Osaka Expo nightmare-fuel mascot needs name, organisers ask for suggestions and Twitter delivers

https://ift.tt/xGvNazO Katie Pask

The mascot, described as aggressively disgusting, is currently without a name to call it by.

The organisers of the 2025 Osaka World Expo have decided to once more enlist the help of the public, this time to help them come up with a new name for their mascot.

You may remember the mascot was making waves online when it was first announced, as unlike normal character mascots, it looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

本日、#大阪・関西万博 の公式キャラクターデザインが決定しました
世界中から愛され、親しみを持たれるキャラクターとして育てていきます。
たくさんのご意見、ありがとうございました#Expo2025#Osaka #kansai#大阪・関西万博公式キャラクター pic.twitter.com/kjNuOf5NTy

— Expo2025 大阪・関西万博 (@expo2025_japan) March 22, 2022

As one of the mottos of the event is designing a future society of shining lives, the monstrosity of a mascot has already been given a unofficial name by netizens —  Inochi no Kagayaki-kun (Shining Life-kun). However, organisers have recently commented: “We aren’t considering that as the official name at this point.”

▼ “Wait, its name isn’t Inochi no Kagayaki-kun?! I hope they can find a great name for it!”

この子「いのちの輝きくん」って名前じゃなかったの！？w
良い愛称が出来るといいね！#イラスト#いのちのかがやき#いのちの輝きくん#イラスト好きな人と繋がりたい pic.twitter.com/FO4ykQ4JEQ

— あおつる (@aoturuyururi) April 26, 2022

Instead, the organisers have decided to ask the public for suggestions for a name. Seeing as the mascot will be used for promotional activities and official merchandise, this is a great opportunity to really be a lasting part of the 2025 World Expo.

Before you go rushing to suggest the mascot be named Sleep Paralysis Demon, be aware that the person who suggests the winning name will net themselves a cool 300,000 yen (US$2,310). The entry form also requires you to write your reasons for coming up with your suggested name, so “I’m suggesting ‘AGGGGGH-kun because just look at it,” probably won’t do you any favours.

Although you definitely won’t be alone in suggesting horror-based names, if comments by Japanese netizens are anything to go by. Those who had recovered from the shock of learning it was not in fact called Inochi no Kagayaki-kun were quick to come up with some gruesome suggestions of their own.

“I’m gonna suggest Death Bringer.”
“I think Curse from the Abyss would be a good choice.”
“What about End of the World-kun?”
“I’ve seen a lot of suggestions for Kill Me-kun, haha.”

▼ This Twitter user added some art to go with his suggestion of Game of Death.

シニゲーくん pic.twitter.com/kiBndmNDva

— ケイリッドの色紙の妖精しきっしー (@SIKISSYfacerock) April 26, 2022

Anyone can submit a name for consideration, and two suggestions are allowed per person. The name must be written in either hiragana or katakana, and names that are gender based will not be considered, as the mascot is genderless. Unfortunately, only Japanese nationals or people with Japanese residency are eligible to enter, but anyone who meets those requirements can send their suggestions here. Entries will be open until May 16.

In the meantime, take the time to cleanse your mascot palette with something a little less grotesque, like this drunk airplane mascot from Osaka International Airport.

Source: Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko
Images: Osaka 2025 World Expo Official Site
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New spreadable melon pan changes the way we eat toast in Japan

https://ift.tt/IwX5j8P Oona McGee

Making melon bread, and curry bread, just got a whole lot easier. 

When you’re looking to stock your pantry with exciting products from abroad, or equally exciting products from Japan, popular chainstore Kaldi is the place to go. Previously, they’ve given us delights such as Sea Urchin butter and matcha curry and now, they’re treating us to a super easy way to enjoy the sweet taste of melon pan (“melon bread”) at home.

The new product is called “Nutte Yaitara Melon Pan” (“Spread It, Bake It, and It Turns Into Melon Bread“), and though it looks like a regular spread, it doesn’t taste like any other spread on the market, as it tastes like musk melon.

▼ Not a bad deal for 306 yen (US$2.34).

This new flavour is a follow-up to the chain’s “Nutte yaitara Curry Pan” (“Spread It, Bake It, and It Turns Into Curry Bread“), which debuted in 2020 and quickly sold out due to popularity.

As the names suggest, all you have to do with a spread like this is spread it on a slice of bread, pop the slice under the grill, and once it’s done, your toast will be transformed into a culinary delight with a very Japanese flavour!

We couldn’t wait to try the new spreadable melon bread as soon as it became available on 26 April, so we immediately headed out to our nearest Kaldi, where we found the store had placed a two-per-customer purchase limit on the product to stop it from selling out immediately.

Happy to get our hands on one of the tubs, we took it home to try it out, and when we spread the paste on a slice of bread, we found it glided on effortlessly, smooth and soft as cream.

▼ Yes, we use the back of a teaspoon to spread our spreads – easier to lick off the reminder afterwards!

According to the instructions, the trick is to not use too much of it, so that it doesn’t burn or catch fire under the grill, and it’s suggested that you use a chopstick to draw a chequered pattern on it before grilling it, to give it the same look as a real melon pan, like the one seen on the packaging.

We weren’t so fussed with achieving a spectacular look, though, so we decided to just spread it on and forego any further decoration to see what it would look like on an ordinary morning when we’re rushing to get breakfast ready.

▼ After grilling it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, this was the tasty looking result.

Not only did it look fantastic, it smelled glorious too. With our kitchen now filled with the scent of sweet melon bread, we tore our slice apart, and found that the texture on the outside was now crispy and sticky, while the inside remained soft and light.

Taking a bite, we crunched through the different textures, and yep — this was undoubtedly the flavour of melon pan. The distinct taste of musk melon stood out in the flavour profile, and it was sugary sweet, just like the melon breads you can buy at specialty stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.

It was a truly decadent toast experience, and after eating the entire slice, we started craving something salty to counter all the sweetness we’d just consumed. That’s when we came up with the brilliant idea of satiating our desire for sweetness with…a dash of spreadable Curry Bread.

Now this was a game changer. Spreading one half of our bread with the melon-flavoured spread and the other half with the curry-flavoured spread gave us the best of both worlds — sweet and salty together on one delicious slice of toast.

This two-in-one style might look extra indulgent, but it actually contains less calories, as the curry pan spread is less calorie-rich than the melon variety. You’ll just have to make sure you exercise some self-restraint, though, because you might just be tempted to keep spreading and eating slice after slice after slice…

There’s never been an easier way to enjoy the taste of melon bread at home, so if you’d like to transform your toast into a decadent treat, be sure to pop by Kaldi and pick up a tub before they sell out. And if you’d like to add even more melon bread into your everyday routine, you can always try your hand at turning it into an edible mask, like these Japanese students did last year!

Related: Kaldi/Nutte Yaitara Melon Pan
Photos © SoraNews24
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How do Japan’s host club hosts get their professional names? We talk with five Kabukicho pros

https://ift.tt/MrcU5Zj SoraNews24

Interviews reveal backstories behind the genjina.

“What’s in a name?” some people ask, but the answer is “Quite a lot” when you’re talking about the men who work in Japan’s host clubs. A good host name has to be steeped in stylishness but also feel approachable, paving a smooth path to popularity with repeat and new customers alike.

Most hosts don’t work under their real names, but instead use a genjina, or “professional name.” So how do they come up with one? To find out, our ace reporter Mr. Sato spoke with five hosts currently working in Tokyo’s Kabukicho bar district, all staff members at clubs managed by Smappa Group, to hear their stories.

● Host #1: Reiwa

Mr. Sato: So, I’m guessing you changed your name when the Reiwa period started, right? Did you decide to do that yourself?

Reiwa: Yeah, it was when the Reiwa period started, but I didn’t come up with the idea on my own. Our company also runs a cake shop, and a TV crew was coming to do a story about it. My boss said “How about if you appear with your name as Reiwa?” Basically if I changed my name, I could be on TV. It took me a while, but I decided to do it, and my boss started calling me “Reiwa” too after that.

Mr. Sato: That’s pretty forceful.

Reiwa: But that meant I got to be on TV, and there were people who saw me and remembered my name and still come to the club as customers even now, so I’m glad I changed it. Actually when the Reiwa period started, there were a lot of hosts who changed their names to Reiwa, but I think I’m the only one who’s still using it.

Mr. Sato: You’re a survivor. Do you ever think about changing it again?

Reiwa: When hosts get promoted to executive host positions, they start going by their family name. So when that happens to me, I’m planning to use “Reiwa” as my family name, and my old host name as my given name…There are still some customers who call me by my old name, so I’d like to do that for them.”

● Host #2: Takumi Saito

Mr. Sato: Wait, is your name supposed to make people think of Takumi Saito, the famous TV drama actor?

Takumi: No. I’ve been in this business for over 20 years, and I’ve been using this name since I started. The manager of the club I used to work at was a big fan of the manga Initial D. Its main character is named Takumi, so he gave me the same name. As for Saito, in those days people said I looked like the twin actors Shota and Keita Saito, and putting those together made me Takumi Saito.

After that, I had a fortune teller look at my name, and they told me that the number of strokes it took to write it was unlucky, so I changed my kanji for Takumi, from 拓海 to 工. But once the actor Takumi Saito started getting popular, I had people got upset at me for not looking like him, telling me I was a low-quality imitation.

Mr. Sato: Wow, that’s rough. But have you felt like there are upsides to having the same name too?

Takumi: It does make it easier for customers to remember it…Come to think of it, there used to be a lot of hosts named Takumi, usually guys with kind of a bad-boy image, but these days there aren’t so many anymore…Recently, there are a lot of hosts with 夜, the kanji for “night” [pronounced “yo” or “ya”] in their names, or guys with sparkly, cute-sounding names.

● Host #3: Musashi

Mr. Sato: “Musashi” doesn’t seem like such a flashy name.

Musashi: It actually used to be “Miyamoto Musashi.”

Mr. Sato: Whoa, like the famous swordsman? Did you pick the name out for yourself?

Musashi: I took it from the manga about Miyamoto Musashi called Vagabond. It’s easy to remember, and it sounds tough.

Mr. Sato: And why do you always write it using the alphabet, instead of Japanese text?

Musashi: It makes it easier for people to find me when doing Internet searches…It’s kind of like the boy band Exile does.

Mr. Sato: Do you ever think about changing it?

Musashi: Nope. I’ve spent over half my life as Musashi, the host, so it’s become my identity, and I’m not going to change it.

Mr. Sato: Is part of that because you look up to Miyamoto Musashi?

Musashi: I guess it is. The name alone already sounds strong and masculine, and I want to be the same way.

● Host #4: Reman Aoyama

Mr. Sato: Reman is a unique name. How did you get it?

Reman: When I first started out as a host, I was planning on using my real name. Then one of my seniors told me that having a host name would be better. When you’re working as a host, you’re being a different person than you usually are, so you have a different name for each persona.

But I couldn’t think of a name that really clicked for me, so I asked our club’s producer for advice, and he said, “You’re an oshare (fashionable) guy, so how about Oshare Man? So I was Oshare Man for a while, but it was kind of an awkward name to use.

Mr. Sato: Yeah, I can imagine.

Reman: Like, it’s weird to meet a new customer and be all “Nice to meet you! I’m Oshare Man!” So I changed it to “Reman” for two years, and then when I got promoted to executive host, I became Reman Aoyama. For Reman, I chose the kanji 礼満, as a short version of Rei wo tsukushite manzoku shite itadaku (礼を尽くして満足して頂く, “be courteous to satisfy others”).

Mr. Sato: I see. “Reman” isn’t a collection of sounds you hear very often in Japanese.

Reman: That’s true. People sometimes call me “Roman” or “Lemon,” but I don’t get bent out of shape over it. I don’t plan on changing it either. It’s a name no one else has, so it’s easy to find me with online searches.

● Host #5: Haru Ninomae

Mr. Sato: Did you pick your name out by yourself?

Haru: Yeah, the Haru part anyway. In the Takuya Kimura TV drama Pride, his character is named Haru Satonaka, and I liked his cool attitude, so I took he Haru part from there. Also I was born in spring [haru in Japanese], and my club manager, who’s now the president of our company recommended it, so there were a lot of overlapping reasons.

Ninomae was the family name one of my host seniors who I really looked up to used, so after he retired from the industry I took it over.

Mr. Sato: Oh, wow, like kabuki actors do! I didn’t know hosts did that sort of thing too.

Haru: I’m actually not sure if other hosts do that or not, but that’s what I did. I’ve heard of other hosts taking one kanji from their senior’s name though and using it to make one for themselves.

Mr. Sato: Did you feel any extra pressure when you started using your senior’s name?

Haru: I did, but in a good way. It became a source of motivation, motivation to not sully the name. Moreso than pressure, you could call it an increased consciousness, in a positive sense…It’s a name I have a lot of pride in.

Though Haru was the only one to explicitly say so, Mr. Sato came away with the sense that everyone he spoke to has a lot of pride on their host name, and that every day they’re working hard to live up to the expectations of their customers and themselves.

Related: Smappa Group
Photos: SoraNews24
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New Saizeriya gacha toys make us severely regret our life choices as we defy rules of probability

https://ift.tt/Wy6aUqb Katie Pask

New set of Saizeriya gacha turns from ‘let’s collect them all‘ into ‘this feels like torture‘.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Japan’s weird and wonderful world of gacha capsule toys, with mini replicas of all kinds of bizarre items coming out every other day.

The latest gacha trend is the ‘Minature Collection’ from Italian restaurant chain Saizeriya. The collection of tiny replicas of Saizeriya’s most famous dishes was wildly popular when the first run was released last year. Our resident gacha fan Ahiruneko was thrilled when he heard that there was a second run, and rushed out to try and collect the whole set.

The collection consists of six replicas — Grilled Escargots, Spaghetti with Cod Roe sauce, Doria with Meat Sauce and Egg, Italian Custard Pudding, a set of Kids’ Menus with Spot the Difference puzzles and the Saizeriya signboard. Ahiruneko was particularly keen to get his hands on the cod roe spaghetti, as it was a favourite of his, but the goal was to leave with all six replicas.

Each gacha cost 300 yen (US$2.30), so Ahiruneko gathered his coins, popped them in the slot and gave the crank a turn.

▼ A yellow gacha capsule popped out of the chute. What could it be?

▼ It was the Italian Custard Pudding!

The first gacha toy to come out was the Italian Custard Pudding. It’s a popular item at Saizeriya, but for a capsule toy it was a little unassuming. Still, it was the only dessert option available in the collection, and the caramel drizzled on top looked quite delicious.

But one mere gacha toy does not a collection make, so Ahiruneko spun the wheel once more and was met with a familiar sight —

▼ Another Italian Custard Pudding!!

Despite the fact that there were six available figures to get, Ahiruneko was now the proud owner of two Italian Custard Puddings. No matter, it wasn’t that unusual to get the same thing twice, but statistically speaking he was probably going to get something new on his next spin, so another 300 yen went in the coin slot.

Once more, a yellow gacha capsule popped out of the machine, and Ahiruneko was starting to get worried.

Maybe the capsule colours were the same but the contents were different, Ahiruneko told himself as he cracked it open.

But he was wrong, and yet another Italian Custard Pudding popped out.

Ahiruneko loves custard pudding as much as the next guy, but three plates of Italian Custard Pudding seemed just too much for one man. Surely he was due a cod roe spaghetti or a doria soon… so another 300 yen went in the slot.

▼ You already know what came out.

This was getting ridiculous. Were there actually any other gacha toys in the machine, or was it just full of Italian Custard Puddings?

At this point, he’d spent 1,200 yen on gacha toys based on a restaurant with notoriously cheap food, but Ahiruneko wasn’t ready to give up yet. He wasn’t going to leave with just four Italian Custard Puddings, so with another 300 yen in his hand and praying to the gacha gods, he carefully placed the coins in the slot, turned the crank, and…

▼ …ladies and gentlemen, this is Italian Custard Pudding number 5.

This… had to be a joke. Ahiruneko stood motionless, a fist full of Italian Custard Pudding, too stunned to do or say anything. What the hell were the odds of getting five of the same capsule toy in a row?

Ahiruneko began to throw every curse word in the book at the gacha machine, who had given him nothing but pudding. Enough was enough! It was time for something else! He’d spent 1,500 yen on five custard puddings and not a single cod roe spaghetti! Another 300 yen was shoved in the slot…

… and after what felt like a torturous eternity, something different finally came out!

▼ It wasn’t the cod roe spaghetti, but it certainly wasn’t the custard pudding either.

Finally! A new toy popped out — the Kids’ Menu with Spot the Difference Puzzles on them. The menus were very authentic replicas of the kids’ menus available at the restaurant, and Ahiruneko thumbed through them excitedly.

▼ Complete with prices…

▼ … and Saizeriya’s famous Spot the Difference puzzles, each with 10 differences to find.

▼ They really were very faithful replicas, but…

▼ … they were so small that it made the differences quite difficult to find.

The Spot the Difference puzzles are notoriously difficult to complete even at their normal size, and making them smaller made the differences even more tricky to spot. So Ahiruneko decided to compare the tiny replica menu with a real Saizeriya menu and headed to his nearest branch.

But perhaps his brain power had all been used up processing the logic-defying statistics that happened with his five pudding toys in a row, as he could only find two differences on the menu.

Feeling absolutely beaten, he decided to reward himself with the cod roe spaghetti he’d been aiming for all day.

And because one can really never have too many puddings, he decided to order the real Italian Custard Pudding as well.

But as he was about to tuck in to his meal, he noticed something that made his heart drop.

The gacha pudding had set him back 300 yen a pop, whereas the real Italian Custard Pudding was 250 yen. The real item was cheaper than the toy replica!!

Five of the replica puddings had cost Ahiruneko 1,500 yen, but if he’d ordered five real puddings from Saizeriya, they would have come to only 1,250 yen. Ahiruneko wasn’t quite sure how to process this information — did it mean that the gacha was an overpriced mess? Or was Saizeriya just selling really cheap pudding?

There simply wasn’t enough power left in Ahiruneko’s brain to figure out the correct answer, and in the end just ate his meal. Despite the debacle that had happened with the gacha machine, he’s still going to pop back some day soon to try and complete his collection.

In the meantime, if anyone needs a toy Italian Custard Pudding, we know a guy who has a few to spare.

Photos © SoraNews24
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Japan’s Slime ice cream will Heal you since it’s a Dragon Quest tie-up with Baskin-Robbins Japan

https://ift.tt/2Ox7ngS Casey Baseel

Slimes draw near! Command? Eat them, of course!

Having a scoop of ice cream in front of you is always something to be happy about. It’s even better, though when the ice cream has some extra special ingredient mixed into it, like ribbons of fudge or marshmallow bits.

Or Slimes. Slimes can be awesome additions for ice cream too.

It’s important to clarify that we’re talking capital-S Slimes here, marking them specifically as the lovable mascot monsters from the Dragon Quest role-playing video game franchise. Traditionally the first random enemy you encounter, they pose so little threat that fans have come to see them as more friend than foe, and so they’re showing up in a brand-new ice cream flavor at Baskin-Robbins Japan called Heal Magic Flavor (or Hoimi Flavor, to use the same term for Dragon Quest’s healing spell as Japanese-language-versions of the games do).

As shown in the diagram above, the cream itself is a mixture of apple sorbet (the green part) and vanilla ice cream. Coincidentally, the colors sort of look like paths through a forest, and dotting the landscape are gummy Slimes for your taste buds to encounter.

Baskin-Robbins says the Slimes are “soda-flavored,” but that doesn’t mean they taste like cola. In Japanese confectionary jargon, “soda” refers to a light apple/citrus flavor, like that of popular Japanese soft drink Ramune or popsicle bar Garigari-kun. All in all, it sounds like the Slime ice cream should have a refreshing, as opposed to oppressively sweet, flavor, making it a great dessert metaphor for Heal magic.

To celebrate the Slimes’ arrival, Baskin-Robbins is also offering a special Dragon Quest-themed box with eight scoops of ice cream flavors of your choice, which also gets you a set of eight art coasters as part of a promotional tie-up with mobile game Dragon Quest Keshikeshi.

Since Baskin-Robbins doesn’t accept gold coins for payment, a scoop of Heal Magic ice cream will cost you 390 yen (US$3.15), and the special flavor is available from now until May 31. Now if that Dragon Quest Heal Magic fried chicken would come back, we’d be all set for dinner and dessert.

Source: PR Times via IT Media
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Baskin-Robbins, PR Times
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Harajuku College Student in Vintage Cropped Blazer, Toga Pants, Vintage Accessories & Vintage Boots

https://ift.tt/AxHXkWy

Nen is a Japanese college student we often see around the streets of Harajuku. Nen is unmistakable with a unique hairstyle and fun personality.

Nen’s look here features a vintage cropped blazer with embellishments over layered vintage tops, belted shiny pants by the Japanese brand Toga, vintage accessories, and vintage boots.

When we asked Nen about their favorite fashion brand, they said that they likes shopping at vintage shops. They also like the music of Miyavi. Follow Nen on Instagram for more of their fashion and college life.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

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