If Tokyo has one enduring image abroad it’s that everyone and everything is rushing. In the mornings, high-heeled women in skirt-suits can be seen running down the sidewalk towards the train stations. In Shibuya, the famous crossing is constantly full of undulating masses of people. Trains and buses come one after another, often with timed precision. Heck, even sushi moves fast in some restaurants, delivered on miniature bullet trains directly to your table. Though this is just one side of Tokyo it certainly is a big part of it. What’s fueling all of this movement?

Caffeine is easy to find here in Japan, and it comes in many forms. There’s everything from the $10 cup of coffee to the $1 dollar can. Unfortunately we can’t always afford the time or the yen for the best cup of coffee, and that’s where convenience stores come in. Convenience stores, or konbini, are essential to daily life. Most are opened 24 hours and offer everything from pre-made pasta dishes to fresh packs of underwear. Coffee has now become a big part of that business.

Each of the main konbini chains boasts that they have the best coffee. The shiny automated java machines in each store are unique to the company and so are the beans. For each cup of coffee made, the coffee is ground to order and brewed on the spot. Sure, it’s not the best, but it’s still pretty cool. I’ve had plenty of coffee from these automated baristas and I’ve done my best to dissect them. Taste is subjective, but so is everything, and I’ve done my best to rate these coffees on a scale of 1-5 only against each other. I drank all these coffees black and hot.

Here are my reviews on the four most common convenience store coffees.

7-Eleven

7-Eleven’s coffee has a floral and nutty aroma. It’s a very traditional cup of coffee that would be at home in any diner. There was nothing surprising or upsetting about this cup, which is what you want from a cheap cup of coffee on-the-go. It had notes of cashew and milk chocolate and a slightly sweet and citrusy aftertaste. It’s totally fine. It’s not ambitious, it knows exactly what it is: a cup of coffee from a convenience store.

Family Mart

There was something about the machine at Family Mart that made me nervous about the coffee quality. It is was by far the least futuristic looking of the bunch. Heck, to get a large cup of coffee the directions are to press the button to brew a small coffee then when it’s done (and your cup is half full) press it again. That being said, Famima Cafe wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It had a faintly sweet, oddly perfume like aroma. It was a bit thinner in mouth feel than others, but had the traditional coffee flavors; nutty and chocolaty. There was a note of apple like sweetness to it that made it stand out, however. Unfortunately, the aftertaste was a long-lingering char flavor.

Ministop

Ministop’s coffee was subtle and certainly not in-your-face…at first. I actually had a hard time picking out any flavors from it. This coffee too had a slightly sweet and nutty aroma and a very light body. As it cooled a lot of citrus and berry-like flavors could be picked up. The aftertaste was a lingering char flavor, but slightly more astringent than the others. At first I liked this one best, it was similar to canned coffee in its unobtrusiveness. As it cooled, however, it started to lose me. Certainly it was the most fun to drink due to its ever changing and elusive flavor. But an enigma is not what everyone wants from their cup.

Lawson

Lawson’s Machi Cafe stands out because it is the only konbini coffee out of the fours featured here that the staff pours for you. Also, their machine is the prettiest. The coffee was mild and mellow. It was the most middle-of-the-road and left little impression on me. The aroma was similar to hazelnuts and vanilla. The strongest flavor in the coffee itself was cocoa powder. The aftertaste here too was char-heavy, but has a sweetness to it. Just fine in it’s simplicity.

Now, I’m sure there is a lot of variation from shop to shop. How often the machine itself is cleaned thoroughly, how old the beans are, and even the water used can greatly effect the flavor of the coffee. But hopefully most of the observations I made still hold true from place to place. I scored the coffees that were simple and unsurprising higher because those coffees generally had less unpleasant aftertastes.

Overall the coffee quality was better than expected for all of these shops. As I said before, they aren’t serving gourmet coffee in these stores. But, true to their names, they are serving convenient coffee. It’s cheap, it’s caffeinated, and it’ll satisfy your needs.

Also see how we rated canned coffee in Japan.

A new film has been released in Japan challenging the anti-whaling and dolphin-hunting attitudes of foreign activists and filmmakers.

Directed by Keiko Yagi, Behind the Cove purports to show the truth that the Academy Award-winning 2009 documentary The Cove did not show.

That film, directed by Louis Psihoyos, was an unflinching look at dolphin-hunting in Japan, specifically around Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, whose annual drive now regularly attracts foreign protesters, especially those associated with the quasi-militant environmentalist group Sea Shepherd.

Clearly low-budget and rather slapdash, the trailer for Behind the Cove seems to show the makers hounding foreign protesters in Taiji, and also interviewing some on Skype.

It is being positioned as a “refutation” of The Cove and promoted as a the “quiet Japanese speaking out”. Currently on release with English subtitles at a movie theater in Shinjuku, it remains to be seen if it reaches a wide audience. (It has also been invited to screen at Montreal World Film Festival.)

Ric O’Barry, one of the stars of The Cove, was recently detained at Narita Airport and stopped from entering Japan allegedly to participate in protests against the dolphin drive in Taiji. US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy is just one of the many prominent people who has voiced criticism of the Taiji hunt.

Opposition to anti-whaling and anti-dolphin hunt protesters is generally not taken up by casual advocates of whale or dolphin meat per se. The noisiest counter-protesters and those who seek to argue for Japan’s right to hunt whales and dolphins (as either coastal whaling, like in Taiji, or pelagic whaling in the deep seas, which is a very recent development in Japan) are often ultranationalist in tone, and whose online anger may actually do more damage than good to their cause.

Dolphin driving and other forms of small-type coasting whaling, such as hunting for Baird’s beaked whales, have a long history in Japan, though only in certain communities and areas. While these customs and traditions are coopted by nationalists as “Japanese” to form part of their agenda, the truth of the history is actually more ambiguous.

Whale meat is rarely eaten in Japan today and the catch from the government-funded, highly contested pelagic hunts often go unsold. However, for Baby Boomers whale meat has a nostalgic factor since it was a common dish served at schools in the postwar years when whale consumption peaked. It was only in these years that whale meat became a truly national phenomenon. But this rise in consumption was actually a matter of circumstances, caused by the scarcity of other meat immediately after 1945 and the occupation authorities’ decision to restart whaling to alleviate starving.

Understandably, many Japanese who would not regard themselves as advocates of whale or dolphin meat, nor as nationalists, feel affronted by the way foreign individuals and organizations attack fishermen, and how nations like Australia embark on legal actions against Japan to halt its hunting. In this sense, Behind the Cove taps into this feeling of indignity and wounded pride that is a natural response to the “anti-Japan” condemnation. The irony is that it is elements of the Japanese Fisheries Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs that have attempted to brand whaling as inherently “Japanese”, thus framing the attacks on a national level.

By coincidence, a documentary film made by a Japanese director (Megumi Sasaki) that attempts to look seriously and neutrally at the issue of whaling and whale meat in Japan is currently under development.

Revealingly, the Japanese marketing for the historical whaling film In the Heart of the Sea also took a radically different approach to the American campaign, renaming the film The Battle with the White Whale and placing the male “warriors” at the forefront of the publicity.

Recently McDonald’s Japan released a new menu item that is simultaneously surprising and intriguing both the populous in Japan and abroad: Chocolate-drizzled french fries. If you’re anything like me you had a series of thoughts something like this when hearing the news. “Gross.” “Why would they do that?” “I wonder what it tastes like…” “Should I try some?”

Yes, this daring little menu item is interesting indeed, and it’s the reason why I broke my long-standing McDonald’s fast. I guess their marketing team is doing a better job than I thought.

Before I get into the actual experience of what eating these bad boys was like we should talk about why they exist. McDonald’s isn’t doing too well in Japan these days. There have been hundreds of store closings nationwide as well as huge dips in sales — suffering a net loss of $19.4 million in the first nine months of 2015 alone. A series of scandals including foreign objects in their food have eroded the trust that many Japanese have in the corporation. My Japanese father-in-law has referred to the company as both “No good” and “Over.” Needless to say the stockholders aren’t too happy with this turn of events and the golden arches needed to start trying new things.

One of the new things that McDonald’s is trying is the McChoco, chocolate drizzle packs for their french fries. That’s right, these aren’t special french fries made for dessert purposes, they are the standard McDonald’s french fries in a fancier box with a few add-ons. Your McChoco Potato (or, as labeled in English, McFry Potato Chocolate Sauce) will set you back ¥330 (about $2.80) and come with a double-barreled squeeze package containing white chocolate and milk chocolate goo as well as a fork (which I recommend using). Once you’ve gathered your courage you can put on your artist hat and try to draw some fancy chocolate lines on your fries freehand. After that all there’s left to do is dig in.

Now, we’ve established that the fries taste like McDonald’s fries, so what about the chocolate? It’s sweet. Very sweet. The milk chocolate is similar to a sugary chocolate pudding in flavor while the white chocolate stuff tastes like cake frosting. It’s a salty and sweet combination and we’ve all come to accept that flavor pair, right?

Here’s how it went for me:

1st bite: Nope.

2nd bite: Hmm… OK.

3rd bite: Getting used to this… starting to make sense.

4th bite: Wait, do I like this?

The truth is they taste exactly like what they are, McDonald’s fries with sugary chocolate drizzle on them. Have you ever had a chocolate covered pretzel before? It’s something like that except a lot saltier. The best bites were the ones most saturated in chocolate, believe it or not. Other bites with less drizzle were overpowered by the flavor of the fries. I’m a bit surprised that Donald (Yes, his name is Donald McDonald in Japan) didn’t supply me with more chocolate sauce than I knew what to do with. After all, this is the company famous for super-sizing. But actually the amount of chocolate dressing you get is a little skimpy.

Here’s the final verdict: These fries, available until mid-February, won’t change your life. They are an interesting idea, and they aren’t disgusting. But in the end they are just french fries with chocolate sauce. If you are expecting anything else from this experience you’ll be disappointed. But if you don’t think too much about it, you might enjoy parts of what happens in your mouth.

Would I get them again? No. It’s been hours since I ate them and the aftertaste is still there. Do I regret getting them? Not at all. I lived on the wild side of fast food for a brief moment and lived to tell the tale.

The latest creation by world-renowned planetarium designer Takayuki Ohira is the Megastar Class, a compact and silent star-gazing device that projects a million stars in 180 degrees in all directions, complete with diurnal motion set to the 35th parallel north.

Available in white or black, the Megastar Class is compatible with Bluetooth-enabled devices and also includes mood lighting that can create dusk, dawn and blue sky spectacles.

This incredible device is released in March but don’t expect it to come cheap. Such technological quality has a price — somewhere in the region of $17,000! But what you are getting is a professional-level planetarium at a compact, convenient size ideal for sophisticated households (or bars and cafes).

Ohira is previously responsible for the Sega Homestar series of best-selling home planetariums.

He became famous for making the Megastar planetarium, which could project up to one million stars. In 2008, he followed this up with the Super Megastar II, a planetarium projector displays up to 22 million stars, the highest number of stars in the world. He is currently working on a planetarium that can project a billion stars!

The cheap yen has helped inbound tourism in Japan sour and nearly 20 million visitors came to Japan last year. Most are Asian, especially Chinese, and while they do come here to sightsee and eat the cuisine, they also come with another objective: shopping. Lots of shopping.

As any trip to Shinjuku or Ginza will tell you, the retailers are experiencing a visible boom, particularly at periods like Chinese New Year. The phenomenon has been called bakugai, literally “explosive buying”, and while it is not wholly new as a concept it was one of the buzzwords in Japan for 2015. The spectacle is sometimes incredible to behold: Chinese families and tour groups lugging huge packages and bags of merchandise, or even repacking them into suitcases on the street outside the store. (Retailers who stock suitcases are also making a fast buck too.)

It has changed the face of retail in certain areas too, with tax-free counters springing up and lots of non-Japanese staff also now manning the shop floors. Ginza Mitsukoshi also recently opened Japan’s first airport-style tax-free shopping facility outside of Okinawa.

What are the visitors buying? While some items such as electronics and souvenirs might not surprise, more often than not the shopping splurges are on fairly ordinary items, which is why drug stores are really benefitting. Chinese tourists especially hanker after the quality of Japanese cosmetics and beauty items, and often bulk-buy to resell online later when they get home.

The South China Morning Post reported:

A study by the Japan National Tourist Agency indicated that 63% of Chinese visitors purchased cosmetics and perfume, 55& snapped up food, spirits and cigarettes and 52 per cent bought over-the-counter medicines and toiletries.

Perhaps surprisingly, only 37& of Chinese bought electrical appliances — rice cookers and Japan’s famous high-tech toilet seats remain favourites — although they did buy in bulk. On average, a foreign tourist will spend ¥65,000 (HK$4,093) on appliances, but the Chinese splash out an average of ¥88,000 (HK$5,541)

The local media has been fascinated by the wave of Chinese shoppers and there has also been plenty of mockery (and contempt for their different manners), though no one for a second laments the money they bring. The Sankei Shimbun recently had a nice spread showing Chinese tourists and what they had bought.

According to Gendai Business, though, bakugai has now reached such an extent that the Chinese government is considering legislation to curb spending overseas by its citizens by setting a maximum amount that can be used — effectively banning bakugai. This may mean that, like so many other trends in Japan, bakugai is a transient phenomenon. In which case, don’t despair: there are other ways to get Japanese products without even having to visit.

Marking the first release from touch.plus, TABO is the world’s first iPad Pro touchscreen robot.

“Your little friend living on a tablet”, TABO (tablet robot) works with the screen of the iPad device to move around freely and interact with users. Controlled by Bluetooth LE, TABO can tell the tablet its location through three touch points, allowing you to play games in real-time.

So far the makers have devised three types of content.

TABO Pong is a game of table tennis played between a user and the mini robot. TABO Maze is an educational game that teaches you how to program. TABO Now tells you world news in time to music.

We’ve seen Japanese iPhone and iPad screen cleaning robots before, but never one as interactive and cool as this.

TABO requires a dedicated app for either iPhone or iPad Pro (iOS 9.1 and on). The robot itself measures 32 by 37 by 38mm (1.3 x 1.5 x 1.5″), and weighs in at a mere 35g (1.2 oz). It can be used for around 30 minutes on a full charge.

TABO will be exhibited at Sensors Ignition in Tokyo on February 26th.

There is no announcement yet on a release date but keep an eye on Japan Trend Shop.

Yanagawa City in Fukuoka Prefecture has created Sagemon Girls, its new promotional video featuring over 1,000 performers.

The formidable number of extras is the highest ever for such a marketing video. The titular trio of girls tour a variety of local places to highlight the best the traditional city in the south has to offer.

Yanagawa is famous for its canals and Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Festival), and the high-octane Sagemon Girls video plays off on both of these, along with the Yanagawa-mari handballs. These form part of the custom of sagemon, when hanging decorations (including handballs) are made to mark the birth of a girl.

The city currently receives 1.2 million visitors a year (including 90,000 from overseas) and is hoping this video attracts even more and younger tourists.

It has now become common for regional governments to produce inventive promotional videos to market their city or prefecture as tourist attraction.

In the past we have seen — officially sponsored and not so — Okinawan grannies, AKB48 cover songs, Pharrell Williams “Happy” music videos for Tokyo districts, and synchronized swimming in Oita hot springs.

It’s also not just videos. There was even an attempt by maligned Saitama to create its own “pose” to promote itself as hip. Some prefectures take a more ironic approach, such as Ibaraki, which drew on its reputation as the “least popular” prefecture in the country. Still others resort to idols and celebrities who hail from the region, such as Hiroshima and the music group Perfume.

If this all starts to look familiar, it’s because it is. In the same way that now every region in Japan seems to be creating its own art festival or biennale, every prefecture and city wants a publicity video in the same musical vein, so they end up hiring the same sorts of people (the choreography for Sagemon Girls is by air:man, who did the Oita video and also the OK Go “I Won’t Let You Down” music video that was filmed in Japan).

They all want to go viral and for all their flashes of color and originality, the risk is that audiences will eventually grow tired of this strategy.

In a blatant attempt to attract women who like good beer, an event will be held on February 20th in Harajuku with bicep-baring male servers.

Macho Craft Beer Bar features three hunky men who will be serving customers without much in the way of attire.

It costs ¥4,200 for a two-hour all-you-drink and all-you-can-watch session, starting at 11am. Food costs extra, so this is not a cheap outing but perhaps the muscles are worth it.

Craft beer has been booming in Japan as younger drinkers return to beer after Japan’s major breweries spent years shooting themselves in the foot with “fake beer” releases that destroyed their reputations. Even they have since tried to get in on the craft beer craze with special releases and restaurants.

While the initial craft beer “boom” happened in the mid-1990s after the government relaxed limitations on brewing volume, allowing microbreweries to develop, it is only the past few years that quality has really caught up with the demand, along with the gap in the market left by Kirin et al’s marketing and product development choices over the past decade that prioritized only penny-pinching older men. (To be fair, the major breweries tried to compensate with “frozen beer slushies” and other “cool beer” gimmicks.)

As of 2015 there are 241 microbreweries in Japan, and craft beer on tap is available at specialist restaurants and bars all over Tokyo and other major cities, as well as other restaurants that don’t necessarily brand themselves as “craft beer” per se.

As many craft beer establishments in Tokyo — including overseas names like BrewDog and Mikkeller — place a large emphasis on cuisine and have no-smoking policies, they are also popular with female drinkers. There is even a magazine for girls and craft beer.

While Japanese domestic craft beers have strong American influences, there are also elements from other beer cultures too, plus plenty of girl-friendly fruity and sweet flavors.

Retailers have also been joining in. Now many convenience stores and other shops stock craft beers, both domestic and import. Aeon, the nation’s largest retailer, stocks up to 90 such beers at 250 branches around Japan, while Lawson has been taking the lead by working with Yo-Ho Brewing Co. to offer their brews.

This, along with ad-hoc events like Macho Craft Beer Bar and the growing popularity of local breweries, should mean that Japan’s craft beer boom doesn’t deflate any time soon.

This article by Lily Crossley-Baxter first appeared on Tokyo Cheapo.

It’s Valentine’s Day soon, and as you will have noticed, there is chocolate EVERYWHERE. It’s in cute heart-shaped boxes, it’s in baskets with puppies, it’s on your fries and now it can be in your ramen. Personally, the latter would always be my preferred option, but not everyone is convinced… Will it be a match made in heaven or like a regrettable Tinder hook-up best forgotten?

Photo by Lily Crossley-Baxter

By bringing in a local chocolatier and developing a special pork broth to complement the sweetness (in place of their usual anchovy base) trendy ramen joint Mensho have certainly given this their best shot. With a new restaurant in San Francisco and numerous in Tokyo, their attention to detail is taking them places, but only the Mensho Tokyo branch in Korakuen offers this unusual combination, and only until February 14th, so be quick.

Photo by Lily Crossley-Baxter

Rather than having chocolate noodles or broth, they have opted to put chunks of the specially selected goodness in along with other toppings, giving the diner flexibility. If, like me, you physically can’t resist nicking at least one (trust me, even waiting to take the photo was a struggle) then by all means do — in the name of research, of course — but leave the rest to melt in. It really is worth it.

Although the chocolate is the headline act, it only works because the rest of the dish has been designed to work with it. The pork is beautiful, so good it made my friend speechless (which was awkward for our impromptu TV interview about the ramen) and it is by far one of the more substantial ramen dishes I’ve tried, with thick chewy noodles and plenty of toppings, so you definitely won’t leave hungry. A healthy dose of black pepper really spices up the black soy broth whilst working as a classic pairing with the chocolate without being overpowering. The quality of the meat and balance of the spices reflect the planning that has gone into this dish, making it clear it isn’t just a novelty time-waster.

Photo by Lily Crossley-Baxter

At ¥880 (about $8) you can’t really go wrong with this, and it will certainly make an interesting date for your special someone (or your friend, or just the guy sat awkwardly opposite you… you know, whatever).

So, although Valentine’s in Japan is the peak of fads and short-lived heart-shaped balloons, this is one trend you might wish was sticking around…

Read more on Tokyo Cheapo

Regular readers will recall the iDoll, a mini robotic doll prototype by Hakuhodo and Yukai Engineering.

In another effort to promote the prototype and expand its commercial prospects, the designers have now created a version with the Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku.

The Hatsune Miku iDoll can sing, dance and communicate, all while measuring a mere 11cm. It can move in 10 places and features 15 motors.

There is no word yet on when or if the Hatsune Miku iDoll will be available as a commercial product and join the long lineup of Hatsune merchandise, but stay tuned for more updates (in the meantime, perhaps this is a good substitute?).

In theory, this is what it would look like unpainted.

We’ve a trend for this moe-informed mini robot companions of late, including the Gatebox hologram robot, Toyota’s Kirobo Mini, and Pre-Maid AI.

Shiseido has teamed up with photographer and film director Mika Ninagawa to make a Tsubaki-themed public bathhouse.

The Tsubaki-yu celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Tsubaki haircare brand and is open from February 11th to March 31st at a sento in Oshiage, near the Tokyo Skytree.

The Daikoku-yu bathhouse has been converted into a host of vibrant camellia (tsubaki), from the lockers to the lobby. There are special sets of Tsubaki products on display, and naturally the washing amenities in the baths are also selected from the Tsubaki range.

It doesn’t seem like you can use the bathhouse for its primary purpose — bathing — during the exhibition, though since most Tokyoites now have decent bathing facilities at home or prefer to visit “super spas” than tradition sento bathhouses, people will likely prefer the spectacle.

In the past, Japan’s bathhouses have housed music events and art exhibitions, and murals and tile art — especially Mt Fuji — is a common sight. The Daikoku-yu also has permanent Fuji wall art.

Images via Harajuku Kawaii Style

Following the bubble-wrap-popping and building-block-removing promos for Dragon Quest, the latest interactive use of Shinjuku Station for a marketing campaign is the new PlayStation 4 game of “Attack on Titan“.

The hit anime and live-action movie is about to be released as a video game. To promote it, Sony Computer Entertainment have put up a huge 12-meter poster inside Shinjuku Station featuring 50 of the eponymous titans. It’s located on the wall of the main concourse inside JR Shinjuku Station between the east and west gates.

This mural has been on display since February 15th but come February 18th, the real fun begins. Regular people are invited to take a coin and scratch away at the titans on the poster — in other ways, to vandalize the advertising!

This alone is fun enough and allows the humans to get their revenge on the normally massive titans in the series that prey on us. But hidden underneath the titans are QR codes that can take you to a site to download free franchise wallpaper for your phone (yes, QR codes are still commonly used in Japan for marketing).

Be there are 10am on February 18th to begin the titan-scratching frenzy. Given the popularity of these kinds of interactive poster ads in Tokyo now, we don’t anticipate the mural lasting long!

And if by the time you arrive, all the titans have been scratched to oblivion, try wearing an Attack on Titan face pack instead

Do you work in a lazy office? Don’t worry. Even office chairs can now self-park.

Nissan has created the Intelligent Park Chair, inspired by its Intelligent Parking Assist system for cars.

The furniture uses four motion cameras on the walls and wi-fi. Just command the chairs with a simple hand clap to return them (including multiple chairs at once) to their proper place underneath the table.

This certainly makes tidying up a meeting room or classroom a fast affair. Take a look at it in action.

As Nissan says:

The “Intelligent Parking Chair” is a unique chair that automatically moves to a set position. The chair includes a roller to automatically move 360 degrees paired with a system that indicates the target position. Four cameras placed on the room’s ceiling generate a bird’s-eye view to wirelessly transmit the chair’s position and its route to destination.

With this innovation in office technology, Japanese businessmen are now freed from the troublesome task of arranging chairs, using this new technology already adopted in the X-Trail Hybrid and other Nissan vehicles.

This is a video showing the making of the device.

While sadly we can’t expect this chair to be on the market any time soon (it’s just a marketing stunt), you can visit the Yokohama Nissan showroom to see it up close from February 19th to February 23rd.

NHK Symphony Orchestra is teaming up with music artists from across different styles and genres for a special concert on March 22nd at NHK Hall, Tokyo.

As part of the celebrations of 90 years since the orchestra was founded, the lineup of the music event will feature some very untraditional choices: virtual idol Hatsune Miku and pop singer Ringo Sheena.

Sheena was recently announced as part of the team planning the Rio de Janeiro Olympics handover ceremony.

Hatsune Miku is originally a character created for the Yamaha Vocaloid system but has since spawned countless spin-offs. Initially part of otaku subculture, the character has since achieved mainstream success and attracted the kudos of big-name collaborators. One example of this was a full-blown opera in 2012 in which Hatsune sang to music by composer Keiichiro Shibuya. The costumes were by Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton, with directing by Toshiki Okada and lyrics by cultural critic Hiroki Azuma.

As shown by the 2012 opera, there is a growing trend for cross-over performance collaborations in Japan, including a unique contemporary Noh and fashion event and even a “zombie opera” involving mechanical instruments.

Tokyo has a new art fair opening next month and its first hotel-based one since the demise of Art@Agnes in 2009.

Art in Park Hotel Tokyo runs for two days from March 12th to March 13th, featuring 39 galleries exhibiting in the guest rooms of the hotel on the 26th and 27th floors, and with a focus on postwar Japanese art. Tickets to the boutique fair cost ¥1,500 each.

Eikoh Hosoe, “Barakei #32: Ordeal by Roses”
Gelatin silver print 196 | Courtesy of YOD Gallery

Ever since its 10th anniversary, the Shiodome-based Park Hotel Tokyo has been quietly establishing itself as an art and design hotel, hosting art-related parties and opening special rooms designed by resident artists. Its remarkable atrium space also has seasonally changing exhibits.

“Zodiac” by Ryosuke Yasumoto, one of the artist rooms at Park Hotel Tokyo

With Art Fair Tokyo’s shift this year to May, Park Hotel Tokyo has cleverly stepped in to reclaim March as an art month. (Roppongi Art Night, also previously an annual March event, has switched to the autumn from this year.)

Sadamasa Motonaga, “Pon Pon White Circle”
Acrylic on canvas (2010) | Courtesy of Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery

While this is the first such art event in Tokyo for seven years, Art Osaka has been regularly hosted at hotels in the city for 13 years. It happens again in July at Hotel Granvia and in fact the same organizing committee is behind Art in Park Hotel Tokyo.

Exhibiting artists include some giants from the 1950s and 1960s scene such as Kishio Suga (Mono-ha), Natsuyuki Nakanishi (Hi Red Center), Sadamasa Motonaga (Gutai), Eiko Hosoe, and more. Contemporary art will be represented by the likes of Kohei Nawa (announced last year as part of the Cultural Olympiad program for 2020) and Oscar Oiwa.

And the best thing? Even if you don’t like the art or can’t afford to buy anything, you can always just enjoy the view of Tokyo Tower and Mt Fuji.

Rilakkuma Cafe opens in Harajuku as a temporary pop-up space from March 4th to April 10th.

Needless to say, the venue itself (located at 4-28-28 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku) is fitted out in a Rilakkuma and friends style, and features a whole menu packed with dishes, desserts and drinks inspired by Rilakkuma. Here are some examples to whet your appetite (and send your kawaii levels off the chart).

There is also plenty of original merchandise on sale, such as badges and postcard sets.

Servings of cute are limited to 80 minutes at a go.

The promo is part of a push to celebrate the addition of a new character to the Rilakkuma world, Koguma-chan (Little Bear).

We have seen a lot of these character-themed cafes in Tokyo in recent years, from Super Mario Bros. to Pokémon and Snoopy. It seems to have become the default way to promote character franchises and we expect the chefs enjoy the chance to get creative with making their dishes resemble certain iconic faces.

In about a month Japan’s is going to be pink: cherry blossom pink. The sakura season — in particular, cherry blossom viewing and picnics — is such a cultural phenomenon that that almost every retailer and brand seems to go cherry-blossom-crazy in an attempt to cash in on the mood.

Starbucks is always very good at this, producing clever cherry blossom-flavored menu items, though Japan’s beer makers also try to ride the spring bandwagon. (Cherry blossom picnics are associated with heavy bouts of drinking.)

One of the strangest we’ve seen this year is one for Kirin’s tentpole Ichiban Shibori lager.

As advertised by the beer’s official ambassadors Arashi, on top of the customary cherry blossom-themed packaging for the spring, there are also various free giveaways available until April 4th.

In addition to a rather unexciting pink vase, customers who collect enough points can get a “seasonal flavoring set” and “aroma beer presser”. The idea is you place the flavoring bag in your beer and then push down with the “presser” to create a new fragrant beer drink.

In other words, Kirin is borrowing from tea culture and encourage us to infuse our suds. Be afraid, be very afraid…

If all this sounds too outlandish and silly for conventional tastes, remember that Kirin was previously behind the Frozen Beer Slushie Maker, which also started as a seasonal freebie and then became so successful it became a hit product in its own right.

In the first such event space of its kind, the Miffy Cafe opens at Shibuya Parco’s The Guest Cafe & Diner from March 18th to May 8th.

Not surprisingly, the Miffy Cafe will serve up a host of themed dishes, sweets, and more. There will also be plenty of limited-edition official merchandise, since the point of these cafes is always to sell products to fans. See the pictures for a sample of the veritable smorgasbord of cute that guests can expect.

Miffy is originally Danish Dutch but is immensely popular in Japan, and it is sometimes assumed that the Dick Bruna rabbit character is actually Japanese due to its similarities in style with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty. (The relationship between Sanrio and Bruno has had its issues, including a lawsuit once brought against Sanrio over allegations that the Cathy rabbit character is too close to Miffy.)

As we reported earlier this week, these kinds of character-themed pop-ups and special cafes are very popular in Tokyo now, and work well as promotional events. The most recent one is the Rilakkuma Cafe, which opens in March in Harajuku, and past examples include Super Mario Bros. and Snoopy, following a standard format of themed dishes and drinks as well as selling special merchandise.

Parco in Shibuya is a regular location for them, such as the Pokémon Cafe in early 2015 and a Funassyi-themed space in 2014.

If you want to see art in Tokyo, you can check out the city’s near endless supply of events and spaces, such as the upcoming art fair to be held at Park Hotel Tokyo.

Or you can go online.

The rather terribly named IJC Museum — standing for “Is Japan Cool?” — is inspired by the government’s much-derided “Cool Japan” soft power initiatives. Opening on February 29th, it is a digital “art museum in the cloud” sponsored by the airline ANA as part of its Is Japan Cool? online content platform that has been unfolding for a while now.

In spite of the originality of the scheme, the organizers have initially picked some very hackneyed names for the choice of artists to include, such as Yayoi Kusama, Kohei Nawa, Hisashi Tenmyouya, Manabu Ikeda, and Tabaimo. These are all artists who scream “pop Japan” and, while no doubt visually arresting, we expect these “exhibitions” will feel overly familiar to serious art fans.

People say “Cool Japan.” Is that true? Here on this site, we offer a wide choice of stories about old and new Japan ― from traditional customs to the latest trends and culture. If something catches your eye, read the full story and vote whether or not it’s cool. Depending on what you like, you’ll discover what’s truly cool about Japan. Step by step, we’ll bring you new features to introduce cool Japanese culture and fascinating flight destinations. So, look for lots of new stories to come. And be aware. The more you know Japan, the more you’ll want to know. Come to Japan on ANA. Always changing. Always new!

You can take a tour of a virtual art museum designed by Akio Takatsuka, navigating between rooms in a digital landscape that looks suspiciously like the layout of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa combined with Tadao Ando’s Naoshima art museums materials.

So far there are seven “exhibitions” of different artists’ work, digitally reconstructed through 3D scans and offering a 360-degree panoramic view that can be zoomed in and expanded. Obviously this works really well for pieces like Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkin sculptures. Information and explanations are displayed on the screen in English, and you can take photos of the artworks — often not allowed at actual art museums — and then directly shared through social media channels. There is also an “art trip” section where you can tour 30 art venues around Japan.

This is seemingly aimed at overseas tourists looking to get a taste of Japanese art before seeing the real thing when they visit. As we are seeing in the current boom in regional art festivals, combining tourism and art has become a well-established format that promises to keep on developing.

INUPATHY is the world’s first “dog mental visualizer”, allowing owners and dogs to have a better communication by showing your pet’s emotional state as a color on the light collar. It uses an algorithm to analyze heart rate patterns via sensors on the belt and expresses these through full-color LEDs on the back of the harness.

It also syncs with your phone so owners can log and keep track of how their dogs are feeling in real time. The dedicated app also suggests different games for the owner to play, based on the dog’s emotional state.

The name is a portmanteau of “insight” and “empathy”, and with a cheeky reference to the Japanese word for dog, inu. The harness can currently show if your dog is excited or relaxed, happy or concentrating.

Of course, the nature of the harness — in three colors — means that it won’t be suitable for all dog breeds and builds, but the dog in the video doesn’t seem to mind it at any rate.

Though announced last year, INUPATHY now has a working prototype and will be available for pre-order on on Indiegogo from March 4th. The designers are also be exhibiting it at the HACKist booth at SXSW from March 13th to March 16th. HACKist is the digital creative lab of Hakuhodo i-studio.

Keep an eye on Japan Trend Shop and its lineup of unique Japanese pet items if the product becomes widely available for international orders. For a slightly less hi-tech solution to a similar problem, you could also try the Bowlingual Dog Voice Translator.

The Internet of Things-inspired mobile pet trends are actually nothing new. For example, we previously saw Shiraseru Am, a smartphone-integrated wearable pet behavior and health monitoring device.