The popular three-member unit LazuLight from NIJISANJI EN celebrated its first anniversary on May 12, 2022, and both fans in Japan and abroad can order some new celebratory merchandise through May 31, 2022!

The adorable items feature newly-drawn illustrations of Elira Pendora, Pomu Rainpuff, and Finana Ryugu. They are now available at the NIJISANJI Official Store in Japan and the NIJISANJI EN Official Store for international customers.

Lineup

Acrylic Stand

Clear Folders (Set of 3)

Streamer Design T-shirt

Pin (Random)

Snapshot Card (Random)

Finger Puppet

Goods available include acrylic stands, clear folders, pins, T-shirts, snapshot cards, and finger puppets.

Be sure to celebrate the girls’ first anniversary with an adorable addition to your shelf!

Anique has opened an online exhibition to celebrate the release of the animated film Bubble until June 30, 2022! The event is also offering limited-edition merchandise.

Merchandise Lineup

Acrylic Stand Diorama

Pin Set

Postcard Set

Clear Folder

Mug

Purchase Bonus: Round Stickers

The exhibition will serve as a deep dive into the world of Bubble, focusing on four categories: story, worldview, characters, and artwork.

Guests can enjoy browsing images from the film, and can also see valuable creation materials like storyboards and original sketches.

Jun Shison, who voices Hibiki in the film, contributed comments to the exhibition, along with director Tetsuro Araki.

Merchandise is also available to buy now! These items can only be found at this exhibition, so order while you can.

Have you watched Bubble on Netflix yet?

©2022「バブル」製作委員会

Lifestyle brand BAYFLOW has launched a triple collaboration collection! Stores nationwide are now selling items created by the popular South Korean idol group BTS, headwear and fashion brand New Era, and the MLB, the world’s premier professional baseball league.

Dynamite 

Butter

Black Swan 

The designs in this collection incorporate the coloring and artwork found on the covers of the BTS singles Black Swan, Dynamite, and Butter, with the MLB logo. Fans can grab baseball caps, bucket hats, and t-shirts inspired by each song.

BAYFLOW began selling these new items in stores nationwide starting May 13, 2022. In addition, two New Era pop-up shops are open for a limited time at BAYFLOW Kichijoji and AEON Mall Kawaguchi!

A Tokyo Revengers collaboration cafe will open for a limited time at Live Cafe Mixa located in the Mixalive TOKYO entertainment complex in Ikebukuro. Fans can enjoy a menu filled with items themed after popular characters from June 1 until June 18, 2022.

Menu

Just like the inside of Pah-chin’s head?! Crispy Pie

Massive Teriyaki Burger

If You’re Hungry, Just Eat Fried Rice

My Favorite Machine (Mikey)

My Favorite Machine (Mitsuya)

Mikey

Baji

The popular manga series Tokyo Revengers began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2017 and has sold over 50 million copies. The event, titled “Tokyo Revengers Formation Eve Rally,” will be held to celebrate the series’ anniversary. The venue will feature new visuals of the founding gang members, and original menu items based on each character will only be available here.


Live Cafe Mixa has collaborated with other popular series in the past such as Attack on Titan and A Couple of Cuckoos, making a huge splash on social media.

Enjoy plenty of dishes based on your favorite character!

©和久井健・講談社／アニメ「東京リベンジャーズ」製作委員会

Folk Kitchen, a restaurant on the second floor of Hilton Osaka, will hold the Sanrio Characters Sweets Buffet ~Joyful Summer Festival~ from May 20 until September 11, 2022. The event is being held to celebrate Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, and Pochakko coming in first, second, and third in the Sanrio Character Awards. A lineup of 25 different sweets will be available, including those filled with summer fruits like mango, peach, and watermelon! In addition, a “Zero Leftovers Campaign” will be implemented–so be sure to clear your plate!

Happy Festival Heart Mousse

Joyful Pink Cake / Lime & Raspberry

Fluffy and Crunchy Mango Pavlova

Decorated with chocolate and adorable character designs, the Happy Festival Heart Mousse is a scrumptious dish blending the flavor of banana, caramel, and rum. The Joyful Pink Cake will be a smash-hit with Sanrio lovers, featuring the soft taste of white mousse and raspberry compote with a fresh lime flavor. Tons of other original sweets will be available, including everything from gingerbread to orange tarts.

Visitors can also find plenty of vegan sweets. Summer Blue Sky Jello features contrasting colors of pineapple pulp and soymilk cream that look like clouds floating against a summer sky. Be sure to try the Almond & Watermelon Jello and Grapefruit and Lychee Jello too!

Animate Cafe, known for collaborating with a number of popular anime and game series, will be offering menu items and goods inspired by the new series Fanfare of Adolescence at DECOTTO by Animate Cafe from May 18 until June 13, 2022.

Menu

CHOCOTTO DECOTTO

Wafer Cakes are available in eight different designs, each featuring a different character!

CECOTTO COOKIE

For an additional ¥800, guests can buy a CoLotta with the same pattern as a DECOTTO COOKIE.

Merchandise

Acrylic Stand

Shopping Bag

Square Pins

CoLotta Acrylic Plate Keychains

At the collaboration cafe, guests can enjoy donuts inspired by popular characters and original merchandise only available on site. These goods feature original illustrations, so don’t miss out!

(Ｃ) Fanfare Anime Project

The first PEANUTS Cafe is now open in Osaka! Snoopy fans should head to LaLaport EXPOCITY in Suita, Osaka, to enjoy some tasty themed treats. The PEANUTS Cafe online store has also started selling exclusive merchandise.

Menu

Delivery Box

Pizza

Pancake

School Bus

グッズ

PEANUTS Cafe Plate

Bamboo Plates with Coloring Book (Limited to 100 Sets)

Crayons with Vegetable-based Coloring

Dining scenes are often shown in the PEANUTS comic strip. This new cafe in Osaka focuses on the theme of ‘mealtime,’ the time of day that Snoopy loves the most.

Taking advantage of its location next to Expo ‘70 Commemorative Park, the area is surrounded by colorful flowers and greenery. The menu offers more health-conscious selections filled with veggies and fruits, and a special takeout menu is perfect for a picnic in the park.

In the PEANUTS comic strip, school buses always appear on the way to and from school and at certain events. A school bus exclusive to PEANUTS Cafe Osaka will welcome guests, hoping to immerse them in the world of Snoopy and his friends. Visitors can enjoy taking pictures with exclusive art as they take in the sight of a real school bus from the United States.

The cafe offers a variety of tableware to make everyday dining more enjoyable, along with souvenir sweets. Certain items are only available at the Osaka location, so be sure to visit! 

© 2022 Peanuts Worldwide LLC　

Nara-based tea ceremony brand Saron is serving up a tasty treat perfect for the warm weather! White shaved ice with dark matcha topping is now available until mid-September, and guests are invited to adjust the taste by altering the amount of tea added.

Lately, Nara has been experiencing a major shaved ice boom. Inspired by Himuro Shrine, known for housing a guardian deity of ice, the city introduces plenty of created recipes for the summer treats each year. The tea ceremony brand Saron was founded by Nakagawa Masashichi Shouten, in business since the Edo period–so it’s safe to say that the company knows what they’re talking about!

Guests can enjoy shaved ice made from pure Yamato ice, which is frozen for 72 hours, gently shaved, and topped with Nara’s Kasiya sweet bean paste, shiratama, agar, and condensed milk that has been boiled for four hours. 

To finish off this luxurious dish, guests can add koicha, a thick matcha tea with concentrated flavor and incredible sweetness and depth. Polished twice as much as typical matcha, this is a taste you’ll never forget.

Why not come enjoy this traditional Japanese sweet this summer?

Japanese apparel brand Graniph has revealed two collaborative t-shirts inspired by the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film! The items are available at the Graniph online store and in select Graniph locations in Japan.

Lineup

‘Superhero’ T-shirt

‘Fusion’ T-shirt

The Dragon Ball Super film series has been a huge hit worldwide. The first film, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, was released in 2018. The upcoming film features a completely new story, in which the Red Ribbon Army is reformed and threatening the world yet again. Can our favorite fighters stop the bad guys before they unveil the ultimate evil weapon? Be sure to check out the film when it releases in June, and grab one of these t-shirts to wear to the theater!

ⓒバード・スタジオ／集英社
ⓒ「２０２２ ドラゴンボール超」製作委員会

Trilingual Gen-Z singer ASA Wu is a rising star. The artist has roots in Taiwan and Japan, and the gap between her powerful voice and cute baby face is attracting attention from both the music industry and other creative fields. Since the release of her debut song Bloomer in April 2021, she has continued to gain momentum, debuting her first EP omen alongside the music video for MO-MO, a sexy electronic dance hit making waves worldwide.

ASA Wu’s highly-anticipated new single Uncolor was released on April 8, 2022, and is currently being featured as a part of the Artiswitch anime project. Artiswitch, a collaborative anime series made by SUNRISE (Mobile Suit Gundam, Love Live!) and ASOBISYSTEM, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s agency, premiered on YouTube on May 28, 2021. The series brings together a wide range of content pulling from fashion, art, and music trends, especially those found in Harajuku.

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON recently sat down with Asa Wu to chat about her career, her charm, and to get a closer look at her true self. 

The Artist’s Early Interest in Music

“I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I’d sing at home and put on shows by myself. When we’d sit down for dinner, I’d tell my parents I was going to put on a dinner show. When I lived in Taiwan, before I’d go to bed, I’d ask my grandma to listen to me. But honestly, the praise I got didn’t mean much to me as a little girl. I knew a lot of kids who would do their best to help around the house just to get praise, but for me? I just wanted to make everyone happy by singing.” ―ASA WU

ASA Wu’s journey into the world of music began early in her childhood. As a young girl, she was overjoyed to see her family enjoying her singing, inspiring her to chase a music career. Her family remains her primary motivation to this day. Her voice has a warm quality to it, and it’s clear when speaking to ASA Wu that singing comes naturally to her.

Music and ASA Wu

“This might be cliche, but if I had to describe music to myself, I’d say “NO MUSIC, NO LIFE.” It’s like, when I’m sad or stressed, what do I do? Everyone has their own ways to clear their mind or destress, but for me, it’s only music. Music is easy–it can instantly change your mood. It can make you feel happy, it can motivate you. Just listening is such a simple thing to do, but it can really change your behavior and your actions. That’s what I aim to do for people with my music.”

―ASA WU

For ASA Wu, music is akin to life itself. No matter what troubles or challenges life brings, music is there. Music can conquer stress and offer clarity when her emotions are muddled. When writing lyrics, the singer defaults to taking an emotional approach, drawing inspiration from characters in the stories she writes in her head, or from the life lessons she writes in her notebook each day. Through her music, Wu wants to share feelings that people may have never been able to express before. Just as music has supported her, she only wants her music to support others.

Uncolor Music Video

About the New Track, Uncolor

During the songwriting process for her new track Uncolor, Wu decided to express a world in which darkness and light coexist, utilizing an already-created story and beat. The singer says that her favorite lines in the song are “Feeling Sad, you were in that lonely-colored sky,” and “No matter the color, I can’t see the Night Sky.” When asked why, the singer responded candidly. 

“The sky at night may look black, but depending on the state of a person’s mind, it could really look like any color. I just put that thought into words. In the lyrics, I also included the phrase “my friends,” because I wanted to reach out to everyone on earth. We’re all friends.”

During the recording, Wu was conscious of how she could share her feelings through her singing voice. The thought inspired her to darken the room in the hopes that her song could add color to it.

Uncolor is a collaboration between ASA Wu and NANCY SNAKE, an illustrator known for her psychedelic pop worldview that combines realism and romanticism. The collab was made for the ongoing Artiswitch project. 

For ASA Wu, collaboration is a means of discovery, where each artist’s individual colors overlap to create something completely new. She also sees it as an encounter with another self–someone new, born from working with another person. Expectations are high for Wu going forward after seeing how much progress she has made as an artist already.

“I hope that I can convey with my voice what I want to convey with my music, and what I feel like so many of my listeners also want to convey to the world,” the singer said to those who have listened to her songs.

“When I read messages from fans, I really try to understand what they’re thinking. I often empathize with their emotions, and I want to put those emotions into my music,” Wu says. “I want people to hear my songs and think “wow, I’m so glad ASA sang this!” I hope to become an artist worthy of all of this praise, and I want people to be glad that they supported me. Look forward to what’s coming next!” The artist finished the interview with a wide smile. 

ASA Wu has already inspired an army of fans with her Gen-Z outlook, warm vocals, and one-of-a-kind sound. Try taking a deep breath while listening to her new song Uncolor. Maybe there’s a message in there for you.

TEXT: Natalie（MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON）

ASA Wu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asawurarara/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCodMTlxqMqMr4_EGGY3ilYw

Do you remember reading The Hungry Caterpillar as a kid? If you want to relive those simpler times, a new Eric Carle concept room is now available to reserve at Futako Tamagawa Excel Hotel Tokyu! The room is opening in conjunction with the opening of Japan’s first indoor playground ‘PLAY! PARK ERIC CARLE,’ located on the 8th floor of Futako Tamagawa Rise. 

A safe ‘Kids Space,’ where children can play with bare feet against the backdrop of the Tama River and Mount Fuji

Parents and children alike will fall in love with this incredible guest room fully decorated in Eric Carle’s original designs. The bright and open space features an incredible view of the Tama River and Mount Fuji, and kids can enjoy their own play space complete with artificial grass. 

Souveniers for guests to take home in an original bag. *Contents will be changed periodically.

The Eric Carle room includes plenty of items for children to see, touch, and enjoy. The plan includes tickets to the new ‘PLAY! PARK ERIC CARLE’ indoor playground, along with special souvenirs to bring home!

The Hungry Caterpillar Plate: ¥2,800 (Tax Included)

Pancakes, Pancakes!: ¥1,800 (Tax Included)

The hotel’s restaurant is currently offering a collaboration menu. The 30th Dining Bar, located on the 30th floor of the hotel, will offer a Chicken Galantine Set featuring The Hungry Caterpillar, along with a dessert menu featuring a pancake set inspired by Carle’s book Pancakes! Pancakes!

© 2022 Penguin Random House LLC. ERIC CARLE, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, THE WORLD OF ERIC CARLE logo, the Caterpillar logo and related designs, logos, and names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is published by Penguin Random House LLC.

Gelato Pique Cafe is now selling panda-inspired sweets for a limited time! The Hello! PANDA promotion will be going on until June 23, 2022.

Menu

Panda Crepe

Panda Gelato

Panda Float

Merchandise

Panda Glass

*Limited quantities available. Available while supplies last.

The limited-time menu includes a Panda Crepe made with Royal Bourbon gelato, Panda Gelato with cookies crumbles for the eyes and around the neck, and a Panda Float made with the cafe’s original blend of Guatemalan coffee and Royal Bourbon gelato.

In addition, the popular panda glasses, which sold out immediately last year, have been redesigned and are now available in limited quantities. You can grab one at Gelato Pique Cafe locations nationwide and online.