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The airport that’s practically a theme park — Shop, eat, play at the New Chitose Airport!

Kay
Oct 24, 2013
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If you’ve ever visited the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, there’s a good chance that you went through New Chitose Airport. Being the largest airport on the island, it serves as the gateway to Hokkaido for the numerous tourists that visit both from within and outside of Japan. Yes, when it comes to Hokkaido, we Japanese are just as enthusiastic about the beautiful snow, fresh seafood, tasty ramen, delectable sweets, relaxing hot springs and scenes of vast natural beauty as visitors from abroad.

But did you know that New Chitose Airport, which you may only briefly pass through as a traveler on a tour, could be a destination all on its own? After undergoing some expansion work in recent years between 2010 to 2012, the airport is now a seriously impressive shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Here’s a look at just some of the things you can enjoy at this airport that looks and feels like a theme park. If you thought that airports were nightmarish places where you want to spend as little time as possible, this may change your mind!

Denny’s Japan to serve up burgers with added microorganisms… for your health!

Master Blaster
Oct 24, 2013

It would appear that Japan is getting more and more firmly entrenched in the euglena craze. These little algae (particularly those from Ishigaki Island) have been determined to pack a nutritious punch carrying around 59 different kinds of nutrients from vitamins and minerals to amino acids.

We recently sampled these little guys in a cup of delicious yogurt, which was creepy at first but not a big leap since yogurt is all bacteria-y anyway. But would the public also go for these little microorganisms being added to a patty of grilled red meat? American diner chain Denny’s is wagering “yes” with their euglena hamburgs only available in Japan from the end of this month.

Snoopy & Woodstock join the party at Mister Donut Japan this Christmas

Joan Coello
Oct 24, 2013

The Japanese have a strange love for sinking their teeth into their favorite characters. We’ve seen Rilakkuma cakes and Hello Kitty doughnuts, next in line appears to be good-old Snoopy and his little yellow friend, Woodstock.

Mister Donut (or Misdo for short), the confectionary maker who brought us the jack-o’-lantern Hello Kitty doughnuts for Halloween, is already in the midst of preparing for the Christmas season, and boy does it look tasty!

We try milk yaki, a treat from Japan’s chilly north that tastes great but somehow contains no milk

Casey Baseel
Oct 23, 2013

As one of Japan’s northernmost prefectures, the majority of regional delicacies in Akita are things to warm the body up. For example, Akita’s most famous dish is kiritampo, a hot-pot with chicken, vegetables, and unique cylindrical rice cakes. In recent years the prefecture’s inaniwa udon noodles, thinner than those common in other parts of Japan, have also been steadily gaining fans, as well.

But while there’s nothing wrong with some piping hot chow to fortify yourself with on a snowy night, what about dessert? Sure, you could make do with a plain old pack of cookies from the convenience store, but if you want to satisfy your sweet tooth like the locals do in Akita, you need to get your hands on the pastry known as milk yaki.

Pitch black sesame garlic ramen at craft brewer’s restaurant stirs our hearts while filling our bellies

Casey Baseel
Oct 21, 2013

When dining out in Japan, there is a commonly accepted truism that you get the tastiest example of a particular type of food by eating it in a restaurant that specializes in it. For example, if you want good ramen, you go to a place that serves that and little, if anything, else.

Speaking of Japan’s favorite noodle dish, popular wisdom also holds that the dingier the ramen restaurant, the better-tasting the food.

So imagine our surprise when we discovered that the Yona Yona Beer Kitchen, a classy restaurant with a full menu in Tokyo’s swanky Nagata-cho neighborhood, can also whip up a bowl of ramen that’s as delicious as it is visually striking.

Two restaurants in China accused of adding poppy seeds to food hoping to get customers hooked

Master Blaster
Oct 20, 2013

Reports out of China have revealed that two restaurants in the Guangzhou area were found to be using ground up poppy seeds in some of their dishes. The reports allege that the businesses were “using the seeds of addictive poppies in an underhanded way to get repeat business.”

North Koreans unsure how to handle 560 kg of potatoes in sudden ration flip-flop

Scott R Dixon
Oct 18, 2013

North Korean potato farmers breathed a sigh of relief this month when they found out their monthly ration of the crop would be restored and not canceled as earlier reported. The announcement was soon met with confusion however when the workers in the northern Ryanggang Province found out that each of them would receive 560 kg—eight monthly rations-worth—of potatoes at once. Even a notorious eater like North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might find it difficult to stomach that many carbs.

Japanese snack company gives us portable mashed potatoes with a soft inside, crunchy outside

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Oct 18, 2013

Ah mashed potatoes. Hot and fluffy peaks of spuds; what a simple dish consisting of a bunch of potatoes all smashed together to create a bowl of dense, delicious goodness. But somewhere along the line, Calbee, a major Japanese snack food maker, made an awesome breakthrough in potato technology. The traditional western side dish has received a bizarre snack twist, being transformed into “Mashed Potato Consomme Punch” chips that are said to be the perfect balance of crunchy and fluffy.

Limited edition Gundam cake up for preorder, comes with Char’s custom plate and fork!

Master Blaster
Oct 18, 2013

Some of the lesser-known joys of Japan are the occasional anime/video game and cake collaborations. Sure, taking your favorite hobby and injecting it with some cake is a no-brainer, but these limited offers always bring some very unique collectables with them. Monster Hunter fans who pre-ordered their Rathalos cakes should be getting them next month.

Now we present to you the Char Zaku Cake Set. It’s a cake in the shape of Char Aznable’s custom MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type served on Char’s custom cake dish and fork.

Japan’s first black cat café feels appropriate for the season 【Photos】

Rachel Tackett
Oct 17, 2013

Halloween is just around the bend, and Japan has us up to our eyeballs in ghosts, skeletons, spider webs, and black cats. Especially black cats, much to our delight!

In the city of Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture, our RocketNews24 sister site Pouch has discovered what has to be Japan’s first exclusively black cat café. It’s called Cat Café Nekobayaka -black cat centimeter-, and in the spirit of Halloween, how about dropping in for coffee and a bit of playtime with their jet black beauties?

We try yogurt which contains euglena… yeah, we had to look it up too

Master Blaster
Oct 17, 2013

Euglena is a microorganism, in some ways similar to algae. However, it is truly unique in that it exhibits feeding habits of both animals and plants. Such a fascinating biological specimen has left us all wondering: What does it taste like?

To answer that, convenience stores all over Japan have begun selling Euglena Yogurt from 15 October. Our brave reporter Usagi went to try some out.

We get a sneak peak at stew-flavored Garigari-Kun popsicles! Tastes great with rice!

Master Blaster
Oct 17, 2013

Since a picture was leaked online last week, Japan has been all abuzz with rumors of the latest in the “rich” flavor line up of popular Garigari-kun brand popsicles. Their previous corn potage flavor was deemed a rousing success and now it appeared they were topping themselves this with a potato stew version.

The good news is a release date has been set for 29 October. The even better news is that we already got to take some Garigari-kun Potato Stew bars for a test taste at a presentation in Tokyo two weeks early!

Kiss’ spicy steamed meat buns are Hotter Than Hell

Master Blaster
Oct 16, 2013

Chinese style steamed dumplings are a staple of convenience stores all over Japan. Known as nikuman in Japan (or other name ending in “–man” depending on the fillings) their round shape allows for a lot of cross marketing creativity. In the past we’ve seen Spiderman, Monsters Inc., the Dragon Quest Slime, Hatsune Miku, and random cute animals all rendered in dumpling form.

What better way for the hard rocking and hard merchandising titans of Kiss to commemorate their Japan tour in the latter half of this month than with the Kiss Super-Spicy Chili Tomatoman? But can a steamed dumpling capture the rock and roll spirit of Kiss? Mr. Sato went on the day of their release to find out.

Man arrested after rice cooker found plugged into neighbor’s home

Master Blaster
Oct 16, 2013

In Kawazoe, Saga Prefecture, a 48-year-old homeowner received a shock when he found a rice cooker plugged into an exterior outlet on his house. He immediately called the police and reported the meal which was being prepared in his yard without his consent. Knowing that time was of the essence, police rushed to scene.

To reuse or not to reuse, that is the question for restaurants everywhere

Master Blaster
Oct 15, 2013

The other day I was eating at a restaurant that served their French fries with a small cup. One half was filled with ketchup and the other half mayonnaise. The presentation was quite lovely but it made me wonder. It was about the size of a pudding cup and there was no way I would be able to use all of those condiments in one sitting. What would happen to the rest of it? Would it be thrown out? Surely it wouldn’t end up being served to another customer after I’d dipped my fries and poked around in it for the majority of my meal?

A tiny capybara bathes in a piece of toast at karaoke parlors across Tokyo

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Oct 11, 2013

Even if you can’t make it out to the Izu Shaboten Zoo in Shizuoka Prefecture, you can still see a capybara take a bath at karaoke joints across Tokyo thanks to Pasela, a chain of high-class karaoke parlors. When it comes down to it, their “Capybara-san Honey Toast” is basically just an entire loaf of bread with some sugary toppings, but that cute little capybara face might inspire you to get one for the shear cuteness of it all.

Can you spot the shocking hidden image in this plate of curry and rice?

Casey Baseel
Oct 9, 2013

There are certain customs restaurants in Japan follow when serving dishes that originated overseas. Fried rice should come on an octagonal plate. Steak must be accompanied by a few wedges of carrots, steak fries, and corn.

When it comes to curry and rice, the roux should never completely cover the grain. Ideally, it should be poured over half of the plate, allowing the customer to enjoy mixing the two together in whatever ratio they feel is best.

Trying to keep with the spirit of this tradition caused problems for one Tokyo restaurant, though, when its special plate of three kinds of curry ended up containing an unfortunate and unintentional hidden image.

Potato stew-flavoured popsicles, anyone? Japan goes wild as photo of new Garigari-kun emerges

Philip Kendall
Oct 8, 2013

In the wake of its limited edition corn soup-flavoured brethren, a new Garigari-kun popsicle is rumoured to be hitting Japan’s freezers any day now. There has yet to be any official announcement from the famous popsicles’ maker Akagi, but one netizen recently spotted what looks like an ad for, of all things, a potato stew-flavoured ice cream. More details after the jump!

McDonald’s Japan’s menu item base costs leaked, make us wonder what’s in the burgers

Mike
Oct 8, 2013

It’s no secret that RocketNews24 writers are big fans of McDonald’s Japan, with its selection of artery-clogging novelty menu items providing endless amusement and article fodder at price ranges that even an Internet “journalist” can afford day after day.

Every once in a while, though, we find it necessary to dish the dirt on McDonald’s Japan so that our readers don’t think we’re on the Golden Arches’ payroll. So, fortuitously, an anonymous Netizen recently leaked McDonald’s Japan’s base costs for its most popular menu items and we have to admit, we found the dangerously low – sometimes single digit – yen values to be alarming and disturbing at the same time.

Japanese netizens (almost) score 95% discount on premium steaks

Scott R Dixon
Oct 8, 2013

Japanese Internet shoppers thought they got an amazing deal last month when they paid just 1,000 yen (US$10) for a 18,840 yen package of three premium Japanese steaks. Word of the 95 percent discount on the shopping site Rakuten Ichiba spread like wildfire with a flurry of tweets, blog posts and message board announcements. Alas, things were not quite as they seemed.