Mysterious “The Color of That Sky” bath bombs selling at Don Quijote

https://ift.tt/RkV9Ate Master Blaster

You know, “that” sky…

The unbearable heat of this summer seems to have finally given way to chillier temperatures in Japan. As such, our bath-time correspondent Masanuki Sunakoma was excited to soak his troubles away in a piping hot bath once again.

And what better way to do that than with a nice aromatic bath bomb. Japan’s premier discount chain Don Quijote often has a wide selection of them, so Masanuki stopped by there on his way home from work and found something very peculiar.

The name of this product is The Color of That Sky (Ano Sora no Iro) and the package explains, “When you take a bath, remember the color of the sky on that day.” Masanuki had no idea what day it was talking about, but figured maybe he’d remember if he tried it out.

It cost 495 yen (US$3.37), which is a little higher than the normal range of 300 yen for a bath ball, and this one didn’t even come with a free toy inside like many do. Moreover, buying something at Don Quijote for 495 yen is like buying something for 700 yen anywhere else, so it really was a premium price. Masanuki chalked it up to being a more artistic kind of bath bomb.

The back of the package explains that there are three types of The Color of That Sky. Our reporter bought a soap-scented Clear Blue Spreading Summer Sky at 8:20 a.m. but it’s also available in Nostalgic with a Slightly Chilly Breeze Autumn Sky at 3:49 p.m. with the aroma of osmanthus and Feels Like It’s About to Snow Winter Sky at 9:04 p.m. which smells like white musk.

The bath bomb itself certainly looked like a bright summer sky and purported to make Masanuki’s bath water look the same way.

Well, there’s only one way to find out…

After being plopped into the hot bath, the bomb went off and started spinning in foamy glee.

The package also said the bath bomb would soften his skin, warm his body, and relieve fatigue, but all our reporter was interested in was remembering the color of the sky he saw on that day.

The ball began to spin around and fly through the increasingly blue water while painting white clouds in random patterns. 

It still didn’t him remind him of that sky, but that began to matter less as he grew more and more entertained by the transformation of his bath water.

Truth be told, Masanuki’s expectations for The Color of That Sky were rather low, and he was just expecting the bomb to puke out a pale blue coloring to his bath. But this was much more entertaining than he expected and the soap scent, while not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about summer, is kind of summery if you want it to be.

After climbing into The Color of That Sky, the clouds gradually dissipated, but by that time the warmth of the 8:20 summer sun was permeating his body and transporting him away from this frigid late-autumn evening.

Overall, he was very impressed with this bath bomb and would recommend it to others. However, as an added layer of mystery to The Color of That Sky, he couldn’t find any information about it online. If you want to try it yourself, the only place we’re sure where it is would be the fifth floor of the Don Quijote store at the Southeast Exit of Shinjuku Station.

Store Information

Don Quijote Shinjuku Tonanguchi store / ドン・キホーテ 新宿東南口店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-36-16
東京都 新宿区新宿3丁目36-16
Open 24 hours
Website

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Japanese matchmaking party insider fill us in on the actual chances of finding a spouse

https://ift.tt/Kxclwov Master Blaster

You might have more luck finding love at a tonkotsu party than a konkatsu party.

Long-time readers of this website are probably familiar with our writer Seiji Nakazawa’s journey from a lovelorn bachelor to boyfriend, husband, and right back to a lovelorn bachelor again. This means he’s once again thrust into the mix of dating apps and the Japanese custom of konkatsu parties, matchmaking gatherings with a particular focus on finding someone to marry rather than a casual relationship.

For Seiji, a konkatsu party is about one step up from the bottom of social media and apps when it comes to finding a serious relationship. At least with a konkatsu party, there’s a sense of formality and organization that you can put some faith in.

▼ Seiji does consider himself the life of the party… in the sense that he’s the only living person there.

But to find out just how much faith you can put in them, Seiji tracked down an insider who was willing to speak on the condition of anonymity about what you can realistically expect from a konkatsu party.

This person, who we’ll call “Takahito Nago,” has held konkatsu parties for seven years, handling everything from management to reception. He says that he’s held so many at this point, he can size up an attendee’s personality pretty easily by the end of a party and knows what it takes to make the right impression.

▼ Nago did agree to share a photo of his torso with us.

Seiji: Are good looks really important when it comes to matchmaking?

Nago: “Hmm… From what I’ve seen in the past seven years. I don’t think people’s faces have that much to do with it. If anything, it has more to do with a person’s appearance.”

Seiji: What’s the difference between a person’s face and their appearance?

Nago: “For example, if you come to a konkatsu party wearing shabby clothes, you’re not going to find a match regardless of your face. Considering this is a place where people come to meet each other, you’d normally dress in a way that makes you look good. I think that when people come wearing unkempt clothing it makes others question their common sense as to why they’d wear something like that. A person’s face is a result of their genetics, but the way a person dresses is a result of what’s going on inside them.“

Seiji: I see… Are there any other types of people who have trouble making matches?

Nago: “When I see people who act arrogant at the reception or people who only talk about themselves, I think: ‘I know exactly where this is going…'”

Seiji: So, what kinds of people are more likely to find matches?

Nago: “I think it’s probably people who pay close attention to details. Considering these are events to meet other people, minding your own appearance shows consideration for others and it’s all connected in that way.”

▼ Although he often sticks to a relaxed look, Seiji is not afraid to dress for the occasion when necessary.

Seiji: What are the chances of making matches?

Nago: “There are definitely some zeros. If there are 10 parties, I’d say there might be three or four parties where no one matches up.”

Seiji: So, that means matches are made in the other six or seven?

Nago: “Put it this way… If there’s a party with eight people on each side, you’d only need to hit it off with one out of eight people, so the odds wouldn’t be so low.”

Seiji: Is it possible to have a party where everyone matches up?

Nago: “In the seven years I’ve been doing this that has never happened. The most matches in a single party have been three. This’ll happen in about two out of every 10 parties.“

Seiji: So what are someone’s chances of ending up married?

Nago: “From my experience, only about three percent of all people end up married.”

Seiji: Three…

Nago: “There are some people who just keep coming again and again.”

That was a harsh realization for our reporter to learn that even these people willing to put in the effort to attend konkatsu parties could only be successful three percent of the time. Seiji wasn’t even doing that much, so what chance did he have?

It made him think about his own parents and how they managed to not only find each other but to stay married and raise a child, which seems like a miracle to pull off in this day and age. There’s a lot of talk about Japan’s declining population, and Seiji wonders if the problem is that it’s just harder than ever to meet people these days.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Mister Donut now sells Japanese curry doughnuts…with egg

https://ift.tt/jxN1Qpk Oona McGee

Will curry doughnuts become the next big fad in Japan? 

“Delicious food that’s perfect for everyone’s tummy” is the slogan for the latest release from Japan’s leading doughnut chain, Mister Donut, but it’s a claim we’re slightly dubious about, seeing as it combines some weird ingredients not usually associated with the sweet snack.

The upcoming release sees two new flavours being added to the chain’s Zaku Mocchi Ring doughnut series, which debuted in June. This revolutionary new line uses a new manufacturing method to pipe two fillings into one doughnut, while separating them so each one stays contained within its own half of the ring.

This allows you to enjoy the fillings separately or together, and the fillings themselves are just as unusual, with the three offerings in June being Azuki & Whipped Cream, Beef Stew & Potato and Spicy Meat & Potato. Now, less than six months later, the two new flavours coming our way are…Mentaiko Potato & Egg and Curry & Egg. 

The Zaku Mocchi Ring Curry & Egg (pictured above) combines mellow curry and a mild egg salad within the doughnut, which is finished with a breadcrumb and parsley topping.

The Zaku Mocchi Ring Mentaiko Potato & Egg (pictured below) contains a spicy mentaiko (pollock roe) potato filling and a mild egg salad filling, while the doughnut itself is topped with breadcrumbs and paprika powder to finish.

According to the chain, the new savoury doughnuts are perfect for those times when you’re hungry and looking for a quick meal that’s heartier than just a sweet. Those with sweet tooths won’t miss out on enjoying the “zaku mocchi” (“crunchy chewy”) sensation, though, as the Zaku Mocchi Ring Azuki & Whip is returning to the menu, with two types of Hokkaido azuki bean paste in one half of the doughnut and whipped cream in the other, with a soybean sugar coating to finish.

The savoury doughnuts are priced at 280 yen (US$1.90) for takeout and 286 yen for eat-in, while the sweet doughnut is 270 yen for takeout and 275 yen for eat-in.

On sale at Mister Donut stores around Japan for a limited time from 6 December, you’ll want to try these with a sense of caution, because with “adult” chocolate doughnuts and an exclusive Pokémon range also on the menu at the moment, there are lots of guilty pleasures in store waiting to tempt you!

Source, images: PR Times
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Gorgeous Pokémon x Kogei art exhibit combines Pokémon creatures with traditional Japanese crafts

https://ift.tt/5EjKOeU Casey Baseel

Exquisite fine-art versions of the most popular Pocket Monsters.

We recently took a look at the Pokémon event at the Van Gogh Museum, but that’s not the only culturally creative crossover between the beloved anime/video game franchise and the fine arts. Currently taking place an ocean away from the Amsterdam museum is another event, the Pokémon x Kogei exhibition, which draws inspiration from the artistic traditions of Pokémon’s home country.

Kogei is a term that refers to traditional Japanese crafts. Twenty Japanese artists have contributed works to the Pokémon x Kogei project, representing a variety of muses and media, such as the stoneware Venusaur above and the Mareep silk kimono below.

Close to 70 different works will be on display, each an elegant mix of independently advanced aesthetic development and a visual love letter to the Pokémon.

▼ Pikachu porcelain cups with gold and silver adornments

▼ Ho-Oh tea container with urushi lacquer coating

The initial Pokémon x Kogei venue was Japan’s National Crafts Museum, located in Ishikawa Prefecture, where the exhibition opened in the spring. In July, though, the collection made the trip across the Pacific to southern California, and has been hosted by the Japan House cultural center in downtown Los Angeles since late July.

▼ Charizard Shigaraki stoneware jug

▼ Umbreon obidome kimono sash decorative clasps

Now, though, the exhibit’s stay in L.A. is winding down too. Thankfully there’s still time to see it over the holiday season, but you won’t want to wait too long, as its last day at Japan House will be January 7.

▼ Shaymin glazed stoneware

▼ Jolteon figurine made with copper, gold, and silver

If a trip to L.A. isn’t in your schedule before that, you can take heart in knowing that there’s also an official photo book for the collection, which can be ordered online here. Given the beauty and quality of the pieces, it’s also a given that they’ll be well taken care of even after the L.A. event ends, so we may see more iterations of the Pokémon x Kogei exhibition in the future, so we’ll just have to wait patiently while munching on lots and lots of Pokémon donuts.

Related: Pokémon x Kogei official website, Japan House
Source: Pokémon x Kogei
Top image: Pokémon x Kogei
Insert images: Pokémon x Kogei (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Totoro Christmas cakes bring a dash of Ghibli magic to the Japanese festive season

https://ift.tt/cik1CEe Oona McGee

Cute range makes all our anime wishes come true this winter. 

In Japan, Christmas cakes are totally different to the ones you’ll find in other countries, appearing to look more like birthday cakes, only with festive colours and decorations. This gives patissiers a wide gamut of creative freedom when it comes to making cakes for the holidays, and over at Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory, you’ll find some of the most unique Christmas cakes in all of Japan.

Shirohige’s is a bakery with two branches in Tokyo — one in Setagaya and one in Mitaka, the same neighbourhood as the Ghibli Museum — with close ties to Studio Ghibli. On a regular day, they sell cream puffs in the shape of Totoro, the beloved character from the Ghibli movie My Neighbour Totoro, and when the festive season rolls around, they release a special collection of Christmas cakes that look absolutely adorable.

The Strawberry Shortcake is perhaps the most traditional in the collection, in terms of Japanese Christmas cakes which are usually of this variety, given that the red-and-white colour scheme fits in with the hues of Santa’s costume. This shortcake puts a very Ghibli twist on the proceedings, with a custard cream Totoro perched on top, in a way that makes it look as if it’s sitting in a mound of snow.

Chocolate lovers will be tempted by a different shortcake — the Chocolate and Banana Shortcake, which combines top-quality bananas with the buttery goodness of couverture chocolate.

▼ The shortcakes are the most expensive options in the range, priced at 5,500 yen (US$37.22) each.

The cute custard cream Totoro will also be gracing the Souffle Cheesecake (5,200 yen), which contains plenty of Hokkaido cream cheese and is said to have a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

While the cakes above are designed to be shared by more than one person, solo diners can have the Small Totoro Chocolate Cake all to themselves. This mini cake contains a pastry base with a banana jam chocolate mousse, and retails for 1,100 yen.

Those who love the store’s signature Totoro Cream Puffs will want to pick up the special Christmas varieties, which come with a cute holly leaf decoration.

▼ The two Christmas varieties are: Custard Cream (600 yen) and Strawberry Cream (640 yen).

Rounding off the collection, we have the “Totoro and Tree” icing cookies (750 yen), which contain three cute cookies in every bag.

The cookies will be sold from 16-25 December, while the other items will only be available from 23-25 December. There are likely to be long queues outside on these days, though, so it’s highly recommended that you reserve your selections before the sales date, so you can simply walk in and pick them up and avoid the risk of leaving empty-handed.

Reservations are currently being accepted by phone (details below) until 7 p.m. on 18 December.

Cafe information
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory / 白髭のシュークリーム工房
Address: Tokyo-to, Setagaya-ku, Daita 5-3-1
東京都世田谷区代田5-3-1
Open 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m., closed Tuesdays (or Wednesday if Tuesday is a holiday)
Telephone: 03-5787-6221
Website

Source, images: Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
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Now you can request a Tesla when you Uber in Japan with their new Premium EV option

https://ift.tt/fN8LYOU Dale Roll

Travel in luxury in the Tokyo area with this new Uber feature!

With public transportation so readily available in metropolitan areas in Japan, you may not have a need to call a taxi that often. Now you have an extra reason to, though, as Uber Japan’s recently added Premium EV option allows you to travel in eco-friendly luxury, and even includes Teslas.

Since private-car ride hailing is still banned in Japan, Uber, which operates as a hired taxi service in the country, has teamed up with taxi company Hinomaru Kotsu to offer this new feature in Tokyo neighborhoods, in addition to the already available Taxi, Premium, and Premium Minivan options. If you specifically want to ride in a Tesla, then once you select “Premium EV”, choose “Tesla Model Y”, and the stylish, modern, luxury electric vehicle will soon roll up to your location.

▼ Tesla Model Y

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This is the first time Uber is offering premium electric vehicles as part of their service in Japan, so if you’re a Tesla or EV fan, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of it!

The service is somewhat limited for now. Initially, Teslas are only taking passengers to Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, Chuo Ward, Minato Ward, Shinjuku Ward, and Shibuya Ward–all central locations for tourism, shopping, and dining–but the plan is to expand the service over time to more areas within the city.

Additionally, there are only 30 Tesla Model Y’s dispatched at the moment, though Uber and Hinomaru Kotsu intend to increase the fleet to a total of 100 vehicles by mid-2024. They may be highly sought after and tough to book, but if you’ve always harbored a dream of riding in a Tesla (if not test driving one), it’s worth giving it a try!

Source, image: Uber 
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For just US$2.50, this beef bowl chain might have the best-value breakfast in Japan

https://ift.tt/K9tkvJP Casey Baseel

Matsuya serves up an incredible breakfast deal, and maybe even a lunch one if you’re eating it early.

Up until pretty recently, if you were wanted to grab a quick, affordable, relatively healthy breakfast in Japan, a couple of onigiri (rice balls) from the convenience store was probably your best bet. But with prices continuing to rise in Japan, convenience store onigiri are approaching 200 yen a piece, and if you need more than one to fill yourself up, we’ve stumbled across a much more satisfying, yet still super-cheap alternative breakfast at fast food chain Matsuya.

Matsuya is a gyudon/beef bowl chain, and sure enough, beef is part of its Morning Special Beef Plate Set (Tokuasa Gyusara Teishoku, if you’re asking for it in Japanese, or 得朝牛皿定食 if you’re looking for the button to push on an order touchscreen).

For restaurant diners looking for a good deal in Japan, the standard is usually a “one-coin” meal, something 500 yen or less (the 500-yen coin being Japan’s biggest). Matsuya’s Morning Special Beef Plate Set, which is offered between 5 and 11 a.m., does even better than that, though, coming in under the 400-yen line at just 380 yen (US$2.50) for all this.

So what do you get? The star of the show is a plate of simmered beef and onion, the same mixture that tops Matsuya’s gyudon. Sharing space with it on the tasteful and tasty plate is a cabbage salad.

Also part of the set is a bowl of miso soup, pickles, a pack of nori (dried seaweed)…

…and, last but not least, steamed white rice. How much rice? Well, that’s partly up to you. When ordering the Morning Special Beef Plate Set, you’re asked to select whether you want a small, regular, large, or extra-large portion of rice, and in a generous way to start the day, there’s no change in the breakfast set’s 380-yen price for the larger sizes.

▼ The buttons for regular (ライス並盛), large (ライス大盛), extra-large (ライス特盛), and small (ライス子盛) rice. We opted for the large on our visit.

Now, the rice and simmered beef/onions are served separately, but if you’re thinking having them both on the tray gives you the ingredients you need to make a beef bowl of your own, you’re absolutely right.

With the savory protein of the beef, the crispness of the salad, and, as an especially nice touch at a time of the year when the mornings are cold, the warmth of the miso soup, this was a delicious and filling meal, plus one with a pretty good nutritional balance too, and at a near-negligible price if you’re on vacation in Japan. It was incredibly speedy too. Matsuya knows what they’re doing whipping up beef, rice, and soup, and our breakfast was ready after hardly any wait at all.

Apparently Matsuya has been running location tests for the Morning Special Beef Plate Set since a few months ago. It was enough of a hit, though, that it’s now graduated to full-fledged regular menu item, and we’re glad it has since this is definitely a breakfast, and maybe even an early lunch, that we can see ourselves eating regularly.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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