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Japan is so hungry for workers it used up its five-year visa quota in record time

Many people with dreams are poised to save understaffed kitchens, but they’re currently stuck behind a bureaucratic velvet rope.Two facets of Japanese culture that are world-renowned are its incredible service and its culinary scene, but there is an ever-growing issue that the industry is facing in that there are fewer and fewer people behind the counters to actually offer it. A critical shortage of staff is putting a strain on many of the areas within the industry, from local eateries to meal s

The dream of riding Final Fantasy Chocobos is coming to Tokyo VR centers

Final Fantasy XIV VR experience will give you the chance to prove you’re the kweh-kist Chocobo jockey around.Fukushima recently unveiled a travel promotion in conjunction with Final Fantasy, inviting travelers to visit the prefecture and search for the video game franchise’s iconic avian character. However, as fans know, Chocobos aren’t just Final Fantasy’s mascot, they’re the series mounts too, and so now comes word of a chance to ride Chocobos.This offer is coming to us from Tyffon, a maker of

Studio Ghibli launches huge new anime movie T-shirt collection with special design details

American casual aesthetic, thoughtful Japanese design.With the weather heating up, it’s time to start switching our wardrobes for lighter clothes, and if you find that your T-shirt collection needs a spruce up, Studio Ghibli has exactly what you’re looking for.Produced by the studio’s cool GBL brand, which boasts an “American casual” aesthetic for hip fashion-savvy individuals, the 2026 Spring Summer GBL Basic T-Shirt range contains 12 different designs. Despite the

New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet

Walk the streets of Kyoto like a modern geisha with this exclusive four-piece collection. Converse are widely known for being better quality in Japan, due to the fact that the brand is independently managed here by Japanese company Itochu rather than Nike. Now, there’s even more reason to pick up a pair of Converse kicks in Japan, thanks to a new collaboration with Kyoto Ippuya, a fabric workshop located at the foot of Kiyomizudera in Kyoto.▼ The range is being promoted by a maiko, an appr

Burger King offers every fast food franchisee in Japan 40M yen to jump ship and join them

McWhoNow? I’ll take the 40 mil.Burger King has been on quite the tear in Japan recently. Their explosive post-pandemic expansion saw them grow from 77 locations to 352, with a target of 600 by 2028. These ambitions caught the attention of Goldman Sachs, who purchased the Japanese chain for 78.5 billion yen (US$493M), and provided them with even more financial backing to grow rapidly.Burger King is certainly holding up their end of the deal by launching quite possibly the most aggressive expansio

Visiting Tokyo’s newest unmanned Self Cafe in Shibuya

 Skip the guilt of camping at a coffee shop and work for hours at this staffless oasis.While cafes are fantastic places to call in on your day off for a light meal while you’re doing your errands, many people also like to use them as a “remote office” or study location, often spending many hours sitting at a table. Ordinarily this doesn’t pose much of a problem, but in the larger cities, with a lot more foot traffic, the sense of guilt of occupying a table for so long can get a little too m

Shinkansen operator apologizes for three-minute delay because conductor was napping

The apology may have taken longer than the delay.Enough has been said about the extreme punctuality of trains in Japan that it’s become as famous a cultural feature as sushi or decorative manhole lids. It’s so much a part of life here that people rely on its precise, to-the-minute accuracy, and even a slight deviation can throw someone’s itinerary completely off.That is why JR East’s Aomori division had to issue a public apology for a three-minute delay due to a conductor not waking

Burger King Japan’s All Heavy customisation hack may not be all it’s cracked up to be

The results of this taste test are truly baffling. If you’re walking around town with a hankering for burgers and a big appetite to fill, Burger King is usually one of the top options. Not only does this chain serve good-sized burgers but it also offers limited-time all-you-can-eat specials, and now there’s a new way to get more burger for your yen, with a customisation called “All Heavy”.This upsize option, which lets you request extra lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup,

7-Eleven Japan releases Uji matcha smoothies… but only at select locations

Japanese convenience store chain serves up two green tea drinks for a limited time.7-Eleven struck gold when it launched an exclusive line of smoothies at its stores around Japan in 2023. The freshly made drinks quickly became a hit with local customers and those visiting from overseas, spawning new flavours like Acai, Banana, and even Sweet Potato.Amongst all these flavours, however, there was one that was particularly popular, but it was a blink-and-you’ll miss it release. Only available

Here’s the best spot to take in a panoramic view at “the most beautiful Starbucks in the world”

Sip your coffee to the backdrop of a magnificent, panoramic view next to this Starbucks in Toyama Prefecture.Starbucks Japan will often go to great lengths in designing its branches to blend in with the local atmosphere. We’ve previously visited one such branch that is often said to be the most beautiful Starbucks in the world, which also underwent renovations not quite six years ago. That location is the one within Toyama City’sFugan Unga Kansui Koen, called Kansui Park by the local

Studio Ghibli announces first new short anime film in 8 years, exclusive to Ghibli Park

Anime will premier this summer and is the first made specifically for the Nagoya-area theme park.If you’re planning a trip to Ghibli Park, the Studio Ghibli anime theme park near Nagoya, before you reserve your tickets you’ll want to check the schedule of the park’s Cinema Orion. Located within the Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse section of the park, Cinema Orion shows short anime films produced by Studio Ghibli that can only be seen at Ghibli Park or Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum.Right now, for example, Boro

Japanese government creates new word for cruelly hot summer days

Summer in Japan keeps getting hotter and forces linguistic evolution.As we get into the back half of spring, it’s time to start getting ready for summer, doing things like taking your linen shirts out of storage, hitting the gym to get your beach body ready, and creating new vocabulary words for when the weather is really, really, really hot.OK that last one might not be on most of our to-do lists, but it was something the Japan Meteorological Agency, part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure

Temple with 600-year-old tree near busy Tokyo station is like a tranquil pocket dimension

Who’d have guessed there was a centuries-old snack shop too just a quick stroll away from one of downtown’s busiest rail hubs?Ikebukuro might not be as world-famous as Shibuya or Shinjuku, but it is, without a doubt, one of the busiest, most developed parts of downtown Tokyo. As you can see in the picture above, massive department stores, multi-level shopping complexes, and office towers surround Ikebukuro Station.But believe it or not, just a 10-minute-walk away from Ikebukuro is a place that m

Mr. Sato shares his own secret Ministop hack to help save the ailing convenience store

Hopefully, this is just a mini stop on Ministop’s road to success.The convenience store ecosystem in Japan is dominated by three apex predators: Family Mart, 7-Eleven, and Lawson. Then, there exists a secondary tier of stores like Daily Yamazaki and Ministop, the latter of which has been dealing with some money troubles as of late. It was recently reported that Ministop experienced their third straight year of net losses.One of the causes is said to be a scandal involving falsified best-be

Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]

Two hours north of Tokyo is one of Japan’s best post-sakura springtime flower spots.Sakura season may be pretty much over and done with, but that just means it’s time for Japan’s other varieties of flowering flora to get their moments in the springtime spotlight. For example, mid-April is when the Nemophila, or baby blue-eye, flowers start to bloom.Hitachi Seaside Park, in the town of Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, is loved by flower fans for its Nemophila hill. The last time we checked in on the

Immerse yourself in TeamLab Yoro Valley’s outdoor nighttime art exhibition in Chiba’s wilderness

TeamLab’s newest artistic “digitized nature” vision features interactive light and sound elements as you traverse an ancient forest.The town of Otaki, Chiba Prefecture, is an area known for its unspoiled forest, the Isumi and Yoro Rivers, hot springs, and rock faces, all located centrally within the Boso Peninsula. Its natural charms are also currently experiencing a modern artistic touch thanks to TeamLab’sYoro Valley event, a fully outdoor, nighttime exhibition that blu

New Totoro carabiner pouches are ready to clip/tag along with you on all your adventures[Photos]

Two Totoros, and one other Studio Ghibli character, are cute, fuzzy, and useful in new accessory lineup.Aesthetic tastes are subjective, and that’s especially so for fashion and accessories. But let’s be honest here. We can all agree that a pouch that’s shaped like Totoro is superior to a pouch that doesn’t look like Studio Ghibli’s beloved anime forest spirit, right?Ah, but here we run into a problem. Because if you have your pouch stuffed into a bag, inside a drawer, or somewhere else where it

Japanese-style afternoon tea in this Japanese manor house outside downtown Tokyo is something special

The atmosphere is as elegant as the cuisine at this amazing restaurant.Ganko is a Japanese restaurant group with most of its locations in the Osaka area. They’ve got a whole bunch of sub-brands with different specialties, such as Ganko conveyor belt sushi or curry restaurants. Today, though, we’re talking about Ganko’s Oyashiki locations, which are restaurants converted from yashiki, or classical Japanese manor houses.▼ Photos of some of Ganko’s Oyashiki restaurantsYashiki are architectural work

Haikyu fan event lets you step onto the court, see what it’s like to play with the anime athletes

“Haikyu on the Court” is more than just a cool name.Sports anime/manga Haikyu has a fan event coming to Tokyo and Osaka, and yes, it’ll have the new illustrations and merch expected for such a celebration. But the name of the event, Haikyu on the Court, isn’t just a nod to the source material, but because fans will actually get to step onto the volleyball court and experience what it’s like to play with and against the series’ cast of characters.The experience portion of the event is divided int

Studio Ghibli croquettes not to eat, but to keep your stuff in, going on sale in Japan[Photos]

Resist the urge to eat this Ghibli food.From Up on Poppy Hill is one of Studio Ghibli’s more grounded anime films, and in multiple senses of the word. Taking place entirely in real-world Yokohama in the 1960s, it doesn’t feature any of the magical or whimsical-contraption flying scenes that are often found in the studio’s other works.However, From Up on Poppy Hill does carry on the Ghibli tradition of lovingly drawn food that looks so good that you almost want to reach out towards the screen and