Grand Hyatt Tokyo celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise with one Pikachu for every year.
Casey Baseel
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Casey Baseel spent his formative years staring in frustration at un-subtitled Japanese TV programming shown on Southern California’s international channel. Taking matters into his own hands, he moved to Tokyo to study the language, then found work in Yokohama a decade ago teaching, translating, and marketing hotels he can’t afford to stay in. When not participating in the eternal cycle of exercising to burn the calories form his love of Japanese food, Casey scours used comic and game shops for forgotten classics, drags his wife around the country in a quest to visit all its castles, sings karaoke not nearly as well as he thinks he does, and counts the days until the summertime bars open on Enoshima Beach.
Posted by Casey Baseel (Page 10)
![McDonald’s and Gundam team up for customized anime mecha and fried chicken sandwiches[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/gm-1.jpg?w=640 "McDonald’s and Gundam team up for customized anime mecha and fried chicken sandwiches[Video]")
If you’re going to do something like this, you need a very good, or at least a very crazy, reason for doing it.
If you’ve got a frying pan and some aluminum foil, this kurukuru chashu recipe is ready to revolutionize your home cooking.
![Deer that appeared in downtown Osaka gets a new home, a new name, and a lot of snacks[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/sy-1.jpg?w=640 "Deer that appeared in downtown Osaka gets a new home, a new name, and a lot of snacks[Video]")
Likely wanderer from Nara Park won’t be going back, but has a new place to live in a hot spring town.
![Sailor Moon’s Artemis is part of the Artemis II NASA mission control team[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/sm-1.jpg?w=640 "Sailor Moon’s Artemis is part of the Artemis II NASA mission control team[Video]")
Celestial themed anime plushie is in the room monitoring the real-world mission to the moon.
![Japan’s full-facemask Ninja Parka still lets you eat ice cream[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/np-2.jpg?w=640 "Japan’s full-facemask Ninja Parka still lets you eat ice cream[Photos]")
Family Mart’s celebration of the Nintendo series continues with fuzzy, useful, and, most importantly, cute merch.
Even the massively popular coffee chain itself wasn’t expecting such a positive response, prompting temporary closure less than half a year after opening.
This Whisper of the Heart couple can finally have the happy ending they never got in the anime.
No meet-and-greets or Pokémon Card Game classrooms will be taking place for at least one month.
![Japan’s prime minister exchanges Dragon Ball kamehamehas with president of France[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/kh-1.jpg?w=640 "Japan’s prime minister exchanges Dragon Ball kamehamehas with president of France[Video]")
![Hayao Miyazaki gifts autographed Ghibli anime cel to president of France[Photo]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/gc-1-1.jpg?w=640 "Hayao Miyazaki gifts autographed Ghibli anime cel to president of France[Photo]")
There’s likely a meaning between the choice of Ghibli anime’s artwork to give the visiting politician.
![Fading Tokyo – Searching for signs of the Showa era as local neighborhoods evolve[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/03/sw-15.jpg?w=640 "Fading Tokyo – Searching for signs of the Showa era as local neighborhoods evolve[Photos]")
Mr. Sato starts his urban exploration of Tokyo to catch a glimpse of local neighborhoods’ pasts before they’re changed forever.
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