The Ise Shop, offering products from one of the most beautiful coastal cities in Mie Prefecture, is now open at Aobadai Tokyu Square in Aobadai Station, Yokohama, from February 2 until February 27, 2022. The store sells items that are usually only available in Ise!

Akafuku Mochi (8 pieces): ¥760 (Tax Included)/Akafuku Mochi(12 pieces): ¥1,100 (Tax Included)

The Ise Shop sells about 100 food items and other goods, but the most popular item by far is Akafuku mochi. Only sold on Saturdays, these treats are often sold out by the afternoon!

Available on February 19, February 26

ISE Cardamon Cola (720ml): ¥4,860 (Tax Included)

Traveling Ise Tea Assortment Pack: ¥900 (Tax Included)

Ise Shrine houses the guardian deity of food, so these foods and drinks on offer are extra tasty. ISE Cardamom Cola is a healthy soda that contains no added color, preservatives, or flavors. It includes a blend of over a dozen spices and lemons from Mie Prefecture. The tea assortment pack is made with tea leaves from Mie, which offer plenty of natural sweetness.

Nakano Yogurt: ¥216 (Tax Included)

This yogurt is made from Nakano Milk, which has been producing and selling milk in Ise since the Taisho Era. Served in a retro-style jar, it has a low acidity and is well-loved by the locals.

Ise Shrine Guidebook: ¥1,100 (Tax Included)

The shop also has a number of goods related to the famous Ise Shrine.

Ise Lululun (Tree Scented / 7 packs x 4 bags): ¥1,870 (Tax Included)

Hand Cream with Water from the Isuzu River (50g): ¥1,100 (Tax Included)

Ise Lululun is a face mask containing Sakaki leaf extract from Ise Sakaki trees. The moisturizing ingredients help brighten the skin. 

The Ise Shop also provides guests with information on sightseeing in Ise City! With travel still restricted due to the pandemic, this is a great way to feel as though you’re getting away to this lovely seaside town.

Sanrio Characters’ Collab Café has extended the opening period of the cafe at Narita International Airport passenger terminal 2 until July 30. The café serves a menu of food and drink collaborated with Sanrio’s beloved characters Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty and My Melody.

Additional Menu: Cinnamoroll’s Fluffy Egg Pancake

Cinnamoroll’s Fluffy Egg Pancake is on sale for a limited quantity from June 19 to celebrate Cinnamoroll’s 1st place at 2021 Sanrio Character Ranking. The pancake represents the fluffy clouds in the sky. Additionally, the 2nd edition of visit campaign limited to weekdays has been launched from June 14.  2 original coasters will be given for each menu item ordered for a limited quantity so don’t miss out! 

© 2021 SANRIO CO., LTD. APPROVAL NO.627430

Narita Anime Deck opened its Gintama pop-up event last Tuesday which is set to run until July 15.

The Narita Anime Deck opened inside Narita International Airport Terminal 2 in November 2019. It’s an entertainment facility where travellers from around the world can experience and enjoy Japanese anime culture in various forms such as with character merchandise, food, events, and a variety of photo spots.

The event sees anime series characters Gintoki Sakata, Toshiro Hijikata, and Okita Sougo dressed as pilots and Shinsuke Takasugi as a traveller. These designs are featured on a range of merchandise, decorations, and the food menu.

One must-grab item is the face mask case which arrives in four designs – one for each character.

The food line-up includes the Uji Gintoki Don & Katsudon Hijikata Special Set. This meal and dessert comes with an Uji matcha syrup-covered anko bowl which is based off the food that Gintoki gives to a cat. You can also order a latte featuring latte art of your favourite character. For every item ordered on the menu, you get a free coaster. These come in two design collections: one is available now and will be replaced by the other on June 19.

And if you spend over ¥3,000 on Gintama merchandise at the event, you’ll receive a free card. Fans can also get a free lunch mat if they spend over ¥4,000 and the shop or eat-in restaurant and show their receipts.

JAPAN POSTEC, a wholesaling company in Japan, is now an authorised dealer of products from the popular Taiwanese gift shop Lai Hao. The first product to enter the Japanese market from the company is a colourful collection of blotting papers which hit the country last Thursday (January 28).

Lai Hao Blotting Paper (8 Designs)

Taiwanese Scents: Oolong Tea / Gardenia / Yulan Magnolia / Hinoki / Pineapple

Size and Ingredients

Lai Hao’s products are a display of Taiwanese creativity and high quality and are sure to leave an impression on buyers.

The blotting paper designs are based around a variety of different foods, with eight different picks to choose from. Each one comes scented with fragrances that remind one of Taiwan.

Tokyo Banana World has revealed that its next sweet treat in its Pokémon Tokyo Banana series will be Eevee which Pokémon Trainers can expect to catch up and down Japan from January 2, 2021, including at the store itself as well as at 7-Eleven branches.

Pokémon Tokyo Banana Welcomes Eevee as Entry #2

Tokyo’s official souvenir sweets brand Tokyo Banana launched its new Pokémon Tokyo Banana series of confections in November with the first catch being Pikachu. Now Eevee is being added to the collection.

The fluffy sponge is a delicious caramel macchiato flavour and is filled with sweet banana custard cream. It can be eaten as it is, refrigerated, or even baked to create completely different flavour experiences.

6 Designs Including a Lucky Heart-Shaped Tail

The sponge cakes come in six different designs, all of which are adorable. The one to look out for though is the one with a cute heart-shaped tail.

Fluffy Eevee Design Packaging

Eevee Tokyo Banana Caramel Macchiato (Contains 2) | ¥291 (Tax Included)

The packaging features fluffy artwork of Eevee in six different designs, such as a waving Eevee and winking Eevee.

Where Can You Catch Eevee Tokyo Banana?

Eevee will roll out at 7-Eleven stores across Japan (excluding Okinawa) at the dates listed below. Each branch will have a limited stock so don’t miss out.

January 2, 2021 Release
Tokyo/Kanagawa/Chiba/Saitama

January 16, 2021 Release
Hokkaido/Aomori/Iwate/Akita/Miyagi/Yamagata/Fukushima/Ibaraki/Tochigi/Gunma/Niigata/Fuji/Ishikawa/Fukui

January 23, 2021 Release
Yamanashi/Nagano/Shizuoka/Aichi/Gifu/Mie/Okayama/Hiroshima/Tottori/Yamaguchi/Tokushima/Kagawa/Ehime/Kochi

January 30, 2021
Osaka/Kyoto/Hyogo/Shiga/Nara/Wakayama/Fukuoka/Saga/Nagasaki/Oita/Kumamoyo/Miyazaki/Kagoshima

©2021 Pokémon. ©1995-2021 Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.
ポケットモンスター・ポケモン・Pokémonは任天堂・クリーチャーズ・ゲームフリークの登録商標です。

KADOKAWA revamped and reopened the eat-in restaurant at Narita Airport’s Narita Anime Deck on October 27. Visitors can now look forward to dining at Zenkoku Gensen! Aji no Tabi Ramen Walker.”

The Narita Anime Deck opened inside Narita International Airport Terminal 2 in November 2019. It’s an entertainment facility where travellers from around the world can experience and enjoy Japanese anime culture in various forms such as with character merchandise, food, events, and a variety of photo spots.

The new dine-in restaurant features a long ramen menu of ramen dishes carefully selected by Ramen Walker, Japan’s biggest information site for ramen. There are nine strictly-selected dishes to choose from, as well as over 50 ramens for people to buy and take home with them.

The menu will change its line-up from time to time

Customers can order any of the nine ramen dishes on their own, or they can order from several set menus which enables them to taste different ramen dishes from around Japan. There are also over 20 ramen toppings to choose from, so guests are sure to be spoilt for choice.

The restaurant will also sell their own range of exclusive ramen-related merchandise.

But that’s not all, as Ramen Walker Chicken is also set to open at Tokorozawa Sakura Town in Saitama on November 6 as the world’s first booking-style facility where you can book a table at the most popular ramen bars across Japan.

A pop-up event for the hugely popular TV anime series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World is set to open at Narita Anime Deck—which is located on the Main Building second floor of Narita International Airport Terminal 2—for a limited time from October 9, 2020.

The event will include a themed menu, pre-sales on Re:Zero merchandise, and more. The first week of the event will introduce a booking-only system as a precaution against COVID-19. Bookings for the cafe will run from October 9-15 and for the merchandise store from October 13-19.

Re:Zero Entertainment Cafe

Running: October 9, 2020 – January 11, 2021

Fans of Re:Zero can look forward to tucking into a menu of themed food, drinks, and desserts, including a traditional Japanese plate topped with Emilia, Rem, and Ram wafer cakes, as well as super spicy Natsuki and Subaru black noodles, and more. Customers who order from the menu will receive a free Re:Zero coaster and lunch mat. These are limited in stock, and there are two sets of designs to get your hands on: the first will be available from October 9 and the second from November 27.

And for the first four days that the cafe is open, from October 9-12, they will serve up a special matcha mont blanc cake based on the Re:Zero character Betelgeuse. Only 30 will be served per day.

Merchandise Shop

Running: October 13, 2020 – December 14, 2020

Fans can get their hands on a merchandise pre-sales featuring items designed for the event itself. The theme of the line-up is “Isekai Inn” and includes pins, acrylic stands, mini folding screens, charms, and more.

Bonus Items

But that’s not all. Customers who spend over ¥3,500 (tax included) on the merchandise in one transaction will receive one of the above postcards.

The merchandise sold at the pop-up event will also be sold at KADOKAWA’s Da Vinci bookshop which is set to open inside Tokorozawa Sakura Town on November 6.

Narita International Airport Terminal 2 is set to host a pop-up event for the TV anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba at its 2nd floor Narita Anime Deck from September 10 to October 9. Fans can get their hands on exclusive and pre-sale merchandise, tuck into food themed on the series, and participate in an event to find Nezuko who is lost in Narita Airport.

Uchiwa fans

The Nezuko event has players going to each terminal at Narita International Airport to solve puzzles dotted around them. Those who clear the event will receive one of three possible uchiwa fans with original art.

To participate in the Nezuko event, you must first pick up a kit which you can get at the pop-up store.

©Koyoharu Gotouge/Shueisha・Aniplex・ufotable

Greenport Agency, a group managed by Narita International Airport Corporation (NAA), opened a new online service titled “Narita Airport Kengaku Tour” on August 5 which offers a range of digital content to users, including a detailed tour of the airport with commentary by members of the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences, and more.

Limited spaces are available for the online tour. To apply, users need to apply through Ouchi Soku Tabi, an online travel service operated by Orange Inc. The service was made in tandem with NAA, the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences, and areas surrounding the airport. It was launched to give people a chance to feel like they’re on holiday abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic in a time when remote work and working from home is the new norm.

KADOKAWA is set to open a Hello Kitty themed cafe on the Narita Anime Deck—which is located on the Main Building second floor of Narita International Airport Terminal 2—for a limited time from July 3, 2020 to October 2, 2020.

The Narita Anime Deck

The Narita Anime Deck opened inside Narita International Airport Terminal 2 in November 2019. It’s an entertainment facility where travellers from around the world can experience and enjoy Japanese anime culture in various forms such as with character merchandise, food, events, and a variety of photo spots.

Hello Kitty Cafe

The facility has collaborated with numerous anime series to open up limited-time cafes since it opened. This time around it is joining paws with Hello Kitty, a face known to all across the globe. As well as themed food, drinks and merchandise, customers can take a Hello Kitty quiz, learn the history behind Hello Kitty, and more.

An Original Food Menu

Hello Kitty’s Lovely♡ Pink Curry: ¥1,500

Hello Kitty’s Gurakoro Burger: ¥1,500

Hello Kitty’s Strawberry Pancake: ¥1,400

Hello Kitty’s Strawberry Parfait: ¥1,200

An Original Drinks Menu

The incredible drinks menu is diverse, including lattes where you can get 46 different latte art designs of Hello Kitty from 1974-2019. It could be fun to pick your birth year, or a year where you have fond memories.

Hello Kitty’s Colourful Tapioca Drinks (Matcha Milk/Strawberry Milk/Milk Tea): ¥720 Each

 
Hello Kitty’s Marshmallow Coffee: ¥800

Hello Kitty’s Latte (46 Designs): ¥720 Each

Novelties

For every item you order from the collaboration menu, you can also receive one of 46 possible original coasters once again featuring a different design of Hello Kitty between the years 1974-2019.

1st Line-Up: July 3, 2020 – August 2, 2020

2nd Line-Up: August 3, 2020 – September 2, 2020

3rd Line-Up: September 3, 2020 – October 2, 2020

If you’re travelling through Narita Airport anytime this year up to October, then be sure to head on up to the Narita Anime Deck to dine at the Hello Kitty Cafe.

© 1976, 2020 SANRIO CO., LTD.　APPROVAL NO. L611439

TAKAHASHI KOGEI has launched a new matcha making set called the Ippukubox which comes with everything you need to make authentic Japanese matcha.

For many of us, our time indoors has increased. When taking a break from remote work we head to the kitchen to make ourselves a drink. We’ve all had those moments when we’re torn between making coffee, black tea, herbal tea, and so on. In those undecided moments, why not try making a cup of matcha instead?

The Ippukubox is a 15cm box which comes with all the necessary gear for making mathca: a chawan cup, chasen tea whisk, chashaku teaspoon, and a natsume tea caddy for preserving your matcha.

The inside of the box is lined with Echizen paper from Fukui Prefecture which not only makes it look beautiful, but protects your matcha tools from becoming damaged as a result of rubbing together.

Generally in Japan, when you think about making matcha, the traditional tea ceremony springs to mind which follows strict rules when it comes to making the drink. But the Ippukubox is made for personal use, and so you can add as much or as little matcha or hot water as you like, and practice making it even if you don’t know the proper techniques. You can even add hot milk to make a matcha latte and enjoy a tasty treat with it.

The chawan teacup is Echizen ware from Fukui and was made specially for the Ippukubox. Its cute size makes it fit perfectly in the palm of your hand, but it’s also spacious enough for using the whisk.

The outside design of the box is also made in such a way that it fits seamlessly into modern living and dining spaces. Each wooden box is handcrafted individually and is layered in a matte coating to protect the wood.

*This chawan teacup is different to the one included in the set

The lid of the box can even be used as a tray as pictured above to fit your drink and snack.

Pascal Le Gac Tokyo is the first overseas branch of internationally-recognised French-based chocolate company Pascal Le Gac which released some breathtaking new desserts to its menu on Wednesday.

Chocolate Parfait Flurry / Phrase Parfait Flurry

The original Parfait Flurry desserts are made in the image of a bloomed flower. When they were released back in April 2019, they instantly garnered attention across social media and news websites for their gorgeous design. Pascal Le Gac Tokyo has brought them back to the menu, this time in the form of cakes.

Cakes that are like parfaits

The new desserts take the same concept of the original parfaits, but instead turns them into cakes. But that doesn’t simply mean taking the parfait ingredients as they are and turning them into a cake. Rather, the cakes recreate the taste of the parfaits, so it’s like eating the real thing. The wine glass that the parfaits were served in have been recreated using icing to give that shiny effect, and the chocolate flowers have been cut thin so they are easy to eat.

Chocolate Flurry – ¥864 (Tax Included)

Starting from the bottom upwards, the Chocolate Flurry is layered with chocolate cookie pieces, chocolate flavoured almond sponge, chocolate cream, chocolate mousse, cacao flavoured vanilla cream, more chocolate cream, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and chocolate glaçage. Every part of this art piece is made with cacao.

Phrase Flurry (Tax Included)

Starting from the bottom upwards, the Phrase Flurry is layered with pistachio cookie pieces, almond sponge, pistachio mousse, strawberry mousse, lychee jelly, strawberry compote, raspberry flavoured fresh cream, strawberry chocolate, and red glaçage. The marriage of strawberry, lychee, and pistachio flavours is nothing short of heavenly.

*Please note that opening hours and closures are subject to change depending on the situation of the coronavirus outbreak. Check the cafe’s official website for the latest details.