s next generation wearable hardware, MEGAne DRIVE (in Japanese “megane” means “glasses”). [Sega_Official] Red Bull’s energy bath powder. [Red Bull] This is Domino’s Pizza new “Helium Gas Pizza.” One bite makes you talk funny. [Domino’s] Yahoo! Japan kicks off a WiFi service for pagers. Note: Pagers, or “pocket bells” (ポッケトベル) were popular among Japanese schoolgirls in the 1990s. The flowers in these girls’ hair, the tanned skin, and the Baby-G watches all scream late 20th century Japanese youth fashion. [Yahoo! Japan] Thief gets turned into an old-style JRPG. [Square Enix] DeAgostini, which is known for its serialized model kits, teamed up with mobile phone carrier Au for this build-your-own-smartphone prank. [Au/YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี to 8am.