Café Al Bicerin released a special collection of chocolates in Japan for Valentine’s Day on Wednesday (January 20) in collaboration with Hello Kitty.

Café Al Bicerin is a cafe in Torio, Italy, that first opened back in 1763. It has a long history and is a place that was enjoyed by the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ernest Hemingway.

Bicerin × Hello Kitty Love Assortment | ¥2,160 (Tax Included)

Bicerin × Hello Kitty Love Assortment | ¥2,160 (Tax Included)

Valentine’s Baci di Dama (Includes 5) | ¥1,350 (Tax Included)

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McDonald’s Japan is teaming up with Nestlé next week to bring back last years’ customer-favourite McFluffy® KitKat® for a limited time starting on January 27.

McFlurry KitKat | ¥290

The delicious dessert combines McDonald’s tasty soft service ice cream with crushed KitKat and finishes it with a drizzle of special sauce made with couverture chocolate. Mix everything together for pure chocolatey heaven goodness.

McFlurry Oreo | ¥290

McDonald’s Japan also serves the McFlurry Oreo, a regular item on the menu, and right now is the only time you can enjoy comparing the tastes and textures between both the Oreo and KitKat McFlurries.

Which one has you drooling more?

Japanese sweets and dessert brand KAKERI opened pre-orders for its new luxury chocolate “Nihonshu Gateau Chocolat” on Monday (January 18) which is made in collaboration with Inami Shuzo, a distillery based in Miki, Hyogo, a city known for a type of rice called Yamada Nishiki. Pre-order opened exclusively on Makuake.

Daigin Koshu – Bronze Award winner in the Sake category at IWC2020

Inami Shuzo

The chocolate is infused with Daigin Koshu, a sake made by Inami Shuzo which won a Bronze award at the International Wine Challenge for Japanese Sake in 2020. The chocolate is also best paired with a cup of strong sake too. Online orders are shipped in freezer refrigeration and can be eaten frozen too, giving it an ice cake-like texture. If left to defrost in the fridge, the taste and fragrance of the infused sake increases, so sake-lovers can pick how they best want to enjoy their gateau treat.

What makes this chocolate so special is that it enjoys the combination of ingredients and a workforce all from the city of Miki where the distiller is located. The sake is made with a rice called Yamada Nishiki which is grown in Miki and is famous for being used to make sake. The consumption amount of this rice has decreased as a result of the pandemic and so the chocolate was developed to help spread word of the rice and ensure it doesn’t go to waste.

CHAVATY, a cafe in Harajuku that serves tea lattes made with high quality tea leaves, is getting ready for Valentine’s Day early with the release of some tasty new desserts which they began serving up on Thursday (January 14).

Valentine’s Set | ¥1,100 (Before Tax)

Valentine’s Scone Set (6 Included) | ¥2,480 (Tax Included)

Raspberry Chocolate | ¥970 (Tax Included)

The Valentine’s Set comes with a cute scone as well as fondant chocolate made with rich, high-grade chocolate from the French chocolate brand Cacao Barry. It also comes with a tea latte of your choice. There’s also a scone set which comes with two each of three different scones for a total of six including the Berry & Cocoa Pink Chocolate, Orange & Chocolate Chip Double Chocolate, and Dried Fruits & Nuts White Chocolate. CHAVATY has also made their own seasonal homemade spread: the Raspberry Chocolate.

Tokyo Banana World recently added its special Dengeki Box (Electric Box) of Pikachu Tokyo Banana confections to its official website which is available to order in Japan until January 30, 2021 at 17:00 (JST).

Tokyo Banana is Tokyo’s official souvenir sweets brand and it launched its new Pokémon Tokyo Banana series of confections in November last year with the first catch being Pikachu. It subsequently added Eevee to the collection in December. The Pikachu confections are also available to buy at Tokyo Station.

Pikachu Tokyo Banana – Dengeki Box | Box of 12 Packs (24 Confections) | ¥3,456 (Tax Included)

The limited-time addition of the Dengeki Box to Tokyo Banana’s official website means that anyone in Japan can get a taste of the electrifyingly delicious sweet fluffy custard-filled sponge cakes without having to travel to Tokyo.

Waiting inside the Dengeki Box are 12 packages each with two cakes in and each in one of six different Pikachu designs to greet hungry Trainers, all of which are positively kawaii. The box itself also features these adorable illustrations.

Left: Front of Box | Right: Back of Box

The box even has a handle attached to it so you can reuse it after to store all your bits and bobs.

©2021 Pokémon. ©1995-2021 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..

Asakusa-based ‘aromatic raw chocolate’ brand MAISON CACAO created a new gin-flavoured white chocolate for Dean & DeLuca which was released in Japan on January 15, 2021.

The “Aroma Raw Chocolate (Gin)” keeps the original flavour of the white chocolate and infuses with a craft gin known as “COMMON” by Toranomon Joryusho.

Aroma Raw Chocolate GIN FOR DEAN & DELUCA | ¥2,592 (Tax Included)

​One bite into a piece of this artisanal chocolate fills the mouth with a tang of subtly fruity chocolate. Then comes the refreshing taste of the gin which complements the sweetness and adds sophistication to the chocolate in an exquisite balance of flavours.

 COMMON gin is fruity and clear

COMMON craft gin has a ‘botanical’ flavour. Its base is a shochu made on the islands of Hachijō-jima and Nii-jima. It also contains soft water taken from Okutama Sawai.

“It has a faint fruity taste that combines with the flavour of the cacao, and he used really delicious white chocolate,” explains Shingo Ishihara of MAISON CACAO who helped in the chocolate’s development. “I hope people indulge in its enjoyable melt-in-the-mouth texture.”

Bandai’s character-inspired Japanese confectionery series Tabemas is releasing two new traditional Japanese wagashi confections inspired by the Peanuts comic series. Snoopy and Charlie Brown will arrive at Lawson convenience stores across Japan on January 19, 2021.

Tabemas Snoopy | ¥264 Each (Before Tax)

The cute confections capture the little details of the iconic characters, from Snoopy’s doggo features and collar to Charlie Brown’s hair and shirt. The Snoopy confection is filled with chocolate bean paste—a nod to his favourite chocolate chip cookies—while Charlie Brown is filled with custard bean paste as a nod to his trademark shirt. The packaging features exclusive art drawn for the Peanuts comic’s 70th anniversary with Snoopy atop his dog house.

© 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC

Eggs ‘n Things is set to serve up a special limited-time Valentine’s menu in Japan from January 16 to February 28 including the Torokeru Fondant Chocolate Pancakes and Strawberry & Banana Chocolate French Toast.

Valentine’s Menu

Torokeru Fondant Chocolate Pancakes | Eat In ¥1,480 (Before Tax)

Torokeru Fondant Chocolate Pancakes | Takeout ¥1,080 (Before Tax)

Strawberry & Banana Chocolate French Toast | Eat In ¥1,380 (Before Tax)

Strawberry & Banana Chocolate French Toast | Takeout ¥980 (Before Tax)

Valentine’s Drinks

Strawberry White Mocha | Hot or Iced ¥680 (Before Tax)

Hawaiian Cafe Mocha | Hot or Iced ¥580 (Before Tax)

This lovingly-prepared chocolate and fruit-loaded line-up is sure to get the butterflies stirring hungrily for this year Valentine’s.

The popular wine bar Dick Bruna TABLE, where customers can enjoy a glass of wine with a meal together with illustrations by Dick Bruna, the creator of Miffy, is now selling a batch of Miffy cookies created by the popular confectionery Theo Blom located in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Miffy Cookies & Chocolate | ¥4,000 (Before Tax)

Miffy Cookies | ¥4,000 (Before Tax)

Utrecht is the birthplace of Miffy author and creator Dick Bruna, and Theo Blom is a place that Bruna himself actually often visited. The confectionery is known for its tins which can be reused after the contents are eaten. The cute Miffy tins are definitely keepers.

McDonald’s Japan is bringing back its popular Belgian Chocolate Pie from last year and is also introducing a new Crème Brûlée Pie, both of which will hit the menu at all McDonald’s branches from January 13 for a limited time.

Crème Brûlée Pie | ¥150 (Before Tax)

Belgian Chocolate Pie | ¥150 (Before Tax)

The hot pies are filled with deliciously sweet cream and are a perfect, cosy treat during the cold weather.

Nana’s Green Tea is serving up a brand-new dessert in collaboration with Häagen-Dazs for Valentine’s Day at 77 branches in Japan. The dessert was released on January 6 and will be available up to February 14.

Matcha Chocolate Glass with Häagen-Dazs | ¥880 (Before Tax)

The dessert is a tempting sight to behold – not only is it delicious but visually appealing to the eye too, and layered with various textures so that every bite is a surprise.

The dessert is made with Häagen-Dazs’ “Sweet Chocolate” ice cream coupled with Nana’s Green Tea’s own original matcha ice cream, soft and crunchy meringue sticks, crumbled cookies, white chocolate whipped cream, and matcha chiffon cake. Sat at the bottom waiting to be discovered is a sweet strawberry sauce for a tangy kick.

Lagunasia, a theme park managed by Laguna Ten Bosch, has announced an event in collaboration with the TV anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba which will run from March 6 to June 5.

©Koyoharu Gotouge / Shueisha・Aniplex・ufotable

©Koyoharu Gotouge / Shueisha・Aniplex・ufotable

The event will feature an immersive attraction called “Trial of Recollection: Tanjiro’s Journey” as well as a rally event to hunt down all the stickers around the theme park, a Demon Slayer themed menu line-up, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Further details will be announced in the coming months.