Saryo Ginza Seigetsudo, a cafe located on the 2nd floor of Matsuzakaya Ueno in Tokyo, has been holding its “Mainichi Panda CAFE” event since October last year where it is serving up panda themed food and drink, selling panda plush toys and books, and the cafe itself is decorated with all things pandas.

Mainichi Panda CAFE by Saryo Ginza Seigetsudo is now introducing four new panda desserts, and its exhibition theme is celebrating the birthdays of Ueno Zoo’s giant pandas Xiang Xiang and Lili.

Adzuki Bean & Warabimochi Panda Parfait | ¥1,100

Japanese style parfait topped with panda-shaped ice cream.

Panda Jonamagashi & Matcha Set | ¥1,100 *Only 4 served per day

A Japanese ‘jonamagashi’ confection made to look like a panda wearing a straw hat.

Panda Pancake-Style Dorayaki w/Orange Peel | ¥1,100 (With Coffee ¥1,430)

Saryo Ginza Seigetsudo’s signature dorayaki served pancake style and branded with a cute panda face.

Lemon Yogurt Cake Set | ¥1,210

A slice of refreshing lemon and yogurt cake.

Mainichi Panda Exhibition (Excerpt)

The cafe has a special photo exhibition on display of the cute giant panda family that is housed in Ueno Zoo.

Postcards

Postcard image

The first 100 customers who dine at the cafe each day will receive a free postcard of Ueno Zoo’s pandas.

If you love pandas, and have visited Ueno Zoo before, then you won’t want to miss a visit to Saryo Ginza Seigetsudo.

With just a small bit of ingenuity, turn everyday food into something cute using Kaori’s easy recipe! With a few simple ideas, an ordinary recipe magically transforms into a cute dish.

In this recipe, you’ll learn how to transform a store-bought roll cake into a kawaii Hello Kitty cake which contains gyūhi – a form of traditional Japanese sweet which is a variety of mochi.

Ingredients

50g refined rice flour
100ml water
70g sugar
potato starch
strawberries and whipped cream to your liking
sliced chocolate (for Hello Kitty’s face)

1

First, make the gyūhi by mixing 50g of refined rice flour with 100ml of water. Mix well to avoid lumps.

Once this has been mixed, add 70g of sugar and mix again.

2

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave at 600W for 2 minutes.

3

Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula and microwave again for one more minute at 600W.

4

Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until it clumps together in one piece. Put a large portion of potato starch onto a tray and place your gyūhi on top.

5

Once the gyūhi has cooled, cut it to the size of the palm of your hand and use a rolling pin to stretch it out into a flat shape.

6

Leave your gyūhi to cool. In the meantime, bring out your store-bought roll cake piece and fill the inside with strawberries. When done, top your roll cake piece with whipped cream.

*If your forget to add the whipped cream, the strawberries underneath will be visible through the gyūhi layer!

7

Place the gyūhi layer on top of the roll cake and press the dough together at the bottom of the cake to seal it.

8

Shape two pieces of remaining gyūhi dough into triangles and affix them to the top of the cake to create Hello Kitty’s ears. Use the sliced chocolate to create whiskers, eyes and a nose for Hello Kitty’s face and cut up a strawberry to make her bow.

Once you have finished putting all the decorations in place, you’re done!

Kaori invites you into her world of character-themed food dishes in her recipe series. Be sure to check out her Instagram where she has uploaded many pictures of her character dishes!

Healthy doughnut chain Floresta Nature Doughnuts is cooking up two adorable Pompompurin summer doughnuts this month which will be available to buy at select Floresta shops in Japan and their official website between August 8 and 23.

Pompompurin Summer Doughnuts | ¥450 Each (Before Tax)

Floresta Nature Doughnuts is a doughnut cafe chain that hand-makes doughnuts using organic ingredients, such as wheat flour and soybeans from Hokkaido. This time they are whipping up two doughnuts of Sanrio’s popular character Pompompurin and his friend Macaroon. Both of these cute Golden Retrievers are made from organic chocolate, so you can indulge while being on the healthier side.

The doughnuts will first release at Floresta cafes in Japan on August 8 before heading to their online store on August 10 where you can buy a box that comes with two of each doughnut.

Tokyo’s newest cafe Bread, Espresso & Machiawase opened inside Shibuya MIYASHITA PARK on August 4, 2020.

The cafe is the first from cafe chain Bread, Espresso to have a menu centred around eggs. Customers can enjoy a cup of coffee with toast and eggs cooked fresh in a variety of ways. The cafe hopes to be a meeting spot for people to visit Miyashita Park and Shibuya where people go to kill some time while waiting for someone or something.

Freshly-made eggs

Menu examples

The luxurious dishes cooked up at Bread, Espresso & Machiawase are inspired by the omelettes and scrambled eggs you wait in anticipation for when you wake up early at a hotel for breakfast. The cafe’s omelettes, which are cooked up a teppan iron plate, are soft, delicious, and are the perfect complement to the accompanying toast. The hot sandwich is made using Bread, Espresso &’s popular muu bread which is loaded with butter.

Whether it be for a feel-good morning, a spot of lunch, or a day’s treat, Bread, Espresso & Machiawase promises freshness at its fullest.

A place to meet up

Shibuya is known as the place of meetups. Bread, Espresso & Machiawase has plenty of different seating spots that cater to meetups or for customers who need to kill some time, whether it be the egg-shaped “Torinosu” counter seats or the standing area.

French toast made before your eyes 

Order French toast and watch it made fresh in front of you using a flame. Their delicious-smelling “Brûlée French Toast” is a recommended dish too.

Parfaits in the evening

In the evenings, the owner of the cafe serves two different kinds of parfaits which originated in Sapporo where they were born. The parfaits are actually made using bread rather than cornflakes, making it more fitting for a place like Bread, Espresso &.

Pair bread with Japanese sake

Bread, Espresso & Machiawase has discovered a new way to enjoy eating bread: by pairing it with nihonshu, or Japanese sake. Enjoy a special selection curated by specialists, such as with the Sake Tasting Set which lets you taste and compare three different kinds of Japanese alcohol.

Bread, Espresso & Machiawase caters to a variety of situations, so if you ever travel to Shibuya be sure to pop in whether for breakfast, lunch, or an evening treat.

Harajuku’s KAWAII MONSTER CAFE has announced that it is collaborating with YouTuber, model, and MC RinRin Doll to release a new beverage called “Honey Doll” which will be served at the cafe for a limited time only.

Who is RinRin Doll?

RinRin Doll is a Harajuku-style model based in Tokyo. Originally from Los Angeles, California, she is a lover of Japanese fashion and culture and posts videos related to Harajuku-style lolita fashion and makeup on her YouTube channel.

RinRin’s birthday falls on August 2, which in Japanese can be pronounced as hanii or “honey,” and so this day is known colloquially as Honey Day. The “Honey Doll” drink will be served at the KAWAII MONSTER CAFE from August 2 to 31. It has a ginger ale base and is filled with honey flavoured jelly and fruits and is topped with purple cotton candy for a deliciously sweet combination.

The first 15 people to order the drink will receive a special badge featuring the cute character “Honey Bunny Bee” who was created for the RinRin Doll & Ribbonita collaboration.

KAWAII MONSTER CAFE is serving fashion and entertainment while practicing and promoting all the necessary measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Be sure to check out RinRin’s YouTube channel, including her video on the new Honey Doll drink.

Tokyo’s Snoopy themed café PEANUTS Café is now serving up food and drink in a food truck outside of the EST shopping mall in Umeda, Osaka for a limited time until August 16.

Lucy’s Homemade Lemonade | ¥600 (Tax Included)

Cookies | ¥650 (Tax Included)

The line-up includes popular takeout options from PEANUTS Café which is originally based in Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. This is a chance for the people of Osaka to enjoy the Tokyo-based cafe’s cute and tasty food.

[Presale] Key Rings (3 Designs)  | ¥1,100 Each (Tax Included)

The food truck will also have pre-sales of three new key rings not yet available at the PEANUTS Café. Customers can also buy the tote bag which is already sold at the café.

©2020 Peanuts Worldwide LLC

The first trailer for the upcoming TV anime series Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is here. The anime, which will air from October 3, serves as a spin-off series of the anime adaptation of Inuyasha which originally ran from 2000-2004 and wrapped up with Inuyasha: The Final Act in 2010.

Confirmed cast members for Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon include Sara Matsumoto as Towa Higurashi, Mikako Komatsu as Setsuna, and Azusa Tadokoro as Moroha.

To promote the series, a series of exhibitions celebrating the history of Inuyasha will take place across Japan including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Niigata—the latter of which is the hometown of Inuyasha author Rumiko Takahashi. Merchandise will also be available for fans to buy.

The main visual for the exhibition

Details on tickets, merchandise, and the full content of the exhibition will be announced in the near future, so stay tuned.

ⒸRumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan・Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation・Sunrise 2009

Mister Donut Japan is releasing recipes over on its official website on August 7 which will show you how to make three of their popular doughnuts. The simple recipes are twists on the “Honey Dip,” “Old Fashioned,” and “Pon de Ring” doughnuts.

The doughnuts can be whipped up for breakfast, as a daytime snack or an evening treat, so customers can enjoy the taste of Mister Donut from the comfort of their own home.

The “Morning Ring Toast” recipe is the perfect wake-up treat made with honey dip, eggs, and ham, all of which complement each other deliciously.

“Old Fashioned Parfait” combines the irresistible crunchiness of the Old Fashioned doughnut with ice cream to create a real summertime dessert.

Finally, “Pon de Agedashi” is an indulgence for after dinner, bringing together Pon de Ring doughnuts with grated daikon radish. It’s a great snack to have with an evening drink.

Mister Donut Japan will release the recipe as well as a how-to-make video over on their official website this Friday, so be sure to try making your own at home.

A colourful line-up of angelic parfaits will be served up at Shiseido Parlour The Harajuku, which is located on the 8th floor of the WITH HARAJUKU shopping centre, from August 18 to October 11.

Made in collaboration with Shiseido Beauty Square, also located in the building, these parfaits are inspired by different popular cosmetic brands.

The parfaits will be switched out every two weeks. The first parfait will be based around the brand bareMinerals. After that it will be NARS, then Laura Mercier, and finally Dolce & Gabbana Beauty. Each sweet treat also comes with samples of cosmetics and fragrances from each respective beauty company.

Lychee Green Beauty Parfait with bareMinerals | ¥1,980 (Tax Included) | Serving: August 18, 2020 – August 30, 2020

The bareMinerals parfait is made with mineral-rich lychee sherbet, healthy ice cream made with tofu, marine blue jelly, ruby grapefruit, orange, mango, and more.

Fig & Berry Chocolate Mode Parfait with NARS | ¥1,980 (Tax Included) | Serving: September 1, 2020 – September 13, 2020

If you’re looking for true dark luxury, then tuck into this devilish layering of Belgian chocolate ice cream, strawberry milk sauce, figs, pione grapes, raspberries and a topping of macaron and chocolate.

Japanese Chestnut Tea Gradation Parfait with Laura Mercier | ¥1,980 (Tax Included) | Serving: September 15, 2020 – September 27, 2020

A delightful gourmet marriage of Earl Grey jelly, houjicha ice cream, and chai sauce which creates a nude lip brown colour. This one’s topped with Japanese chestnuts, blackcurrants, pomegranate, a macaron, and a swirling chocolate stick.

Blood Orange Exotic Parfait with Dolce & Gabbana Beauty | ¥1,980 (Tax Included) | Serving: September 29, 2020 – October 11, 2020

The final parfait is a vivid combination of sumptuously sweet blood orange sherbet, rose jelly, an ‘exotic’ sauce, ruby grapefruit, raspberries, mango, a macaron, and to decorate, a red rose.

*Depending on ingredient stock, the parfaits and serving periods are subject to change

*Photos are for illustrative purposes only

Japanese construction company Daiwa House took part in the planning and construction of Nippon Foundation’s new “THE TOKYO TOILET” project which has set up new public toilets in 17 locations around Shibuya, Tokyo.

THE TOKYO TOILET

The toilets bring together two things that Japan is known for around the world: hospitality, and the best toilets around. A lot of people don’t like the idea of public toilets due to their image of being dark, dirty, stinky, and all-around unpleasant experiences. Toilets in THE TOKYO TOILET project remove all of these worries from peoples’ minds. Open to people of all ages, genders, and disabilities, the toilets were designed using the creative power of 16 international creators.

Hygiene is a big focus of these new toilets which will bring a whole new level of cleanliness to public toilets, making them a pleasant experience for users and making people considerate of the next person who will use the toilet after them.

Toilet Locations and Participating Creators

If you visit Shibuya, and are in need of a toilet, be sure to experience THE TOKYO TOILET and discover the best public toilet experience around.

Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart released cream cheese-filled obanyaki branded with Moomin characters on August 4 in celebration of “Moomin’s Day” which falls on August 9.

Moomin Mochitto Cheese | ¥138 (Tax Included)

The Moomins are the main characters of Tove Jansson’s series of books and comic strips. August 9 is the birthday of the author, and so this date has become known as “Moomin’s Day” amongst fans of the series.

Obanyaki are a type of imagawayaki which are like waffles and are filled with various ingredients, the most popular being red bean paste which can often be found at festivals in Japan. These chewy Moomin obanyaku however are filled with cream cheese and are stamped with the familiar faces of Moominvalley including the titular characters, Snufkin, Little My, and the Hattifatteners.

What better way to celebrate Moomin’s Day than with a delicious treat? If you’re in Japan this summer, head to your closest FamilyMart.

©Moomin Characters™

In an effort to ensure the safety and protect the health of guests and staff, Universal Studios Japan (USJ) introduced strict measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on June 8, 2020, such as limiting the number of people who could enter the park each day and enforcing thorough cleaning routines. This enabled the park to reopen after its temporary closure. It has since been able to deliver its scope of fun and excitement to guests, albeit in a more structured way.

USJ wants to make wearing masks more fun too, and so it is releasing a range of character-inspired face masks, such as Snoopy, Elmo and the Cookie Monster, on August 7. Part of the money made from sales of these masks will be donated to the USJ Wonder Kids Program which helps support children in need.

Universal Studios Japan original design masks

The masks’ unique designs take the mouths of each character. These can be worn together with each respective characters’ headband which are also sold at USJ. Designs include Elmo, Cookie Monster, Snoopy, Tim, Jurassic Park, and Jaws.

Photos provided by Universal Studios Japan.
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