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Studio Ghibli brings anime characters to the table with new Totoro placemat that’s like a movie cell

Make every meal a Ghibli one, with Kiki’s Delivery Service also joining the dinner party.Sometimes a movie can be so captivating that you can barely tear yourself away from the screen to deal with life’s other callings, like getting a proper meal. It’s a quandary that Studio Ghibli is no doubt aware of when it comes to its own stable of animated films, because now it’s giving us a placemat that features all the members of the main cast from My Neighbour Totoro.Called the “Ookina koe de” Pl

Japanese government ID card and app to be required for certain Pokémon card purchases next month

The Pokémon Company is going to use the Japanese government’s My Number system. Will it be super effective in stopping scalpers?The Pokémon Card Game’s fanbase has always been a multi-faceted one. In addition to serious competitive players of the game, there are fans who are primarily interested in other branches of the Pokémon franchise, such as the video games or anime, but occasionally dip their toes into the card collecting pool, and there are also plenty of little kids who just like having

Onidon opens in Tokyo with unique fusion tempura rice balls you won’t find anywhere else

Onigiri tendon looks set to become Japan’s newest viral food sensation.For lovers of “tendon” (tempura rice bowls), Tenya is a name that immediately springs to mind. Known for being cheap, tasty and reliable, Tenya is a popular chain that specialises in tendon, and it’s run by Royal Holdings, which operates other big-name chains in Japan like Royal Host, Sizzler, and Shakey’s.▼ Tenya has branches right around the country.So when we heard that Tenya was opening a new spin-off restaurant und

Shizuoka police inspector punished for playing crane games on duty

To serve and get plush toys.They say it’s the place where dreams are made. People from far and wide are drawn to the bright lights and all the glitz and glamour that crane games, or UFO catchers as they’re often called in Japan, have to offer, such as stuffed Pokémon, statuettes of anime characters, or curry ingredients.It can be a lot of fun, but we mustn’t let our craving for key chains become a problem that interferes with our daily lives, especially if that involves ensuring the safety of th

Man arrested in Tokyo after allegedly luring foreign tourists into shady Kabukicho establishments

Tokyo police issue warning to overseas visitors as dozens of people report scams by suspected touts in the city’s nightlife district.A man has been arrested in Tokyo’s Kabukicho nightlife district over alleged street touting, as police warn overseas visitors about scams involving restaurant and bar “customer pullers” known as kyakuhiki.The 53-year-old Nigerian national was arrested on suspicion of violating Tokyo’s anti-nuisance ordinance after allegedly approaching pedestrians in Kabukich

7-Eleven Japan reimagines the fruit sando with new chocolate bread version

This might look like brown bread, but there’s nothing savoury about it. Japan is famous for its fruit sandwiches, which traditionally pair slices of crustless white bread with a cream-and-fruit filling. Over at 7-Eleven, though, the chain is rethinking the fruit sandwich as we know it, by adding cocoa-flavoured bread to the mix instead.Called “Fruits Mix” in Japanese, this new-look sandwich contains three different fruits – strawberries, pineapple and yellow peaches – to create

Shake Shack has five regional shakes hiding on the menu in Japan, and here’s how to find them

Tokyo and Kyoto are just two of the places where you’ll find these secret gems.It’s always fun to see what hidden treasures await on the menu at global chains outside of their home countries, and if you’re a fan of Shake Shack, you’ll want to stop by a branch in Tokyo to try an exclusive drink you won’t find anywhere else in the world.▼ The “Hojicha Shake” (1,089 yen [US$6.71]) is only available at eight stores in Tokyo.According to the chain, this shake first debuted in November 2024 as t

Burger King Japan goes viral for its new Big Mouth Dirty, but is it really worth the hype?

We find out why people are raving about this new limited-edition burger.While many businesses in Japan are tightening their belts due to rising costs, Burger King appears to be doing the opposite, expanding its footprint across the country. After boasting 337 locations in 2025, the chain brought that total to more than 370 by June, even opening its first-ever store in Miyazaki Prefecture.To help support that expansion, Burger King has been rapidly rolling out new limited-edition menu items to en

Mister Donut becomes “Mrs. Donut” for sweet new Mrs. Green Apple collaboration

J-pop superstars take over Mister Donut with exclusive surprises for a limited time.If you haven’t heard of Mrs. Green Apple yet, you might just be about to become their newest fan. With impressive vocal talent, slick dance moves and a whole lot of charisma, this three-member J-pop group is one of Japan’s biggest acts right now, headlining arena and stadium tours, winning multiple awards and racking up huge streaming numbers. Now, the band is set to take on a new stage by teaming up with top dou

Japanese recipe for Tempura Twinkies takes America’s favourite snack to a whole new level

Move aside, deep-fried Twinkies, Tempura Twinkies are in town.While some people might argue that Japan is home to the best sweets and snacks in the world, for locals the fascination can sometimes be reversed, with curiosity about famous overseas sweets leading many to wonder what they really taste like.Our reporter Takuya Inaba is one such curious local, who became fascinated with Twinkies after watching the 2009 zombie comedy film Zombieland, where the character of Tallahassee, played by Woody

Studio Ghibli calendar figures are back, look amazing whether you check the date or not[Photos]

Give Totoro, No-Face, and Jiji a little time every day, and they’ll make sure you don’t forget the date.From a practical standpoint, smartphones have more or less made watches obsolete. If your phone can already tell you what time it is, in multiple parts of the world even if you’d like, and includes stopwatch and timer functions, there’s really no need for a separate device that doesn’t do all the other stuff your phone can. And yet, wristwatches are still a thing, as many people like their fas

Enoshima’s magical night lantern festival is back this summer with spectacular views

An island transforms into a wonderland of digital art, musical sea shells, and 1,000 glowing lanterns.Summer heat in Japan can be pretty brutal for some people, so it means that a lot of the fun seasonal activities pop up in the evenings, when the sun has gone down and the weather is a little more bearable. This year sees the return of one of the Tokyo area’s popular day-trip destinations providing everyone with an excuse to stay out late and enjoy some beautiful night views.Enoshima Touro

Hatsune Miku crosses over into the real world in Coolish videos with Hoshimachi Suisei[Videos]

These Coolish virtual idol videos are very cool.As the world’s first Vocaloid idol, Hatsune Miku is a native of digital space. And while there’s a real person behind virtual YouTubers like Hoshimachi Suisei, the character herself also exists in the digital world, not the physical one.Or at least that’s how things are most of the time. This summer, though, Miku and Suisei are appearing in the real world through a series of Coolish videos, and also a new duet titled “Ao no Sumika” (“Blue Living Sp

Japan’s Pokémon hot spring reinstalls all damaged statues, adds no-touching rule

Gyarados, Psyduck, and Vaporeon all needed repairs just weeks after the Pokémon footbath opened.Japanese folk wisdom holds that visiting a hot spring isn’t just a fun and relaxing way to spend the day, but that the naturally heated waters also provide health benefits, especially for those recuperating from injuries. However, shortly following the opening of Japan’s first Pokémon-themed hot spring facility this spring, the Pocket Monsters themselves started suffering physical damage.The Wakura Po

World Offshore Week 2026 Brings Asia's Offshore Oil, Energy and Marine Sectors Together in Singapore

Free visitor registration is now open for the 4th Annual World Offshore Week, the #1 Meeting Place for the Offshore Oil, Energy and Marine Sectors.

Suntanned Hello Kitty steals the show in Japanese magazine’s Sanrio freebies

Proof that magazines in Japan are unlike anywhere else in the world.One thing we love about magazines in Japan is the amount and quality of freebies that often come attached to them. That’s certainly the case with the August issue of Sweet magazine, which comes packed with limited-edition Sanrio goods featuring characters in their popular suntanned designs.The standard edition of the magazine, priced at 1,790 yen (US$12.20), comes with a three-piece “Suntanned Sanrio Characters” summ

Piko Taro is back to rock your world with bizarre new Super Cup ice cream video

Legendary performer now has a new song about combining some other forbidden things.It’s been a while since we last saw Piko Taro, the leopard-print loving persona of Japanese entertainer Kazuhito Kosaka who took the world by storm with his viral global hit “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen”. Wherever he’s been hiding, it seems he hasn’t lost his love of combining things, because now he’s back on the scene with a new video encouraging us to stir chocolate biscuits into tubs of ice cream.For this outing, t

Survey shows foreigners’ desire to work in Japan long-term dropping, but that’s not the whole story

Annual study finds sharp decline in interest among foreign residents to stick around for the long haul, but it’s probably leaving out some differing voices.These days, Japan is more popular than ever with international tourists, and that trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon. However, the recently released results of an annual survey shows that a big shift may be occurring in terms of how attractive a country Japan is for foreign nationals to live in.Every year, Tokyo-based job-h

InfoComm Asia 2026 - Asia's Super Connector for Professional AV - Takes Place Next Week in Bangkok

InfoComm Asia 2026, Asia's premier exhibition and summit for Professional Audiovisual (Pro AV) and integrated experience technologies, returns to the ...

World Offshore Week 2026 Brings Asia's Offshore Oil, Energy and Marine Sectors Together in Singapore

Free visitor registration is now open for the 4th Annual World Offshore Week, the #1 Meeting Place for the Offshore Oil, ...