Line of Japanese-smelling watches sold through Japan Post Office

https://ift.tt/9fec5SE Master Blaster

Wear your love of a certain Japanese scent on your sleeve.

The middle of summer in Japan certainly isn’t known for its great smells, and if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can get downright horrendous at times. It would certainly be nice to carry around a small whiff of more temperate times and places wherever you go.

That’s the idea behind watchmaker Maruzeki’s new line called Kaoru. The timepieces come in seven base color schemes, each with a rubber band that’s infused with one of seven quintessentially Japanese fragrances.

The Sakura watch has an elegant floral scent that gives a sense of the bursting of life that occurs in the cherry blossoms of spring, while the Matcha watch is a more refined and mature smell with a bitter tinge reminiscent of a relaxing cup of green tea or even some matcha ice cream.

A sharp pine-like scent can be found in the Hinoki (Japanese cypress) watch. It’s a relaxing smell that some say can keep insects at bay. There’s probably no bug-repelling benefit with the Tsubaki watch, though, whose inviting floral aroma of the Japanese camellia is incredibly appealing. The Yuzu watch has an invigorating citrus smell to lift your spirits with a sweet and sour aroma often used to make baths more refreshing.

The Waboku watch smells like a type of ink block used in Japanese calligraphy, and can have a very nostalgic effect on people who went to school here. The Jinko (Incense) watch contains the complex but pleasing smell of burning agarwood as incense, giving an almost transcendent feeling of being in a temple or shrine.

Sure beats a pile of garbage on the street corner on a scorching summer day, doesn’t it?

In addition to some personal relief during hot and hectic days, these watches can make excellent souvenirs for those who want to take a piece of Japan with them or great gifts to people in other countries where they can’t easily experience some of these aromas. That’s probably why Maruzeki has teamed up with Japan Post, where Kaoru watches can also be purchased, and packages them in an eye-pleasing gift-like box.

The basic watches cost 3,200 yen (US$24) each, but variations with special faces are also available for a range of additional prices such as a maneki neko for 3,600 yen ($27) or Doraemon for 4,400 yen ($33).

▼ Reflect on spiritual matters with this combination of a sunrise over a wave swept scene of Mt. Fuji complemented by the smell of burning incense.

▼　Wear a bit of Japanese spring everywhere you go by watching a maiko stroll through a scattering of cherry blossoms in Kyoto, and smell it too!

▼ The sophistication of Tokyo can be captured in this colorful look at its skyline while enjoying the keen smell of hinoki wood.

▼ The Osaka watch is, perhaps appropriately, a chaotic mishmash symbols like takoyaki, Tsutenkaku tower, and various phrases in Osakan dialect. This one is scented as waboku ink, because why not?

Bear in mind that these combinations of fragrances and face designs are not fixed and may change depending on when or where you purchase the watch from. For example the Maruzeki website is now offering Tokyo watches with a yuzu scent and a maiko watch that smells like tsubaki flowers.

Regardless of the watch style, the timekeeping mechanisms were all crafted by Seiko Epson, and all other parts from the rubber to the aromas were made in Japan, making these watches about as Japanese as you can get. So, get one yourself either through the Maruzeki or Japan Post online shops and arm yourself against the fish markets and sweaty packed trains of summer.

Source: PR Times, Maruzeki, Japan Post
Images: PR Times
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Anti-ramen stain T-shirt eliminates the one and only bad thing about eating ramen【Video】

https://ift.tt/Y32viW8 Casey Baseel

Because ramen belongs in your belly, not on your shirt.

Ramen fans will tell you that there’s never a bad time for a bowl of noodles, but that’s not entirely true. Sure, it’s great for lunch or dinner, on a hot summer day or a cold winter night, but there’s one time when you really do want to avoid ramen: when you’re wearing a white shirt.

That’s because ramen, in keeping with Japanese culinary customs, is meant to be slurped, but if you do it with too much momentum, you’ll get broth splashing onto your clothing and likely leaving a stain on any lightly colored fabric.

Unless, that is, you’re wearing this T-shirt.

The garment is the latest creation from Japanese apparel company Zorich, which calls it, quite straightforwardly, the Ramen T-shirt. In the demonstration video, we see a man eating a bowl of ramen with the level of gusto that situation customarily instills, but when he comes out of his food coma, his shirt is splattered with broth stains.

Ordinarily, such discoloration would require a lot of detergent and scrubbing to get out, and even then there’d be no guarantee it could be entirely removed. But the man calmly grabs a glass of water, pours a little of it on his shirt, flicks off the moisture with a napkin, and…

…it’s back to being as pure white as it was before he started eating!

▼ A second demonstration video, which specifies that this is tonkotsu (pork stock) ramen, shows the stains being removed with a wet napkin, so pouring water directly on the shirt doesn’t look to be absolutely necessary.

▼ “The coming of the savior of ramen-loving people!”
The splash-repelling Ramen T-shirt Broth splashes, the arch-enemy of ramen-lovers”

Ziorich hasn’t yet revealed the science behind the Ramen T-shirt, nor has it mentioned pricing or availability. The company has both a standard online shop, specializing in men(s suits and dress shirts, but it also occasionally debuts designs through Japanese crowdfunding site Makuake, where its most recent offerings were a nipple and armpit sweat-concealing undershirt and a T-shirt with a contoured midsection for a slimmer appearance. Both of those campaigns easily met their funding goals, so it’s likely we’ll be seeing the Ramen T-shirt as well in the not too distant future.

Source: YouTube/ZIORICH via IT Media, Makuake
Images: YouTube/ZIORICH
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Newest branch of Japan’s oldest burger chain serves up some crazy huge sandwiches in Ginza

https://ift.tt/JGO80cA Casey Baseel

Dom Dom Burger goes big as it comes to Tokyo’s fanciest neighborhood.

Dom Dom Burger is Japan’s oldest hamburger chain, but also its most frequently forgotten. That probably has something to do with the fact that even though it was founded all the way back in 1963, there are fewer than 30 Dom Dom Burger branches nationwide, and even when they are in big cities, they’re often not in the busiest parts of them.

So it was a big deal recently when Dom Dom Burger opened a new branch in Ginza, the swankiest of swanky Tokyo neighborhoods, right in the middle of the capital.

This new location also gets a slightly new name, Dom Dom Burger Plus. If you’re wondering what the deal is with “Grill Swiss” on the bottom right corner of the awning, that’s the name of the restaurant that used to be on the first floor of the building but has now relocated to the second, becoming Dom Dom’s upstairs neighbor.

The irony of Dom Dom Burger being so often forgotten is that they make some very impressive burgers, like the monstrously delicious Marugoto (“Whole”) Crab Burger.

▼ Which we tried at Dom Dom’s Asakusa branch a while back

As an upscale branch, Dom Dom Plus has a range of all-wagyu beef burgers on its menu, as well as the Marugoto Crab…

…but on this day, Mr. Sato decided to try another oversized seafood sandwich, the humbly named Fish Burger…which still manages to look shocking!

The slice of fried fish doesn’t so much stick out from the bun as much as the bread serves as a partial covering to hold onto the exact center. Really, there’s more fish outside the bun than inside it.

Not that Mr. Sato would ever complain about a colossal burger, of course. The sandwich’s size did present a bit of a problem, though, because he knew he wouldn’t have the throat capacity to just pick it up and cram it into his mouth. Thankfully, Dom Dom Plus serves the Fish Burger with a fork, so Mr. Sato could start by using the silverware to eat the extending sections.

The fish used is walleye pollock, a kind of cod, and it was flavorful and tender, with a perfectly satisfying crispness to the breading.

Anticipating that customers will be eating part of the fish on its own, the restaurant also supplies you with tartar sauce and, on the day Mr. Sato visited, a mantai mayo sauce made with mentaiko (spicy cod roe).

▼ “Mentai mayo goes well with anything and everything.” – Mr. Sato

Finally, Mr. Sato had eaten enough for the burger to be something he could eat with his hands, and it was time to taste test its true potential…

…and it did not disappoint, with the added flavor and texture of the pillowy soft buns and shredded cabbage joining with the fish for a sublimely scrumptious eating experience.

In keeping with its upscale environment, Dom Dom Plus’ sandwiches are in the 1,000 yen (US$7.25) and up range, but lunch specials, like the one that Mr. Sato got, can be as cheap as 890 yen, making the place an affordable luxury. So it’s definitely someplace Mr. Sato hopes to eat at again soon, especially since, in keeping with the fanciness of the neighborhood, Dom Dom Plus has an extensive wine list.

And there’s something even more intriguing. Remember Grill Swiss, the restaurant upstairs from Dom Dom Burger Plus? Rumor has it that Grill Swiss was the first restaurant in Japan to serve katsu curry, and so Dom Dom Plus has an exclusive menu item you can’t get at any other branch: the Katsu Curry Burger, produced in partnership with Grill Swiss

That’s going to have to wait for another day, though, because right now Mr. Sato is very, very full from that Fish Burger.

Restaurant information
Dom Dom Burger Plus / ドムドムハンバーガープラス
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-5-16
東京都中央区銀座3-5-16
Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. (weekdays), 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. (weekends)
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Waiter, there’re 100 crickets in my soup! We try make-it-yourself Cricket Ramen【Taste Test】

https://ift.tt/xNYJfsS Katie Pask

Why settle for just one cricket when you can eat one hundred?

Like it or not, entomophagy (the practice of eating insects) is becoming more and more mainstream. Not only are they a good source of protein, but introducing insects into your diet is environmentally friendly, as bugs require less land, water and food than other animals we eat. And while in the past edible insects were limited to specialty stores, these days it’s much easier to chow down on some creepy crawlies.

Back in 2020 we reported on entomophagy specialist company Antcicada’s cricket ramen — insect ramen that you could make yourself at home. And after checking silkworm cakes and scorpion skewers off of our ‘to-eat’ list, we’ve finally got around to ordering some cricket ramen to try ourselves.

Taste-testing duties this time fell to our reporter Kouhey. Kouhey is a self-professed natto maniac, and logically speaking, someone who enjoys the notoriously pungent smell and intimidating texture of those fermented soybeans should be able to handle something as simple as a cricket.

The kit included two servings of cricket ramen and cost 2,200 yen (US$16). There are supposedly a hundred crickets contained within each serving of ramen, so Kouhey braced himself as he started inspecting the contents. Would the lifeless eyes of a hoard of crickets be staring up at him from inside?

Thankfully no, as most of the crickets had been ground down into a powder and used to make the noodles and broth.

The noodles, helpfully labeled as ‘cricket noodles’, had cricket powder as the second ingredient used in making them, right after flour.

The cricket broth featured two kinds of Japanese crickets, but there were also more traditional ramen toppings inside the frozen bag of broth, like chashu pork and bamboo shoots. Looking at it like this, you’d have no way of knowing the cricket broth was any different to a more run-of-the-mill ramen broth.

The final ingredient was a bit more cricket-like though, due to the fact that it was literally a whole cricket, deep-fried, added as the final garnish.

Ingredient inspection done and dusted, it was time to start making some cricket ramen. It seemed pretty straightforward. First, heat up the cricket broth…

… boil the cricket noodles…

… pop them in a bowl…

… add the seasoning (also made from crickets, naturally)…

… and add the deep fried cricket as the final touch.

Ta-da! A bowl of delicious cricket ramen, ready to eat!

Kouhey decided to take things slow, and started off with the cricket noodles first, made with ground cricket powder. How would they taste?

According to Kouhey, they tasted very good. The noodles were the perfect slippery texture and tasted great. Looking closely, he could see some dark specs in the noodles, which he assumed were pieces of cricket.

▼ The bamboo shoots also went down well, with Kouhey calling them “thick and chewy”

▼ The chashu pork was delicious too.

So far, Kouhey had nothing negative to say about his bowl of cricket ramen — in fact, it tasted way better than most home ramen kits he’s tried before, even ones without crickets!

While the cricket ramen was delicious, Kouhey was yet to sample on the star of the dish, the figurehead of the 100 crickets used to make this meal…

▼ The deep-fried cricket!

He tentatively put the cricket in his mouth, bit down and…

…

…

…

… ate it with no issues whatsoever. What’s more, it was actually quite delicious, with Kouhey comparing the taste and texture to that of sakura shrimp tempura. In fact, it tasted so good that he wished that he could have a couple more crickets to put on top of his ramen, but so many critters in his bowl would probably look pretty unappetising, no matter how good they might have tasted.

Before he realised, he’d devoured his ramen and was left with only the cricket broth. Luckily, the kit came with suggestions on how to use up your leftover broth, and so Kouhey decided to make ‘cricket cheese risotto‘.

He mixed in some rice and black pepper with his broth.

Next, he added some Parmesan cheese.

And that was it! Cheesy, cricket-y risotto, ready to eat! It looked more like a rice soup than risotto, but as long as it tasted good, who cares?

And taste good it did! The cricket taste went very well with the Parmesan cheese. The kit also recommended using mitsuba leaves as well, so there are a multiple options for you to pick and choose from.

Kouhey hadn’t expected to have enjoyed cricket ramen this much, but after polishing off the risotto he decided that this was definitely the best ramen he’d ever made at home, knocking his homemade natto ramen into second place.

You can order your own bowl of cricket ramen from Antcicada’s website here. If you’re new to the world of entomophagy and the idea of eating a whole cricket makes you a little squeamish, you can choose to remove the deep-fried cricket topping from your order if you wish. Alternatively, you can go to the other extreme and dump a whole bag of crickets on top of your meal, like our reporter Masami did.

Related: Anticada
Images ©SoraNews24
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First-ever carbon-neutral sake coming in October

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Sip some sustainable sake soon.

With a lot of focus being put on products that are sustainable and ethical, the Japanese alcohol known as nihonshu in Japan, or just sake abroad, really has a lot going for it. For centuries, it has been an all-natural, additive-free, and vegan alcoholic drink in its standard form, made with three simple ingredients: rice, water, and yeast.

That alone would make sake a great choice for those with environmental or ethical concerns, but one brewery in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture still thinks more can be done. Kobe Shushinkan is a prestigious sake brewery that dates back to 1751, has won many awards, and even had its sake served at the Nobel Prize ceremony.

Now they are embarking on a bold new campaign to make their entire business environmentally sustainable, starting with the world’s first carbon-emission-free sake, Fukuju Junmaishu Eco Zero.

This version of Kobe Shushinkan’s famous Fukuju brand of sake accomplishes this in four different ways. First, they switched their energy sources to Kobe’s non-fossil-burning sources for electricity and carbon-neutral liquified natural gas to run the brewing. They have also taken numerous steps around the brewery to reduce overall electricity consumption such as LED lighting.

In the brewing process itself, instead of milling the rice grains down to 70 percent as they normally do Kobe Shushinkan will only mill them down to 80 percent. By milling less of the rice grains, less power is used and as a result the sake has a more complex and earthy taste than the highly fruity flavors of sake made from heavily milled rice like daiginjo.

Normally in sake brewing something called “shubo” is used. Literally translating to “sake mother” this mass of mushy steamed rice is used to cultivate the yeast needed to ferment the sake. However, since the steaming process consumes energy, this step has been eliminated in the production of Eco Zero. Instead, dried yeast is used to reduce the environmental burden and speed up the entire brewing process.

▼　A quick and very informative video showing shubo being prepared

Finally, the bottles themselves do not have any labels which require additional materials and energy to produce. Instead, a lead-free ink is applied directly to the bottle through electrostatic coating. These bottles will grace liquor shelves starting 20 October for an expected retail price of about 1,500 yen (US$11) per 720-milliliter (24-ounce) bottle.

Eco Zero is only the first step in Kobe Shushinkan’s Sustainable Journey initiative in which it aims to have complete emission-free brewing by 2030 and extend this to all aspects of their supply chain by 2050, including farming and distribution to the 15 countries where Fukuju sake is sold. They also plan to share these techniques with other breweries so that the entire industry can move in a greener direction together.

In addition to adhering to basic social responsibility, Kobe Shushinkan also has a vested interest in curbing climate change and protecting the environment. Sake brewing is deeply connected to the water and land of the local environment in which its made. So for them and for all of us, saving the environment also means saving great tasting sake.

Source: PR Times
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: PR Times
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The Sailor Scouts and their Sanrio sidekicks are finally here with adorable new collectable goods

https://ift.tt/o97t0YE Dale Roll

Plus…new pairings have been announced!

It’s here! The dream kawaii collaboration between Sailor Moon and Sanrio is finally here! Way back in January they teased us with a few concept images that paired up a Sailor Scout with a Sanrio character similar in style or personality, but they hadn’t announced how these new pairings would be used–until now! The Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal x Sanrio Characters line will be composed of almost a dozen different collectible accessories.

The line, which is part of the celebration of Sailor Moon’s 30th Anniversary, features the Sailor Scouts and their partners dressed in their Super Scout uniforms from the Sailor Moon Eternal movie, which came out last year. While the Sanrio characters are wearing outfits to match their Scout, the Sailor Scouts are designed like their Sanrio character sidekick, down to their defining features and accessories.

The pairings are:
● Super Sailor Moon and Hello Kitty
● Super Sailor Chibi Moon and My Melody
● Super Sailor Mercury and Cinnamoroll
● Super Sailor Mars and Kuromi
● Super Sailor Jupiter and Marron Cream
● Super Sailor Venus and Pom Pom Purin

And of course, the cats of Sailor Moon also appear with their respective master and sidekick: Luna with Sailor Moon and Hello Kitty, Artemis with Sailor Venus and Pom Pom Purin, and Diana with Sailor Chibi Moon and My Melody.

The first round of goods comes out on August 18 and includes a wide variety of accessories like plush keychains, acrylic keychains, acrylic standees, charms, different kinds of zippered pouches, accessory stands, clear files, and pens.

They’ll be joined on October 27 by some really cool vanity and decorative goods, including a Super Sailor Moon and Hello Kitty room light (6,930 yen [US$51.45]) and a Super Sailor Mini Moon and My Melody jewelry tray with a mirror (5,940 yen). Both of these have a large transformation brooch as their main feature, so decorating your room with them is sure to bring you back to your childhood.

Of course, there aren’t just six Sailor Scouts–there are ten of them! With the announcement of the products came an unveiling of four more pairings featuring the outer Sailor Scouts:
● Super Sailor Uranus with Little Twin Stars Kiki
● Super Sailor Neptune with Little Twin Stars Lala
● Super Sailor Pluto with Pochacco
● Super Sailor Saturn with My Sweet Piano

These newly revealed pairs are going to come in the form of originally-designed acrylic standees, and they’re so cute! Lala and Kiki’s hair colors were changed to match Neptune’s and Uranus’, and Pluto and Saturn were given ears to match Pochacco and My Sweet Piano. They’re so adorable we just can’t stand it.

Among the standee designs, there will also be a secret design they aren’t announcing…what could it be? We can only look forward to finding out when the goods are released!

When August 18 and October 27 roll around, you’ll be able to find these items at all Sanrio Shops around the country, as well as department stores where Sanrio goods are sold and the Sanrio Online Shop. Make sure you mark your calendars because these adorable products are sure to sell out fast!

And for more 30th Anniversary Sailor Moon celebrations, don’t forget to check out the Sailor Moon Anna Sui collection, the Sailor Moon Jimmy Choo boots,  and the Sailor Moon purse, clothing, and accessories collections from Samatha Group. There are so many ways to honor everyone’s favorite magical girl, we just don’t know what to pick!

Source, images: Press release
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Watermelon soup? We test out a strangely alluring recipe from Ajinomoto【Recipe】

https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/07/WG-1.jpg?w=640 Casey Baseel

Going beyond watermelon smoothies with watermelon gazpacho.

In Japan, watermelon is sometimes called “the king of fruits.” Could it also, though, be the king of soups?

Food and beverage company Ajinomoto thinks it has the potential, as they recently shared a recipe for watermelon gazpacho, which our Japanese-language reporter Aoi Kuroneko was quick to try out.

Ingredients (for four servings)

● Watermelon (350 grams [12.3 ounces])
● Cucumber (70 grams [2.5 ounces])
● Tomato (120 grams [4.2 ounces])
● Onion (30 grams [1.1 ounces])
● Garlic (1/2 clove)
● Olive oil (1 tablespoon)
● Lemon juice (2 teaspoons)
● Consommé powder (2 teaspoons)

Step 1: Chop the watermelon, cucumber, and tomatoes.

Step 2: Set aside 50 grams of watermelon and 20 crams of cucumber. Place the rest of the watermelon and cucumbers into a blender, along with the tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, and consommé powder. Blend the mixture until smooth.

Step 3: Dice the onion and garlic, add them to the mixture, and blend once more.

Step 4: Pour the blended mixture into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 5: Once the mixture is chilled (this may take a few hours), add the watermelon and cucumber you set aside in Step 1 as a topping, and your watermelon gazpacho is ready!

Setting aside the chilling, the whole thing only requires about five minutes of active prep work, which isn’t bad at all for something that comes out looking as pretty as this. As for how it tastes, let’s go to Aoi’s taste-test notes:

“From the very first moment, the watermelon makes its presence felt! This is a refreshingly chilly soup that lets you really enjoy the melon’s sweetness.

Olive oil turns out to be surprisingly compatible with watermelon, and the lemon juice and garlic are just enough to bring the soup’s sweet notes into sharper focus without covering it up, and there’s no unpleasant bitterness from the tomato or cucumber either.

All in all, this is a very unique, but also very good, soup.”

With no boiling, simmering, or other cooking involved, it’s also pretty easy to adjust the recipe to better suit your tastes, whether that means adding in more onion for a spicier finish or using a squirt more of lemon juice for extra tartness. Also, as a soup, increasing or decreasing the amount you make is a snap, making it easy to whip up a batch for a party, make use of leftover watermelon you’ve got in the fridge, or any other time you’re craving a new spin on the king of fruits.

Source: Ajinomoto
Photos © SoraNews24
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Become a sumo wrestler with the new top knot hairband from Japan

https://ift.tt/YXO85qc Oona McGee

Channel your inner rikishi with a head-turning new fashion accessory.

These days, we’re all looking to add a touch more joy to our lives, and Japanese company Felissimo has long been using the power of humour to do just that, through its “You + More” sub-brand, which sounds similar to “Humour“.

Over the years, You + More has been making us smile with jellyfish-inspired umbrellas and ramen noodle towels, and now our smiles are set to widen even further, with the addition of a new product called the “Akogare no Ooichoo-fuu Hea ga Kanau Rikishi Narikiri Hea Bando“, which translates to “Longed-for Top Knot-Style Hair Comes True Wrestler Impersonator Hair Band“.

▼ Yep, that name pretty much sums it up. 

This new hairband lets you channel your inner sumo wrestler with a realistic-looking top knot, complete with carefully placed white highlights to add shine to areas and give it a rounded, full, 3-D look.

▼ Made from cotton, the hair band is elasticised for comfort.

As most of us wouldn’t have the courage to wear such an eye-catching headpiece outdoors, the hair band is designed to be used at home, for those times when you need to keep your hair out of your face.

▼ Like during your skin-cleansing routine.

You can also wear it during post-bath downtimes, or when lounging around the house. Be careful when wearing it during mealtimes, though, or else you might find yourself eating giant portions like a sumo wrestler too.

The hairband can be purchased online for 2,090 yen (US$15.25), and if you’d like to add more sumo items to your home to match your hairband, you can always invest in You + More’s other humorous sumo products, like the salt-shaker that adds ceremonial salt to your fries!

Source, images: Felissimo 
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Autonomous beverage and snack car now testing in Chiba City

https://ift.tt/1W3aJl4 Master Blaster

It’s like some kind of vending mechanical robot or something!

Japan certainly is a country full of vending machines. In fact, there is said to be one vending machine for every 34 people living here. That’s an amazing number, and yet I’m still left wondering if they could be more convenient somehow. I mean, they all pretty much just sit there and don’t really do anything to actively provide me with cool beverages.

▼ Just look at these shiftless layabouts, hanging out on the street corner all day and night.

Photo ©SoraNews24

Kyocera Communication Systems is now working on filling that small gap with an unmanned vending machine on wheels so to speak. The as yet unnamed machine is about the size of a very small car, 2.5 meters (8 feet) in length, 1.3 meters (4 feet) wide, and up to two meters (6.5 feet) tall.

Without any driver it will cruise a predetermined route on city streets, especially around areas that might need it like public parks or apartment complexes. After getting stocked with hot or cold beverages and temperature sensitive snacks like chocolate and jelly, it will move at about 15 kilometers per hour (9 miles per hour) and sell its goods via the attached touch panel and a smartphone payment system.

With the cooperation of Chiba City and approval by the Kanto Transport Bureau, this little car will putt around the Wakaba 3-Chome district of Chiba, five days a week including weekends, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

▼ A map of the snack car’s route

First it will scoot around the perimeter of the Aeon Style Makuhari Bay Park shopping center, then do a lap around the cigar-shaped Wakaba 3-Chome Park while also swinging by large condominium complexes located on each side of it.

However, since this is a trial run, service times will be irregular and trips will be called off during inclement weather or if the car requires maintenance. Also, even though the vehicle is autonomous, it will be constantly monitored and immediately overridden in the event it is about to have an accident or be hijacked by snack-marauders.

Nevertheless, for the time it’s active, Kyocera’s snack and drink car will certainly bring an added touch of high-tech convenience to an already very convenient country. And yet as I type this in my seventh-floor office I have to wonder: Would it be so hard to make one of these things that can fly?

Source: PR Times
Images: PR Times (unless otherwise noted)
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Sukiyabashi Jiro Sushi Rice: How good is rice from Japan’s legendary sushi restaurant?

https://ift.tt/aSjAhnp Oona McGee

Recreating the expensive restaurant experience at home with authentic ingredients, at a fraction of the price you’d usually pay for them.

Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district is often touted as one of the best sushi restaurants in the world. The restaurant shot to global fame with the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and since then it’s been visited by some of the most famous people in the world, including Barack Obama and David Beckham.

Notoriously hard to get into, and with courses costing hundreds of dollars per person, the restaurant remains out of reach for a lot of people, including our food-loving reporter Mr Sato. So when he heard there was a way to get a taste of the restaurant’s sushi rice at an affordable price, he immediately went out to find it.

▼ Sukiyabashi Jiro’s sushi rice can be purchased at the Ginza branch of salmon specialist store Oji Salmon.

This store wants customers to enjoy their top-quality fish with the best quality rice, and so for them, nothing less than Sukiyabashi’s sushi rice will do.

▼ The rice is sold in ready-made packs that only need to be heated before eating.

As sushi aficionados will know, sushi rice is just as important as the fish that’s placed upon it, and Sukiyabashi Jiro itself believes it to be the most important component, saying, “The decisive factor in the taste of sushi is the sushi rice”.

This set the bar high for Mr Sato’s expectations, especially when he saw the blurb on the package that read: “シャリは人肌に限る” (“Shari wa hitohada ni kagiru”), “The warmth of human skin is best for sushi rice”. This is a quote by Jiro Ono, the 96-year-old sushi master who owns the restaurant, and it signifies the level of detail given to the rice, which is best served at the same warmth as human skin.

The directions on the pack ask that the customer follow Ono’s advice by keeping the seal on the pack after heating to allow it to steam until it reaches the temperature of human skin.

Mr Sato decided to honour Ono’s advice as best as he possibly could, and just to see if the rice really was worth the hype, he picked up a pack of own-brand Topvalu rice from an Aeon-run My Basket corner store to compare.

Both packs required two minutes of heating in a microwave at 500 Watts, so Mr Sato heated them together.

After heating, he let the packs steam in their packages for a while before peeling off their plastic seals to test the temperature.

They seemed just about right, so Mr Sato took a taste, starting with the Topvalu rice, which was glistening with a pure white shine. It was delicious enough — nothing out of the norm, and a good-quality standard offering.

While the Topvalu rice was plain and unseasoned, Sukiyabashi Jiro’s rice is sushi rice, so the aroma of vinegar was present. The rice wasn’t as glossy as as the cheaper Topvalu version, but the quality was undeniable, as the grains were beautifully shaped, and held together to create just the right consistency. It wasn’t falling off the spoon, but it wasn’t joined together in one massive clump either — the consistency was perfect.

The mouthfeel was sublime, and the taste was slightly astringent, which is to be expected when eating sushi rice on its own. Of course, Sukiyabashi Jiro advises that the rice not be eaten on its own, and instead be enjoyed as hand-moulded nigiri sushi or handmade makizushi, as that’s when the flavour really shines.

Unfortunately, Mr Sato didn’t have enough money on him to buy rice and fish when he was out that day, so he might just have to make a return trip to Oji Salmon to fulfil his own dreams of fully recreating the Sukiyabashi Jiro experience at home. At 560 yen (US$4.16) a pack, it’s an affordable way to enjoy a taste of luxury, and once he finds another pack of Sukiyabashi Jiro seaweed, he’ll be all set for a perfect sushi evening.

Store Information
Oji Salmon Ginza Store / 王子サーモン 銀座店
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-7-12
東京都中央区銀座3-7-12
Open 10:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (weekdays); 10:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (weekends and public holidays)

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