No country does cute food better than Japan, and the latest trend in adorable edibles is fall hot pots stuffed with cute characters that look way too good to eat!
halloween (Page 11)
Ask any Westerner what’s so special about October 31 and you will get the same answer: Halloween – a modern-day version of the ancient Celtic harvest festival Samhain. In Japan, however, October 31 was just any old day until fairly recently, with the haunted hijinks never really catching on until a few years ago.
But here’s the kicker: the Japanese might already be doing Halloween better than we do!
There are still two weeks to go until Halloween, but pumpkin-carving in Japan is already in full swing! And it looks like it’s the new kid on the anime block, Yo-kai Watch, that’s getting all the jack-o-lantern attention this year.
When I used to teach kids in Japan, there were some elementary students who, upon being given a worksheet, would immediately turn any circle on the page into Doraemon’s face. Now, it seems, the face of choice to draw (or indeed carve) into any empty circular space is Jibanyan’s!
Okay, Rocketeers, it’s time for another round of Cute or Creepy? Earlier this month we looked at some key chains made out of dried sea cucumbers that clearly fell into the latter category. The deck was kind of stacked against them, though, seeing as how most of us don’t really think of the spineless sea creatures as particularly cute to star with.
Today, we’re looking at something a little more visually appealing: Disney characters, and not just any old Disney characters, as Mickey and his pals are all dressed up for Halloween. What’s more, the whole gang is bear-shaped, thanks to a collaboration with toy line Bearbrick.
How could this be anything other than completely adorable? Allow us to show you.
Remember that jet-black hot dog Tokyo Disney Sea announced for Halloween this year? Well, we’ve unearthed some pictures of the actual product, and boy, are they nasty.
What’s more, the Black Sausage has been joined by another, even more distressing item – the Black Gyoza Dog, a hot snack so hellish-looking we can’t believe it made it past the product testing phase. It looked pretty weird in Disney’s promotional shots (above), but it looks even more disturbing in real life!
Join us after the jump for a closer look at the reality of this year’s Halloween Disney food. It’s even more shudder-inducing than we expected!
Recently, Japanese branches of McDonald’s and Burger King have been getting into the Halloween spirit with spooky black burgers infused with squid ink and bamboo charcoal. This is a problem for KFC, though, since both of those ingredients are a little too exotic to mix with the Colonel’s traditional set of 11 herbs and spices.
Since KFC can’t celebrate Halloween by embracing its dark side, the most popular fried chicken outlet in Japan is instead turning to the holiday’s other icon by offering pumpkin biscuits.
What’s evil yet sweet and a delight to pop into your mouth? Well the newest tempting items from Japanese confectioner Cozy Corner’s Disney cake collection certainly fit the description. Yes, for Halloween this year, some of Disney’s notable villains have transformed themselves into gorgeous mini-cakes, and by the looks of things, we have to say Disney magic probably doesn’t get much sweeter than this!
With Halloween just around the corner, enthusiasts are already pouring their hearts and souls into putting together their costume for the year. In case you still need some ideashowever, or are already looking for something to pull in plenty of candy next year, here’s a costume that is sure to get you plenty of treats. In collaboration with Dragon Ball Kai the costume designers at Trantrip have created this official Majin Buu costume.
It’s already October, which means Halloween is right around the corner. Have you picked out your costume yet? Trick-or-treaters in Japan were treated to some extra inspiration by Daiso, a discount store where everything is 100 yen (US$1), in the form of an impressive variety of Halloween lashes featuring cobwebs, haunted houses, and swirly stars. Early wearers of these accessories have been praising them for their high quality (but really, would you expect any less from Daiso?). Let’s take a closer look at these outrageous falsies!
It’s been just over a week since the release of Burger King’s two pitch-black hamburgers, which might have left some fast food fans in a bit of a bind. On the one hand, they’re definitely eye-catching and intriguing, but their buns owe (and cheese) their sinister shade to an infusion of bamboo charcoal.
While it’s perfectly edible, we imagine some people are just a tad averse to eating charcoal. So if your palate isn’t quite that wide, but you’re still adventurous enough to eat squid ink, McDonald’s has got you covered with their own dark burger.
In recent years, Japan seems to have been catching on to the whole Halloween thing in a big way. Halloween celebrations and festivals grow and grow year after year and they’re starting earlier in the year than ever before.
Case in point: Universal Studios Japan’s “Horror Night” program starts over a month before Halloween, which is earlier than even some of my more overzealous Halloween buff friends in America were asking for costume ideas on Facebook. Of course, getting started early on the Halloween spirit is never a bad thing; everybody loves the family-friendly adrenaline kick you get from being “soft scared” by horror events you know are just pretend.
The problem, apparently, is that Universal Studios – according to Japanese media – might be taking things a little too far.
Japan has gotten into Halloween in a big way in the last few years. By mid-September, stores start putting up decorations and offering seasonal treats, even if the practice of trick-or-treating hasn’t really caught on here yet.
So it’s only natural that Halloween gets special treatment from another popular import, Tokyo’s Disney theme parks, as Disney Sea is offering up some spooky Halloween menu items, including a pitch black sausage.
Halloween is now less than two months away, so it’s time to start planning your costume. There are a wealth of options to choose from, of course, but this year we probably wouldn’t recommend going as Anna or Elsa from Frozen. Not because they aren’t awesome, but because we’re fairly certain that no one will be able to compete with the awesomeness of these hand-crafted costumes.
We’ve seen fans make some pretty amazing things in the past, but this very well might take the royal cake.
On every month that has 31 days, if you go into a Baskin Robbins in Japan (where the chain is more commonly known simply as “Thirty-One”), you can get a 31-percent discount on double and triple scoop orders of ice cream. Sadly, with only 30 days in September, your next chance to indulge your sweet tooth on the cheap won’t come until October 31.
As long as you’re willing to pay regular price, though, you won’t have to wait nearly so long to try out their cool Halloween treats, which go on sale this month.
For years, the conventional wisdom was that Japan was only interested in dainty, mild desserts with Japanese roots. That myth was shattered, though, when companies like Krispy Kreme came into the market and found instant success selling sweets that are unabashedly, well, sweet.
There’s more to Krispy Kreme’s popularity in Japan than the universal appeal of a flavorful donut, though. The North Carolina-based donut company has adapted to the local practice of special seasonal treats, and is getting ready for Halloween early with the release this month of its Krispy Skremes lineup.
April Fools’ Day is just a few days away! Are you prepared for it? Perhaps the pranks we picked out earlier this week were lacking some impact. Well, that’s because we kept the best for last!
If you’re looking for something that will shock the entire family or add a little excitement to your otherwise boring workplace, check out this homemade head in a jar! Be it for April Fools’ or for Halloween, this creepy artifact is bound to raise some hairs, and the best part is, no blood is involved in the making. Instructions after the jump!
As we’ve seen, Japanese people are enamoured with the idea of Halloween. From limited edition sweets to pumpkin-orange accessories, the holiday in Japan is centred around all things cute, and very occasionally creepy. So what do you do if you’re a foreigner in Japan who wants to give the locals a taste of the prankster spirit that usually lurks around the corner on a traditional Halloween night?
As Halloween becomes increasingly popular in Japan, people are finding more and more opportunities to show off their costumes. A few years ago your only chance to dress up would be a private party with some friends, but now there are parades and even neighborhoods with trick-or-treating for kids (sadly almost always in the afternoon, but it’s a start).
Last year, our sister site Pouch experimented with the idea of Halloween costumes in the workplace, giving the team a boost in solidarity and energy. Could they repeat that success this year?
A recent Ameba News Japanese blog post asked a 37-year old American woman her thoughts on Halloween in Japan, and based on her answer you’d think Halloween in Japan was somehow expressly responsible for all the unhappiness in her life.
The woman asked the blog author, “Why do adults in Japan get drunk together and wear costumes on Halloween? Don’t they know it’s a holiday for kids?”
Her response seemed to be dripping with condescension, which inspired us to dig into just what Halloween is about in Japan and how it differs from the US, and if our research is any indicator, the holiday has really come into its own out here over the past few years.
Last weekend in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, thousands of hardcore cosplayers and Halloween lovers descended on the streets of Kawasaki City to take part in the Kawasaki Halloween Parade 2013, the 17th of its kind and Japan’s largest public parade dedicated to the Western festival.
The 1.5 km course was flanked by food stalls and specially decorated shops catering to the tourists and locals vying to get the best shots of the coolest outfits, and despite the somewhat inclement weather last weekend, thousands turned up to witness and take part in the event, proving once and for all that Halloween has most definitely found a permanent home in Japan.
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