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First Kit Kat Chocolatery shop with cafe opens in Kyoto! New Chocolatery items released too

Kay
Jan 29, 2015
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Chocolate lovers around Japan were understandably thrilled when the Kit Kat Chocolatery, the world’s first Kit Kat specialty store, opened in the Seibu Ikebukuro Department Store about a year ago. Of course, we were pretty excited too, and when we visited the shop on opening day, we could see from the crowd that plenty of people felt the same way.

After a year, it seems the Kit Kat Chocolatery has been a success so far, as they’ve just opened their fourth shop in Japan, this time in Kyoto. And what’s even better, this Kit Kat Chocolatery comes with a cafe attached! Plus, they’ve released some new Chocolatery products as well, so we thought we’d share the news with all our sweets-loving readers!

Handy bath pillow doubles as a smartphone holder, might also be giving you a hug

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

After a long, hard day at work or school, there’s nothing like a nice, hot bath. But then again, a lot of people also like to unwind by kicking back and sending a few emails, watching a video or two, or perusing the Internet’s most profound sources of knowledge on their smartphone.

Rather than choose between the two options, some people opt to take their phone into the tub with them. But if you’re so tired you’re craving two indulgences at once, having to grip your phone in your hand while you soak can really put a damper on maximizing your rejuvenating/loafing time.

So instead of doing that job yourself, why not get one of these inflatable bath pillows that double as a smartphone holder to do it for you?

“Can you help meow-t here?” Twitter user discovers why his bread clock was constantly wrong

Scott Wilson
Jan 29, 2015

Even in the era of having the sum of human knowledge to date in your pocket, there’s something to be said about using a sweet novelty clock. If you’re in Japan, you have lots of options. There’s Zelda clocks, beautiful-women clocks, clocks that come for free in magazines. But that’s just scraping the surface, because apparently there’s such a thing as bread clocks too.

One Twitter user recently posted that he’d been having problems with his bread clock constantly telling the wrong time – until he found out the reason why. And no, it’s not because the clock is a piece of bread – the real reason is far more adorable than that.

World’s largest internet hub in Aomori?

Jessica
Jan 29, 2015

Twitter user @rairacp_62 spotted this building in Aomori and something about it seemed very familiar…

We’re struggling to find the Japan in Bose’s new “JAPAN CONCEPT MODEL” headphones

Fran W
Jan 29, 2015

What’s that you say? Bose headphones in two brand new limited edition Japanese designs? Well, that sounds right up our street!

American audio specialists Bose continue to lead the noise-cancelling headphone market, but at US$250-$300, their QuietComfort 25 headphones are something of an investment. So what have the designers at Bose done with these new limited-edition “Japan Concept” headphones to warrant the bumped-up 43,200 yen ($366) price tag?

Why, they’ve made them in “Japanese colours” like black and gold, of course!

Stay warm with a USB-powered, inflatable hug pillow heated to exactly human body temperature

Anime News Network
Jan 29, 2015

The problem with traditional hug pillows is they just can’t mimic the warmth of a human body. But now, with a new USB-powered hug pillow from Thanko’s Raremono shop, you can enjoy the feeling of cozying up to a perfectly-heated, just-slightly-under-body-temperature 36 °C warm body. And, because it’s inflatable, it’s also very light (740 g [~1.6 lbs]), for all those times you need to roll it up for travel, or you want control over the firmness of your pillow.

Web series’ anime arsenal expands with real-life version of Kill la Kill’s Scissor Blade【Video】

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

You really have to respect the skills of the team behind Man at Arms and its successor Man at Arms Reforged. It was impressive enough when the web series’ blacksmiths were taking on projects as iconic or massive as The Legend of Zelda’s Master Sword or Final Fantasy VII’s Masamune. The craftsmen have since moved on to even more complicated designs, such as the gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII and Fierce Deity Sword from Majora’s Mask.

Now, Man at Arms Reforged is back with what might be its most unique creation yet, the Scissor Blade from cult hit anime Kill la Kill, made from materials as unusual as the school supply inspiration of the weapon itself.

Burger Decision 2015! Which crazy Lotteria sandwich will you vote for to make a comeback?

Casey Baseel
Jan 29, 2015

Hamburger chain Lotteria has to walk a difficult tightrope. On the one hand, it’s got its reputation as the mad scientist of the Japanese fast food industry to uphold, meaning it needs a sizeable roster of unusual, outlandish, or just plain massive sandwiches on offer. On the other hand, in order to ensure each item has plenty of impact and novelty factor, the chain doesn’t want them hanging around on the menu so long that customers start to get bored with them or take them for granted.

As a result, most of Lotteria’s most interesting items are only available for a limited time, sometimes as short as a single day. But just in case you missed your chance to try one, Lotteria is bringing back just one of its special sandwiches from last year, and its letting fans decide which by tallying the number of Yahoo! searches for each of the candidates.

Hello Kitty keeping as busy as ever — this time she collaborates with…money itself!

Kay
Jan 29, 2015

We all know that Hello Kitty is one busy and extremely capable, well, business…cat, shall we say? And yes, we love her for it, too. So, what new adorable form has she taken this time?

Well, it seems she’s now gotten close and personal with money — Japanese coins, to be exact. But not to worry, she hasn’t gotten involved in the counterfeiting business. She’s come up with magnets on which she appears attached to different Japanese coins, and as always, she manages to look cool and cute in the process!

Japanese net users surprised to learn that painfully cute bento was in fact made by a teenage boy

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 29, 2015

What did you have for lunch today? If you’re anything like me, it was probably nothing special – just something to keep you going until the end of the day. Oh, how wonderful it would be to be blessed with the skills (or a skilled family member) to make outrageously accurate kyaraben, i.e. packed lunches intricately designed to look like various characters! Lunch could be so much more entertaining!

Since not all moms are adept at creating kyaraben, some kids have taken their decorative lunches into their own hands. And by kids, I don’t just mean girls…

Don’t miss these painfully cute photos of lawless cats invading your privacy【Photos】

KK Miller
Jan 29, 2015

Your home is your sanctuary. It’s a place where you can relax and just be yourself without any distractions from the outside world. So, it should be a place that feels secure and private. But, when you own a pet, you quickly come to understand that the privacy you seek completely disappears. Even the most isolated room in the house, the bathroom, isn’t safe from your furry compatriot.

This is especially the case if you are a cat owner. As much as cats are independent animals and do things as they wish, they become really needy when their owners disappear to answer the call of nature. Find out how cats pierce the veil of privacy when their owners go to the bathroom after the jump.

Cross-dressing talent Matsuko Deluxe: AKB opening the Tokyo Olympics “would embarrass Japan”

Jessica
Jan 29, 2015

Larger-than-life columnist and talent Matsuko Deluxe is well-known for her sharp tongue, particularly where pretty ladies are concerned. This week the target of her ire is idol groups like AKB48.

On a radio show Monday, she slammed the idea of them performing for the Tokyo Olympics as “embarrassing.”

Sailor Moon and team to get new adversaries in “Black Moon Clan”

Mike
Jan 29, 2015

Sailor Moon and team will be facing off against an all-new group of villains in the soon-to-air second season of Sailor Moon Crystal, the newest in the long-running anime and manga franchise, says Toei Animation.

The new threat for Japan’s most famous all-girl superhero team comes in the form of the sinister (we think?) Black Moon Clan, comprised of one female and three male antagonists. The team is primarily motivated by leader Prince Demande’s desire to obtain the “Silver Crystal” and Sailor Moon herself – although it’s unclear if he’s romantically interested or if he’s just following the guidelines of the Villain Trope Handbook.

Got a question for Haruki Murakami? Website lets you ask the author directly, and in English, too

Casey Baseel
Jan 28, 2015

Earlier this month, we talked about a piece of not-so-helpful advice celebrated author Haruki Murakami gave to a fan about what makes a great writer. Murakami just his write-in website this month, though, and given that he’s sort of new at dishing out direct advice to his admirers, maybe we should cut him a little slack while he’s still getting the hang of it.

Then again, we’re not sure even the most experienced advice columnists could come up with considerate and helpful responses to some of the oddball questions Murakami has been getting. Thankfully, even if he can’t always help out those who write to him, he can at least give a laugh to everyone else who reads his responses. Even better, if you act quickly, you could ask him a question of your own, even if you don’t speak Japanese.

Japanese educators call for twice monthly No Video Game Days, recommend kids go fishing

Casey Baseel
Jan 28, 2015

Compared to some other countries, video games enjoy a fairly high standing in Japanese society. Nintendo’s Mario is seen by many as not only a symbol of wholesome fun, but an example of how innovation and craftsmanship can lead to sustained economic prosperity. The world of Final Fantasy isn’t just a great setting for an epic quest, but for lunch or dinner, and some particularly stylish game characters even go on to leave their mark on real-world fashion.

Still, not everyone in Japan is a fan of video gaming. The Hokkaido Board of Education would rather see kids with schoolbooks or fishing poles in their hands than game controllers, and to that end is calling for parents to institute twice monthly No Game Days, and not just for the kids in the family.

Traditional wood-carved guitars prove Japan is the most metal

Scott Wilson
Jan 28, 2015

Japan is known throughout the world for finding harmonious ways of combining traditional design and aesthetics with modern ideas and technology. You can see it everywhere: in Japanese architecture, eating utensils, even smartphone/tablet cases and pop music.

So it should come as no surprise then that there’s Japanese electric guitars that have been hand-crafted out of wood following traditional carving techniques. Oh, and did we mention that you can order them online?

Steam Garden: Tokyo’s steampunk festival might be better than a Victorian time machine

Preston Phro
Jan 28, 2015

Though it sometimes feel a bit like bragging, when people ask what we like best about Tokyo, we can’t help answering that it basically has everything. Now, don’t us wrong, there are some things you can’t find in Japan’s capital city, but just about everything we’ve gone looking for, we’ve been able to find. And we’ve even discovered some things without knowing we were looking for them! Case in point, about a week ago, we found out that Tokyo has its very own quarterly steampunk festival!

Dubbed Steam Garden, the first event of the year will be held next month in Harajuku, but we were dying to know more about it, so we reached out to the Tokyo Inventors Society to learn more about steampunk in Japan. Check our exclusive interview and get information about joining the fun below!

Ninja-cats are hiding in homes around the world and we have 20 photos to prove it

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 28, 2015

When lying in bed at night, have you ever heard a weird noise — a creaking floorboard or the rustling of a piece of paper? Has food ever mysteriously disappeared? While it very well could have been a ghost, it could have just as easily been a ninja-cat hiding in the nooks and crannies of your home!

Some ninja-cats are more skilled than others, living in apartments and stealing food completely undetected by the owners. Others, however, are not so stealthy and occasionally get caught on camera. Observe!

AKB48 founder plans Japan48 idol group for Olympics, Phillipines spinoff

Anime News Network
Jan 28, 2015

AKB48 founder and producer Yasushi Akimoto announced the formation of the Niigata-based idol group NGT48 at the “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 1035″ event in Tokyo on Sunday. His aim in creating another local group, he says, is to ultimately form an idol group called “Japan48” by the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Japan48 will draw its members from each of the local “48 groups.”

Terrorists release third video of Japanese hostage, say it will be his last

ロケットニュース24
Jan 28, 2015

More than a week has passed since terrorist organization ISIS released its first video of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Days later, in a second video, a voice believed to be Goto’s was heard stating that Yukawa had been killed by the terrorists.

Now, a third statement has been released, in which a man identifying himself as Goto says that he has only 24 hours left before he will be murdered as well.