From May 20 until June 5, 2022, AppBank is bringing fans of Love Live! Superstar!! a special treat in collaboration with the HARAJUKU app! By launching the app at a check-in spot in Harajuku, users can win a limited-edition Love Live! toy at random, such as acrylic keychains or pins.

App Splash Page

HARAJUKU Map

Random Toy Screen

For those winning a toy, the item can be picked up in front of the CUTE CUBE HARAJUKU Love Live! Superstar!! Wall Panel or at YURINAN Harajuku Takeshita-dori Yu-rin An. In celebration of the event, CUTE CUBE HARAJUKU will be featuring Love Live wall panels during this period, so be sure to go get some great pictures!

Starting May 9, Ashikaga Flower Park is celebrating spring with the Rose Garden ~Spring Rose Festival~ event. Since April, the Fujinohana Monogatari Ofuji Festival has been drawing guests to the park to see the symbolic wisteria. As the weather warms up, the rose festival will be held at the same time as the Great Wisteria Festival 2022, which is scheduled to end on May 22. 

Guests can enjoy the rainbow-colored world of wisteria and roses, which are at their best until the middle of May. From now until May 15, visitors can also see the flowers lit up each night.

Come visit Ashikaga Flower Park and enjoy 2,500 roses from 500 different varieties!

Italian luxury fashion brand Fendi has teamed up with Harajuku Omotesando Keyaki-kai on a new street art project! ‘TSUNAGU – Omotesando Street Art Project’ was unveiled on April 29, 2022.

The project, which aims to improve the city’s scenery and share positive messages, is on display in Omotesando, a popular area with young people. The canvas is the formal site of the Oriental Bazaar, an iconic part of Omotesando for over four decades. Under the theme of ‘hope,’ three young artists will be displaying their artwork in a massive temporary enclosure on the site. Hopefully, Japan really will open tourism soon so that guests from around the world can enjoy these inspiring pieces!

The first piece of art was unveiled on April 29 and was drawn by Dai Tamura, a young Japanese artist who has attracted worldwide attention after becoming an illustrator for the NBA. The dynamic and powerful compositions vividly depict endangered animals and plants alongside delicate flowers to symbolize hope for the futures of these beautiful creatures. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next installation coming soon!

The Fujinohana Monogatari Ofuji Festival 2022 in Tochigi began slightly ahead of schedule on April 16, 2022.

After temperatures rose to higher than normal over the past few weeks, Ashikaga Flower Park’s symbolic wisteria bloomed earlier than expected. If the high temperatures persist, the blooming process will speed up considerably, with some flower clusters growing up to 10cm in a single day.

The park is one of Japan’s top destinations for wisteria, boasting 350 trees that typically bloom from mid-April to mid-May. The stunning flowers, which dangle from wooden trellises, come in many colors including violet, blue, pink, white, and yellow. Each color tends to bloom at different times: pink first, followed by purple, white, and then yellow wisteria. CNN praised the massive wisteria tree as looking similar to the “tree of souls in the film Avatar,” and the park was the only place in Japan selected as one of the ‘10 Global Dream Destinations’ in 2014.

ASOBISYSTEM, a company aiming to broadcast Japanese pop culture from Harajuku to the rest of the world, has teamed up with Rokuyon Corporation for a special collaboration! Rokuyon manages unique private accommodations throughout Shibuya in Tokyo, and with help from Meteor APAC, the Japanese distributor of Ty’s beloved Beanie Baby stuffed animals, a new collaboration room will be available to book for a limited time only.

MOSHI MOSHI ROOMS HARAJUKU, a home-sharing facility produced by ASOBISYSTEM, is offering a Ty-inspired room from April 23 until May 22, 2022. The room looks more like an art gallery than a guest house and was designed by Ty’s content director Harris.

Children can enjoy a number of Ty amenities, while adults will enjoy taking home a Ty A3-sized tote bag to remember their unique visit. Those taking the tote bag will be able to fill it with all the Ty stuffed animals they want for only ¥1,650 (Tax Included)!

A social networking campaign exclusively for guests will also be underway soon! Those posting with the hashtag #moshimoshirooms and #ty will receive one free Ty plush toy!

A special xxxHOLiC exhibition will open at WITH HARAJUKU HALL in Shibuya on April 29, 2022! The event is being held to celebrate the release of the live-action xxxHOLiC film on the same day. 

Written and illustrated by the manga group CLAMP, xxxHOLiC ran from 2003 until 2017 in Weekly Young Magazine and Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. The series has been a best-seller, with over 14 million copies in circulation, and has been adapted into an anime series, anime film, and live-action television series. An all-male stage play aired in Tokyo in September 2021. The upcoming xxxHOLiC film is the first live-action film adaptation by photographer Mika Ninagawa. This exhibit will include behind-the-scenes footage and images along with a puzzle-solving game!

Exhibition

©2022映画「ホリック」製作委員会 ©CLAMP・ShigatsuTsuitachi CO.,LTD.／講談社

Exhibition Hall　

©2022映画「ホリック」表裏世界没入展実行委員会©CLAMP・ShigatsuTsuitachi CO.,LTD.／講談社 Photo by Mika Ninagawa

Guests will be able to see stills, costumes, props, and artwork from the upcoming film, as well as a ‘visit to the wish-granting shop!’ Take some pictures at an incredibly detailed photo spot, and check out images of the film’s incredible cast. xxxHOLiC will star Ryunosuke Kamiki, Kou Shibasaki, Tina Tamashiro, Daoko, Serena Motola, and many more beloved stars.

*Hokuto Matsumura, who plays Shizuka Doumeki, will not be featured in the exhibition.

xxxHOLiC Puzzle Solving Game ‘The Mysterious and Curious Tale’ 

Get ready for a completely original new mystery game! Players will transform into the characters of xxxHOLiC to solve a mystery assigned to Yuko Ichihara and Kimihiro Watanuki. What’s the real cost of making a wish? 

©2022映画「ホリック」製作委員会 ©CLAMP・ShigatsuTsuitachi CO.,LTD.／講談社

FRUiTS, a magazine capturing the essence of Harajuku culture through fashion, will release a special issue in collaboration with women’s sneaker store atmos pink and SNKRGIRL, the first and only sneaker news site for women in Japan.

SNKRGIRL, Japan’s first and only sneaker media for women by women, is participating in this special collab with FRUiTS, the legendary street photo magazine that introduced Harajuku culture to the world, and atmos pink, the popular Tokyo-based sneaker select store for women.

Bikkuriman Sticker

FRUiTS editor-in-chief shot the images for the special issue. Female sneaker lovers are becoming more common in the Japanese fashion scene, with #SneakerGirls often trending on social media.

The new issue will feature popular influencers who attended SNKRGIRL’s recent Harajuku Snap Party, as well as models, dancers, and women from many other walks of life. The magazine will be a way to see what Harajuku fashion looks like in 2022, and each issue will include a special Bikkuriman sticker!

The cover features influential model YURINO, a big name in the fashion and sneaker scene. Readers can enjoy an interview between Harajuku fashion expert Kaoru Takami and FRUiTS editor-in-chief too, so don’t miss it!

Three new Pokemon manhole covers have been unveiled in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture as part of the ongoing Poké Lid project. These new additions to the long-running initiative feature Electabuzz, Skwovet, Electrike, Crustle, and Thundurus along with images of the city. These are the first Poké Lids to be installed in Tochigi Prefecture.

Poké Lids placed across Japan feature completely original Pokémon designs making each individual one the only one in the world. Meant to highlight the attractions and beauty of locales around the country while drawing in tourism, The Pokémon Company is also working to make each one of them PokéStops for Pokémon GO.

New Poké Lids Installed in Utsunomiya

① Electabuzz & Skwovet Poké Lid: 5-10-1 Motoimaizumi, Utsunomiya

② Electrike & Crustle Poké Lid: 2-chome Ozo, Utsunomiya

③ Thundurus Poké Lid: Hei-254 Nissatomachi, Utsunomiya
 

©Pokémon. ©Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.

Popular Harajuku-based fashion magazine Zipper, which ceased publication in 2017, will return in March 2022! The rebirth of the magazine is being spearheaded as a joint venture between DONUTS Inc. and ASOBISYSTEM.

Zipper was first published in 1993 as a way to say “NO!” to traditional style. It continued to inspire creative minds for 24 years until it ceased publication in 2017, and many Harajuku-based celebrities and influencers cite the magazine as a major source of inspiration over the years. Now, this beacon of individuality and fashion is making a triumphant comeback right when the world needs it most.

In addition to the magazine, Zipper will also be available on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, opening up the brand to fans of Japanese fashion around the world. More details will be announced in the future.

As a part of the brand’s 9BOX series, New Balance has released a new graphic T-shirt collection in collaboration with Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045. The items went on sale November 12, and to commemorate the release, a Tachikoma from the series has arrived at New Balance Harajuku! For those who may not have seen the series, a Tachikoma is an AI tank prominently featured in the Ghost in the Shell universe.

T-Shirt

Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Collaboration Sticker

Picture Frame

Motoko Kusanagi, the main character of the series, perfectly exemplifies the New Balance brand, which promotes ‘fearless independence.’ Five new t-shirt designs are now available, all drawn by Ilya Kuvshinov, the character designer for Ghost in the Shell SAC-2045. The collection is available at official New Balance stores nationwide, as well as the online store and participating ABC Marts. Those who purchase items from the collection will receive a collaboration sticker, and a special picture frame will be available on the New Balance official store app NB Shop. 

New Balance’s flagship store in Harajuku is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and was the backdrop for the cover of Rolling Stone Japan to promote the collaboration. Fans of the anime series shouldn’t miss out on these stylish threads!

From October 30 until November 23, 2021, a unique underground experience is taking place at a former quarry in Oyamachi, Utsunomiya. UnderMuseumChallenge 01 GATE invites guests to enjoy massive pieces of artwork while pondering the boundaries between society, nature, daily life, and the body. The main focal point of the exhibition is the Genki Furnace, a piece of sauna-inspired art.

Usually, this old quarry isn’t open to the public. This year’s event will offer two types of tickets: one allowing visitors to view art and drive through the underground space, and the sauna art experience. Takashi Kurimayashi’s art will certainly stick with you, so either choice is a positive one. The sauna art experience will invite guests to stand within the furnace as they are surrounded by hot herbal steam. The website asks that visitors bring a swimsuit, change of clothes, and their own towel. 

The quarry is located about a 30-minute drive from the center of Utsunomiya. Stone from the area is well-known across Japan, and this particular region was named a Japanese Heritage Site in 2018. Last year, more than 700,000 tourists visited the region. 

For visitors to Tokyo who love Japanese pop culture, the KAWAII MONSTER CAFE was a rite of passage. Opened in Harajuku in 2015 and produced by the Godfather of Kawaii himself Sebastian Masuda, the restaurant was a love letter to all things cute. Starting in February 2021, ASOBISYSTEM has taken over the operation of this beloved property. 

Regrettably, due to the state of the world, KAWAII MONSTER CAFE HARAJUKU closed at the end of January 2021. However, the spirit of this colorful place isn’t dead, and a new concept and menu are now coming to fruition in Osaka!

Contents

Monster Cake and Choppy

Monster Burger

Colorful Tonkatsu Monster Burger (Red): ¥1,380 (Tax Included, Drink Included) 

This bright red monster burger will make a great subject for an Instagram photo and is filled with pork cutlet and bacon dipped in a special tomato sauce. 

Colorful Shrimp Fritter Monster Burger (Blue): ¥1,380 (Tax Included, Drink Included) 

This tasty shrimp fritter sandwich is best enjoyed with plenty of tartar sauce!

Colorful Blue and Red Mini Burgers: ¥1,280 (Tax Included) 

Can’t decide which burger you’d like to try? How about both! Guests can also design their own monster burgers with a special topping kit.

Monster Cooking

Cooking Class Fee: ¥700 (Tax Included) 

Cooking Class Fee with Cutlery: ¥1,000 (Tax Included) 

Length: 30 minutes

Ages 9+

Quiz Rally Card

Traverse the four floors of the Hug Museum for a special quiz rally! There will be one question on each floor, marked by Choppy! Those who answer all the questions correctly will receive an original mask case!

Monster Merchandise

The Hug Museum, sponsored by Osaka Gas, offers plenty of hands-on exhibitions related to food. The grand opening of the KAWAII MONSTER KITCHEN was held on November 2, and inspired children and adults alike to have fun with their food and embrace all th ings kawaii. A photo spot featuring a massive monster cake has also been installed, supervised by Sebastian Masuda. Come experience the spirit of kawaii culture in Osaka!