If you’re an anime fan, or even just a film fan, you probably recognize what considerable praise it is for Makoto Shinkai‘s hit Your Name garnered to become the the highest-earning anime ever around the world, leapfrogging even Studio Ghibli’s most celebrated films. Your Name was largely a hit due to its breathtakingly gorgeous animation and nostalgic feel. Now the animation studio behind the hit film, CoMix Wave, are teaming up with anime director Hisayuki Tabata to lend that charming touch to a beautiful anime short promoting Winter tourism in Canada. Vancouver, Toronto, Abraham Lake, Banff, Canadian Rockies, Niagara Falls and other scenic sights are on display in an anime…

Godzilla: Resurgence (Shin-Gojira) ended up being a pretty appropriate title for the latest theatrical romp for the King of Monsters. Ever since the movie was announced, a load of interesting Godzilla merchandise has been teased–including a Godzilla vs. Neon Genesis Evangelion figure designed by the Metal Gear Solid character artist, Godzilla beauty masks, as well as a Godzilla anime. Now in a similar quirky but practical style as the No-Face burping piggy bank, and atomic breath-spewing Godzilla Humidifier is being released. Source: At Press The humidifier uses LED lighting to give the beam emitting from Godzilla’s mouth the signature blue atomic breath aesthetic, and while it’s busy as work increasing…

Fuerza Bruta: “Panasonic Presents WA! Wonder Japan Experience” is an exhilarating, uninhibited and unforgettable show to be enjoyed by visitors to Japan and long-term residents alike. Fuerza Bruta Since its inception in Buenos Aires in 2003, under the direction of Diqui James, Fuerza Bruta has brought its postmodern and highly energetic spectacle enveloping audiences in a joyous frenzy of dance, acrobatics, music and art, to locations across the globe such as Miami, Chicago, Madrid, London, Berlin, Moscow, Shanghai and Taiwan. It also enjoyed a highly successful off-broadway run from 2007 to 2016 at the Daryl Roth Theater. Throughout these years, Fuerza Bruta has developed and refined a unique formula for…

One of the major conveniences of Japan is that vending machines are around just about every corner, and outside of a variety of beverages, they sell just about everything, from sake to dashi. If you’ve ever spotted a Georgia brand vending machine, you’ll have noticed it’s owned by Coca-Cola and sells their products along with a variety of canned coffees. Now the brand is crossing streams with a vending machine exclusive Coca-Cola coffee called Coca-Cola Coffee Plus. コークご乱心!? コーラにコーヒーはアリなのか、自販機限定『コカ・コーラ COFFEE PLUS』を飲んで確認！ https://t.co/pUDOnY2GIr pic.twitter.com/wPW2xDi1cu — 【公式】リュールブ 最安値ショップ (@ryuurubusaiyasu) 2017年9月13日 If you remember Coca-Cola BlāK, you’ll know this isn’t the first coffee Coca-Cola. While it doesn’t feature the charming aesthetic of Japan’s…

The Universal Cool Japan initiative is Universal Studios Japan’s collaborative effort to promote Japanese entertainment and pop culture around the world with attractions that allow you to experience them in overwhelming scale. Just recently, fans of Final Fantasy and Sailor Moon started marking their calendars when it was revealed that the 2018 event would introduce attractions to the theme park based off of the worlds of those two mega-popular series. While the theme park, located in Osaka, has featured cafes and virtual reality experiences before, details about how the Final Fantasy series would be incorporated remained murky. Now USJ has announced that they will be offering a virtual reality roller…

The nostalgic world of Momoko Sakura’s manga Chibi Maruko-Chan, set in a Japanese suburb in the 1970s, and the simple everyday school life and family life of its protagonist Maruko, has been entertaining audiences ever since it appeared in the pages of shojo manga magazine Ribon in 1986. Translated into several languages and made into television anime, several full-length feature animated films, and even a live-action TV drama, Chibi Maruko-Chan’s (mis)adventures have universal appeal. Therefore, when Momoko Sakura announced last fall that she was working on a self-parodying spinoff manga called Chibi Shikaku-Chan, fans took notice. With the manga to be published in the Sep. 25 issue of Grand Jump,…

Japanese oddity and bookstore Village Vanguard has always been a hub for adventurous and themed roomwear and pajamas. In the past, their online shop has offered super comfy kimono pajamas, fairy tale character-themed pajamas, and even a Japanese schoolgirl outfit that doubles as a kotatsu. The store is turning its eyes to animals for its latest release, however, with these fluffy one piece bunny-eared pajamas. Source: PR Times During colder seasons in Japan, it’s not uncommon to cozy up under the dangerously warming comfort of a kotatsu or more billowy pajamas to combat older houses or lack of central heating. These pajamas, called the “Rabbit Roomwear Fluffy One Piece”, provide…

Matcha is probably one of the most recognized of Japanese flavors, even beyond Japanese borders. While it is a delight to sip matcha in the traditional style, sweets containing matcha are a more accessible way to enjoy the rich and concentrated powder. And while cakes, cookies, donuts, macarons and other varieties of sweets containing matcha continue to appear on Japanese store shelves, one combination stands out among all others as a perennial favorite with matcha lovers: matcha ice cream! For example, ice cream giant Haagen Dazs created a bittersweet matcha crumble ice cream bar, Shizuoka-based gelato shop Nanaya prides itself on offering the darkest (and most intense) matcha ice cream…

When it comes to nostalgic taste in Japan, you won’t find many bigger names than sweets and snacks maker Morinaga. Their popular caramels were a childhood favorite of those in the Showa era, so much that they were turned into McShakes for a vintage success. One of the company’s most well-known products, however, is their pancake mix, which has even inspired a maple syrup pancake hot spring in Japan. Now Morinaga is delivering their popular pancake mix flavor in two forms sure to be a sweet success: pancake flavored pudding and pancake flavored ice cream bars. Source: PR Times Japanese-style pudding is often compared to Flan or creme caramel, made…

When Cup Noodle released its Mystery Meat Festival noodles last year to celebrate its 45th anniversary, fans of the ubiquitous instant noodles were surprised by Nissin’s bold move. After all, for the past 45 years since it first appeared on store shelves, all it took for customers was a cursory glance at the ingredients list to realize that Cup Noodles original flavor contained pork. And yet, the tasty pieces of protein floating in their cups clearly contained other ingredients which were not yet identified. For the company to embrace the “mystery factor” and make it into a selling point created a renewed interest in the true identity of this “mystery…

Takes on the all-Japanese cast of the upcoming live action Fullmetal Alchemist film seem to cover the spectrum of reservation, optimism, and apathy, but original anime director Seiji Mizushima has at least made his opinion known. During a roundtable discussion at Tokyo’s 2017 Nikufes (Meat Festival–which may seem random, but the festival has been promoting itself with idol and anime song performances) the director of the popular anime series stated that “It was a bad idea to only use Japanese actors”, reports Anime News Network. The comments were made during an open discussion with Hiroshi Kanemaru (Popin Q) and Tomoki Misawa (Urawa no Usagi-chan), while talking about anime as a…

Since the mid-2000s, Japan has developed and refined a unique spin on club culture called anikura (a term combining “anime songs” and “club”), in which DJs play anime songs or other genres within the Akiba-kei, or Akihabara style spectrum (namely, anime songs, songs from tokusatsu and action hero shows, video game and PC game music, idol songs, songs by anime voice actors, dempa songs, chiptune, etc.) — either in their original form or as remixes with EDM — and VJs plays clips from anime or other media matching the tunes. At first limited to clubs like MOGRA Akihabara and Club Tsukiakari Yumeterasu in Kawasaki, anime song DJ parties can now…

When you think of Japanese instruments, you may be familiar mostly with the koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen, as well as how they can be used to give popular music a beautiful and traditional Japanese twist. Thanks to Twitter user @wyrm06, many even in Japan are now discovering an otherworldly rippling instrument that they had never heard of before called the Hamon Slit Drum. With 70,000 tweets, many are surprised to find out that the pings and echoes of the Hamon Slit Drum actually come from a Japanese instrument. 日本にもヤバい金属楽器はある！という事で「波紋音」です。あまりにも豊かな倍音成分がヤバくて無限。Rav drumと同じ金属製のスリットドラムですが作品ごとにランダムな切れ込みになっており、完全に自分だけの楽器になります。この個体はオーナーが中に鎖を仕込んでいてビビり音が出ます。 pic.twitter.com/0gW0R3gvsz — サカン@世界の打楽器 (@wyrm06) 2017年9月17日 Of course, the Hamon is very similar to the Russian RAV Drum (seen below), along…

Sometimes, certain less populated prefectures of Japan which are less commonly frequented by tourists and less commonly known by average city-dwellers are characterized in popular culture as wild and dangerous. For the most part, such characterizations are tongue-in-cheek, and even the locals enjoy playing it up. This seems to be the case with Fukui, located in the central Chubu region of the Honshu island facing the Sea of Japan, and one of the least populated prefectures. This picture posted on Twitter last Saturday by @oyayubi_814, along with the caption: “Fukui…dangerous!” caused quite a stir. It would seem to be a hammerhead shark lying on a street gutter, clearly far removed…

Japanese festivals seem to put a priority on spectacle, whether they be magical lantern festivals that seem like they came right out of Spirited Away, or penis festivals with giant marching phalluses, guests always walk away with a sight to remember. Japan’s most northern prefecture of Hokkaido is home to a many regional festivals, but it’s dramatic fire-walking festival held in the town of Furubira may be one of its most spectacular. Source: @katuka2 While not the only fire-walking (hi no watari) event in Japan, Furubira’s festival adds a theatrical flair by having a Tengu cross a barrier of towering wall of flames. Tengu (“Heavenly Dog”) are somewhat disruptive spirits…