Before Starbucks existed in Japan, there were kissaten coffeehouses. Now there’s the Starbucks kissaten.
food and drink
New lineup will make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time to the heyday of Japanese coffeehouses.
Ever wanted to sip a rare coffee blend, made of beans from 100-year old trees in Panama? Lawson is here to help!
From fried noodles to “octopus balls”, what you’ll find at a festival food stall is probably nothing like you imagined Japanese food to be.
Enjoy new treats like a herring pie from Kiki’s Delivery Service or a sweet icy treat inspired by Castle in the Sky.
Kiri cheese is celebrating its 50th year with a limited-time cafe, open in Tokyo for one month only, so of course we had to check it out!
Nationwide, Japan Starbucks locations appear to be telling foreign customers to learn Japanese or risk anaphylactic shock.
Leading up to Valentine’s Day in Japan, there’s one thing that’s impossible to escape – and it’s not swarthy, rose-touting Lotharios. It’s chocolate. In pretty packaging and delicious displays, store counters come alive with the sweet stuff at this time of year, and one of the more luxurious and decadent types is the rich, creamy nama choco (fresh chocolates).
The only problem with this type of chocolate is the fact that it blends an already creamy chocolate with even more cream and butter, making it heavy on the calories. Net users in Japan, though, have discovered an unusual way to cut out the extra fat – by replacing it with tofu! Using just three ingredients, we’ll let you in on the latest diet tip from Japan and show you how to make delicious, creamy nama choco with only half the calories.
Leave it to the Koreans to come up with innovative and sometimes bizarre food and beverage combinations. Have you tried the whipped cream and beer combination that we introduced previously? If that hit the spot for you, there’s more where that came from, so read on and find your next drinking experiment!
There’s a lot of freedom and innovation when it comes to dining in Japan. For every Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo, there’s an equally impressive place where you can dine with maids, hang out with cats or even watch boys make out.
Now there’s another must-visit eatery to add to Tokyo’s ever-growing list of unique cafes and this time the star of the show is the humble slice of bread. At Centre the Bakery in Ginza, you can choose your own toaster, take it back to your table and enjoy freshly made toast.
Japan has some awesome food pairings: sushi and wasabi, red beans and green tea, and fish and grated white radish. While these food combinations tickle the tastebuds, they’ve actually been eaten for centuries to offset negative health effects and promote healthy digestion. But that doesn’t mean things have to be boring!
One creative twitter user has taken inspiration from their pet cat to show us just how amazing a staple Japanese dish can be. Gone is the obligatory mound of plain, grated radish that sits beside grilled fish dishes and in its place is an adorable white cat lovingly caressing a fishy prize from the sea!
We’ve seen some impressive kyaraben, or character bentos, over the years from clever cooks around the world, but for most of us the time and creative skill required to replicate the cute designs means our own lunches are destined to remain plain and boring by comparison.
Finally, we’ve found a fast and easy way to dress up any meal, and all it involves is adding a cute boiled egg to the mix. Even better, all it takes is just four quick steps to bring these cute chicks to life! Say goodbye to dull lunches because we’ll show you how it’s done after the jump.
From colourful anime designs to awesome 3-D creations, exciting things are going on in the drinkable art world of Japan. Now, there’s a new trend that’s melting our hearts: latte art in adorable take-home designs. Created by a marshmallow company in Nagano Prefecture, the range includes cute cats and fluffy cat paws that gradually dissolve into 2-D latte artworks. The only skill you’ll need for these is an ability to stand the cuteness!
When was the last time you spent 100 yen (US$.98) on breakfast and felt satisfied? Sure, your dollar menu Sausage McMuffin tasted good, but after hitting your stomach like a greasy, calorie-laden brick, did it really keep you going until lunch? I thought not. Prepare to be jealous (and perhaps say “OC desu!“) of the following parade of filling breakfasts purchased at Japanese university dining halls, each for an unbelievable 100 yen.
Starting from today, sushi train chain restaurant Kura-zushi will be serving up two incredibly unique, limited-edition delicacies. Thanks to a sweet collaboration with Morinaga Milk Caramels, customers will now be able to order caramel banana sushi. And that’s not all – caramel corn mayonnaise sushi will be on the menu too.
For many in Japan, the bright green hues and bitter tones of powdered green tea partners perfectly with all things sweet, making for an irresistible dessert flavour. Now, as springtime brings the first tea of the new season, convenience stores and sweet purveyors are releasing limited-edition matcha, or powdered green tea, desserts. We take a look at five of the most popular finds that Twitter users in Japan can’t wait to get their hands on. Read More
Ever since Mt Fuji earned World Heritage status in 2013, designers and artists have been marking the occasion with a flurry of creative merchandise featuring the famous landmark. The latest product to hit shelves shows the celebrations are continuing well into 2014, this time with moulded ice mountains that sit perfectly in your favourite drink! The attention to detail is particularly impressive, with the concentrated tip of ice perfectly resembling the famous snow-covered peak of Mt Fuji.
We take a look at the unique mould that makes them and see why this is one of Japan’s latest must-have souvenirs.
Japan’s most popular alcoholic drink is beer—and now it’s easier than ever to serve perfectly! True to form for a country known for automation, Japanese brewer Asahi has released the Tornado: a machine that automatically fills cups with beer. Rather than pouring, the spigot connects to the bottom of the specially-formed cup, filling it from the bottom up. As it fills, the foam swirls, resembling a—you guessed it—tornado!
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Weekly
X Japan’s Yoshiki apologizes for having dinner with Jackie Chan- Mini rice cooker cases: The newest Japanese capsule toys we never knew we needed until just now
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Manga artist raises question online about false perspective in Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro
Japanese comedian baffles, amazes judges on America’s Got Talent with weird dance, Japanese humor
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Too-good-to-be-true fantasy scenario demotivates Japanese commuters who hate their jobs
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Monthly
Uniqlo Pokémon T-shirts coming to Japan this summer, in 24 crazy designs
Chikan molester runs away from Japanese schoolgirls at train station in Japan【Video】- Manga artist raises question online about false perspective in Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro
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Japanese cosplayer shocks everyone with dramatically different before and after makeup photos
Japan’s beef bowl king, Yoshinoya, releases new line of canned, ready-to-eat beef bowls- X Japan’s Yoshiki apologizes for having dinner with Jackie Chan
Uniqlo’s amazing new bedsheets are hallucinatingly comfortable
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Man jumps off bridge in Osaka to celebrate Heisei era’s end, hits something other than water【Vid】
The train station that stayed open for a single school girl finally closes down
Studio Ghibli co-founder and anime director Isao Takahata passes away in Tokyo- Chikan molester runs away from Japanese schoolgirls at train station in Japan【Video】
Chiitan needs your help! Japanese mascot suspended on Twitter after John Oliver feud
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