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Tokyo hotel lets you make your stay a Sanrio one with special My Melody and Kuromi rooms【Pics】

Tokyo Dome Hotel fills rooms with all the My Melody and Kuromi adorableness they can hold.We’ve been checking out some of Tokyo’s coolest themed hotel rooms recently. Just the other day, we paid a visit to the Hotel Gracery in the Shinjuku neighborhood, which gives you an in-room kaiju fight between Godzilla and nemesis King Ghidorah, and back in the summer we checked out the Gundam mecha room at the Tokyo Bay Ariake Washington Hotel.Today, though, we’re taking a break from monster rampages and

Studio Ghibli serves up anime characters on new lacquered trays

A beautiful blend of modern and traditional Japan. Studio Ghibli loves to showcase Japanese culture in its movies… and its merchandise. Here to prove that fact is a new duo of lacquered trays that look like they belong in a traditional geisha teahouse, but look closely and you’ll find some beloved characters incorporated in the designs.▼ The first tray features the three Totoros from the 1988 classic, My Neighbour Totoro.All three characters look as surprised as we are at their tradi

Live out your own Roman Holiday by eating the same gelato that Audrey Hepburn ate…in Tokyo!

There’s even a place to sit while you eat that resembles the Spanish Steps in the famous film scene.Even if you’ve never seen the 1953 classic film Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn, you may be familiar with the scene of Audrey’s character Princess Ann eating gelato on Rome’s Spanish Steps.▼ The Spanish Steps in Italy, where it’s actually prohibited to eat gelato todayWhile that scene was filmed almost 75 years ago, you can still eat the same gelato that was fea

Sushi cars are the newest crazy cool dream from Japan’s Tomica line

Tomica dreams of sushi now too.Since 1970, Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy’s Tomica line of diecast cars has been bringing compact but detailed replicas of the world’s coolest cars into fans’ homes. But recently, Tomica’s designers have started dreaming of things beyond the real-life automotive world with their Dream Tomica project.We’ve seen those dreams materialize in the form of Tomica cars inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli and the Dragon Ball franchise, and now comes something else just a

We play out a real-life scene from Your Name in the historic city of Ashikaga【Kita Kanto Brothers】

Plus, we share more lore on the Kita Kanto Brothers’ origin story.Our Japanese-language reporters Masanuki Sunakoma and Takamichi Furusawa both live in the northern part of the Kanto region of Japan. While not related by blood, they’ve decided to use this commonality to dub themselves the Kita Kanto Brothers (kita means “north”) to showcase the many charms of the off-the-beaten-path areas of the region while using their singular warping powers that bend time and space.As

Believe it or not, this isn’t a Tokyo vending machine – It’s a secret door to deliciousness

Hundreds of people must walk right past this “vending machine” every day without ever suspecting what it really is.Japan is often called the vending machine capital of the world, and so the drink dispensers tend to blend into the urban landscape of Japan’s capital, Tokyo. And yet, this one caught our eye while we were out and about in the Ameya Yokocho, a.k.a. Ameyoko, section of Tokyo’s Ueno neighborhood.At first glance, it looks like a million other Coca-Cola vending machines you might come ac

Starbucks’ newest Japanese Frappuccino is here, but is this early Christmas present all we wanted?

Taste-testing the Joyful Medley Tea Frappuccino and its companion latte.With last Friday being October 31, the time came to say goodbye to Starbucks Japan’sHalloween black cat Frappuccino. But the coffeehouse chain wasted no time bringing out a new seasonal dessert drink, as the Strawberry and Joyful Medley Tea Frappuccino went on sale the very next day, November 1.Joyful Medley is Starbucks’ special winter tea, a mixture of black, oolong, and jasmine teas flavored with apricot and, in this year

Dodger Stadium takoyaki comes to 7-Eleven for a limited time【Taste Test】

Six balls and they’re out.There’s certainly been a lot going on to keep Japanese baseball fans on their toes, with the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Japan Series going on and the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki appearing in the MLB’s World Series. So, there’s perhaps no better time to bring the takoyaki served at Dodger Stadium by Japanese chain Gindaco back to Japan.They’ve been here before, but only for painfully limited times, m

New Japanese-made Godzilla movie announced, looks to be first direct sequel since 1999

Director, writer, and visual effects director of Academy Award-winning Godzilla Minus One returns for next step in Toho kaiju franchise.The Godzilla movie franchise seems to have figured out an effective split between its two branches. On the one hand, the Hollywood-produced entries from Legendary Entertainment are unabashed bombastic action spectacles which have now fused with the King Kong series. Meanwhile, Toho’s Japanese-made Godzilla movies depict Godzilla as a terrifying force of destruct

Starbucks Japan reveals this year’s lucky bag bundle, pre-order lottery opens tomorrow

Starbucks gets a jump on Japan’s fukubukuro New Year’s tradition.With Halloween over, many companies in Japan are now getting ready to kick off their Christmas promotions. Always-prepared Starbucks Japan, though, is thinking even one step farther ahead, as they’re already in the lucky bag mood.Lucky bags, or fukubukuro, as they’re called in Japanese, are a New Year’s tradition in Japan, in which stores and brands sell mystery grab bags of their popular items at discounted prices on the first few

BIR Convention: Trade barriers challenge long-distance stainless scrap markets

Protectionism-minded moves and countermeasures are pinching the cross-border trading of recycled stainless steel, say conference panelists.

Spirited Away classy cloth coasters will keep your table dry and your heart happy【Photos】

No Face, Haku, and a few other cast creatures from the Studio Ghibli classic are always welcome at tea time, right?For a lot of anime enthusiasts, their shopping habits evolve over time. In the beginning, before becoming fans of the medium, they obviously aren’t buying anything, but then they discover a series or character that captivates them, and before they realize it. they’ve amassed a treasure trove of figures, posters, plushies, and more.As fun as it can be to fill your dorm room or first

New Kyoto experience package lets you film epic samurai battles with your friends

Something a little more action-packed than the typical kimono stroll photo shoot.Kyoto’s connection to Japan’s history and traditional culture is the main thing that draws travelers to the city, and so there are a number of photo studios and services that can arrange for you to have your picture taken while wearing classical attire. Shogun Studio Japan is one of them, but what sets it apart from others is that they’ll not only photograph you as you pose in serene surroundings, but also as you fi

How to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto on the overnight bus and not lose your sanity

Sleep capsule pods on the night bus are an overlooked option for travelling in Japan. Many people, both within Japan and from overseas, have been known to make the journey from Tokyo to Osaka by plane or train, but there is another way to travel — by bus.Before you pooh-pooh the notion of travelling roughly nine hours by bus as opposed to 2.5 hours on the bullet train, it can present a sizeable saving for your back pocket, with variable prices from around the 7,000-yen (US$45.98) mark, and

This Japanese restaurant chain’s triple-decker sushi bowls are a crazy feast for the eyes/stomach

Scaling the tower-don is a food experience you won’t soon forget.Looking at Japanese restaurant menus, you’ll see the suffix “don” come up a lot. It’s short for “donburi,” or rice bowl, and it’s usually used as a suffix. Gyudon, for example, is a beef (gyu) bowl, and katsudon is a rice bowl with a pork cutlet (katsu) on top.But it was a different kind of don that recently had us on way to a branch of restaurant chain Daikyo, as we were looking to try their tower-don.Daikyo isn’t a particularly b

Step into Japanese culture with Converse’s new Japan-exclusive shoes featuring gods, sushi style

Take a stroll through neon-lit cities and ancient legends.Converse Japan often shakes up the iconic style of the original Converse shoes by incorporating traditional Japanese designs or collaborations with popular franchises. This season is no different with another Japan-exclusive lineup that shows off three different aspects of Japan: geography, fish, and legendary gods.First are the All Star Localize Hi models, which are only available in select stores in two of Japan’s greatest cities: Tokyo

Top Japanese baby names for 2025 feature flowers, colors, and a first-time-ever favorite for girls

Annual survey finds the most popular names and kanji characters for new babies.A lot of thought goes into picking baby names in Japan. Not only do parents have to pick how the name will sound, but also how it’ll be written, since the Japanese language’s system of kanji characters means that there are often multiple ways to write the same-pronounced name.Benesse, which publishes magazines for expectant and new parents and also runs the Tamahiyo online parenting portal, conducts an annual study of

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo releases exclusive Christmas goods in Japan

Golden snow globe is one of the stars of this limited-edition showtime collection. Starbucks is really feeling the festive spirit this year, releasing limited-edition beverages through regular branches of its chain, chilled cups in stores across the nation, and an exclusive range at the Reserve Roastery Tokyo.This new collection is based around the theme of “Holiday Show for One’s Joy“, with rich hues in blue, red, gold, and silver to evoke a “dazzling holiday showtime&#8

Huge new Ghibli chopstick series means you’ll always have company with your meals【Pics】

Totoro, Haku, and other Studio Ghibli anime movie stars make the leap from the screen to the table.It’s common knowledge that chopsticks are the utensil of choice for most meals in Japan, but what’s not so widely known is that each member of the household has their own chopsticks, which only they use. So instead of buying a jumbo pack of identical designs, you pick out a pair that looks and feels just right for you, and if you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli anime, that might mean that a set of Ghibli

Kagawa’s Udon Gummies are so hard to chew they come with warning labels

You might need some good dental insurance.Kagawa Prefecture, the land of the thick and starchy noodles known as udon, uses the slurping food in a number of interesting ways, from celebrating a newly constructed bath with the neighborhood to soothing crying babies. On his way back from his tour of the prefecture, where he enjoyed the art-filled island of Naoshima, our Japanese-language reporter Kouhey found a mysterious souvenir as he was wandering around Takamatsu Airport that many people seemed