The latest pop-up Tokyo juice bar grants you a custom juice based on a Yahoo! News article, its comments and post date!

Tokyo may be the capital of quirky themed bars and cafes, but Harajuku might be the capital’s capital. There’s always a new trend coming along, turning other stores onto the block into yesterday’s news.

And speaking of news, that’s the theme behind Yahoo! News Yahoo! Juice, which is running a free juice campaign from March 12 to March 18. If you bring a Yahoo! News article with you on your smart phone or tablet, the staff will concoct a beverage based on the headline!

We at SoraNews24 will never turn our noses up at a scoop OR a free drink, so we sent our Japanese-language reporter Tasuku Egawa to go sniff out the goings on.

▼ Social media aficionados queue up to score their free juice.

The juice bar is set up in Takeshita Street, renting an event space in the ever-changing BOK Gallery. But our reporter had more preparations to do than just figuring out where it was – to redeem his free juice, he would have to select an article from the Yahoo! News website and have it loaded on his phone to show to the staff, as the concept behind the bar request patrons to “Experience juice alongside the news of the day.”

Egawa arrived at the scene a good 10 minutes before the bar opened, but there was already quite a line. While the bar had a waiting area inside the building itself, it could only hold around 20 people (while serving 10). Other patrons wait outside and write their name on a list – once their name is called they can enter inside to wait some more, with the added bonus of some attractive Instagrammable decor to take selfies near.

Ah, but Egawa would need to ready his news app to display a news story. Yahoo! News Yahoo! Juice has no menu – they conjure up their blended juice concoctions based on headlines alone. Our intrepid reporter had noticed other customers umm-ing and ahh-ing when pressed for their articles, so he hastened to find the top story that would serve as the basis for his own drink.

“If I choose the top story that pops up right as I have to order,” he reasoned, “I’ll get the freshest juice, right?”

▼ “Japanese Self Defence Force Embroiled in Power Harassment Lawsuit – Ordered by District Court to Pay Reparations”

Oo-er.

The gang of girls who had presented their news article to the girl at the desk with a cheery “Here’s our article~!” and the staff had responded in kind, smiling and giggling. That didn’t really suit the mood for Egawa’s article. The transaction at the desk was as solid and formal as a governmental office. Whoops.

He got a card back, featuring the stats and name of his juice cocktail.

▼ “District Court Order” Juice. Type of news: Other. Number of comments: 0-1. Published: Between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Reeling a little from the ominous aura of his juice (District Court Order Juice? Really?) Egawa just thanked his lucky stars that it hadn’t been named “Power Harrassment Juice” instead.

Then he just had to wait and see what his juice would come out like. And here it is! A beautiful pink color, mixed through with gelatin and pink sugar stars, and topped with a generous amount of cream.

Ideally you should go to the juice bar with a number of friends and use different news articles with wildly different comment counts and upload times to see how different and bizarre your juices turn out. But you better hurry – the free juice campaign is only good through March 18!

Juice bar information
Yahoo! News Yahoo! Juice / ヤフーニュースのヤフージュース
Address: Tokyo-to Shibuya-ku Jingumae 1-16-6 Tousen Harajuku BOK Gallery
東京都渋谷区神宮前1-16-6トウセン原宿 BOK Gallery
Open: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Saturday only)
2019 March 12 to March 18

Images ©SoraNews24
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