Our mouths are watering just looking at ’em.
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Village Vanguard (Page 6)
Add some major socks appeal to your swim sessions with these waterproof over-the-knee socks available from wacky goods menagerie Village Vanguard!
The mascot character for Japan’s national broadcaster would like to show his “domo” by making you pay for his food.
Need some new figures for your desk? Then check out these Buddhist statue figures from Kaiyodo!
Do you have ears? Do you wish they were a heck of a lot cuter? If so, we have the perfect product for you: Relax Cling Earrings! Featuring hedgehogs, chicks, and soaring birds, these animal-themed earrings are sure to please any pierced animal lover looking to make their earbuds twice as adorable!
When you are kicking back in the theater on December 18 with a big bag of popcorn in one hand and a tall drink in the other, there’s only one thing you’ll be missing: appropriately themed cup clingers that will level up your movie game from Padawan to a Jedi Knight.
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!
How much do you love bread? Would you cuddle with it? Wear it on your back? Use it to carry your books home from school?
Well now thanks to Village Vanguard, the popular Japanese supplier of crazy and unique items, you can do all of these things! They will be releasing a series of bread-themed items to help you get your balanced breakfast on your way to school or work.
Ready to be the toast of the town with an egg-cellent new backpack? Read on to find out how to get in on a slice of the action!
Village Vanguard is one of Japan’s more unique stores, selling everything from inappropriate T-shirts to Attack on Titan curry to more inappropriate T-shirts to whatever this is. Some of the food products they stock sit squarely on the border between delicious and “gag gift,” but perhaps the most intriguing of those items is the new Space Tea.
But does it really taste like space? Naturally, we were skeptical…but also curious enough to run out and buy a can. So, come along with us on a journey into the depths of spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!
Mochi rice cakes, made from glutinous rice, come in all shapes and sizes. They’re soft and filling, and they can be enjoyed as a dessert or a meal, depending on how they’re prepared. What’s not to like, right?
And now it looks like someone’s created these insanely adorable animal-shaped cakes out of mochi…but wait, is that what they really are? Would you believe us if we told you these are actually soft toy figures that look and feel like mochi? Well, whatever they are, these little critters are sure to elicit delighted squeals of “kawaii!”
Village Vanguard is a popular chain of novelty stores across Japan. There you can find all sorts of things from bird poop stickers to Resident Evil curry to wasabi toothpaste. As such, it’s easy to get desensitized to their range of items and lose the ability to be surprised with what they come out with next.
Or so we thought, until word came of a new product that will be sold there around the end of May. Purin Senyo Shoyu is a specially crafted soy sauce meant to be drizzled over a jiggly glob of pudding. You might wonder what pudding and soy sauce taste like together. The answer is surprisingly simple: it tastes like sea urchin.
Remember Gudetama, the apathetic anthropomorphized egg character from Sanrio with no desire whatsoever to do anything at all? Well, it seems the most unmotivated character we’ve ever seen from Sanrio has actually gotten down to business, if only for a limited time. That’s right, Gudetama now has his very own cafe at the Village Vanguard Diner at the Yokohama Lumine, and he appears in the menu as an edible ingredient, which we guess isn’t so improbable, since he is an egg, after all. And boy, does he look adorable as part of a dish — definitely good enough to eat!
Japan’s hot and sticky summer days may mean that people are wearing slightly less than usual, but unless you’re some kind of magma demon impervious to the 34-degree heat we’ve been having recently, it also means you’ll be throwing sweat-soaked t-shirts and underwear into the washing machine with depressing frequency, making every other day laundry day.
Fortunately, book and cutesy crap emporium Village Vanguard has a couple of new t-shirts that are perfect for summer – and one of them already looks drenched before you even put it on!
At approximately 8:44 on the evening of 16 November, a magnitude-4 earthquake shook the Kanto area of Japan. Although some barely noticed the tremor, the quake dealt a sizeable blow to the Village Vanguard store in Sangenjaya, Tokyo.
Village Vanguard is a chain of book stores in Japan, but also the place to go for those looking for a Jamaican flag Zippo lighter, bag of freeze-dried astronaut food, DVD of Golden Eggs, and/or bag with a Dr. Pepper logo on it in a country that by and large neither knows of nor likes the drink.
Following the damage caused by the quake, an outpouring of support has been seen from netizens in Japan.















New Mt. Fuji overnight bus takes travelers from downtown Tokyo straight to the most popular hiking trail
7-Eleven Japan now has Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, but how do they taste?[Taste test]
A visit to Sri Lanka’s knockoff knockoff Uniqlo (no, we didn’t stutter) to see its rare “Pikachus”
Tokyo revises accommodation tax amidst tourism boom, Airbnb rentals now included
Yoshinoya and Dragon Quest slaying scalpers with shift to made-to-order collaboration merch
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Japan moves to enforce language requirements for foreign nationals seeking permanent residency
7-Eleven Japan releases chocolate cookies that taste like freshly baked melon bread
Famous sweets store in Ameyoko fills a bag with sweets and a show, but is it still worth it?
Japan to get new high-speed train connecting Haneda and Narita airports, ease overtourism
Japan triples departure tax, foreign tourists and locals now must pay more to leave country
Japanese overnight sightseeing train returns for summer with ramen stops and ocean views
Sanrio Character Poll announces winners, Hello Kitty absent from top 10 in many countries
Starbucks Japan teams up with Converse Tokyo for a new limited-edition collection in honour of Tanabata
Don’t judge this Kiki’s Delivery Service book by its cover, because it’s not actually a book!
The quest for Dragon Quest Yoshinoya figure sets: Worth taking for fans, tricky for scalpers[Pics]
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Studio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
New Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Japan launches first overnight Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka this summer
Japanese sweets shop sells an ohagi so exquisite it sells out by noon
Forget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Japan moves to enforce language requirements for foreign nationals seeking permanent residency
7-Eleven Japan releases chocolate cookies that taste like freshly baked melon bread
Famous sweets store in Ameyoko fills a bag with sweets and a show, but is it still worth it?
Japan to get new high-speed train connecting Haneda and Narita airports, ease overtourism
Foreign tourists injured in Nissan GT-R crash near Tokyo’s Shibuya Scramble Crossing
Climbing season officially opens for Japan’s Mt. Hiyoriyama, the shortest mountain in the country
Potato-Chip-Flavored Dressing coming to stores in Japan
Tochigi man shares his family’s process for creating 16 years worth of rice paddy art
Don’t judge this Kiki’s Delivery Service book by its cover, because it’s not actually a book!
Starbucks Japan teams up with Converse Tokyo for a new limited-edition collection in honour of Tanabata
Japan announces plans for twenty-fold increase in permanent residency fees, alongside higher visa costs
Tokyo’s giant Pokémon Stamp Rally is back for 2026 with exclusive prizes up for grabs