Mister Donut meets Tsujirii once again to create mouthwatering treats made with Kyoto-grown roasted green tea. Last month, Japanese donut chain Mister Donut launched the latest incarnation of its Misdo Meets confectionary collaboration series, this time a partnership with Kyoto tea merchant Gion Tsujiri. However, as we all know mankind’s desire for donuts and tea-flavored sweets knows no limits, and so Misdo Meets Gion Tsujiri is back with another batch of brand-new temptations that we will be making no effort at all to resist. Tsujiri is best known for its matcha, but the two new donuts both ..read more

Sailor Moon’s real-world hoe neighborhood wants to help visiting fans feel extra welcome. A lot of travelers who come to Tokyo never set foot inside the Minato Ward Tourism Information Center (seen in the above photo). Much of Minato is made up of office districts, and aside from Tokyo Tower, which is already covered pretty adequately by just about any Tokyo guidebook or website, most of Minato’s other attractions, like the shops, restaurants, and clubs of Roppongi and Akasaka, already have their own websites that interested potential visitors can check. But there is a very compelling reason ..read more

“I’m sorry” doesn’t cancel out “I’ll kill you.” Last Monday night, at about 7:40 in the evening, a man walked into the Kamori branch of 7-Eleven in the town of Komono, Mie Prefecture. Instead of picking out one of the many refreshing beverages or delicious snacks that Japanese convenience stores are stocked with, he walked up to the counter, where a 55-year-old clerk was working the register. Taking out a bottle filled with cleaning solution, the man sprayed the clerk and began shouting at her, telling her “I’ll kill you! Give me the money!” However, he left empty-handed, fleeing the scene wi ..read more

Spirits from the past live on at this abandoned site in the mountains.  On 16 March, the Hokuriku Shinkansen began running along a new extension between Kanazawa and Tsuruga, creating a direct route from Tokyo to Fukui Prefectures. Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa took the opportunity to travel along this route recently, and as he flicked through a railway-related magazine onboard, he discovered that the port city of Tsuruga was one of the areas selected for Japan’s first railway construction project. As a result, a large number of old railway heritage sites remain in the area, including the ..read more

Festival of motion and stillness reinstates hours-long drum procession/shoving match. The town of Furukawa, in Gifu Prefecture, has become a popular travel destination for those looking to catch a glimpse of old-fashioned country living in Japan. Also known as Hida-Furukawa (because of its location within Gifu’s Hida region), Furukawa is often visited in conjunction with the nearby town of Takayama, with Furukawa being the even more quaintly quiet of the two. But things are going to be quite a bit livelier in Furukawa this weekend, with the full-force return of the town’s most important event ..read more

Visitor with guide dog was turned away on Catbus’ first day. March 16 was a very exciting day for fans of Studio Ghibli. On that day, the real-world Catbus made its debut, transporting visitors around the grounds of Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, the public park inside which the disconnected sections of the Ghibli Park anime theme park are located. However, the happy mood was dampened for one would-be Cabus passenger, who was informed that they would be unable to board the feline vehicle because of their canine companion. ▼ The real-world Catbus Generally speaking, dogs are not allowed ..read more

A pair of factors combine with pent-up post-pandemic Japan travel desire to break the one-month record. During the pandemic, when Japan instituted some of the strictest border control regulations in the world, there was some talk as to whether or not this was going to put a damper on foreign tourists’ desire to visit the country once they were finally allowed to do so again. Especially with the country’s popularity among young travelers booming right before its borders were closed, there was the question of whether, after having to postpone their Japan travel plans for so long, many would jus ..read more

Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks returns, with an improved layout overlooking the scramble crossing. Back in November, Starbucks fans around Japan and across the world were saddened to hear that the chain’s most iconic branch overlooking Shibuya’s scramble crossing had closed its doors indefinitely. ▼ Starbucks sold its wares on the first and second floors of the QFront Building (floors in Japan are counted from the ground level, which is known as the first floor). It soon came to light that the reason for the closure was renovations, with the building’s main tenant, media chain Tsutaya, overha ..read more

Keep them in the kitchen or throw them in a bag–these toys also serve as functionally cute souvenirs to bring home. McDonald’s Japan has been on a Happy Meal roll in recent months with some of the cutest, most coveted Sanrio character goods around. The newest set of Sanrio prizes includes eight toys, all with practical functions, plus a bonus mystery toy to come. The batch of nine will be released in two waves, with the first being available from April 12 to 25. The four toys in this series have functional uses for cooking or dining, making them a perfect way to add a dash of kawaii to your n ..read more

Mikado makes a move that other game centers did long ago. Among arcade gamers in Japan, there’s no more sacred ground than Mikado. With branches in Tokyo’s Takadanobaba and Ikebukuro neighborhoods, Mikado has been weathering the storms that have seen so many other arcades, or “game centers,” as they’re called in Japan, close down. Focusing strongly on titles from the 1980s and ‘90s golden era of Japanese arcade games, Mikado has become especially loved for regularly hosting tournaments and other events for fighting and shooter games, creating a community gathering place for fans of coin-opera ..read more