Japan loves limited time only goods, and the transition from summer to autumn is the perfect excuse to get all those new products on the shelves, to await customers hungry for a taste of the new season. In particular, get ready to see a whole host of new items boasting autumnal flavours such as pumpkin, sweet potato and chestnut. Starbucks Japan have recently released the Crispy Sweet Potato Frappuccino for Autumn, and not to be outdone, McDonalds Japan have just announced their own sweet potato inspired fall treat, the Purple Sweet Potato McShake. Both purple sweet potato and sweet potato flavour have been used to create the perfect balance of…

Lupin the Third hardly needs any introduction. For the past fifty years, Monkey Punch’s story about the gentleman thief, his right-hand man and sharpshooter Jigen, the swordsman Goemon, femme fatale and love interest Fujiko and lifelong frenemy Inspector Zenigata have entertained and delighted audiences around the world through manga, five television series, feature-length anime and various goods and collaborations. While Lupin the Third has collaborated on themed cafes and bars and even a themed escape adventure, the venerable franchise has never had an official presence in a theme park before. However, that will all change when Lupin the Third comes to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka for a special limited-time…

The idea of spending some of your precious, limited time in Japan checking out a convenience store sounds like weird advice to give to a tourist. But Japanese convenience stores have their reputation for very good reasons. View this post on Instagram Seiyaさん(@sei_525)がシェアした投稿 – 2018年 9月月13日午後6時13分PDT Japanese convenience stores (called konbini or conbini, a Japanized contraction of the word convenience) are like a wonderland. Most are open twenty four hours, their warm glow welcoming after a godless all-nighter. Lighthearted, ear-worm jingles ring about your ears as you survey sparkling shelf after shelf of every comfort you could possibly need. The food in the conbini doesn’t skimp on quality to achieve…

Krispy Kreme have forgone the usual orange and black combo for their special Halloween doughnuts this year, and opted for a more kawaii pop of colour. They’ve come out with four designs, decked out in black and pink for a spooky cuteness in a range called ‘Black or Pink?’. The doughnuts themselves are a shocking pitch black, achieved by using bamboo charcoal, and cute details have been added with icing among other things. Source: © Grape Japan Iced in vanilla chocolate is a pink pumpkin with an unsettling grin on its face. Break it open to reveal a rich pumpkin cream inside, the bright orange giving a striking and season-appropriate…

When it comes to traditional Japanese tastes, matcha has become an iconic flavour. The green tea has inspired countless variations including desserts, drinks and even savoury items like curry and noodles. Even companies from overseas such as Starbucks and McDonalds are keen to get their Japanese branches in on the trend and have released countless matcha products to appeal to the green tea lovers among us. For the beginning of the autumn season, McDonalds Japan have announced a limited time only range of green tea beverages. The draw of this particular line up is that the matcha used is from Kyoto’s Uji region. Kyoto Uji matcha is regarded as a…

Everyone’s favourite puffy pink hero is returning to Tokyo to fill our stomachs with delicious and adorable treats. For a limited time only the Kirby Cafe will be opening up in Tokyo Skytree town. All the dishes and drinks on the menu take inspiration from Nintendo’s Kirby games, creating the characters and motifs in entirely consumable materials. Kirby Cafe Food Menu Waddle Dee’s Afternoon Nap Omelette Rice A rice Waddle Dee sleeps soundly under a fluffy egg blanket. Kirby Inhaling Caprese Given Kirby’s ability to inhale his enemies, he’ll make short work of this caprese. Chef Kawasaki’s Throw in Whatever on a Whim Bread Stew There’s no list of ingredients…

All-you-can-eat buffets in Japan There are countless all-you-can-eat buffets in Japan, from run-of-the-mill salad bar buffets at Western cuisine restaurant chains, to hotels which offer them on a rotating basis by season and more. With the arrival of fall, restaurants and hotels have been busy advertising their autumn editions. Fall favorites such as satsuma yams, chestnuts, kabocha and other squash, grilled sanma mackerel pike, and of course, mushrooms aplenty. Matsutake: the king of Japanese mushrooms june. / © PIXTA The undisputed king of native Japanese mushrooms is the matsutake. Fragrant beyond compare, a pleasure to enjoy roasted on a grill with a drop of freshly squeezed sudachi citrus, minced and…

Fall is all about hearty, cosy food. Get ready to see a deluge of snacks and beverages in Japan based around pumpkin, sweet potato and chestnut flavours, among other autumnal treats. This year Starbucks are looking to get fancy with their fall range which they’ve entitled Artful Autumn. The first in the line-up is the Caramelly Pear Frappuccino, which is also available as a hot tea latte. 香り豊かな洋梨とほろ苦いキャラメルのマリアージュ「#キャラメリーペアーフラペチーノ®/ティー ラテ」や、秋らしいフードなどが本日から新登場！詳しくはこちら。 https://t.co/A1gK3NX49h pic.twitter.com/6oEZOmnZVW — スターバックス コーヒー (@Starbucks_J) 31 August 2018 The second installment is the Crispy Sweet Potato Frappuccino and Crispy Sweet Potato Latte which is available iced or hot. 9/13(木)から「#クリスピースイートポテトフラペチーノ®/ラテ」が新登場。秋の味覚が口いっぱいに広がる、“さつまいも”づくしなビバレッジです🍠 https://t.co/ngJ4tMByVn pic.twitter.com/MryD49fUw1 — スターバックス コーヒー (@Starbucks_J) 11 September 2018 Sweet potato…

The first ever permanent Pokemon Cafe opened earlier this year adjacent to the Pokemon Center DX in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. With a Pokemon interior, Pokemon inspired menu and even occasional visits from the iconic yellow electric mouse himself, no fan of the classic series was left wanting. But the menu is having a seasonal reboot to tempt us all back again. The autumn menu is here and it includes treats perfect for the spookiest time of the year. Many Pokemon look Halloween appropriate and the purple and black ghost type Pokemon, Ghastly, fits the bill. He makes an appearance on the menu as a mince cutlet burger. The round, haunting bowl…

Studio Ghibli, Japan’s most legendary animation powerhouse, has enjoyed international acclaim and enchanted not just Japanese children but children and adults all over the world. If you’re in Japan and want a taste of Ghibli’s fantastical worlds for yourself, here’s 5 spots in Tokyo which will fully immerse you in the magic. Studio Ghibli Attractions in Tokyo 1. Mitaka Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji View this post on Instagram Saimaa Travelさん(@saimaa.business.travel)がシェアした投稿 – 2018年 8月月30日午前9時08分PDT Starting with the most obvious one, the official Studio Ghibli Museum is located in Kichijoji. At this tribute to the revered animation studio you can see exhibitions, recreated sets and even an exclusive short animation. Sometimes special exhibitions…

If you love Nissin instant noodles or if you’re a fan of The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls (or both!), you’ll surely remember the collaboration last year between the famous noodle brand’s Curry Meshi instant curry rice and the wildly popular simulation video game featuring the idols of 346 Pro Talent Agency. © Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. / © Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. This year, the collaboration is back and better than before, with a special limited box set featuring all flavors of Curry Meshi (beef, seafood, keema curry, tomato chicken and hayashi meshi), an original plastic folder and an original CD with the song: “Spice Paradise ~ Curry Meshi ver.”…

Rather than genuine gore, for Halloween in Japan you’re more likely to see the kawaii side of the spooky season. Halloween and candy go hand in hand, and Japan is the best place to find the cutest Halloween themed desserts and sweets. This restaurant in Yokohama called Beauty and the Beast (with a theme to match) are giving you the chance to dig into as many of these cute sweets as you like at their Halloween party event. The desserts are all spookily adorable, the menu includes pumpkin spider web pudding, eyeball jelly, purple sweet potato spider web tarts, rose black sesame seed roll cake, mini ghost chocolate cakes, mischievous…

Although often associated with the nostalgic tastes of childhood in Japan, sweets and snacks maker Morinaga has never been afraid to shake up their lineup, going so far as to offer maple syrup pancake hot springs. Recently they released a conveniently packaged set of pudding and ice cream bars with the flavor of perhaps their most well-known product, their popular pancake mix. Morinaga’s latest release, a new squeezable pancake mix in a bag is turning heads on Japanese Twitter with pancake fans excited to revolutionize the breakfast game and cut back on dish-washing at the same time. 人類の歴史が変わるレベルの革新的ホットケーキミックスが発売されたので買ってみた。あの面倒な洗い物がなくなるなんて！家で食べるだけじゃなくてキャンプにも持って行くつもり https://t.co/1ln4Birkmq pic.twitter.com/KHhfrGn8wW — 佐藤健太郎 (@kentarow) 2018年8月29日 The “Momi Momi Hot Cake Mix”…

Energy drink fans are familiar with the iconic “slash marks” that adorn the label of Monster Energy cans and help illustrate the brand’s “unleash the beast” slogan, but Japanese original figure maker @nendoseizin1987 couldn’t help but imagine just what creature was causing those marks. The freelance artist mused in a Tweet, “After drinking a Monster Energy, I imagined just who was behind these claw marks, so I tried making it.” The result is a cycloptic taloned creature with a a psychedelic aesthetic fitting of the energy drink brand, made from sculpey polymer clay. Source: @nendoseizin1987 Source: @nendoseizin1987 Source: @nendoseizin1987 モンスターエナジーを飲んだ後、この爪痕の主はどんなのだろーと妄想してたので作ってみました。#モンスターエナジー pic.twitter.com/ToOXeDhUvK — RYO@ねんど星人 (@nendoseizin1987) 2018年8月28日 @nendoseizin1987’s talented works and garage…

One look at the Twitter and Instagram of Taishi Arimura will show you that the Tokyo-based graphic designer has a witty and creative style of art. When he’s not depicting Mt. Fuji as sukiyaki noodles or giving us a double-take worthy contrast of Japanese city and country life, Arimura is working away at a series that combines samurai spirit and delicious appeal with “noodles who fight”–or bushido warriors crafted out of noodles! Source: Taishi Arimura Arimura makes use of Japan’s famously realistic and delicious Japanese food samples and transforms their styrofoam packaging into impressively detailed replication of traditional samurai armor. 　With layered and detailed crafting, even the innocuous packaging of…