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Drift ice in Japan is a disappearing winter miracle you need to see now
A trip on the Aurora icebreaker boat takes you to the southernmost point where the ocean freezes.If you’re looking for unusual sights in Japan, you can’t go past the drift ice in eastern Hokkaido. This special winter activity is one you can’t experience anywhere else in the country, and certainly not in a lot of other countries either, making it a must-visit destination.Though a lot of tourists are yet to learn about the drift ice in Japan, fans of the Golden Kamuy manga franch
Tokyo street sweets: The must-snack treats of Nakano’s Refutei
No trip to Tokyo’s other otaku neighborhood is complete without a visit to this local landmark.As people stream out Tokyo’s Nakano Station, it’s a safe bet that a lot of them are ready to do some shopping. Though not as famous as Akihabara, Nakano boasts one of Japan’s most incredible concentrations of otaku-oriented retailers, with the Nakano Broadway shopping center packed with all sorts of emporiums of esoteric anime-related media and memorabilia. Nakano Broadway also has a number of high-end
Which convenience store onigiri rice balls are the most popular? Survey reveals surprising results
There’s one rice ball that everyone chooses at Lawson, 7-Eleven, Mini Stop and Family Mart in Japan.If you were to step inside a Japanese convenience store and reach for a rice ball, which one would you choose? That’s the question the Onigiri Association seeks to answer to in its annual Convenience Store Onigiri Popularity Survey, sent out to the nation’s top four convenience store chains – Lawson, Family Mart, 7-Eleven and Mini Stop – between January and December every year.No
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 2]
Things got off to a good start on our crazy-cheap trip to the land of the gods, but with funds running low, will we have a roof over our heads on a snowy night?Our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori has spent years traveling overseas without spending very much money, visiting a number of Asian nations in our Extreme Budget Travel series while spending 50,000 yen (US$320) or less for flights, hotel, food, and fun. After several successful trips under those parameters, he’s now looking inward wi
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Goku’s putting the “kame” into Marugame Seimen.Marugame Seimen is a very popular chain of restaurants specializing in udon noodles made in the famous style of Marugame, a city in Kagawa Prefecture. This year marks the chain’s 25th anniversary, and from 3 March to 6 April, they’ll be doing something very special to celebrate.The name “Marugame” literally means “round turtle,” and “turtle” on its own is pronounced “kame” in Japanese. Fans of the manga and anime series Dragon Ball may already
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
New mini-size Frappuccino caters to girls and the traditional doll’s festival that honours them.There are a lot of traditional festivals in Japan, and the next one on the calendar is Hinamatsuri, (“Doll’s Festival”) which also goes by the name “Momo no Sekku” (“Peach Festival”), or Girls’ Day in English. Celebrated annually on 3 March, the festival is a special day for families to focus on the well-being of their daughters, with a set of doll
Japanese drugstore sells onigiri at pre-stupid era prices, but how do they compare to 7-Eleven?
Taste-testing the time-trip rice balls of Welcia.Japanese convenience stores’ onigiri (rice balls) have become, to use the parlance of the economic scholarly community, stupidly expensive. Up until fairly recently, standard onigiri, such as ones filled with salmon or tuna, could easily be found for around 120 yen (US$0.75). These days, though, chains such as 7-Eleven, Family Mart, and Lawson have approximately doubled their prices, with 200-yen-plus price tags becoming the new, and unwelcome, no
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 1]
Can we make it from the capital to the land of the gods, sightsee, eat, find a hotel, and make it home for just 30,000 yen (US$195)?Our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori has never been one to let a tight budget, or a tight schedule, keep him from traveling. In his Extreme Budget Travel series, he’s taken trips to Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and the Philippines, with a target of spending no more than 50,000 yen (US$320) for his flights, food, lodging, and entertainment.Recently, though, Go has be
7-Eleven Japan’s sakura sweets season is underway right now!
The first cherry blossom desserts are already here, and there are more to come.The exact timing of the blooming of Japan’s cherry blossom trees can be hard to pin down, making planning for sakura-viewing excursions difficult. Sakura sweets snacking sessions, though, are easier to schedule, especially with 7-Eleven Japan being so kind as to designate the on-sale dates for this year’s lineup.Mercifully, the releases are being staggered, since we’re not sure that even we have space to eat all five
Japan has only one airport named after a samurai, so let’s check out Kochi Ryoma【Photos】
Local legend Sakamoto Ryoma was all about modernizing Japan.Most airports in Japan simply borrow their names from the surrounding geography. The city that Narita Airport is in, for example, is also called Narita, and Kansai International Airport sits right in the middle of the country’s Kansai region.But there’s one, and only one, airport in Japan that gets its name from a person, and a samurai at that: Kochi Ryoma Airport. Yes, it is located in Kochi Prefecture, the southwest quarter of the isl
Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service returns to theaters with first-ever IMAX screenings and remaster
Latest proof that Studio Ghibli anime has become prestige international cinema arrives this spring.Among the many things that make Ghibli special is that they’re one of Japan’s only animation studios to work almost exclusively within the field of theatrical anime. Aside from a few quickly forgotten forays into TV specials, Ghibli anime were designed to be seen on the big screen in order to fully convey both the grand and subtle details of the animators’ intricately crafted worlds and expressive
Family Mart’s Shibuya Cat Street shop hosts first-ever rescue cat photo exhibition for Cat Day
In addition to selling delectable cat-themed sweets, the convenience store chain wants to increase cat adoptions and pet food donations.Family Mart has celebrated Japan’s Cat Day (February 22) since 2022 with all kinds of adorable, feline-themed snacks and a tongue-in-cheek name change to “Family Nyart” (nya meaning “meow” in Japanese). The now-annual campaign has proven to be a major success, with Nekonomics (neko is “cat”)–the term for revenue dr
Development of Puyo Puyo puzzle game for use in nursing homes underway
Make your golden years your red, green, and blue years.Puyo Puyo is a beloved puzzle game that can be casually enjoyed by people of all ages, as well as in highly competitive eSports. In it, players must arrange falling rows of slimes and match their colors to earn points and keep the screen clear. ▼ If you feel that sounds like a bit of a Tetris rip-off, know that the two have settled their differences.Puyo Puyo is especially popular in Japan and is now setting its sights on helping the aging p
Survey finds that one in five high schoolers don’t know who music legend Masaharu Fukuyama is
We simply cannot accept the results and now feel compelled to rectify this grievous generational lack of knowledge among the youth of Japan.As far as legendary solo singer-songwriters of Japan go, perhaps no one is higher on the list than Masaharu Fukuyama (福山 雅治), nicknamed Masha, who turned 57 years old earlier this month. Known for his myriad of accolades in the entertainment industry including his prolific acting career, Fukuyama is THE celebrity of choice that the vast majority of middle-ag
Saitama is home to the best strawberries in Japan that you’ve probably never even heard of
Central prefecture quietly becomes the strawberry capital of Japan.It’s strawberry season again in Japan, but for people like our writer Tasuku Egawa that doesn’t mean a whole lot aside from some interesting baked goods at Family Mart. However, for people like his friend, who is a devout strawberry follower and has not only traveled across the country to sample different varieties but also taken an exam to become a licensed strawberry sommelier, it is the best time of year.One day, while listeni
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky
New cafe will offer beautiful views of the city, Mt. Fuji, and cherry blossoms.In Japanese, the word for expensive is takai. So when Starbucks Japan announced that they’ll soon be opening the most takai branch of the chain in all Japan, I thought it was kind of an odd thing to bragging about, though, given the fact that they also recently announced an expansion of their location-based pricing system, maybe not the biggest surprise.In a happy twist for cafe fans, though, the company was actually
Skyscraper sized Pokémon cards to appear in Tokyo all year long in Tocho projection mapping event
Tokyo’s 242.9-meter (797-foot) city hall will be lit up with Pokémon cards starting this spring.There aren’t many better examples of how sometimes big things come in small packages than Pokémon cards. They may just be little pieces of paper, but they’ve brought joy to millions of fans around the world, bridging generations, sparking imagination, and serving as goodwill ambassadors for Japanese pop culture.So starting this spring, they’ll be getting displays with dimensions more in line with thei
Adorable Totoro acorn key holders come with a special guest hidden inside[Photos]
Donguri Kyowakoku lives up to its name with this Ghibli gear.Generally speaking, businesses tend to chose straightforward names for themselves. When you see a sign that says Mr. Donut, you know exactly what that place is selling, and you likewise don’t need to be a master detective to figure out that if you walk into Tokyo’s “Coffin Meditation Space,” yep, they’ll have coffins inside for you to lie down and relax in.A notable exception to this pattern, though, is Donguri Kyowakoku. The chain’s n
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
This tonkotsu ramen has medicinal benefits that can boost your energy after a long day of sightseeing.Have you ever heard of yakuzen? Not to be confused with yakuza, yakuzen literally translates as “medicinal meal“, and is made up of the kanji 薬 (“yaku” or “medicine“) and 膳 (“zen”, which refers to a meal, traditionally served on on a tray).The concept behind yakuzen is food as medicine, and you’ll see it being used to describe meals that cont
Osaka establishes first designated smoking area in Dotonbori canal district to fight “overtourism”
Street food hot spot wants to be cleaner, but it might just be pushing the smoke down the street.A new facility opened last Thursday in Dotombori, the Osaka canal district that’s the biggest tourism draw in the heart of central Japan’s largest city. It isn’t a new restaurant, shopping center, or manzai comedy venue, though. Instead, it’s a designated smoking area.Last year, the Osaka Minami-Dotonbori Overtourism Countermeasures Promotion Council came to the conclusion that public service announc