It’s hard to believe this photo of a barista in a Michigan Starbucks is a real photograph of a real person, not an image created by the team at Square Enix.
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Samantha Tanabata
A Southwestern United States native, Samantha has been a fan of Japanese language and culture since age 12, when Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Tamagotchi first swept the nation. After years of hard work attaining Japanese fluency, she now lives and works in Tokyo as a translator and game localization professional. She's found that no two weekends in Tokyo are ever the same but a combination of the following may happen: an 8k run, an all-nighter at Nichome, an all-day picnic at Yoyogi Park, a visit to a beautiful shrine, iced coffee on a sunny cafe patio, dodging crowds in Omotesando to wander the shops, going to Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea, watching beautiful men dance and act in a live-action play based on an anime, buying doujinshi in Ikebukuro, and/or spending the day at a public bath.
Posted by Samantha Tanabata
This Michigan Starbucks barista looks just like a Final Fantasy character
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Samantha Tanabata
Oct 19, 2016 - Tweet
- USA
- (cosplayer • Final Fantasy • Starbucks)
We visited Egawa Beach, the closest you can get to walking in the world of Spirited Away【Pics】
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Samantha Tanabata
Sep 15, 2016
- Japan
- (Chiba • Egawa Beach • spirited away • Studio Ghibli • travel)
Chocobo and rider gallop up a Kazakhstan highway in fake but funny video 【Video】
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Samantha Tanabata
Sep 12, 2016
- Japan
- (Chocobo • Final Fantasy • video)
The top ocean-themed anime otaku most want to cool off with this summer ranked
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Samantha Tanabata
Aug 9, 2016
It turns out the otaku of Japan want to watch high school girls who are also Marines in training forced to become pirates on the high seas.
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Recent Posts
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Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
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Starbucks Japan releases FIVE new Frappuccinos in a day, and we try them all in 90 minutes
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Weekly
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Man bites woman at cherry blossom park in Japan, dies shortly after
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Monthly
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
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Mt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
Yearly
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
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Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
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No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
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Studio Ghibli celebrates the magic of movie theaters with short video, Hayao Miyazaki illustration
New Travelling Bento pouches turn your luggage into a Japanese lunch box
We try out the hot new social media app that everyone’s talking about, Crabhouse!
McDonald’s Japan adds new Hello Kitty and Pompompurin drinks to the menu for a limited time
Japan’s top 10 open-air hot spring baths with cherry blossom views【Survey】
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
New Japanese KitKats come in sakura flavour, with poetic symbolism for success
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Celebrate “Educational Candy Day” with a traditional Japanese game made of candy
Fatal stabbing at Pokémon Center in Tokyo reignites concern over rising stalking cases in Japan
Major Japanese ramen chain’s logo confuses Honda cars’ AI
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