Zoo director begs people to stop screwing with air conditioner, setting it to lowest temperature

https://ift.tt/wqmZQio Master Blaster

The reptile house is no place for monkey business.

Last year a giant python escaped from its owner and had a neighborhood in Yokohama on edge for about half a month. It wasn’t until Tsuyoshi Shirawa, the director of Shizuoka’s iZoo, used his keen sense of the reptile mind to quickly locate the animal in the ceiling above its owner’s apartment.

▼ Shirawa’s self-assured thumbs-up to media after finding the snake easily made him the coolest zookeeper in Japan.

なにこのかっこいい絵面 pic.twitter.com/mDituEHf3S

— 長いおり投稿数ゼロTuber (@IoryHamon) May 22, 2021

When he’s not out solving animal mysteries, Shirawa runs a unique kind of zoo in iZoo (pronounced “ee-zoo“). With a focus on reptiles and amphibians, iZoo is often described as an “experimental zoo” that lets guests get very up-close and personal with the animals.

This requires a very strong knowledge of the animals in order to gauge the risk posed both by and to reptiles such as alligators, venomous snakes, and chameleons. Shirawa’s guidance has helped iZoo pull this off for years without incident. But despite all his experience with cold-blooded creatures, there’s one animal that Shirawa has struggled with: humans.

On 24 August, an exasperated Shirawa posted the following tweet:

▼ “There have been repeated incidents of visitors taking the liberty of lowering the air conditioner of the iZoo exhibition hall to its minimum temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). We’ve tried countermeasures like patrols and warnings, but it hasn’t stopped. The air conditioner is for all living things, not just people. The normal temperature is 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). I know it’s hot, but please don’t touch the equipment.”

iZooの展示館のエアコンをお客さんが勝手に操作して最低温度の18℃にされる事態が頻発しています。
見回り巡回、注意喚起などの対策をしましたが止まりません。
生き物のための空調で人のためだけではありません。
普段の設定温度は28℃です。
暑いのはわかりますがお願いですから機器に触らないで。

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 24, 2022

The tweet went viral and generated a large number of replies. Many expressed their surprise that people would be so bold as to adjust the air conditioner of a private business. Others, however, felt that Shirawa and iZoo’s lax atmosphere shared some of the blame.

“The number of unbelievably irrational people seems to be increasing each year. If you can’t take the heat, don’t go to places where animals from hot climates live.”
“You can’t trust your guests so much, or one day you’ll be forced to stop making the zoo so open.”
“I’m sure some people actually think they are helping the cold-blooded animals by turning down the temperature.”
“28 degrees isn’t even that hot.”
“People always do unexpected things, but I think it’s the management’s responsibility to eliminate the chances of that as much as possible.”
“I also work at a breeding facility and the air conditioner is covered so even staff can’t mess with it. If there is a switch, there will always be someone to touch it.”
“Please provide images of how this air conditioner is set up and how guests can touch it.”

In response to the feedback, Shirawa posted a picture of the control panel, which is behind a closed door that is taped shut…or “was taped shut” rather, as someone had clearly peeled away the tape so they could change the temperature.

▼ “I’m sorry about all the trouble with the air conditioner. We put tape to stop people from opening it, but they peeled it off to cool down. I understand that many people think iZoo is too lenient. I suppose you could say that, couldn’t you… This is seen as something you can touch.”

エアコンの件でお騒がせしてすみません。
テープで止めた位では、剥がして涼む方がかなりいる実情を知って頂きたかっただけです。
iZooの対応が甘いと言われる方が多いのも理解しました。
そういうものなんですね。。
触られるものとして対応します。 pic.twitter.com/pJQcbs17rj

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 24, 2022

Shirawa seemed to have taken a lot of the criticism to heart. Even more than a problem of people screwing around with a thermostat, iZoo functions on a certain level of faith in its visitors by allowing them to get very close to the animals. If guests can’t be trusted with a control panel, can they really be trusted with a Galapagos giant tortoise?

The following day, Shirawa once again tweeted a picture of the air conditioner control panel. However, this time it was secured by a padlock and a sign was posted informing everyone that the temperature is set to ensure the health of the animals and that lowering could make them sick.

▼ “I put a lock and sign on the air conditioner that has been causing all this fuss. Breaking this is damage to equipment, so I hope no one tries to open it. Originally it was installed in view of a surveillance camera so everything is recorded. I didn’t want to go this far but I did it because the honor system doesn’t apply to equipment.”

お騒がせしているエアコンには、張り紙と鍵をつけました。
これを壊したら器物損壊ですので開けられることはないと願います。
元々、エアコン設置場所は監視カメラの撮影範囲内なので全て録画はされています。

ここまでしたくなかったのですが、性善説は施設には通用しないとのことで対応しました。 pic.twitter.com/WWsI0DJkMy

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 25, 2022

In a subsequent interview with J-Cast News, Shirawa explained the situation in more detail, explaining that it was an issue that’s been going on for years. This hotter than usual summer, however, had exacerbated the problem to the point that it’s been happening several times a day. Luckily, this has not had any adverse effects on the animals because staff have been quickly catching and fixing temperature changes in the facility.

It’s likely that same care and diligence by staff has allowed iZoo to continue operating in its own special way. Hopefully they can continue to do so too, because there’s nothing I’d like more than to feed a big old piece of lettuce to one of those huge tortoises someday.

Sources: Twitter/@shirawatsuyoshi, J-Cast News
Top image: ©SoraNews24
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Last Samurai star Ken Watanabe cooks with daughter Anne in viral YouTube video

https://ift.tt/D8oI0vf Oona McGee

Once-strained relationship looks very different now, as Anne starts a new life overseas. 

Japanese actor Ken Watanabe is a well-known face to global audiences, having starred in a number of Hollywood films such as Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha, Batman Begins, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

However, Watanabe isn’t the only famous face in his family, as his 36-year-old daughter Anne is also well-known, having worked as a model from the age of 15 before going on to act in Japanese TV dramas and films.

Like a lot of famous families, both father and daughter have had their private lives exposed to the world on a few occasions, with the older Watanabe accused of adultery during an acrimonious divorce from Anne’s mother, Yumiko, while Anne was in high school. This was said to have caused tension between father and daughter, exacerbated by the fact that he then married his second wife, Kaho Minami, months after the divorce was settled in 2005, and then moved to Los Angeles for a period with his new wife and stepson, whom he legally adopted.

With her mother in debt from the court costs associated with the divorce, Anne didn’t have the finances to pursue further education, so she dropped her father’s surname and started working as a model, forging a career for herself under the mononym “杏” (“Anzu“, or “apricot“, but read as “An” in Japanese).

▼ Anne has appeared in magazines like Japan Vogue and walked the runway for big names like Anna Sui, Tommy Hilfiger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Marc Jacobs.

#Anne × Pomellato for Vogue Japan

© Vogue Japan Official Website#渡辺杏 pic.twitter.com/LlHlMSQ0ev

— 𝐣𝐩𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 (@jpnactress) March 20, 2021

Fast forward to 2016, and Anne’s father was diagnosed with stomach cancer — he’d successfully overcome acute myeloid leukaemia in 1989 and again in 1994 — undergoing an operation which eventually gave him the all-clear.

That same year, Anne gave birth to twin girls, following her 2015 marriage to actor Masahiro Higashide, whom she starred with in the 2103 TV drama Gochisosan. In 2017, Anne gave birth to a son, but in 2020, Anne divorced her husband after it was revealed that he’d been having an affair with actress Erika Karata since 2017, when Karata was 19, and while Anne was pregnant with their son.

Anne now has sole custody of her three young children, and looks to be starting a new chapter in her life by opening an Instagram account in November last year…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 杏/Anne (@_anne_official)

…and starting a YouTube channel where she sings covers while playing guitar, vlogs about her daily life, and cooks some awesome meals in her kitchen.

Her YouTube channel is now the talk of Japan, after her latest video reached the #1 trending spot, and starred none other than…her famous father.

▼ Take a look at the video below, which has English subtitles and currently over 6.5 million views:

In the video, Anne and her father cook an amazing meal using fresh vegetables from his hometown of Niigata, and Nagano, where he now lives.

While the meal is impressive, it’s not what’s driving the views — it’s the relationship between father and daughter in the kitchen that’s really grabbed everyone’s hearts, and it’s made even more touching given their well-publicised private struggles.

▼ These two have been through a lot in the past, but it appears that events in recent years have brought them closer together.

While it’s heartening to see Anne and her father happily chatting and sharing food, it’s bittersweet to learn that Anne is now leaving Japan and moving to France with her three children, and their dog, Jiro.

Anne’s father supports the move, saying it’ll be a great experience for her and the children, but he says he has one request: that she text him every day.

▼ To that, she replies:

By her own admission, Anne’s family isn’t “normal” in the traditional sense of the word, but their conversation in the kitchen is far more relatable than they might think, having struck a chord with viewers across the nation.

With the view count still rising on the video, Anne’s social media following is growing larger by the day, and fans are now curious to see what her new life in France will look like. Hopefully she and her family will adapt well to their new life abroad, and if they ever want a taste of home in France, we’ve got some great Japanese noodle and confectionery suggestions for them!

Source, images: YouTube/杏/anne TOKYO
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Japanese burger chain adds mochi sticky rice to its moon-viewing sandwiches

https://ift.tt/8TJqUWQ Oona McGee

Fast food chain throws caution to the wind by adding a deadly ingredient to its menu.

Japanese burger chain First Kitchen has a long history in Japan, serving up fast food that’s arguably a little more attuned to local tastes than some of the overseas chains.

Now, to celebrate the 45th year since its founding in 1977, First Kitchen is celebrating with a couple of limited-edition burgers that present a new twist on the chain’s signature Bacon and Egg Burger.

▼ The first new item is the Umami Tartar Bacon Egg Burger, priced at 680 yen (US$4.91).

First Kitchen is adding a new “Umami Sauce” to the original tartar sauce on its regular Bacon and Egg Burger, which is said to be packed with fruit juice, including the juice from apples, pears, lemons, as well as the addition of sesame and onions.

This combination of sauces is designed to pair perfectly with the meat and vegetables, and the fried egg, which sits in the centre as the star of the show.

▼ The second new item is the Bacon Mocchi Burger, also priced at 680 yen

This second offering is the most surprising of the two, as it contains something that looks like a fried egg, but it’s actually a round of fried mochi. Mochi is the sticky rice cake that’s known to asphyxiate people around the New Year holidays, when they’re customarily eaten, but there’s no mention made of that here.

You’ll want to be sure to chew the mochi well before swallowing, not only to save yourself from the risk of choking, but to enjoy the flavour of bonito and kelp soup stock, which it’s been soaked in before frying.

According to First Kitchen, this is a limited-time hamburger that offers “the taste of a new sensation you’ve never eaten before”, and the respective burgers, with their round egg and round mochi, are being presented as the chain’s version of the Tsukimi (“Moon Viewing”) burgers popular during moon-viewing season around this time of year.

Both burgers will be on the menu for a limited time at First Kitchens nationwide from 8 September.

Source, images: PR Times 
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Japan removes tour guide requirement for foreign tourists

https://ift.tt/RsDdo5l Casey Baseel

New entry rules go into effect next month, but the borders won’t be completely open just yet.

Japan has been reopened to foreign tourists for nearly three months now, but you wouldn’t know it by looking around. That’s because currently inbound leisure travelers are only allowed into the country as part of guided tours, which only fit within the budget and preferences of a small subset of travelers. It’s a style especially incongruent with the comparatively young demographic of international travelers interested in visiting Japan, and so while international travelers technically can enter Japan, very few are.

Things are going to get easier next week, though. In a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced two changes to Japan’s entry regulations, which go into effect on September 7. First, the daily cap on entries into Japan will be raised from its current 20,000 people a day to 50,000. Second, the guided-tours-only requirement for foreign tourists is being abolished.

That doesn’t mean the borders are being completely opened, though. Foreign tourists will still be required to be visiting Japan as part of a “package tour.” An exact set of criteria hasn’t been announced, but ostensibly a package tour would consist of predetermined hotel accommodations, transportation, and sightseeing itinerary. The assumed benefit, from a public health perspective, is that if a tourist on a package tour were to be diagnosed as infected with the coronavirus, health officials would be able to backtrack along the itinerary to determine possible infection vectors and take appropriate action to prevent the further spread of the virus.

It’s not currently clear how comprehensive the non-guided package itineraries will be required to be. In general travel industry terms, a package tour can be as basic as airline tickets, to/from airport transportation, and hotel reservations, or as detailed as all-day sightseeing schedules and pre-set locations for each and every meal. One could also question the effectiveness of requiring tourists to stick to their itinerary without an accompanying guide to confirm that they really are doing so, but Japanese society’s rule-respecting tendencies mean that there are a lot of things in the country that run on the honor system.

While it’s not the “Hey, borders are open, come and do whatever you want!” revision that many travelers are waiting for, removing the tour guide requirement allows for less expensive tours to be offered to travelers, and also removes the bottleneck of only being able to offer as many tours as they have guides. And while package tours may sometimes still be more expensive than independent travel bookings, the ridiculously low value of the yen right now means that foreign tourists in Japan will be seeing their money going a lot further than it did before the pandemic.

Sources: Yomiuri Shimbun, TBS, Bloomberg
Top image: Pakutaso
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Japanese honey toast is breathtakingly large, contains two litres of ice cream

https://ift.tt/rei0NIW Oona McGee

Bread and ice cream reaches new heights at this restaurant.

If you were to ask mountain climbers why they climb mountains, many will answer, “Because it’s there,” in the words of British climber George Mallory. For our Japanese-language reporter Takamichi Furusawa the answer is the same, although for him it’s in relation to conquering mountainous sweets.

Takamichi has scaled many such sweets in his lifetime — his name translates to “high road” after all — but this week, he discovered a new peak that looked sure to test his chops: Honey toast with two litres of ice cream.

The creators of this mammoth dessert are the folks over at the Italian restaurant “Kitchen Macaroni” in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture. The name “Kitchen Macaroni” rang a bell for Takamichi, who seemed to remember it being the same name as the Western-style restaurant in the 2002 TV drama “Queen of Lunch“.

Inside, the restaurant has a beautiful wood interior and a calm, laid-back vibe. Takamichi flipped through the menu but he already knew what he wanted. He was here to try the infamous “Fruit Honey Toast”, priced at 1,045 yen (US$7.54).

About five minutes later, a Mount Everest of desserts was presented to him.

▼ Behold the Fruit Honey Toast!

Takamichi’s jaw dropped at the sight of it, and it stayed that way for a photo or two as he soaked in all its glory.

It was breathtakingly large, much larger than even Takamichi had expected, and it was so beautiful he found it hard to tear his eyes away from it. Eventually, though, after admiring all its troughs and peaks, Takamichi managed to close his mouth and pick up his spoon, dipping into the summit for a first taste.

Mmmmm….delicious! The combination of rich vanilla ice cream and refreshing fruit sauce went down a treat, and Takamichi felt a little more confident that he might actually be able to finish it all.

Beneath the two litres of ice cream and its cascade of strawberry and blueberry sauce was a loaf of sweet bread holding everything up at base camp. Honey Toast is best enjoyed when bread and ice cream are eaten together, so Takamichi carefully sliced into a corner of the loaf with a knife, and as he cut through the bread he feared an avalanche might occur.

Thankfully, the bread held strong, and Takamichi was able to enjoy a mouthful of it, mixed with ice cream, sauce, and a couple of banana slices, which were scattered around the dessert.

Now that was the mouthful of sweet ecstasy he’d been looking for. The crunchy toast had been soaked in honey so it was delightfully sweet and chewy, the smooth banana slices added a wonderful creamy texture, the ice cream melted on the tongue, and the sauce provided a refreshing aftertaste, helping Takamichi dip in for spoonful after spoonful…again and again.

The taste and texture of the dessert was totally irresistible, but there was a lot to get through so Takamichi decided to go the slow and steady route with it.

▼ After 40 minutes of eating, he was more than halfway through.

More and more diners began to fill up the tables around him, but Takamichi continued on his solo journey, despite wishing he had a companion to help him along the way. Realising he only had himself to lift his spirits on this last leg, he gathered all his energy and found himself on a final spurt towards the finish line.

Maintaining this momentum, Takamichi finally lifted the last spoonful of the dessert to his mouth, and as he did he glanced at his watch to check the time. It had taken him a total of 50 minutes to finish the mountainous dessert, and as he sat back to relax after his achievement, he was surprised to find he didn’t feel as full as he thought he would.

It takes skill to craft a dessert that looks like an impossible mountain but still manages to remain light and refreshing. That’s what Kitchen Macaroni does, though, and now that he’s conquered one mountainous dessert, he’s ready to do it again. Why? Because it’s there.

Restaurant Information

Kitchen Macaroni / キッチン・マカロニ
Address: Gunma-ken, Kiryu-shi, Nishiki-cho 2-14-31 
群馬県桐生市錦町2-14-31
Open: 11:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. (last orders 3:00 p.m.); 6:00 p.m.-midnight (last orders 11:00 p.m.)
Closed: Sundays and the third Monday of every month, plus additional irregular holidays
Website

Images SoraNews24
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Japanese town that spent 25 million yen in COVID money on giant squid statue says it paid off big

https://ift.tt/cHWNtFS Casey Baseel

Gigantic squid statue has given a huge boost to the economy, city claims.

The Japanese government has provided various aid to communities to help them cope with the difficulties of life during the pandemic, including grants to help sustain and revitalize local economies. One of the more unique plans for using that money came from the city of Noto, in Ishikawa Prefecture, where the politicians in charge of the town’s grant decided to build a gigantic 13-meter (42.65-foot) long statue of a squid.

The statue was not at all cheap. Noto spent 25 million yen (US$241,500 at exchange rates at the time) of government grant money building the Ika King (“Squid King”), and even that wasn’t enough to finish it, as the city still had to come up with another two million yen to complete the 10-tentacle art installation.

▼ The 27 million-yen Ika King

／／な、な、なんと ＼＼
　
　　 経済効果6億円 #能登町 の観光施設にある
　巨大イカ「イカキング」

およそ2700万円の建造費
　　　　↓
6億にのぼる経済効果があるそう pic.twitter.com/8H7Yel74lt

— ＮＨＫ金沢放送局 (@nhk_kanazawa) August 29, 2022

So…why? Well Noto is famous for its locally caught squid, and the town’s roadside souvenir shop and tourist center Tsukumall is also called the “Squid Station.” The Ika King is located right outside Tsukumall, and the stated hope was that the statue would help attract more visitors who would then purchase regional products and otherwise contribute to the local economy.

27 million yen is a pretty huge investment in squid statuary though, seeing as how that’s a zero-yen expense in the annual budget of almost every other town in Japan. 16 months after the completion of the Ika King, though, Noto is saying it was worth it, claiming that the statue has resulted in visitors pumping approximately 600 million yen into Ishikawa’s economy, more than 22 times the cost of the statue.

ぴ「イカキング」 pic.twitter.com/vOQNhbbYf1

— タローマン VS MAGAマン (@Geda_2) August 30, 2022

To calculate the Ika King’s economic effect, Noto was assisted by Tokyo-based business consultant Toshiro Shirao. In a Tsukumall visitor survey conducted between June and August of this year, out of 1,125 people 506 of them (45 percent) said they’d come because they wanted to see the Ika King. They were also asked how much they had spent while at Tsukumall.

Next, Shirao and the city looked at records of how many people had made purchases at Tsukumall’s cash registers between April of 2021 (when the Ika King was installed) and July of 2022, arriving at an estimate of 164,556 total visitors. Applying the same 45-percent rate that they’d gotten from this summer’s visitor survey, they came to estimate that 73,652 people have come to see the Ika King since its completion. Shirao then fed that data into an economic input-output model for Ishikawa Prefecture to come up with an estimated 594.44 million yen in inside-Ishikawa spending that the study attributes to the Ika King’s presence.

The study also attempted to account for the value of the media coverage Tsukumall, and by association Noto, has received as result. According to the study, a total of 36 television programs sent crews out for reports on the Ika King, and an analysis of the advertising rates charged by those programs led them to an estimate of roughly 1.8 billion additional yen in free publicity.

Those are some very impressive figures, but when dealing with statistics, it’s always a good idea to consider how the data was collected and how it’s being applied, and there are a few potential issues. Let’s start with the Tsukumall visitor survey, which asked why people had come and how much they spent. The survey was conducted during the summer, when most people, especially those with kids, are more likely to be traveling and spending money at tourist attractions. Those patterns, though, seem to have then been applied to visitors throughout the entire year and a half since the Ika King’s installation. Also important to consider is the large jump in scale in how the survey uses 1,125 survey responses as a base on which to build a model for how much 73,652 people spent.

While the extra TV exposure no doubt had a positive effect on visitor and spending numbers, the estimated 1.8 billion yen of free publicity feels like a pretty clear attempt to inflate the size of the success story, since the attention’s economic value is in its ability to attract visitors, whose economic benefit is already supposed to have been accounted for in the 594.44 million yen the study says Ika King-attracted visitors have contributed to Ishikawa. And speaking of that 594.44 million yen, it’s worth remembering that it’s an estimate for the entire prefecture, not the town of Noto itself.

Still, it’s nice to see that there’s some good, and maybe even a whole lot of it, coming from the Ika King’s presence. Oh, and it should be pointed out that Shirao carried out the economic analysis on a volunteer basis, so his work didn’t cost the town a thing.

Source: Hokkoku Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso (edited by SoraNews24)
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Seapoodle Cup Noodle flavor is on the way, sounds absolutely delicious (except for the name)

https://ift.tt/vfj5wN0 Casey Baseel

Don’t worry, no poodles are harmed in the making of Seapoodle.

Over the years, Nissin, the makers of Cup Noodle, have blessed us with many different delicious flavors of instant ramen. That spirit of innovation is still going strong, too, as next month Nissin is rolling out its latest creation: Seapoodle ramen!

OK, so maybe “poodle” isn’t such a mouthwatering element of the name, what with Cup Noodle being the brand famous for its “mystery meat.” Don’t worry, though, because Seapoodle isn’t some sort of aquatic canine creature, it’s just what happens when you combine a cup of Seafood Cup Noodle with a cup of original flavor Cup Noodle, as shown in the top left of the image below.

「カップヌードルは混ぜるとウマイ」
昨年めちゃくちゃ売れた『スーパー合体シリーズ』
今年も新しい組み合わせで「二番煎じ合体」！
発売は9/12！全部買ってくれよな！https://t.co/I6fUdOYujP#カップヌードルスーパー合体2 #今年もやります pic.twitter.com/iNNWWnCXig

— カップヌードル (@cupnoodle_jp) August 29, 2022

The way the F in “SEAFOOD” smashes into the N in “CUP NOODLE” makes them look like a P. It’s not just the exterior packaging that Nissin is combining, though, but their contents too, as the company has crated four new entries in its Super Combined (or “Super Gattai”) series.

Currently, Nissin has a total of 10 regular Cup Noodle flavors (i.e. flavors that are offered continually, not as limited-time or seasonal flavors). That means they are 45 different possible two-flavor combinations, and Nissin tried them all to find out which were the four most super-tasting. The following four made the cut for round two of the Super Combined series.

1. Seapoodle

The Seafood’s fish/pork stock is accented by the strong pepperiness of the original Cup Noodle broth. The toppings are an all-star team of the two flavors as well, giving you mystery meat (the real identity of which is revealed here), shrimp, imitation crab, scrambled egg, and green onion.

2. Cheeurso

Next we have the fusion of European Cheese Curry Cup Noodle and Miso Cup Noodle. “European” in this case refers to the presence of demi-glace sauce in the curry, and you also get no fewer than three different kinds of miso (red miso, white miso, and barley miso) in the mix, plus ginger and garlic. In addition to all that’s going on with the broth, you get mystery meat seasoned with sansho (a kind of Japanese peppercorn), corn, cabbage, cheddar cheese cubes, and carrot.

3. Chilitomkung

The name here comes from a spaceless stringing together of Chili Tomato and Tom Yum Kung, the latter being a spicy soup from Thailand that’s Japan’s favorite example of the southeast Asian country’s cuisine. The toppings here are shrimp, corn, tomato, and cabbage.

4. Karabone

And last, we come to the most linguistically complex combination, which gets its name from combining Karamen (“Spicy Noodle”) and Garlic Tonkotsu (pork stock) Cup Noodle varieties. In Japanese, tonkotsu is written with two kanji characters, 豚骨. When you take away the first one, though, 骨 becomes hone, which can also sometimes be pronounced bone in other combinations, which is what’s happening here.

Knowing that, you can guess that the broth is a spicy, garlicky pork stock broth, and the toppings are mystery meat, scrambled egg, roasted chilies, minced garlic, kikurage (wood ear mushroom), and green onion.

All four of the new Super Combined Cup Noodle flavors go on sale September 12, priced at 214 yen (US$1.60).

Source, images: Nissin
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Is this London branch of Marugame Udon as good as the ones in Japan?

https://ift.tt/ervEM9s Oona McGee

Putting Japanese noodles and tempura to the test.

Our Japanese-language reporter Ikuna Kamezawa has been travelling the world recently, and in between trying all the local cuisines, she’s been checking out Japanese restaurants abroad to see how the food compares to Japanese food back home.

Her most recent travels took her to London, where she decided to stop by a branch of Marugame Seimen, a popular udon chain from Japan that’s known as “Marugame Udon” in the U.K.

Marugame opened its first store in London in July last year, and now, just twelve months later, there are five branches in the city. As the only place in Europe where you can eat at Marugame, it’s certainly become a hit with both locals, but how would the noodles go down with Ikuna?

▼ As the name suggests, this Japanese fast food chain specialises in udon and tempura.

Ikuna visited the St Christopher’s branch, which looked like a cafe with outdoor seating. The menu in the window at the front of the store showed some dishes that were familiar to Ikuna, although she was interested to see the Bukkake Udon was simply listed as “BK”.

▼ The BK cost 4.45 pounds (US$5.19), while the Kake Udon cost 4.75 pounds.

Stepping inside, Masami was pleased to see the interior was sleek and stylish.

The main counter looked just like the ones in Japan, and it used the same system. Diners grab a tray and order their noodles before moving past a selection of tempura and rice balls, which they can add to their meal before paying at the register.

▼ There’s a wide selection of toppings and sauces that diners can add to their meals as well.

The London branches have a special London-only “Two Pork Tonkotsu” on the menu for 8.95 pounds, so that’s what Ikuna ordered.

The broth looked just like tonkotsu, but…tonkotsu is a pork bone broth that’s usually only eaten with ramen, a much thinner noodle to udon. Tonkotsu broth is super popular with foreign visitors to Japan, though, so Ikuna figured it might not matter what type of noodle it’s served with when eating abroad.

When she took a sip of the broth, though, Ikuna could hardly taste anything. It was so light it made her wonder if they really used any pork bones to make it at all –instead it was incredibly mild, almost like chicken broth, and it had a mysterious acidity to it that reminded her of hot and sour soup.

It was very different to what she’d been expecting, and when she moved on to try the char siu, she found it was huge and tough to chew. She perked up at the sight of the pork miso, though, as it was a little spicy and aded some extra flavour to the broth upon mixing it in.

Despite these setbacks, Ikuna was prepared to overlook everything as long as the noodles were good. But when she slurped them up, she found…they had no springiness to them at all! “Is this a London-style noodle?”, she asked herself, as she looked at them with a tinge of sadness in her eye.

Marugame is famous for serving “Sanuki Udon”, a type of noodle from Kagawa Prefecture that’s known for its springiness, but the noodles here in London had no bite to them — they were soft and fluffy, like the udon you’d get in a nabe hotpot that’s been simmering for a long time.

Ikuna wondered if her noodles mightve been overcooked, but when she checked online reviews for the branch from Japanese travellers, they too said the noodles were too soft. Ikuna figured people in this part of the world must prefer their noodles soft, their broth mild, and their eggs salty, if the egg she was served was anything to go by.

▼ The seasoned egg was so salty Ikuna wondered if it had been pickled in salt.

On the upside, the “Vegan Croquette” (1.65 pounds) she’d ordered was delicious, and filled with pumpkin.

As Ikuna stood up to leave after finishing her meal, she saw a long queue had begun to form at the counter.

The meal might’ve fallen a little flat on Ikuna’s palate, and the palate of other Japanese who are used to eating Marugame in Japan, but the chain certainly knows what it’s doing in London, where the locals appear to have fallen in love with it.

Masami thought she had some knowledge of British tastes, but after her meal at Marugame in London, she realises she still has a lot to learn. Still, after eating noodles here, and in Paris, Spain, and Croatia, she’s really getting an education!

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We visit an awesome sauna in Tokyo that’s ladies-only on days that end in zero

https://ift.tt/mhFkRcE Shannon

Not a bad place to get your sweat on at all.

Paradise, a new sauna in Tokyo’s Mita neighborhood, just opened in April 2022 but is already a hit with the SoraNews24 team. As you may have guessed from the title, they’ve started a campaign where the entire facility is open only to women on days of the month that end in zero–so the 10th, the 20th, and the 30th.

In Japan, saunas are typically more of a men’s pastime, to the point where men’s-only saunas far outnumber facilities only open to women. That’s why we think the recent boom of ladies in Japan that frequent saunas will love this deal. Our Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabata is one such lady, and she got the inside scoop for us.

Paradise is located just a five-minute walk from JR Tamachi Station or Toei-Oedo Line’s Mita Station, nestled among office buildings and izakayas that populate the area. It was renovated from a pre-existing bathhouse, which would typically invoke an image of a huge indoor facility, but this one is actually fairly cozy by comparison. Mariko almost walked right by it since she was expecting a large entrance.

Upon entering, she was surprised at how classy it was with its warm and inviting wood tones. She checked in at the brand-new reception and received a small bag with a large towel, a small towel, and a locker key. One 30-minute session costs 750 yen (US$5.44), and after that it’s an additional 250 yen per 10 minutes.

They also have private sauna rooms that can be rented for an additional 500 yen or 1,000 yen depending on the time of day you want to use it. In Mariko’s case, she had booked another offer beforehand: 4,000 yen to use the personal sauna as much as she wanted for two hours (advance reservations required).

She went into the main room and felt like she was in another world. Is this Spirited Away? she thought. The same warm wood tones from the entrance were here as well, along with dark stones, plenty of greenery, and several baths and showers. In the back was a door that led to the shared sauna.

Mariko loved the small details like the stained glass windows in front of the washing area. This was Mariko’s first stop, washing herself before using the shared sauna as per traditional sauna manners. In the shared sauna were small tatami squares for customers to sit on, which Mariko appreciated.

Customers are also allowed to throw hot, lemongrass-scented water on the stones, making the spacious room even warmer. Keep in mind, though, this room is hot. When Mariko checked the thermometer in the room, it read 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Not too hot for Mariko, though!

She also noted the room’s low ceilings, which meant the heat would stay in the room. Yet another genius move by Paradise, Mariko thought. She lavished in the quiet of her own thoughts–no clocks or TVs in here–and then decided to try out her private sauna.

It was located on the second floor, nestled into the wall like a cozy cubbyhole. It had plenty of space to lay down and was filled with a delicious new wood smell. You can add water to the coals in this space, too, so you can adjust the temperature to your liking!

Mariko enjoyed even more private time in her cubbyhole, laying down and enjoying the atmosphere and the aromatic water–which, by the way, is pine-scented for the private booths.

After another good sweat, she headed down to the baths to rinse off and cool down. The first floor has three different cold baths, each cooled to a slightly different temperature for different customers’ preferences.

There’s even a small waterfall in one of the baths to cool your head, which warms up the most in a sauna. This isn’t a feature available in all saunas, so Mariko was excited! One bath was a lukewarm 16 degrees Celsius (61 degrees Fahrenheit) and another just 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s the closest you’ll get to an ice bath-sauna experience.

You’re allowed to just hang out on the first floor, but the second floor has an actual resting space. The tatami floors are dotted with wired chairs and electric fans.

There’s even a screen that projects art! Truly a Paradise.

Mariko was even impressed with the locker room and changing room! The lockers are made in the same warm wood tones as the rest of the facility.

There were five hair dryers (a true blessing for women’s only day), all by a reliable and powerful Japanese company Salonia.

The most important post-sweat supply: water!

And after you get dressed, there’s a lounge space with cushy sofas and a large table to hang out in. It’s a great space to prepare to venture back out into reality.

Mariko also enjoyed a lemon soda (600 yen) before heading out. Overall, Mariko highly recommends a visit! The only things she’d note are that payment is totally cashless, so make sure you have an electronic payment method ready; and that they don’t serve food in order to encourage customers to visit the nearby local eateries.

Sauna information
Paradise
Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shiba 5-23-16
東京都港区芝5-23-16
Open 24 hours (except for cleaning time from 3 a.m. – 6 a.m.)
Ladies only day on the 10th, 20th, and 30th (10 a.m. – midnight)

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