According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China has supported more than 50 forestry demonstration projects in over 20 APEC economies, providing more than $45 million in funding ...
Fans will need to be residents of Japan in order to buy these items from the Pokémon Center Online.Scalping is becoming an increasingly large problem for the Pokémon franchise, and the latest move by the Pokémon Company to clamp down on the practice is a new system that requires a Japanese government-issued ID card for making certain purchases through the Pokémon Center Online store. As unveiled last month, the system works in tandem with the Digital Identification App, an app created by the Dig
Cruise over to Moricoro Park for 120 vintage cars or apply and show off your own pre-1997 classic.The Toyota Motor Corporation is a household name in much of the world for being the largest automobile manufacturer on a global scale, but has also had a big impact back at home. Rooted deep in Aichi Prefecture, the city of Koromo renamed itself Toyota City in 1959 to honor the company, its primary engine of growth. Just down the road from the city, in neighboring Nagakute City, sits the Toyota Auto
JAL and ANA among carriers to start requiring earlier baggage check-in very soon.The convenience of using Haneda Airport isn’t just its close proximity to downtown Tokyo, it’s also how easy the station is to access by train. There’s a station right in the basement of the building, with elevators that will take you right from the platform up into the departure lobbies, and when you add in how punctual and reliable Japan’s rail networks are, it can be easy to assume you don’t need to build much bu
The convenience store chain offers the summer’s most kawaii collab by bringing 26 characters from different worlds together.Major Japanese convenience store chain Family Mart is celebrating its 45th anniversary in September with some of the cutest, most recognizable mascots out there!As of August 4, Family Mart locations across Japan are hosting a Sanrio characters and manufacturers’ mascots campaign. Buying eligible products will allow you to receive promotional prizes, and saving u
Premium-priced hiyashu chuka comes to the American coffee shop’s Japanese branches.With the summer heat hitting Japan in full force, it’s time to look for ways to stay cool however you can, even when you’re eating, and recently that search took us to Coco’s to try their chilled ramen. And just to be clear, when we say “Coco’s,” we’re not talking about Japanese curry rice restaurant chain Coco Ichibanya. No, we’re actually talking about Coco’s, the American coffee shop that also has branches in J
Mr. Sato thinks it might be, and when was the last time he had an idea that didn’t pan out?“All right everybody, patch me up!”As loyal readers know, some verystrange things can happen at SoraNews24 headquarters. Even by our standards, though, it was pretty startling to see our ace reporter Mr. Sato whip off his shirt and issue this command to everyone in earshot. Of course, he had a perfectly logical reason for his behavior, or at least a perfectly Sato-like reason for it, so let’s go back a few
You can’t celebrate 30 years of Pokémon without 30 years of starters, plus a few more Pocket Monster all-stars.The Pokémon franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the latest partner in the birthday party is McDonald’s Japan, who’s just announced that brand-new Pokémon Happy Meals featuring 30 different Pokémon species are on the way.In what’s become its standard style for big-name collaborations, McDonald’s will be releasing the Pokémon Happy Meals in three rounds. Six diffe
Our stomachs are more than pleased after eating all of the cheese.Cheese can be a somewhat difficult product to find in Japan. Supermarkets generally stock only a few standard varieties, and anything imported comes with a hefty price tag. That’s why any deal that comes with unlimited cheese is likely to pique our interest in a big way.Our latest find is a series of eateries operated by the same parent company as the Saint Marc Cafe chain of ChocoCro fame. As of July 21, it has four restaur
Garigari-kun wants to make friends with/be eaten by people from all over the world.Garigari-kun is Japan’s favorite popsicle brand, and like a lot of sweets in Japan, part of that popularity comes from a revolving lineup of seasonal and limited-time flavors. One of the most popular versions of all just made its way back to convenience stores and supermarkets, and while the flavor is familiar to fans, the packaging is looking different, because it now features multiple foreign languages.Garigari-
Your friendly neighborhood Super Volunteer.On 28 July, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture, just outside of Kumamoto City. Having taken years to recover from a set of comparable earthquakes in 2016, being hit with another major one so soon completely undid a lot of that work. In addition, sweltering temperatures are making search and rescue efforts even more difficult and hazardous.Against that backdrop, one man has decided to once again answer the call and drove out to the aff
Convenience store chain tests our limits by turning the divisive flavour into a cream sandwich.In recent years, choc mint has become synonymous with summer in Japan, as the menthol component is believed to provide a cooling effect to help you feel refreshed during the hottest days of the year. It’s become such a common flavour combination that there’s even a proud term for people who love it – “Chocominto”, a pun that sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of “Choc Mint” but uses the kanji “党” (
Maker of Garigari-kun explores whether one of Japan’s favorite frozen treats can work as a pre-cooling agent.There’s an old adage that says the best time to fix your roof is when the sun is shining, a way of expressing that there are some things in life that are best dealt with before the potential problem actually occurs. Of course, it can be hard to talk yourself into doing much of anything when that sun is shining on you with merciless summer fire, which brings us to a new piece of wisdom, wh
Does the new “Clear Coffee” have what it takes to bring a non-coffee drinker into the fold?For many coffee drinkers, a cup of joe is a daily ritual – skip that morning cup and something just feels off. At the same time, though, more and more young people in Japan are said to be steering clear of coffee altogether, according to research conducted by Starbucks and Shibuya109 lab, a youth marketing organisation based in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.▼ Participants enjoying some tasty market research.In
Convenience store chain has become the place to go for gummies, and fans are going wild for them.In recent years, 7-Eleven has carved out a niche for itself in the Japanese convenience store world as the place to go for gummies, specifically the exclusive chocolate-covered fruit gummy range known as “Chocotto Gummy“. A play on the words “choco to gummy” (“chocolate and gummy“) and “chokotto gummy” (“just a little gummy“), this range has
We test the sourness of the juice but get distracted by a surprise performance.Five years ago, Japan’s vending machine scene was taken up a notch with the birth of “Feed Me Orange”, a fresh juice machine that squeezes oranges on the spot. It didn’t take long for the machine to grow from being a rare novelty to a familiar mainstay in shopping centres, proving that Japan really does have a thirst for freshly squeezed citrus from a machine.▼ Now, though, there’s a new contender on the market, and t
This box comes pre-loaded with something for anime fans to treasure.Usually, if you’re buying a box, it’s because you’ve got stuff you want to keep in it, right? And while the box we’re looking at today can, of course, fill that purpose, it’s a pretty safe bet that most people are going to be buying it because of what it already has inside.The exterior is adorned with illustrations of characters from Studio Ghibli’s beloved anime film Spirited Away. Yubaba is here and so is her underling Yu-Bird
Is this a cheap way to beat away stress, or a case of cheaping out that’ll have us feeling even more frustrated?Pretty much every time we walk through a branch of 100 yen shop Daiso, we find something we didn’t know we needed, but are now keenly aware is a necessity. Cute coffee mug? Yeah, that’ll brighten up our day. Stackable storage boxes? A well-organized home or office is always a plus. Something to punch, kick, and otherwise wail on when we’re feeling stressed out? Yeah, better pick up tha
These dress shirts are sure to have fans.If you need business attire in Japan, Yofuku no Aoyama is pretty much always a safe choice. They may not have the trendiest fashions from brand-name designers, but they can set you up with outfits appropriately dressy for a day in the office or a meeting with clients, and at affordable prices too.For example, here’s one of their new button-up shirts. Nothing flashy or overly fancy, but a respectable, understated summer business look.Now, looking at that p
I’ve yet to see Berkshire Hathaway’s psychological horror game.I’ve long been a fan of games by Koei Tecmo, whether it’s their individual classics like Koei’s Dynasty Warriors or Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden, or modern games like Nioh. They tend not to have major blockbuster releases like some other companies, but it’s a solid lineup of enjoyable titles in an interesting variety of genres.But there’s another side to Koei Tecmo that you might not be familiar with. To see what that is, let’s take a look a