Getting presents on someone else’s birthday? It’s like a reverse birthday!

What are the best things about birthday celebrations? Is it the cake? The joy of friends and family sharing your special day with you? Nah, let’s be real; it’s the presents. Everyone loves getting a gift or two on their birthday, right? And what’s better than getting a present for your birthday? Why, getting a present for someone else’s birthday!

Uniqlo recently enjoyed their 36th birthday this month and is holding the ‘Uniqlo Birthday Thanksgiving Event‘ to celebrate. As part of the celebrations, they are giving customers a present for visiting the store, so until June 14, certain Uniqlo stores across Japan are giving away local confectioneries with limited edition packaging. For example, Uniqlo fans in Tokyo will be able to enjoy the famous ‘Tokyo Banana‘ – a delicious banana-shaped sponge cake with a banana cream filling. Tokyo Banana is usually purchased by tourists as a souvenir for their friends back home, so this is a good chance for Tokyoites to sample in their local speciality.

▼ True fans of Tokyo Banana will notice the packaging is slightly different than usual, with the banana ribbon being replaced with a hachimaki, a kind of headband.

All prefectures are represented in Uniqlo’s birthday celebrations, with Castella cake from Nagasaki, Soka Senbei from Saitama Prefecture and Okayama’s Kibi Dango, as well as many others.

My local Uniqlo store in Oita will be offering the famous (and delicious!) Xavier/Zabieru, a thick cake-like sweet filled with white bean paste inside it. Even though, like most souvenirs, they are usually enjoyed by people who live outside the prefecture, I’ve been known to sneakily buy a box or two of Zabieru to enjoy myself. Fingers crossed my local Uniqlo will still have some left for me!

▼ I’m already drooling just looking at this picture.

The confectionery is not available at Uniqlo’s online store, and will only be available while stocks last. If you want to experience a bit of your prefecture’s culture while you go clothes shopping, get yourself down to Uniqlo this weekend for a sweet treat! If you aren’t able to make it in time though, fear not! The store’s birthday celebrations will be ongoing until June 26, with plenty of other ‘thank you gifts’ and big sales going on until then. But with their ‘Deisgn your own Pokemon shirt’ service having recently started, we’re sure you don’t need any other excuse to go visit your local Uniqlo!

Source: Uniqlo via PR Times
Images: Uniqlo
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