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Chiikawa Ramen Buta restaurant reopens in the basement floor of Tokyo’s Shibuya Parco

New menu items and more make for the perfect place to grab a kawaii bite after shopping in a major Tokyo department store.

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McDonald’s Happy Meals in Japan now come with Shinkansen robots

Transforming Shinkalion mecha put the happy in Happy Meal.

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McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods

Keep them in the kitchen or throw them in a bag–these toys also serve as functionally cute souvenirs to bring home.

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Japanese Coast Guard mascot Umimaru turns 20, lends rank to Hello Kitty for cute merchandise

Japan’s Coast Guard has been around for 70 years, and mascot Umimaru for 20 – so it’s high time for a Hello Kitty teamup!

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Japanese readers vote their top 10 coolest Shonen Jump characters with scars

Every scar tells a tale, some more fascinating than others.

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Japanese mascot from Aomori absolutely kills it on the drums

Have you ever seen a mascot play drums? I bet you’d never expect one to be this awesome at it.

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Keepin’ it neat and tidy…

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Chinese website votes for the best “moe” male and female characters of 2015

Chinese website bilibili recently took a reader poll to find the most “moe” characters of 2015. Not only was the competition fierce, but the “cute dudes” top 8 was extremely surprising.

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Student amused to find entry—and corresponding visual—for “cat ears” in his electronic dictionary

What happens when children contribute new entries to dictionaries? Cat ears happen, that’s what! Err, but maybe not the kind we were hoping for…

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Odaiba exhibition features rare & vintage character toys from the 1960s onwards, photos A-OK!

Children all over the world idolize at least one TV or comic book character at some point while growing up. For everyone who gets a rush of excitement whenever they fondly recall their favorite childhood character toys, we’d like to introduce you to a must-see event that’s currently going on in Tokyo’s Odaiba district: the “Nostalgic Toy Great Exhibition” (懐かしのおもちゃ大博覧会)!

This event is a massive display of classic Japanese character toys that date from the Showa period (1926-1989) to the present day. Everything from ultra rare vintage tinplate toys from the 1960s to Sailor Moon figurines from the 2010s are on display, for a grand total of approximately 2,000 toys. On top of that, photography is permitted—it’s truly a toy lover’s paradise!

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When yuru-kyara doesn’t cut it, it’s time to call in the beautiful anime heroines

There appears to be a mascot for everything in Japan. Leave it to advertising agencies here to put a face on whatever product they are selling. But some products and promotions are difficult to create adorable characters for. How do you encapsulate all the intricate eccentricities of a city, for example, in one single super-deformed character?

Well Katsushika City in Tokyo is approaching the problem in a different way, but choosing not just one “cute character” to represent them but having an entire cast of beautiful heroines. Say hello to Katsukore!

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16 fancy eggs from Japanese bento lunch boxes

Eggs are greatly underrated in the bento world. It’s usually rice and all the fun forms it can be molded into or seaweed and its ability to be cut into any shape that takes center stage in lunch boxes across Japan. But the humble egg can be quite fancy in the hands of a highly skilled and creative cook. Let’s take a look at 16 fancy eggs from Japanese kitchens!

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Increase your EXP with this Dragon Warrior-inspired Slime Curry, don’t forget the Squelch spell

A Curry Slime draws near!

Over the years, various goods and edibles have been spawned by Slimes, the ever-popular video game baddies from the Dragon Warrior/Quest series. To get in on the google-eyed action, funky Japanese bookstore chain Village Vanguard has come up with this newest addition to its lineup of creative pre-made curries: the Slime Curry. It’s not quite as cute as the Hatsune Miku curry and it’s not quite the ghastly shade of green of this matcha one, but this gloopy little curry slime can’t wait to sidle up to your next plate of rice!

Command?

➜ Eat
➜ Run
➜ Get details after the jump!

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American newscaster can’t stop laughing at crazy Japanese mascot

Japan has more than its fair share of ridiculous mascots, ranging from the absurdly muscled pot sticker, Chaozu-kun, to the snarky Yoshida-kun representing the country’s least popular prefecture.

But of all the crazy characters, our most favorite mascot to ever represent Japan has got to be Funnashi, the jiggly yellow pear. Just one look at his rotund head and undulating belly, coupled with his somewhat creepy high-pitched voice, and you’ve got something so hilariously bizarre, even a professional newscaster for CNN couldn’t keep it together on live TV.

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  • May 11, 2014

Meet the most unmotivated Sanrio character ever — Gudetama, the lazy egg!

We’ve introduced an anthropomorphized food character from Sanrio before on our site, but we now have another one that we’re keen to share with you, just because his personality (although we’re not quite sure if that word applies even when the subject isn’t a person, or even an animal) is so unconventional and unexpected. That’s right, if you thought all Sanrio characters were good and cheery, you may have to think again. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Gudetama, the lazy egg who doesn’t seem to want to do anything at all!

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