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A letter from our reporter’s deceased mother arrives at just the right time

A 10-year wait turns out to be exactly the right length to warm her heart.A while back, our Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabatake was sorting through her mail for the day, and mixed in among the restaurant fliers, condominium ads, and other junk mail was a letter from her mom. You might be thinking that it’s unusual to bother sending a written letter in today’s digital world, where pretty much everyone has a phone with at least one messaging app, if not more, in their pocket, and you’d b

Japan now has gyoza doughnuts, and they taste like no other doughnut we’ve tried before

Gyonuts look set to become the nation’s trendiest new sweet. Japan loves to throw out the rulebook when it comes to foreign-born sweets, a fact we recently saw when udon noodle chain Marugame Seimen released Udonuts, made with – you guessed it – udon flour.These unusual doughnuts became a surprise hit, with the chain selling more than a million servings in the six days following their release.▼ Since then, the Udonuts continue to be a hit, even collaborating with Dragon Ball Z.Now, Osaka O

Squeezy Tanuki Testicle toys once again appear in Japanese gacha machines

Prizes are still random, but you’re guaranteed to get a pair of tanuki balls.You always have to be prepared for a certain amount of randomness when buying something from Japan’s gacha/capsule toy machines, but if you want to limit the amount of uncertainty, there are ways to do so. One of the easiest techniques is to look for a machine that, rather than offering variation-on-a-theme lineups like canned-goods Sanrio characters or classic anime VHS cases, is instead stocked with a single design th

Woman in Japan breaks into home of complete stranger just to slap him in the face

No doorbell rung, one face slapped.Sometimes, in his idle moments at home alone, a guy living by himself might think “Ya know, it’d be nice to have a girl here.” And if that happened to be the sentiment running through the mind of a 29-year-old man in Kagoshima City on Wednesday morning, the last day of Japan’s Golden Week holiday this year, then his yearnings were answered when a woman suddenly appeared in his house.However, this woman was not a magical goddess sent to reward him for his pure h

Japanese criminals are now using crabs to hunt for burglary targets

They’re using our urge to share against us.With its consecutive national holidays, Golden Week is one of those long-awaited periods in Japan, with many people eager to leave behind their daily stresses and get away from it all. However, this year saw the emergence of a new trend in crime that looks just as fishy as it smells. Criminals in Japan have turned away from the traditional methods of scouting out potential places to hit up for burglaries, and have started to employ the use of live

Final Fantasy VII’s Tifa’s bar pops up in real-world Tokyo, and we stop by for drinks[Photos]

Seventh Heaven arrives in Roppongi with a twist on its name and another for its cocktails.In addition to being a loyal friend and skilled martial artist, Final Fantasy VII’s Tifa is a bartender, serving up drinks at the bar Seventh Heaven, which also serves as the initial base of operations for Cloud and rest of the game’s heroes. Within the game world, if you want to knock back a couple of cold ones at Tifa’s bar after work, you’d need to head to the Sector 7 slums of the town of Midgar, but du

We turn to a shady Amazon Japan gadget to try to stop Tokyo crows from stealing our hangers

Man and machine versus nature.The fact that we call the items “hangers” is proof of how hard it is for us humans to imagine any use for them other than hanging clothes. And yet, despite their nudist tendencies meaning that they never have to hang laundry, the crows living in the neighborhood of our Japanese-language reporter Yuichiro Wasai love his hangers so much that they routinely steal them from his apartment balcony.That’s because crows have learned that hangers make great nest-building mat

Zunda Shake vending machine lets you taste samurai culture in milkshake form

Edo-period specialty gets a modern makeover in the heart of Tokyo. If someone were to mention they’d tried a green beverage in Japan, most people might assume they’re talking about matcha. However, there is another type of drink with green hues that locals are well acquainted with, and it’s called the Zunda Shake.Made from edamame (fresh soybeans), the Zunda Shake hails from Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. This area is famous for zunda, a coarse past

Does one of Japan’s favorite chocolate brands work with the Pringles chocolate hack?

We’ve heard good things about Pringles and chocolate, but what about Pringles and Lotte’s chocolate?Pringles has been selling potato chips in its distinctive cans for decades, but it wasn’t until recently that foodies realized that the container can also serve as a chocolate mold. Thus was born the viral Pringles chocolate food hack, and so in turn was born our Japanese-language reporter Yui Imai’s desire to see how it would taste using Japan’s popular Ghana brand chocolate from confectioner Lot

Does the Fukuryumon Chinese restaurant in Koenji offer the best lunch deal in Tokyo?

The main dishes are already cheap to begin with–but the unlimited free side dishes could even be a meal by themselves!Our Japanese-language reporter/resident musician Seiji Nakazawa has always loved a live music venue in the Koenji district of Tokyo called Muryoku Muzenji. Sadly, it plans to close its doors next month after 26 years in operation. The news made Seiji a bit wistful since the venue has been there ever since he moved to Tokyo.Thinking about the space also made him think about

Japanese Pokémon card shop grabs scissors as part of its plan to keep scalpers away

Thwarting resellers isn’t always a snap, but maybe it could be a snip.Much like a slice of sweet cake attracting flies, scalpers continue to swarm around Pokémon cards. At its core, the problem is that scalpers and legitimate fans both want the same thing, but it’s nearly impossible for fans to beat scalpers to the punch. Unlike scalpers who are looking to benefit economically from scooping up cards to flip at inflated prices, actual fans can’t just ignore their other life responsibilities and l

We sent two Japanese elementary school kids on a Mother’s Day shopping mission at a 100 yen store

With 1,100 yen to buy gifts for Mom, but no other directions, what will they come out with?Japan celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, just like the U.S. does. With the special day approaching, our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon decided to organize a little activity for her two elementary school-age daughters.With the older sister being in the fourth grade and the younger in the first, they’re not old enough yet to do completely independent shopping runs, but they are bi

Holy Fungus Mud Volleyball is Japan’s most filthily beautifying bacteria event of the summer!

Getting dirty in Gifu comes with benefits for your skin and stomach.There’s an outdoor volleyball tournament scheduled for this coming August in the town of Gujo. But while playing the sport under the summer sun might have you imagining beach volleyball, Gujo is in Gifu, one of Japan’s landlocked prefectures, so it has no beaches.That doesn’t mean that the contest will take place on a hardwood or concrete playing surface, though, because this is a mud volleyball tournament.This unique event is b

Japan’s rice warehouse stockpile rate hits record high as consumers, restaurants reject high prices

Consumers showing little sympathy for rice sellers as eating habits and supply chains change.Rice is supposed to be the foundation of the Japanese diet, but these days there’s a whole lot of it that’s just sitting in warehouses. According to newly released data from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, at the end of March there were approximately 2.7 million metric tons of rice being held by wholesalers, nearly a 54-percent increase compared to the same time last year.That’s

Final Fantasy Chocobo cookies have galloped into Tokyo’s Square Enix pop-up shop

Beloved Final Fantasy mounts are Japan’s newest bird-themed sable sensation.As a country that loves sweet treats and cute animals, it’s no surprise that one of Japan’s most famous cookies is the Hato Sablé. With hato being the Japanese word for “dove,” these cookies are a popular souvenir among visitors to the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, where their maker is based, and at department stores and specialty shops in east Japan.However, right now there’s an avian-themed cookie that’s got

Art Fire Festival lights up the night at a unique venue in the mountains of Japan

Sarusho continues to shine in its second life.Ordinarily, summer is the season for amazing nighttime pyrotechnics in Japan, as that’s the time of year in which most of the country’s fireworks festivals are held. But rather than wait for the weather to warm up, the organizers of the Art Fire Festival decided to bring their fire to Gunma Prefecture this spring.Held in the town of Minakami, the Art Fire Festival brought together artists from across the country for a three-day celebration and exhibi

Foreign tourist needs ambulance to pick him up at Mt. Fuji after hiking closed trail

Lack of patience, lack of ability to get home without an ambulance.After a relatively cool spring, the weather in Japan has begun heating up, with a few days this week even hitting early-summer temperatures for the afternoon high. However, it’s not actually summer yet, which means it’s not yet time to head to the beach, wear yukata, or climb Mt. Fuji.Unfortunately, a foreign tourist didn’t abide by that last point, and on Sunday needed the help of emergency services to get home from the side of

Looney Tunes is now an adorable anime series with Looney Tunes Gokko[Videos]

Eh, what’s up, kawaii doc?Animated franchises don’t get much more quintessentially American than Looney Tunes, which made its debut in U.S. theaters all the way back in 1930. But as it approaches its 100th birthday, Warner Bros. Japan has suddenly asked the question: “What would Looney Tunes look like if it was a cute anime series?”The answer is Looney Tunes Gokko, in which classic Looney Tunes characters have been given kawaii redesigns. Obviously face-of-the-franchise Bugs Bunny is here, and s

Shogun Cultural Experiences merges a walking tour, sweets, and the music of traditional Japan

A limited tour in Kagurazaka, Tokyo invites guests to “Discover Edo Through All Five Senses” in one morning with full English services.Kagurazaka is a central Tokyo neighborhood with refined charm that was once located on the edge of Edo Castle and has connections dating back to Japan’s third “great unifier” and shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, in 1590. Its main shopping street, relatively quiet for Tokyo standards, still retains the essence of traditional Japan, while its

Seaweed bread is one of the most unusual baked goods in all of Japan

A unique way to eat your greens in Tokyo.Japan has a knack for taking the familiar and elevating it to realms we never thought possible. A great example of that can be found at Takase Yogashi, a long-established store founded over a century ago, in 1920.▼ 洋菓子 or “yogashi” translates as “western confectionery”.With five stores in Tokyo, Takase Yogashi has a loyal base of customers, many of whom come for the anpan (red bean paste bread) and almond tuiles (elegant French coo