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Japan’s first all-matcha ramen restaurant is now open in Kyoto【Photos】

Ramen Nishiki Sui has a very fitting name.You could make an argument that ramen has passed up sushi as Japanese cuisine’s representative dish, and matcha green tea has long been the beverage with the most cultural significance in the country. So should you find yourself wanting to experience both of them at the same time, you’ll be happy to know that Japan’s first all-matcha ramen restaurant is now open.Fittingly, this combination of two very Japanese elements that have become very popular overs

A spotlight on Japanese singles figure skating: Jumping into the 2026 Olympics【Pt. II】

In this two-part series just in time for the 2026 Winter Olympics, we’re taking a look at Japanese skaters who have shaped the sport past and present.Welcome back to this spotlight on Japanese figure skating in tandem with the 2026 Winter Olympics!In Pt. I, we explored six Japanese singles skaters that have left their mark on the sport, along with a brief intro to major international competitions and the six basic types of jumps.This time, we’re sharing brief intros of the men’

A robot joins the team at a fast-food restaurant, but in an unlikely city in northern Japan

OriHime arrives at a local Mos Burger to test the future of inclusive work.For technological experiments, Morioka is probably not the first choice that people would think of—in fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find it within a list of the top 20 cities people would come up with. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with it. I used to live there myself and it’s a beautiful city with a stunning view of Mt. Iwate, but being tucked away in Iwate, one of Japan’s northernmost prefectures, it’s

Ramen shop manager arrested for punching self in the face and pretending he was robbed

He should have punched harder and knocked some sense into himself.They say times are especially tough in the ramen business, with steadily soaring food prices and an intensely competitive market that demands prices be kept low. But let’s not overlook one silent victim in all this: a would-be scam artist working in a ramen restaurant who could barely get away with skimming profit when there isn’t much to begin with. These desperate times have apparently called for some really desperate measures.O

Huge Evangelion Unit-01 head appearing in lights in Japan to celebrate anime’s 30th anniversary

The Minato Mirai neighborhood is looking extra futuristic with Eva light-up and fireworks.In the grand scheme of things, there really isn’t all that much Evangelion anime. There was the original anime TV series that ran for 26 episodes, which was followed by two theatrical features made largely of recycled footage. 1997 brought the in-hindsight ironically named The End of Evangelion film, and then there were the four anime movies collectively called the Rebuild of Evangelion, which wrapped up in

Chocolate Totoro cream puffs and cakes coming to Japan’s Ghibli bakery for Valentine’s Day【Pics】

Totoro is looking sweeter than ever.In Japan, you don’t need to be in love in order to love Valentine’s Day, since the day is as much about chocolate as it is romance. So regardless of whether or not you’ve found your soulmate, you can make some sweet Valentine’s memories with a special someone: Totoro.Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory, the Tokyo sweets shop run by relatives of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, has revealed its lineup of special Valentine’s Day chocolate treats for this year

McDonald’s Japan partners with anime English teacher, but did they commit a cultural error?[Video]

Ellen-sensei is the latest otaku spokesperson for McDonald’s, but there’s one organization she’d never endorse.McDonald’s Japan has been warmly embracing otaku culture as of late. Tie-ups with mega-hits such as Dragon Quest and Pokémon seem like obvious fits, but the fast food giant has also shown that it’s comfortable with franchises a little farther outside the family-focused mainstream, such as Evangelion and Kimagure Orange Road.But McDonald’s Japan is going especially deep into the otaku ic

Japan’s most famous Mt. Fuji view park cancels cherry blossom festival because of overtourism

In-home trespassing, public urination, and other bad manners bring an end to a local tradition.If you’ve got even a little bit of interest in traveling in Japan, odds are that on multiple times over the past few years you’ve seen a photo taken from the exact same vantage point as the one above, with a five-story pagoda in the foreground, a grove of cherry blossom trees at its base, and off in the distance, Mt. Fuji, with its peak shrouded in snow.It’s such a concise concentration of traditional

Act of Japanese kindness touches one man’s heart, provides hope for elevator etiquette

The fate of the first to board has long been a problem in Japan, but this could be the solution. A curious thing happens in elevators – once you’re in there, and someone who wants to board is about to miss the closing doors, you’re able to extend a gesture of kindness by pressing the “open” button so they’re able to catch the lift they otherwise would’ve missed.In Japan, though, this act of kindness can work against you, because an unspoken rule of etiquette d

Naruto jerseys coming to Major Leage Baseball theme nights, Hello Kitty to take over a field

The Brewers believe it!There are all sorts of fighting skills that come in handy for ninja, from hand-to-hand combat to proficiency with throwing stars, explosives, or supernatural ninpo spells. But more than anything, the definitive shinobi talent is stealth. True ninja must be so adept at infiltration that they can suddenly appear anywhere, even where you’d least expect them…like at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.We’ve still got a month-plus until the start of the 2026 MLB season, but

Three beautiful places to see Japan’s plum blossoms after starting your day in downtown Tokyo

It’s time to go out and see the ume.Pretty much as soon as the new year starts, people in Japan start looking ahead to sakura season, and with good reason, as the cherry blossoms are Japan’s most famous flowers. They’re not the country’s only beautiful flora, though, and if you want to head out and see some breathtaking blossoms without waiting for winter to wrap up, we’re getting into the best time of year to see ume, or plum blossoms.Plum blossoms tend to start blooming in late January or earl

Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?

We investigate whether now is a good time to grab some beef cutlets in a popular tourist area of Tokyo.Given the unprecedented numbers of foreign tourists in Japan over the past year, we’ve been curious to see how the recent Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ warning to Chinese citizens not to visit Japan in the midst of a diplomatic dispute has been affecting the crowds at some of the most popular Tokyo sites for inbound tourists. We’ve also recently begun checking out the i

Here comes a new katsudon: ice cream katsudon?!?

Casual Japanese restaurant chain creates a new genre of pork cutlet bowls.Broadly speaking, katsudon (pork cutlet bowl) comes in two varieties. There’s tamagotoji katsudon, in which the cutlet is sort of wrapped in egg……and then there’s sauce katsudon, in which a special sauce, tasting kind of like a sweeter Worchester, is drizzled over the cutlet.But now, here comes Japanese restaurant chain Fuji Soba with a brand-new category of pork cutlet bowl: ice cream katsudon.Yep, that’s a po

Starbucks Japan releases new Chocolate Milk for Valentine’s Day

The green mermaid shakes up the menu with a limited-edition twist on a classic drink.With less than two weeks to go until Valentine’s Day, Starbucks is vying for our attention with a new limited-edition beverage called Sweet Milk Chocolate. Specially designed to align with the Japanese custom of gifting chocolate on Valentine’s Day, this new offering is a drink you’ll want to gift yourself, with its three-layer construction creating beautiful hues…and multiple tiers of fl

Japan’s job-quitting service claims bosses contact it to try to make their employees quit

Some employers want to flip the script to indirectly get rid of workers they don’t want, company says.In Japan, quitting your job can be psychologically complicated. Employment at many companies is indefinitely very long-term, without scheduled regular meetings to discuss whether or not to re-up the working arrangement, which also means fewer built-in opportunities to organically tell your boss, “I think it’s time for me to move on to something else.” Japanese culture also generally prefers to a

Cherry blossoms already blooming at Gap Japan with Sakura Collection lineup【Photos】

If you’re looking to get a head-start sorting your sakura looks, Gap Japan is ready too.We’re getting down to the last few weeks before cherry blossoms season starts. In many people’s minds, spring hasn’t really started until Japan’s most famous flowers bloom, and so the event is often seen as an opportunity to put away your heavy winter coats and sweaters and bust out your lighter, more festively colored spring clothes.Gap Japan is ready to help you start getting your cherry blossom wardrobe re

This gigantic judo dojo-sized hotel room will make you feel like royalty, but it’s disappearing soon

There’s plenty of space to stretch out, but not much time to spare if you want to have this unique Japan travel experience.We’d like to think that our writing here at SoraNews24 is of the sort that’s enjoyable to those of you who appreciate clever, colorful prose. So we were happy, but not necessarily surprised, when a reader recently contacted us to tell us about a very spacious hotel room they’d recently stayed in. How spacious?“It was so big that you could do judo inside of it.”Haha, nicely p

Cherry blossom forecasts map shows Japan’s OTHER sakura season is starting right now

You don’t have to wait for spring to see this special kind of sakura.Cherry blossoms, as just about everyone knows, are a symbol of spring in Japan. The exact timing of their arrival depends on which part of the country you’re talking about and that year’s specific weather patterns, but the sakura start to bloom between late March and early May, right, as shown once again in the latest cherry blossom forecasts.But while all of that is true, it’s true specifically for the Somei Yoshino, the most

Ghost in the Sheel goes traditional with Japanese porcelain Tachikoma robots, only 50 to be made

Perfect with your other ornaments or as a stand-alone complex.I’m always a sucker for fusions of classical and modern Japanese arts, whether it’s woodblock prints of Nintendo characters or watches made from samurai armor. This latest one certainly fits the bill of combining an iconic work of anime with one of Japan’s most elegant traditional crafts.On one hand, we have the manga and anime classic Ghost in the Shell and its scene-stealing walking tanks, the Tachikoma. These are robotic vehicles t

How to make a lucky sushi roll with KFC fried chicken skin【SoraKitchen】

Mr. Sato dreams up an innovative way to ensure good luck and give yourself an excuse to eat fried chicken.This year, the Japanese holiday of Setsubun falls on February 3. Originally meant to mark the start of spring, it’s also a day on which to wish for peace and happiness for your family and household, and it’s said that one way to do that is by eating sushi rolls.Specifically, you’re supposed to eat ehomaki, rolls of vinegared sushi rice and luxurious fillings. While supermarkets and food spec