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New Japanese vending machine at Shinkansen station sells cups of ice on platform

A new way to make your journey on Japan’s fastest trains even cooler.If you’re about to take a bullet train ride on a hot summer day, you’ll be happy to know that Central Japan Railway Company has just installed a new station platform vending machine selling something cold and refreshing. However, this machine doesn’t sell cans of cola, bottles of tea, or even tubs of ice cream. Instead, it sells cups of ice.As of August 7, travelers passing through Shin Osaka Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen l

Japanese toilet aims to attract foreign tourists but not everybody is happy about it

Rural town’s attempt to draw tourists may have gone a step too far.In recent years, Japanese public toilets have become known not only as places to do your business but as tourist attractions with creative design features. So you can’t really blame the Kagawa Prefectural Government when they saw an opportunity to turn a local public toilet into a tourist magnet. However, the resulting facility turned out to be so extravagant that it became a source of division instead.The new building was

End of a manga era as Weekly Shonen Jump’s circulation drops under one million

Weekly Shonen Jump is still the biggest magazine in Japan, but its print circulation is getting smaller and smaller.For decades, the jewel in the crown of the manga magazine world has been Weekly Shonen Jump. However, these days the jewel isn’t shining nearly as brightly as it used to, with the latest statistics showing that publisher Shueisha’s anthology has crossed over a significant threshold.The Japan Magazine Publishers Association has released circulation data for the first quarter of the

Studio Ghibli unveils new finger puppets featuring anime characters from My Neighbour Totoro

Recreate magical movie moments with beloved characters on your fingertips.When you become an adult you don’t always have to give up your childlike sense of fun and adventure, and Studio Ghibli is here to remind us of that fact with a new range of beautifully designed finger puppets.Called My Neighbour Totoro Soft Vinyl Mascot Finger Puppets, this collection consists of 11 different puppets, starring eight characters from My Neighbour Totoro.Released by Ghibli specialty retailer Donguri Kyowakoku

Anime fan in Japan arrested for ordering and cancelling over 4.3 billion yen in anime merch

Shop ‘till you drop unfortunately becomes shop ‘till you get arrested.As any hard-core fan can tell you, anime and manga can be a pricey hobby. Sure, the proliferation of video streaming services and digital reader apps mean the content itself is much more affordable than it used to be, but the modern otaku merchandising industry is more robust than ever, with an endless flow of figures, plushies, character standees, and more for fans to covet.This brings us to a 32-year-old restaurant worker li

7-Eleven Japan rethinks convenience store drinks with new Grilled Corn Chilled Soup Smoothie

Exclusive to only two wards in Tokyo, this is a must-try drink that’s very hard to get.We’re always on the lookout for new and unusual convenience store finds in Japan, so when 7-Eleven announced it would be releasing a never-before-seen chilled soup smoothie made with grilled corn, we knew it was something we had to try.Finding it, however, proved to be more challenging than we’d thought, as it’s currently only available at select 7-Eleven stores in Tokyo’s Chuo and Chiyoda wards. After visitin

Beautiful Totoro bonsai figure needs no watering, makes soothing rain showers whenever you want

Need a stress-soothing break? This figurine’s return means you can wait with Totoro while he waits for the Cat Bus.A bonsai tree can be a great way to add some picturesque tranquility to your home or work/study space. However, bonsai often require complex care routines, and if you don’t have much of a green thumb, the hassle and stress of keeping one healthy can undo the sense of calm relaxation you were longing for.So today let’s take a look at an alternative kind of bonsai that, in addition to

Japanese convenience store Lawson now has stir-fried noodle-cooking robot chefs

Lawson expands the territory of its robo chefs as they expand their menus.You can get plenty of hot meals at convenience stores in Japan, but they usually have a cold start. Head on over to the refrigerated shelves, and you’ll find an array of pre-made bento boxes, rice bowls, and noodle sets. Pick one out and take it up to the register, and after you’ve paid for it, it can be heated up in the store’s microwave.But things are different now at certain branches of Japanese convenience store Lawson

Starbucks Japan teams up with Traveler’s Company for new stationery and goods collection

Coffee and travel come together in a new range of exclusives by cult-favourite Japanese stationery brand.For coffee lovers, every sip is a journey, with new flavours and discoveries gradually revealing themselves along the way. So when Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo teamed up with Traveler’s Company, the Japanese stationery brand behind the cult-favourite Traveler’s Notebook, to create a limited-edition collection in 2019, the pairing proved to be so perfect that the two have continued releasi

Over 400 titles of free translated manga from publisher Shueisha available for a limited time

It’s their birthday, but we’re getting the presents!Shueisha is the publisher behind many of manga’s top titles, from One Piece and Naruto to Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer. It’s also celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year, and planned something very big for the occasion called Manga Million, which starts today!The concept of Manga Million was to translate one million pages of manga into 100 languages, and do so with human translators rather than AI despite the massive volume, so you can be

Kochia calling: Right now is a great off-season season to visit this beautiful Japanese park

Before Hitachi Seaside Park turns red for autumn, it’s got a beautiful summer color to show you too.Japan is a country with strong swings between its seasons, often resulting in splashes of color as different types of flowers or foliage reach their peak beauty. So if you’re headed to an outdoor attraction while traveling in Japan, timing is important, and right now is a fantastic time to visit Hitachi Seaside Park.“Wait a second,” you might be thinking. “I though you guys said that early summer

Resident Evil’s terrifying Licker becomes a bag in Japan that wants to feed you

After years of this video game horror trying to eat us, it’s finally going to help us with our hunger instead.The first foes that spring to mind when thinking about Resident Evil are, of course, the video game series’ zombie hordes. Zombies aren’t known for their speed or smarts, though, so as long as you can keep your confrontations with them to an individual basis, they’re pretty easy to outmaneuver and outwit.Providing a much greater level of terror on a per-monster basis is the Licker. First

Japan’s largest online flea market reminds users that selling used school swimsuits is prohibited

Even if they’ve been professionally cleaned, used school swimsuits are too dirty for this marketplace.Mercari is Japan’s largest online flea market, a place where individual sellers offer an extremely wide range of new and used items. It’s not just collectibles that Mercari deals in, either. Previously, for example, we’ve looked at the Mercari market for such niche products as ATM envelopes and curses.That doesn’t mean that Mercari will allow the purchase and sale of any and everything on their

Starbucks Japan to open Shinkansen platform stores at Kyoto and Nagoya stations

New stores add a fresh taste and aroma to high-speed travel on Japan’s busiest bullet train route.One of the joys of Shinkansen travel is being able to bring your own food and drinks on board. However, with the high-speed rail service being famously punctual, you don’t always have time to pick up what you need when rushing to get your train.It’s a pre-departure dilemma that Starbucks is now seeking to address by opening stores right at the platform. Late last year, the chain broke new grou

Aichi city throws year-long 20th birthday bash for giant beckoning cat statue, Hello Kitty invited

The 20th birthday of a local legend calls for collaborations with Hello Kitty, Chubu Centrair International Airport, and 15 local businesses.March 28, 2027 will mark 20 years to the day when the city of Tokoname in Aichi Prefecture erected a giant manekineko (beckoning cat) statue affectionately named Tokonyan. At 3.8 meters (4.2 yards) tall and 6.3 meters wide, Tokonyan is a popular photo spot near the entrance to the Pottery Footpath (Yakimono Sanpomichi), a local sightseeing spot that highlig

Final Fantasy plushie shoulder bags are fuzzy and functional [Photos]

Chocobo, Moogle, and two more Final Fantasy mascot creatures want to go with you on your outside-the-house adventures.Final Fantasy’s Chocobo and Moogle are always welcome presences, so any fan of the Square Enix video game series would be happy to have these cubic forms of the cute creatures gracing their home, right?Ah, but Final Fantasy is, above all else, a story of adventure. So while it’s nice to know you have a Chocobo or Moogle waiting for you when you get home, something really true to

Akita Kanto Festival, one of Japan’s most spectacular summer festivals, gets an anime twist this year

Towering lanterns, traditional balancing skills, and a special anime collaboration make this an unforgettable Japanese festival experience.There are many famous summer festivals in Japan, but the Akita Kanto Festival is one of the most magical and awe-inspiring. Held in Akita City every August, this festival features fantastical lanterns that sway to represent rice stalks, held aloft by people who balance the enormous structures on their hips, shoulders, palm, chins and foreheads in an amazing d

U.S. government reportedly planning to close Nagoya consulate

Move would leave Japan’s fourth-largest city without consular services.With a population of roughly 2.3 million people, Nagoya is the fourth-largest city in Japan. It also holds an extremely important position in Japanese industry and its connections to the global economy, by nature of being the closest major city to the head office of Toyota and many of the automakers factories and suppliers.Nevertheless, the U.S. government is planning to close its consulate in Nagoya, according to a report fr

Yoshinoya gets into fancy fish, but is the cheap beef king reaching too far? [Taste test]

Japan’s biggest beef bowl chain is now serving up simmered kinmedai.When people think of Yoshinoya, they think of beef, and not just any beef, but cheap beef. That’s not to say Yoshinoya’s beef bowls are low-quality or bad-tasting, but the chain’s flagship fare is definitely more “good honest grub” than “fine dining.”So we were surprised, and intrigued, when we found out that Yoshinoya is now also serving up fancy fish.On July 27, Yoshinoya added the Gyu Kinmedai no Nizuke Teishoku, or Beef and

APEC ministers vow to balance economic growth and ecology

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 ...