HARAJUKU COLLECTION, a Studio Ghibli-inspired apparel collection by popular American counterculture chain Hot Topic, is offering licensed Ghibli goods for fans in the U.S. and Canada. The collection opened its online store for those in Japan on August 10, and a limited time pop-up store has been opened in Harajuku to celebrate the release of this incredible apparel!

Japan Original Items

American Original Items

The store has a colorful exterior that shows Totoro and the Susuwatari playing together. Once inside, guests will be greeted by a massive rainbow Totoro! The shop blends the world of Ghibli with the style of Harajuku.

“If there were colorful and kawaii mushrooms in Totoro’s forest, and if it rained acorns one day, maybe he’d need a mushroom umbrella!” This colorful Totoro was inspired by this adorable thought.

The walls are decorated with artwork drawn by the creators of the original Japanese items, and guests are able to see and purchase the products in this special space. Why not visit?

© 1988 Studio Ghibli
© 1989 Eiko Kadono – Studio Ghibli – N
© 1997 Studio Ghibli – ND
© 2001 Studio Ghibli – NDDTM
© 2004 Studio Ghibli – NDDMT

Halloween is on the way, and the Hyatt Centric Kanazawa hotel is prepping some spooky sweets to celebrate! From October 1 until October 31, a Monster Halloween Cake Set will be available at the hotel’s restaurant FIVE – Grill and Lounge. Guests can also enjoy a Halloween lunch and dinner menu featuring a chic menu filled with black, red, and purple dishes. Visitors who come in costume will gain access to some special offers as well!

Halloween Lunch / Dinner Course

Poached Eggs with Black Chaudfroid Sauce

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Beet Variation

The courses were inspired by an adult Halloween party and will be available for four days only. Each dish contains colors perfect for the season, like haunting black and bloody red punctuated with a purple-tinted memory of moonlight. While the dishes may look strange, they are made with the finest ingredients. 

Monster Halloween Cake Set

Witch’s Mont Blanc Pudding

Mummy Macaron

Denture Parfait

Jack-o’-Lantern Cream Puff

Frankenstein Brownie

Gyuhi Ghost

Spider Web Mousse

GO FOR KOGEI 2022 Collaboration 5×5 Cake Set

A special cake set featuring everything from Frankenstein to spider webs will get you in the Halloween mood. The lineup includes Witch’s Mont Blanc Pudding topped with purple sweet potato cream, and the adorable Jack-o’-Lantern cream puff filled with–you guessed it–pumpkin cream. Come enjoy some other playful treats like the Mummy Macaron filled with apricot and the Denture Parfait with berries and marshmallows. On weekdays from October 3 until October 21, the cakes will be served on a special Kutani ware in collaboration with GO FOR KOGEI 2022. This 5×5 set will be limited to five servings per day. Kutani ware is a style of traditional Japanese porcelain found in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Halloween Cocktail

This year’s Halloween cocktail is the rock-themed Back in Black. With a tequila base, you’re sure to have some extra fun after downing this classy beverage. 

Come enjoy some spooky and cute Halloween sweets while you can!

Last year, Chiikawa Land, the first official Chiikawa shop, opened at the Harajuku and Osaka Umeda branches of KIDDYLAND. Both locations will celebrate the 1st anniversary of the shop’s opening with a special fair on August 5, 2022.

Chiikawa is a popular character first revealed by Japanese illustrator Nagano on Twitter. In December 2020, the official online store Chiikawa Market opened, and Nagano released a book compiling the manga panels they drew and posted on Twitter. The characters have become massively popular, with the artist’s social media accounts racking up over 1.1 million followers. From collaboration cafes and exhibitions to a recent anime series, the sky’s the limit for these adorable characters!

Purchase Bonus

「Holographic Sticker (Not for Sale) *Designs will differ between the Harajuku and Osaka Umeda locations.

Holographic Pin (Not for Sale) / For guests spending ¥3,300 or more (including tax)

Picnic Blanket (Not for Sale) / For guests spending ¥5,500 or more (including tax)

Mug (Not for Sale) / For guests spending ¥8,800 or more (including tax)

Limited Edition Chiikawa Land Harajuku x Marion Crepes Collab

Limited Edition Chiikawa Land Harajuku x Marion Crepes Goods

Chiikawa Land Osaka Umeda Limited Edition Goods

Both the Harajuku and Osaka Chiikawa Land locations are visited by fans each day, and each store has developed unique products to celebrate the first anniversary.

The Chiikawa Land Harajuku location will offer products in collaboration with Marion Crepes, while the Osaka Umeda location will sell limited edition products featuring the characters in cute traditional costumes. Special bonuses will also be handed out to guests spending particular amounts, so why not come out and grab some new goods?

©nagano / chiikawa committee

Reebok has appointed a number of popular artists in Japan and abroad to take part in their new campaign titled ‘Life is Not a Spectator Sport -Move, Move!-’ This collaboration started in March 2022.

As a part of this collaboration, Reebok is teaming up with the manga series Eren the Southpaw. Kappa’s popular ensemble drama highlights a number of creators, and has a very poignant tagline: “To all those who couldn’t become geniuses.” Reebok’s brand message matches this and is meant to be a manifesto for life, telling people to never give up, act on their own convictions, and find their own path. 

Reebok Classic Store – Harajuku Interior

Stickers / Pins

Original Scene from Eren the Southpaw 

To commemorate the release of Reebok’s flagship model INSTAPUMP FURY 95 in Sax Blue, a huge piece of window art was redrawn by Kappi. The artist also provided an original manga featuring an entirely new story. Fans can find this at the Reebok Classic Store Harajuku and on the official Reebok Twitter page. The Reebok stores in Harajuku and Shibuya have also been completely taken over by Eren the Southpaw, completely decorated from top to bottom in images from the series. 

From August 18 until November 3, visitors to the Hilton in Nagoya will be able to enjoy a special autumn buffet featuring the popular Sanrio characters Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, and Hello Kitty. 

These three characters are some of Sanrio’s most loved. Kuromi is the self-proclaimed rival of My Melody, while the fluffy Cinnamoroll won first place in this year’s Sanrio Character Awards. Hello Kitty has been beloved by audiences worldwide for decades, and her iconic ribbon really shines in this buffet collaboration. Themed around an autumn harvest festival in a dark forest, the event includes 27 varieties of sweets and seven savory items. From sweet potatoes and pumpkins to chestnuts and apples, guests will be able to taste the fall season!

Kuromi’s Dark Forest Cake

Autumn Cinnamoroll Cake

Hello Kitty’s Ribbon Cake

Crazy Mushrooms / Praline and Gianduja Truffles / Tonka Bean & Chocolate Caneles

Kuromi’s Dark Forest Cake is a traditional German black forest cake featuring decorations inspired by the character’s black hood and a pink skull. The Autumn Cinnamoroll Cake is made with rice flour and is inspired by the adorable puppy’s fluffy appearance. Hello Kitty’s Ribbon Cake is topped with apple compote simmered with strawberries and red wine. 

At the popular Live Station, guests can also enjoy an artistic performance by the chef himself. Visitors can also find and harvest their own Crazy Mushrooms and Truffles. 

Kuromi’s Autumn Soup

Pumpkin Mont Blanc

Hello Kitty’s Apple

Pastry Chef Mamoru Watanabe’s specialty autumn sweets and Sanrio Characters-inspired goodies will invite you into a cute and dark forest world. Kuromi’s Autumn Soup is made with Japanese chestnuts and chicken consomme poured over panna cotta made with purple sweet potatoes. The Pumpkin Mont Blanc includes four layers of milk chocolate cream, chocolate crumble, pistachio cream, and pumpkin Mont Blanc cream.

Praline Paris-Brest

Hojicha Basque Cheesecake

Green Tea Tiramisu

Come enjoy the taste of autumn with your favorite Sanrio characters!

© ’22 SANRIO CO., LTD. APPR. NO. L632215

Kawagoe Prince Hotel, located in an Edo-period castle town in northwest Tokyo, will begin offering a special afternoon tea set starting July 1, 2022. Inspired by the Japanese folktale Momotaro, the summer fruit-filled tower of treats will be available until August 31, 2022.

Top Plate

Middle Plate

Bottom Plate

Savory

The top plate of the three-tiered set features tasty peach and cheese mousse, peach meringue, macadamia nut chocolate, and Kibi Dango put together to resemble the hero of the story, Momotaro. On the middle tier, visitors will find sweets inspired by the many animals found in the story, from the monkey and dog to the pheasants. Guests can enjoy many summer fruits including mango and kiwi. 

Those who come to the store in a yukata (summer kimono) and follow the official Kawagoe Prince Hotel Instagram will receive a special fruit platter.

Come enjoy the world of Momotaro as you wander around this historical Japanese town!

KAWAII LAB. is a project spearheaded by ASOBISYSTEM with the aim of introducing the world to popular Japanese idol culture. The idol group IDOLATER was born from this idea, and in April, the girls welcomed two new members, transforming it into a fresh new 5-member group. Announced at the group’s solo concert ‘New IDOLATER’ on April 24, Fuuka Oishi and Ririka Satsuki joined the lineup consisting of Ayu Okuda, Kurumi Tsukishiro, and Yukino Fushiki.

A typical idol group is peppy and filled with energy, but IDOLATER is doing things a little differently. What is their appeal? How do they want to shake things up? 

A Group Formed by Finalists from ASOBISYSTEM’s First National Audition

IDOLATER debuted in April 2019. In the spring of 2018, ASOBISYSTEM, the management company behind Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and a number of other popular talents, announced its first large-scale nationwide audition, ASOBISYSTEM THE AUDITION 2018. IDOLATER’s history began with five audition finalists–Fushiki, Okuda, Tsukishiro, and two others. The catchphrase for the audition was fitting for the group: “Seeking the next generation of talents to shape Japanese pop culture and share it with the world.”

IDOLATER Welcomes Solo Singer Ririka Satsuki & Model Fuuka Oishi

Following the departure of two members and intense restrictions imposed on the group’s activities due to the pandemic, IDOLATER continued to operate with only three members. Although they didn’t manage to get a ton of media coverage or appeal in large-scale events, the group continued to pull in new fans and gain recognition in the idol community. After a while, Fuuka Oishi and Ririka Satsuki joined the group, giving a much-needed boost to IDOLATER’s activities and energy.

Ririka Satsuki is a solo artist based in Fukuoka with an incredible husky voice. Fuuka Oishi has previously worked as a model and is popular with creators for her sweet yet listless atmosphere. Despite their incredible confidence, this is the first time either has worked as an idol!

IDOLATER and the Concept of ‘Idols’ 

The word ‘idol’ can conjure plenty of images to mind, but what does the word mean to the members of IDOLATER?

The group’s music blends together elements of city pop, future funk, and house, while still keeping true to traditional J-pop roots. The familiarity of their music makes it easy to approach, and Yukino Fushiki’s powerful voice alongside Ririka Satsuki’s melodies shower fans with some of the best vocals in the idol world. 

The group’s choreography is provided by YU-KA, formerly of TEMPURA KIDZ. Her experience as both a dancer and an idol makes her an asset, and her refreshing moves are a highlight of each IDOLATER show.

A former pattern maker for a Japanese fashion brand designed the group’s costumes. 

If this sounds like the idol group for you, come and check out an IDOLATER event to see the girl’s incredible appeal for yourself.

On June 19, IDOLATER will hold their second regular performance, ‘Camel,’ at Ebisu CreATO. (The title of the show was chosen because it sounded fun, not for any other specific reason.)

Stay tuned for the next report, where we’ll delve a little deeper into the life of each member of IDOLATER!

FRUITS ZIPPER is a group quickly rising to stardom, debuted from “KAWAII LAB.” KAWAII LAB is a new project to introduce Japanese idol culture from “Harajuku”, a fashion town where various cultures and personalities gather, to the world. Members of the group include Amane Tsukihashi, Suzuka Chinzei, Yui Sakurai, Runa Nakagawa, Manaka Mana, Karen Matsumoto, and Noel Hayase.

Even before their debut, the group garnered attention for their breathtaking visuals. Their performances are so powerful, you would never expect such refined skill from such an adorable aesthetic, which is known to captivate the hearts of their fans. The group is produced by Misa Kimura, a model and TV personality who is also the general producer of “KAWAII LAB. She will utilize her experience and creativity as the leader of the idol group “Musubizm” to introduce idol culture to the world.

Expressing FRUITS ZIPPER’s world through collaborations with creators

Furthermore, even before their debut, the group drew a lot of attention because of their collaborations with many different renowned creators. Among the collaborations includes the artist photos created by video director/art director/3DCG artist YUKARI. She uses a cutting-edge trend of CG-moving techniques, in addition to still-images. The mysterious colors of bright light that embraces the girls are definitely eye-catching.

Catchy and cute choreography of FRUITS ZIPPER

@fruits_zipper ハートハート #わたしの一番かわいいところ ♬ わたしの一番かわいいところ – FRUITS ZIPPER

Followed by the debut song “Kimino Akaruimiraiwo Oikakete,” a song with a positive message for the future, “Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro,” with its cute choreography and lyrics, won the hearts of people and was selected as one of the “TikTok Hot Songs in Japan” and charted on the Billboard. More than 13,000 videos using ”Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro” have been posted on TikTok with the hashtag “#わたしの一番かわいいところ (Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro).” The long-awaited third single “Kanpeki Syugide☆”, which was released on May 20, is an energetic tune created by music producer Manaka Suzuki.

Performances that reach into people’s hearts and minds

A pop-culture event presented by Asobisystem “ASOBE!!,” was held at Spotify O-EAST on May 26th. In addition to FRUITS ZIPPER, fellow Asobisystem members Atarashii Gakko! and IDOLATER, who is also a member of “KAWAII LAB.”, performed at the event. Many other remarkable idol groups also took part in the event, enlivening the venue.
Alongside their regular performances, they are scheduled to participate in a number of events, including the “LEADING PALETTE! and “HYPE IDOL! vol. 20” at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall both June 12th. Make sure to come and see their live performance, it’s sure to steal your heart!

Additionally, KAWAII LAB. will be serialized on “Moshi Moshi Nippon,” a website that provides the latest news of Japan to the world. The articles will be published in hopes of sharing the charm of IDOLATER and FRUITS ZIPPER with people not only in Japan, but also around the world. Details will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more from KAWAII LAB.!

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu made waves with music lovers around the world last month when she performed at Coachella, one of the largest and most famous music festivals on Earth. On May 28, Kyary will perform in Ehime, and the artist has released details about another collaboration as part of the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project, launched to energize Japan through the appeal of regional towns and cities.

In Ehime Prefecture, Kyary is teaming up with Poeme, a famous sweets shop in Setouchi close to the Seto Inland Sea. The shop itself opened in 1950 with a different name and quickly became popular for its Butter Manju. The buns, baked in a buttery biscuit dough with red bean paste, were an extravagant confectionary at the time. In the late 1950s, a friend of the founder Okada Kazutarou tasted the Butter Manju and said “This is a poem,” hence the current name of the location. After 76 years, the name of the shop still reflects Poeme’s mission that has been present since the company’s founding just after WWII. 

The collaboration logo for the project was inspired by Kyary’s 2018 album Japamyu, which was released after four successful overseas tours. The album cemented the artist as one of Japan’s top talents, and the logo combines Poeme with Japamyu to make Poemyu.

A collaborative T-shirt is also on sale featuring the new logo and the singer’s 10th-anniversary logo. The shirt is only available until June 8 on the official LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project website.

From May 20 until June 5, 2022, AppBank is bringing fans of Love Live! Superstar!! a special treat in collaboration with the HARAJUKU app! By launching the app at a check-in spot in Harajuku, users can win a limited-edition Love Live! toy at random, such as acrylic keychains or pins.

App Splash Page

HARAJUKU Map

Random Toy Screen

For those winning a toy, the item can be picked up in front of the CUTE CUBE HARAJUKU Love Live! Superstar!! Wall Panel or at YURINAN Harajuku Takeshita-dori Yu-rin An. In celebration of the event, CUTE CUBE HARAJUKU will be featuring Love Live wall panels during this period, so be sure to go get some great pictures!

Otabe, one of the most popular sweets souvenir shops in Kyoto, Otabe, is known for its delicious matcha and mini-desserts. Starting May 12, the company has released nine uniquely packaged sweets inspired by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The limited-edition packaging will feature popular characters from the series. Previously, the company released matcha cakes for the crossover–this time, fans can enjoy choco-an flavor!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Choco-an

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Matcha

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Otabe (with Original Sticker)

Original Sticker: 15 varieties, 1 given at random

Focusing on the hashira from the series, fans will want to be on the lookout for their favorite character. These sweets can be bought at select stations in the Kyoto and Osaka area, major Kyoto tourist attractions, and online. In addition, matcha flavored treats will also be on sale featuring Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Hashibira Inosuke, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and Muzan Kibutsuji.

©吾峠呼世晴／集英社・アニプレックス・ufotable

Those passing through Gotanda Station in Tokyo might want to keep an eye out for some tasty treats on sale for a limited time. Patisserie Giraud has opened a limited-time pop-up location inside the aptly-named shop Have You Eaten This Before? The pop-up will be open until May 31, 2022.

Have You Eaten This Before? features a rotating selection of products perfect as gifts, souvenirs, or as a treat for yourself. Along with six cakes made to look just like fruits, a selection of other baked goods will also be available.

Lineup

Strawberry

Orange

Lemon

Red Apple

Green Apple

Melon

While it might be difficult to eat these beautiful cakes, you’ll never forget the way the juice-filled mousse and crispy pastry fill your mouth. Which one would you like to bring home?