Famous bakeries from London and New York create limited edition cherry blossom cupcakes just for Japan.
Harajuku (Page 7)
For a limited time during March and April, the Harajuku’s Rilakkuma Cafe in a Honey Forest Cafe will be serving up adorable Rilakkuma-inspired dishes and desserts.
We sent two of our Japanese writers to dress up in matching Kiki & Lala Little Twin Stars cosplay in Harajuku!
Our reporter’s fashion quest continues as he ventures into the ultra-hip jungle of Tokyo’s Harajuku with a mere 10,000 yen (US$85), this time enlisting the help of two high school girls who know the terrain like the back of their hands.
You may not think of kimono when you think of Harajuku fashion, but department store Laforet is looking to change all that with a limited-time event!
There’s a new take-out place in Tokyo selling kangaroo bento boxed lunches, so we hopped on over to try them for ourselves.
It’s perfectly natural in Japan for a popular and well-loved anime to pair up with a clothing brand to create a sublime line of products that people will want to wear while out and about. Whether it’s jackets, jewelry, or shoes, there’s usually something for everyone.
Anime fashion site Super Groupies is one such online venue that loves to turn our favorite characters into delightful fashions. This time, they’re joining forces with the singing, dancing idol anime Prism Paradise, to create a series of vibrant and original shoes that you might want to wear even if you have no idea what Prism Paradise is.
Here in Japan, Halloween may be a relatively new tradition, and we haven’t gotten to the point of dressing in costume at school or work (at least not at normal jobs), but there’s no denying we’re quickly embracing the seasonal event, especially with special sweets and beverages. With Halloween-themed parades and parties becoming more and more common, finding an attractive and appropriately playful costume is something an increasing number of people are thinking about this time of year.
Well, if you want something original and eye-catching, then how about renting a Japanese kimono as a Halloween costume? Of corse, you won’t be wearing it like a regular kimono, though!
Back in the early 80s, a number of toys and TV shows came out that defined a generation. They included hits like Transformers, Rainbow Brite, Ducktales and of course, My Little Pony. Now in the 21st century, the most obvious thing to do is re-hash all the old favorites with various reboots in the form of new animated series and a whole new set of toys to play with.
One of those franchises currently riding the revival train is My Little Pony and Japan is celebrating the continued success of everyone’s favorite colorful ponies with something they know how to pull off: a themed café! The recently opened My Little Pony Café is the first of its kind in the world, featuring bright colors, ponies and specialized menu items for every fan.
If you’re in Tokyo and looking for your fellow Pegasisters/Bronies, you won’t want to miss this!
If you’re into Japanese fashion (or if you happen to be Gwen Stefani circa 2004), you’re probably familiar with Harajuku’s Takeshita Street. Considered by many to be the nucleus of Japan’s youth fashion world, you can find everything from punk shirts to vintage clothes to the freshest kicks all on this narrow pedestrian street. There are plenty of shops, but perhaps the most famous is ACDC Rag, which sells everything from cute galaxy cat jackets to dark (but still cute) goth backpacks.
Recently, in collaboration with Village Vanguard, Japan’s premier retailer of weird novelty goods, ACDC Rag unveiled their new fall accessories and they are panda-rific! Now you can keep warm and maintain a look so cute it’s endangered!
The Harajuku/Omotesando district in Tokyo is already a mecca of sweet shops from around the world, but things in the area just got even sweeter this past weekend as another internationally loved bakery opened its very first shop in Japan. Yes, we’re delighted that London’s celebrated LOLA’S cupcakes now has a shop in Tokyo, and as you may have guessed, we weren’t about to miss out on trying the sweet creations from one of London’s best-loved baking outlets, so there we were on opening day.
We already knew from the pictures that their cupcakes look simply amazing; now we couldn’t wait to try some for ourselves, and there were even going to be four original Japanese flavors too — Yum!
There are shoes, and then there are SHOES; dainty little works of art that adorn your feet, turning heads as you walk by and acting as conversation starters with complete strangers. In Japan, of course, fashion gets taken to the next level of cuteness and never more so than with the new range of My Melody showstoppers from Sanrio.
Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood means different things to different people. The beautiful people living the Japanese high life are drawn by the brand-name jewelers on the tree-lined Omotesando boulevard. Teens, meanwhile, flock to the narrow Takeshitadori shopping street to score up-to-date fashions that leave their parents scratching their heads in bewilderment.
And for those with a sweet tooth, Harajuku is all about the crepes.
Our intrepid Japanese-language correspondent P.K. recently took a break from seeing how many slices of roast pork or boiled eggs he could cram in his stomach and instead decided to see how much dessert he could consume in a single serving, as he decided to max out a Tokyo crepe by ordering one with every available dessert topping.
If you’re a fan of Japanese kawaii culture, there’s a new establishment that just opened in Harajuku this month which you may want to know about. It’s the Kawaii Monster Cafe, produced by artist and creative director Sebastian Masuda. As the name of the cafe suggests, Masuda is quite the leading figure in Japanese kawaii culture and has even handled direction and set production for solo live performances by none other than Japanese pop idol Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. So it really isn’t surprising that the cafe has attracted attention as a place where you can have the quintessential Kyary Pamyu Pamyu-esque psychedelic experience.
Well, that certainly piqued our interest, and as you may have already guessed, one of the reporters at our Japanese sister site Pouch visited the unique cafe so that we can give you a firsthand account of what the place is like!
It’s hard to believe that our beloved, voracious powderpuff Kirby is over 20 years old now! “Born” in 1992 on the Nintendo Game Boy, the adorable little guy is actually a fully grown adult now, possibly with a driver’s license and, like, maybe even a family we don’t know about. We picture him holding down a boring office job somewhere in Tokyo, willing himself not to snap at his irritating boss and hoover him up (thus gaining his incredible powers of bureaucracy and micromanagement).
But, even though everybody’s favorite non-Jigglypuff pink ball creature is all grown up now, that doesn’t stop him from enjoying a good picnic!
A Poopoopoo picnic, to be exact.
Disney’s elegant princesses and cute characters have earned them legions of fans around the world. In Japan, adults of all ages are smitten, unashamedly saving up for specially branded clothing and accessories, and using precious vacation time for day trips to Tokyo Disneyland.
This love for all things Disney has resulted in three stores exclusive to Japan that cater directly to the adult market. Fukuoka and Chiba have each been blessed with a unique branch of their own, but it’s the newly opened store in Tokyo’s Harajuku, the birthplace of kawaii culture, that really sets out to impress.
Come with us as we take you through the store, with its pretty princess accents and attractive displays filled with bags, jewellery, smartphone accessories and more.
Are you a Barbie girl in a Barbie world? If your answer is yes, you’ve probably been dreaming of this day your whole life. Finally, you can look like your Barbie doll!
We’re not talking about getting thousands of dollars worth of cosmetic surgery to look like Real Barbie or wearing Barbie heads in your shoes. But we are talking about wearing undergarments that match those of your Barbie doll. You’ll be like twins!
The Japanese lingerie and apparel shopping website Peach John, has a lingerie line called Yummy Mart. Yummy Mart is teaming up with Barbie and LAFORET, a lingerie shop in Harajuku, to bring you a limited edition collection of Barbies and underwear to match!
Long before Gwen Stefani was inspired by the Tokyo neighborhood, Harajuku’s status as the center of Japanese fashion and pop culture had been well solidified. From strange footwear to unbearably cute cuisine, a visit to Harajuku is never dull and is a must-see for any tourist coming to Tokyo.
But the crowded streets, small shops and the language barrier might be a bit daunting for a first-time visitor. So to make that trip more worthwhile, a tourist organization is opening up a bilingual information booth in the heart of Harajuku to make sure visitors get the most out of their time in the exciting neighborhood.
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