Starbucks Coffee Japan is set to launch the Starbucks holiday season on November 1 with a selection of special drinks and products. The theme this year is ” a Special Holiday with Starbucks Classics.”

With less than two months to go before Christmas, the coffee chain is set to release a variety of seasonal beverages including the Starbucks® Christmas Blend, Gingerbread Latte, and Macadamia Toffee Latte. It will also release the first range of holiday season merchandise on November 6.

Hot and cosy drinks for the holiday season

Macadamia Toffee Latte: Short ¥440 | Tall ¥480 | Grande ¥520 | Venti ® ¥560

Gingerbread Latte: Short ¥420 | Tall ¥460 | Grande ¥500 | Venti ® ¥540

Winter White Chocolate: Short ¥400 | Tall ¥440 | Grande ¥480 | Venti ® ¥520

The spicy Gingerbread Latte is a must-have on the menu during the holiday season at Starbucks, one that latte lovers look forward to every year. And this year, coffee consumers in Japan have two new drinks to look forward to: the Macadamia Toffee Latte which is a crunchy combination of macadamia nuts and sweet toffee, and the snowy powdered sugar-topped Winter White Chocolate.

Starbucks® Christmas Blend and Cranberry Bliss Bar Pairing

From Left: Starbucks® Christmas Blend Espresso Roast | Starbucks® Christmas Blend | Starbucks® Christmas Blonde Roast – ¥1,520 Each (Before Tax)

A cup of Starbucks’s Christmas Blend fills you with that cosy nostalgic feeling of the season. This year’s recipe at Starbucks Japan is inspired by the one first sold in 1984 which has a rich, deep blend. It’s a coffee combination of dark roast Sumatran, Papua New Guinean, Columbian, and Guatemalan coffee beans. There’s also some aged Sumatra coffee in there to elevate the flavour.

Each cup is a complex mix that brings to mind herbs and spices, and hidden within all that a subtle sweetness.

Cranberry Bliss Bar | ¥270 (Before Tax)

Starbucks Japan is bringing back its signature Cranberry Bliss Bar dessert for the holiday season and pairing it with the Christmas Blend. The cake has orange in it which brings a tangy but fresh kick that matches heavenly with the spicy notes.

The First Merchandise Batch

The first batch of holiday season merchandise to drop at Starbucks Japan incorporates Christmas motifs like ribbons, candy canes, and reds and white colouring. The line-up includes a stainless steel bottle with a gingham checked pattern and gold dots to a stainless TOGO cup with a classic design reminiscent of a candy cane, notebooks, and more.

The holiday season is shaping up to be another cosy welcoming again this year at Starbucks Japan.

Q-pot CAFE. in Omotesando, Tokyo, has revealed its upcoming Q-pot CAFE. “KUMA”STMAS MENU which is set to be served from November 1 to December 25.

Happy Merry “KUMA”STMAS！

“KUMA”STMAS is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for bear (kuma) and Christmas. The cafe’s cute menu is here to bring warmth and cosiness this holiday season.

Merry “KUMA”STMAS Plate w/ Drink – ¥2,060 (Tax Included)

A sweet assortment cute enough to tug your heartstrings.

Q-pot CAFE.’s pastry chefs take their time to delicately handmake the adorable bear’s baby face oat milk cookie. The cookie is sat on top of a fluffy duvet of whipped cream, berry jam with fresh berries, and a chocolate génoise cake. It’s a sweet and tangy combination of raspberry and strawberry.

The cookie-topped cake is also served with a rich pistachio cream Christmas tree.

Merry “KUMA”STMAS Bitter Caramel Milk Tea – ¥750 (Tax Included)

A warm and cosy beverage to heal your heart, mind, and soul. This baby bear looks sweet but has delightfully rich notes thanks to the caramel. The tea is one of the cafe’s originals, the “Sweet Weekend,” which has a refreshing after taste and goes perfectly with the caramel cream.

Merry “KUMA”STMAS Afternoon Tea Set | ¥2,400 per person (Tax Included)　*Photo shows a set for two

If you love teddy bears, then this afternoon tea set is a dream come true.

Top Plate

The top plate is a delicate assortment of sweet and crunchy oat milk cookies, a glass dessert of fromage blanc and fresh orange jelly, velvet cupcakes topped with pistachio cream made to look like a Christmas tree, and creamy macarons.

Bottom Plate

The bottom plate is the savoury selection and comes with croissants stuffed with roast beef topped with honey mustard sauce, a rich potato potage, and skewers piercing olives, mini tomatoes, and pickles.

Special Novelty <Teddy Bear Message Card>

Customers who book a table in advance to the cafe will receive a free teddy bear message card. These are limited in stock, so if you’re in Tokyo don’t miss out.

Tokyo’s two cafes Pokémon Cafe and Pikachu Sweets by Pokémon Cafe have announced that they will open online orders for their new ‘Pokémon Cafe Christmas Home Party Set 2020’ on November 17, 2020.

Pokémon Cafe Christmas Home Party Set 2020

The party set comes with a Pikachu-shaped Christmas cake, Christmas tree stand, a set of four wooden chopstick rests shaped like Pikachu’s tail, and a set of four paper Pikachu glasses. If you’ve ever dreamed of a Pokémon Christmas, then who better to spend it with than Pikachu?

Kawaii Pikachu Cake

Pokémon Cafe Christmas Home Party Set 2020 | ¥8,800 (Tax Included)

The cake is a mousse cake made with cream from Hokkaido and sweet white chocolate. Shaped like Pikachu, the cake is made from chocolate and plain sponge which hide secret chocolate chips for added texture and sweetness.

Christmas Merchandise

Decorate for Christmas this year with Pokémon Cafe’s original Christmas tree stand, Pikachu tail chopstick rests, Pokémon Christmas Wonderland wreath, and paper Pikachu cups.

© 2020 Pokémon.©1995-2020 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.
Pokémon, ポケットモンスター, and ポケモン are registered trademarks of Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK inc.

POLA INC. is collaborating with Sanrio Entertainment’s amusement park Sanrio Puroland for their ongoing PURO HALLOWEEN PARTY event which is being held both at the park and online. The company has developed cute and sophisticated Halloween makeup inspired by the looks being worn by the Sanrio characters at Puroland for Halloween.

Halloween is a time to dress up as your favourite spooky figure, and POLA has jumped on board by creating a range of makeup looks to support Halloween outfits this year that anyone can do at home. Each look has a step-by-step visual guide as well as a video to help you along the way.

All the products used for the looks are by POLA and can all be bought at their nearly 4,000 stores including the 670 POLA THE BEAUTY branches and their flagship store POLA GINZA. Select branches in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macao, and Singapore are also stocking the items.

Japanese glass company GOODGLAS re-released the red versions of its Hello Kitty double wall glasses on Friday after they sold out in just two months when they first went on sale on July 20.

Handmade Hello Kitty Double Wall Glass

Hello Kitty Double Wall Glass (Red) | ¥3,600 (Before Tax)

Glass products at GOODGLAS are all handmade and use the traditional glass blowing method.

Not just cute but practical too

Limited Edition Blue Colour

The glasses can be used for beverages too. Winter is on the horizon, so this is the perfect vessel to sip a cosy hot drink from.

Enjoy a tea break at home with Hello Kitty

限定カラーゴールド

When you pour either your hot or cold drink into the glass, Hello Kitty’s face stands out even more—and depending on the beverage you pour inside, you can create different looks.

©︎1976, 2020 SANRIO CO., LTD.TOKYO,JAPANⓁ

BOTANIST’s flagship shop BOTANIST Tokyo will be serving up a special Northern European-themed holiday season menu at its second floor BOTANIST Cafe from October 31, 2020. The line-up is made with the wish in mind that everyone can live with hope in mind as we draw closer to the end of 2020 and ready for the start of the New Year.

Holiday Menu

All food on the seasonal holiday menu is vegan and promised to be filling, delicious, and healthy.

White Mushroom & Meatball Pasta | ¥1,250 (Tax Included)

A vegan pasta with must-have meatballs covered in a lip-smacking tomato sauce. The pasta is made from rice flour.

Shiitake Patty & Shimeji Sauce Hamburger | ¥1,500 (Tax Included)

A vegan burger with a patty made from shiitake mushrooms and doused in an aromatic shimeji mushroom sauce. It’s served with hot hasselback potatoes which are seen in the cuisine of North Europe as well as cauliflower.

Five Mushroom Soy Potage | ¥510 (Tax Included)

A rich potage made from five varieties of mushroom including shiitake, eryngii, shimeji, and hen-of-the-wood. It has a full-bodied flavour and is nothing short of delicious.

​

Vegan Doughnut Holiday Cake | ¥600 (Tax Included)

A Christmas cake where you can pick two vegan doughnuts from a selection of flavours. It’s filled with soy cream which goes perfectly with the chewy rice flour doughnuts.

Christmas Set To Go

Christmas Set To Go: ¥2,200 (Tax Included) / Uber Eats: ¥2,600 (Tax Included)

A Christmas set that can be ordered to go or via Uber Eats. Perfect for get-togethers with friends and families.

BOTANIST Botanical Winter Coffret

BOTANIST Botanical Winter Coffret (Premium Hair Care Set) | ¥8,690 (Tax Included)

At BOTANIST Tokyo’s first floor shop, they have announced the release of a new hair care collection called BOTANIST Botanical Winter Coffret which will hit shelves on October 31, 2020.

BOTANIST Tokyo’s vegan winter menu will arrive on October 31, 2020 which is the final day of their vegan autumn menu. Check out their autumn food line-up here.

Ginza Cozy Corner released a new collection of Halloween confections on October 19.

JOYJOY Halloween Party (9 Included) | ¥2,400 (Before Tax) | Available: October 19, 2020 – October 31, 2020

The tasty line-up features a collection of playful ghouls and ghosts partying at a haunted house. Bites include an eyeball tart, orange-flavoured Jack-o’-lantern roll cake, and lots more. Plus, the box they come in can be cut out and used as a photo prop for snapping cute Halloween pictures.

Imp’s Trickster Mont Blanc | ¥580 (Before Tax) | Serving: October 19, 2020 – October 31, 2020

There’s also a colourful mont blanc layered with four different creams: strawberry, lemon, melon, and blueberry, and inside—a mouth-watering tangy orange sauce surprise.

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.

I have the perfect Halloween recipe for you this time. If we’re talking Halloween, then who else but Jack Skellington is the man for the job? Here’s my recipe to make Jack Skellington Stained Glass Cookies.

Ingredients

70g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar (or high quality white sugar if you don’t have)
A pinch of salt
30g egg
110g weak flour
10g black cocoa
1 white chocolate pen
Hard candy of your choice crushed into small pieces

*To crush the candy, you can put into a zip lock bag and use a rolling pin

1

Place all ingredients except the egg into a food processor and blitz. After, place the egg into the blitzed mix and blitz once again. Once combined, wrap with cling film and place into the refrigerator for 1+ hours until set.

2

Use a rolling pin to roll out circles of equal thickness for Jack’s head. Use a cutter to cut out the eyes, and place into the refrigerator one more to set.

3

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes and take out again.

4

Place your crushed candy into the eye holes and bake for a further 5 minutes.
*The candy will melt into place and even out, so feel free to pile on the pieces

*Be careful not to overcook the candy as it will turn brown

5

Allow to cool. Be very careful handling and placing down the cookies as the eyes will be delicate. Decorate Jack’s nose and mouth with the chocolate pen and he’s ready for your Halloween party!

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!

Asakusa welcomed the newest and third branch of matcha dessert specialist shop Kaminari Issa on October 2, 2020, which opened its doors along Dempoin Street. The shop is just a 3-minute walk from Asakusa Station and 2-minutes from Kaminarimon.

Signature delights on Kaminari Issa’s menu include the Okoicha Warabi Latte and Okoicha Gelato. Everything on the menu is made with rich, high quality matcha, from the matcha tea lattes to the matcha beer, parfaits, ice cream, dacquoise, and more. If you love matcha, and you’re in Tokyo, this place is a must-visit.

There are plenty of items to get your hands on in this newest store, which also has its own eat-in space, tea leaf display, and more.

They even sell kits so you can make your own Okoicha Warabi Latte and Wakocha Brown Sugar Warabi Latte at home.

Sanrio is once again collaborating with the EGG & SPUMA cafe located on the 8th floor of Shinjuku Lumine EST to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Ichigo Shimbun, a monthly magazine published by Sanrio which includes information about the latest character merchandise, the Sanrio Character Awards, and more. The limited-time cafe will run from November 1, 2020 to late January 2021.

Sanrio fans can expect a very special menu line-up of food, drinks, and desserts based on their favourite characters from the Sanrio roster.

There will in fact be two different menus served on separate occasions. The first menu will welcome a soufflé omelette topped with a potato salad Pochacco while the second will see an adorably pink My Melody cream stew.

There will also be an incredibly cute two-tiered afternoon tea set with desserts and savoury items.

For drinks, there is a Hello Kitty strawberry milk, Cinnamoroll milk, and milk caramel pudding Pompompurin.

© 2020 SANRIO CO., LTD. APPROVAL NO. L613344

And everyone who orders from the collaborative menu will receive one of eight possible coasters as thanks for visiting.

GRAPESTONE is releasing a new sweets collection at Disney SWEETS COLLECTION by Tokyo Banana, which is located in Tokyo Station, in collaboration with the Disney classic Fantasia. The confections will be released in limited quantities from October 30, 2020.

© Disney　Disney SWEETS COLLECTION by Tokyo Banana JR Tokyo Station

Disney SWEETS COLLECTION by Tokyo Banana opened on the JR Line side of Tokyo Station in November of last year. The shop is a joint-collaboration with Tokyo Banana—the official souvenir sweet of Tokyo—and Disney. The shop sold over 100,000 products in the first week of its opening, and caught the attention of Disney fans on social media who described the shop and the packaging of their sweets as cute.

Disney Fantasia Chocolate Sandwich (Contains 28) | ¥3,024 (Tax Included)

The cute packaging features Mickey Mouse as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the 1940 animated film Fantasia. The light and crunchy cat tongue cookies at filled with chocolate banana milk shake flavoured cream

The confections serve as the perfect gift or souvenir from Japan to yourself or any fan of Disney.

© Disney

Sanrio Puroland has announced that this year’s PURO RAINBOW CHRISTMAS event will run from November 13 to December 25. The theme for 2020 is “Rainbows,” and this time around, the event can be enjoyed both at the park and online.

Colourful and Kawaii Christmas Food

Sanrio Puroland will once again serve up a special Christmas menu of ten items, with iconic characters like Hello Kitty, My Melody and the Little Twin Stars wearing colourful Santa Claus hats.

Food includes dishes like “Hello Kitty’s Christmas Gift Curry” with Hello Kitty holding a Christmas present, the snow white “Rainbow Christmas☆Snow Omelette Pasta,” and more. There are also desserts such as “My Melody’s Pink Yule Log Cake” and “Pochacco’s Pistachio & Strawberry Tree Parfait.” The multi-coloured menu line-up takes up Christmas classics like chicken and snow.

Cute Rainbow Coloured Merchandise

Mascots | ¥1,650 Each (Tax Included)

A collection of different mascots from Sanrio Puroland each wearing colourful Santa outfits.

Confectionery Set | ¥1,080 (Tax Included)

An assortment of confections served in an eye-catching box featuring familiar Sanrio faces.

Christmas Illuminations – “Rainbow Santa’s Christmas Eve”

An exciting Christmas illumination show will take place at Puroland Village to the sound of Christmas-y Puroland music. Lights will brighten up the place with in a kaleidoscope of colours.

PURO RAINBOW CHRISTMAS Special Greeting

Visitors will be able to meet and take photos with the Sanrio characters in person for one whole minute. The cast will wear Christmas red outfits from November 13 to December 1 and change into white costumes from December 5. This will take place on the first floor Event Corner and will see Hello Kitty, My Melody, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, Wish me mell, and Dear Daniel make an appearance.  It will be carried out using social distancing measures.

Enjoy Puroland Christmas at Home

This year, Sanrio Puroland will stream past popular Christmas events held at the park on the Japanese video streaming site SHOWROOM on December 12. Shows include “HAPPY GIFT CHRISTMAS” from 2016, “The Puro Christmas” from 2019, and more.

Infinite Online Greetings

Sanrio Puroland launched online content back in June in response to COVID-19 which included getting to meet the characters online. They will host a special Christmas version on December 22 also on SHOWROOM where the characters will wear their white costumes from the Christmas show “The Puro Christmas.” Participating characters include Hello Kitty, My Melody, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, Little Twin Stars (Kiki & Lala), Wish me mell, and Dear Daniel.

©’13,’20 SANRIO　S/D・G　©’15,’20 SANRIO　S/T・F　©’15,’20 SANRIO　S/F・G　©’17,’20 SANRIO　MP,TX©’75,’76,’79,’84,’85,’86,’88,’89,’90,’92,’93,’96,’98,’99,’01,’04,’05,’10,’12,’20 SANRIO