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Major Tokyo subway line shut down by in-train mobile battery fire

Device for charging on-the-go brings subway to a stop in latest mobile battery fire.The Tokyo Metro’s Hanzomon subway line is pretty handy for getting around the city. Running more or less diagonally between the southwest and northeast corners of downtown, the Hanzomon Line can whisk you to and from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya, the brand-name fashion boutiques of Omotesando, the big-business high-rises of Otemachi, and the Skytree in Oshiage, all within 30 minutes at most and with no need t

Are Japanese convenience store sandwiches scamming us with their fillings?

We find out if there’s any truth to the so-called “cross-section scam”.For all the high praise showered upon Japanese convenience store sandwiches by overseas tourists, local customers have been less than enthusiastic recently, with claims that the top chains may be pushing their fillings towards the cross-section, making them seem fuller than they really are.With rising prices affecting pretty much every aspect of life in Japan, ingredients and serving sizes are being scrutini

Japanese man drives truck that’s on fire directly to fire station, drops flaming potatoes[Videos]

Roasted sweet potato truck turns into mobile fireball.On the night of Match 12, the operators of the 119 emergency call center in Kumamoto City received a call about a car that was on fire. Then they received another call about the car, and then another. However, the multiple reports weren’t due to diligent residents all reporting the same blaze in a parking lot or on the side of the road. No, the calls that kept coming in were coming from different parts of the city, because the car was being d

Japan’s budget chain restaurant Saizeriya might just be the perfect first date location

Why not feast like royalty while keeping your wallet, and your date, happy?The first date is an important milestone in any budding romance: your presentation, your clothes, your attitude, and your charm all play a factor in the success of it. So too, does the location, with many people springing for a fancy restaurant in order to impress. However, what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if you could just have a much better experience in another place that is a lot kinder on your purse string

The next time you’re feeling stressed out, you could relax on a Pokémon Psyduck chair from Japan

Before you erupt like Psyduck, take a seat on Psyduck.Pokémon is, at its core, an adventure series. It’s set in a world where adolescents leaving home to become drifters is seen as a positive, character-building experience as long as they’re capturing wild animals and playing with fire, electricity, and other potentially high-damage elements.However, while most of the series’ narratives are about striving to be the very best, there’s one Pokémon who serves as a reminder that it’s never a good id

7-Eleven Japan’s giant fried chicken skewer would be too big to eat, so it’s really for cuddling

Comfort food to snuggle up with is just one of the crazy prizes in the 7-Eleven Happy Kuji collection.There are a lot of things to love at 7-Eleven Japan, but one of the most lovely of all is the convenience store chain’s karaage-bo, or fried chicken skewers. Honestly, it’s hard to see how they could be improved on, except, perhaps, by making them giant sized.So now 7-Eleven has done just that.However, even we have to admit that it would be hard to eat a serving of fried chicken that gigantic, a

We asked our Japanese team of writers how they deal with seasonal allergies in Japan

When you’re all choked up and there’s nose way out, take a leaf out of our book to get yourself out of the throes of nose blows.We’re approaching that lovely time of year again in Japan, when the buds are popping, the sakura are blooming, and the noses are blowing.Kafunsho (花粉症), which is pollen allergies or hay fever, afflicts a decent chunk of the population in Japan every spring. In fact, over half of our 40-year-old-and-up Japanese language-writing team gets it every year.

Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo

Sayonara to an old-school traveller’s way to eat noodles.The constant sound of trains arriving and departing. A stream of passengers appearing and disappearing. And all throughout, the delicious aroma of ramen wafting through the air.That’s the scene that passengers at Tokyo’s Nishiarai Station have been able to enjoy for over 50 years, but it will soon be sadly coming to an end, with the announcement that Nishiarai Ramen will be closing its doors to the public on 31 March.▼ Th

Japanese convenience store sandwiches get extra protection from new business backpack

Work clothing brand makes it its job to keep your lunch out of harm’s way.Japan’s convenience store sandwiches are one of the simple but lovely pleasures of being in the country. Tasty and convenient, they make a great lunch option for workers, students, and travelers, so if you know you’re going to be hungry later on, stepping into a convenience store to pick up a sandwich is usually a good call.Unless, that is, you toss your sandwich into your bag, only for it to then get crushed by your phone

Studio Ghibli adds new Mother’s Day gift sets to its anime collection in Japan

Say I love you with the magical charm of characters from My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service.In Japan, Mother’s Day is celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May, which this year lands on 10 May. With just under two months to buy presents, StudioGhibli is here to make our choices easy, with the release of two special Mother’s Day Carnation sets, which come with a pot of fresh flowers and a beautiful “diorama box” to display them in.▼ The first produ

Starbucks Japan opens new Kyoto store in Place of Scenic Beauty

A new type of teahouse cafe opens in Kyoto’s popular historic tourist area. When you hear the words “Starbucks” and “Kyoto” together, you might find yourself envisioning the famous branch set in an old teahouse along the Ninenzaka slope in the city’s historic Higashiyama Ward. Now, though, there’s a new branch opening just a 10-minute walk away, and it’s set to rival the old teahouse in terms of setting and beauty.Called Kyoto Maruyama Park Kiku no

Sushi Push Pops aiming to be Japan’s newest sakura season snack sensation

Restaurant chain creates sushi you can eat with one hand, leaving your other free to toast the cherry blossoms.The cherry blossoms will be blooming soon in Japan, and the arrival of sakura season also means the arrival of snack season. Between parties in the park and long strolls along tree-lined lanes, there’s often not enough time for a sit-down restaurant meal on a day of cherry blossom viewing excursions, so something fun and filling that you can munch on quickly and conveniently is the perf

Starbucks Japan’s Cream Puff Frappuccino is here! Did it make Friday the 13th lucky? [Taste test]

Our Frappuccino expert brushes aside fears of bad fortune to taste test two new drinks.Friday the 13th is supposed to be a day of ill portent, so we don’t think anyone could have blamed us if we’d simply called our boss and told him that we were staying home for personal safety reasons (plus who doesn’t like a three-day weekend?). But we had March 13 circled on our calendar not as a reminder to shelter in place, but because that was the day Starbucks Japan was releasing its newest Frappuccino fl

Number of foreigners living in Japan has grown 50 percent in four years, hits historic high

Japan’s foreign resident population surges past four million for the first time in history.Though it’s been 2026 for a while now, the Japanese business/administrative year starts in spring, so this is the time of year when many organizations start putting out their annual reports and statistical analyses. That includes the Japanese government’s Immigration Services Agency, which in a report to the prime minister’s cabinet says that Japan has reached a new record high in its number of foreign res

Komachi Shokudo: Japanese mum’s-style cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo

 Shhh…don’t let anyone know we told you about this secret cheap eat destination loved by locals.It’s often said that a good breakfast can be hard to find outside of hotels in Tokyo, but hungry early risers who live in the city often have some hidden gems up their sleeves. One of the tricks to finding an early-morning meal is to locate a good 24-hour establishment, and while that might mean a nearby convenience store to overseas tourists, locals often prefer to stop by a ca

Is this Japan’s most extreme cherry blossom viewing? Leap, cycle and climb through 2,500 sakura

Why sit on a tarp when you can zoom through flowers on a 100-meter slide or risk falling into the trees from 370 meters in the air?Anyone traveling to and around Japan during the spring knows that the country is famous for its cherry blossoms. These beautiful pink and white blossoms mark the end of winter and arrival of spring, and have often been used to symbolize the fleeting beauty of life. The most important cultural activity during this season is hanami (literally “flower viewing”), which u

The top 10 graduation songs in Japan as chosen by current Japanese high school students

From covers of classics to altogether newer songs, these are the melodies that Japanese youth associate with graduation in this current Reiwa age.March is graduation season in Japan. Thousands of students of all ages across the country participate in graduation ceremonies designed to evoke all manner of wistful emotions. If lucky, everyone’s feelings are further heightened by a backdrop of cascading sakura petals that symbolize the fleeting nature of youth.Firm Shibuya Trend Research recen

Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones

New version of Vocaloid software is arriving with a new Miku design.As a virtual idol, Hatsune Miku doesn’t age. However, that doesn’t mean she looks the same as she did when she made her debut 19 years ago, or even the same as she did last month, as the Vocaloid’s visuals have just been redesigned.Miku’s makeover comes in preparation for the upcoming launch of Hatsune Miku V6, the newest version of her associated Vocaloid voicebank software package. Illustrator LAM was tapped for the official a

As rumors swirl of 7-Eleven shorting customers on rice ball fillings, we check on their sujiko

Viral tweet claims have shoppers wondering if they’re paying premium-filling prices for almost-plain onigiri.Consumers in Japan have gotten a lot more cautious with their convenience store rice ball purchases these days. Once a go-to impulse buy for when you’re feeling too hungry to wait for your next full meal but not ready to have that meal just yet, convenience store rice balls, or onigiri, as they’re called in Japanese, have rapidly risen in price, now costing double, and sometimes triple, w

Giant pipe mysteriously rises up through street in downtown Osaka

That’s not supposed to be there…If you happened to be passing through Osaka’s Tsurunocho neighborhood on Wednesday morning and saw the large steel column shown in the video below, you might think the city was adding a new support pillar to the elevated road overhead. Hmmm…but it needs to be a little longer to reach the roadway, doesn’t it?However, the issue isn’t that the cylinder is too short. It’s actually the exact length it’s supposed to be. No, the problem is that it’s in the wr