Tokyo Disney Parks’ Christmas menus include Jack Skellington sandwich!

https://ift.tt/2Pb3cGP Shannon McNaught

If you’ve ever wanted to eat Jack Skellington’s face, now is the time to do it.

Tokyo’s Disney Parks are famous for being decked out for the holidays. They have special parades, decorations, and events. But any Disney Park lover knows that it’s all about the food. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea restaurants feature special holiday menus that help you get into the spirit of whatever holiday it is and celebrate with your favorite Disney characters.

The SoraNews24 team made trips to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea to see what was special about this year’s Christmas menus. What we found did not disappoint us.

At Tokyo Disneyland, we found this Jack Skellington Sandwich Set (1,050 yen [US$9.23]) at the Sweetheart Cafe in the World Bazaar. It includes a Jack sandwich, grape jelly, and a soft drink of your choosing.

▼ The sandwich had teriyaki chicken, egg, cheese, and veggies inside. It filled up our stomachs perfectly!

It’s been around since Halloween, but since The Nightmare Before Christmas covers both Halloween and Christmas, it makes sense.

At Disney Sea, you can enjoy a nice and cheesy sausage (with a bone) for 400 yen. You can also pair it with a Hot Rosé Wine Cocktail for 680 yen. You can find both of these items at Barnacle Bill’s in the American Water Front area.

▼ The dried orange balances out the sweet flavor and makes it look totally Instagrammable.

We also went for the special dinner set at Café Portofino. For 1,880 yen, you can choose between shrimp and tomato cream linguini or pancetta and mushroom cream sauce linguini. The set also includes a soft drink, italian meatball chowder, and a piece of strawberry and pistachio cake.

▼ While there’s nothing particularly Christmas-like about the pasta dishes, the chowder has a festive red swirl.

▼ But it’s the dessert that takes the (holiday spirit) cake.

Besides restaurants, you can also find some edible Christmas goodies in souvenir shops. There’s a chocolate and raspberry crumble cake that comes with an adorable plate for 780 yen.

▼ Mickey and Minnie look adorable covered in snow!

And there’s a holiday souvenir cup with apple jelly and mixed berry mousse inside (also 780 yen).

▼ The classic red is paired perfectly with colorful ornaments and Disney characters.

Tokyo Disney Parks are decked out for the holidays until December 25. Enjoy all the Christmas spirit they have to offer on their menus before time runs out!

Images ©SoraNews24

Japanese court orders YouTube to cooperate in shutting down “manga spoiler” videos

https://ift.tt/2PdiMl0 Casey Baseel

Tokyo court rules that reposting dialogue alone would have been enough for it to rule in manga publisher’s favor.

In October, Shogakukan, one of Japan’s largest manga publishers, filed a complaint in a Tokyo district court regarding six videos uploaded to YouTube. The videos contained images and text reprints from Ushijima the Loan Shark, a series currently running in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits weekly comic anthology.

The complaint argues that the videos, edited in such a way as to function as a recap of the manga’s recent chapters, are a violation of the publisher’s copyright and acting as a substitute for the actual product, thus causing the company financial harm. On November 27, the court ruled in favor of Shogakukan, issuing an order of provisional disposition commanding YouTube to provide account information to aid the authorities in identifying the uploader. Once their identity is confirmed, Shogakukan says it plans to pursue both civil and criminal charges against him or her.

What’s more, the court implied that it would still have ruled in favor of Shogakukan, even if the videos hadn’t gone as far as they actually did. The court confirmed its position that even without the presence of art lifted from the comics, the direct and exact reprinting of its dialogue alone, even in pure text form, would have constituted a misuse of Shogakukan’s intellectual property.

Again, though, it’s worth bearing in mind that while media reports from Japan refer to the offending videos and others of their type as “spoiler videos,” this particular lawsuit isn’t a case of Shogakukan going after a fan or reviewer for just talking about the work and revealing plot points. Instead, it’s an example of a publisher going after someone for reprinting its product while offering no sort of commentary or discussion, serving no purpose other than to act as a substitute to buying the product. As such, it doesn’t seem like the company is looking to send out cease and desist orders to anyone who’s blabbing about what happens in the latest issues of their manga, so long as they do so in their own words.

Source: Anime! Anime! via Anime News Network/Jennifer Sherman, NHK News Web, The Sankei News
Top image: Pakutaso

Coca-Cola Japan unveils special New Year’s kimono bottle for 2019 with hidden boar on the packaging

https://ift.tt/2AFEzge Oona McGee

Limited-edition bottle celebrates the upcoming Year of the Boar.

Over the years, Coca-Cola has been producing some of its most unusual and sought-after bottles in Japan, with locals and visitors scrambling to get their hands on all the limited-edition varieties, especially the stunning regional-exclusive releases.

The famous brand also does big business with its seasonal packaging, bringing out fall leaf designs in autumn and cherry blossom bottles in spring. Last year, they released a New Year’s design for the start of 2018 and now Coca-Cola have just announced they’ll be continuing the tradition with a 2019 bottle too.

Featuring the festive white, red, and gold colours of a Japanese New Year, the design will be adorned with a variety of plum blossoms, which are often used as decorations during the New Year period. A symbol of beauty and an early harbinger of spring that people look forward to seeing in January and February, these plum blossoms add a celebratory element to the new coke bottle, making it perfect for festive get-togethers.

According to Coca-Cola, the glossy, brightly coloured finish on the bottle also serves to resemble the exquisite cloth of a kimono, which many people choose to wear when attending traditional events and festivities at the start of the year.

Seeing as 2019 is the Year of the Boar, Coca-Cola have decided to add a wild pig into the design as well. The animal is carefully hidden amongst the blossoms, though, so people can have fun searching for it!

▼ Can you spot the boar in the design?

If you’re still searching for the wild boar and don’t want any spoilers, then look away now because we’ve got the answer for you coming up in 3…

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2…

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1…

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▼ The golden boar’s hiding spot has been circled in the image below. Were you able to find it?

The new bottles will retail for 125 yen (US$1.10) and be available for a limited time at stores around the country from 3 December.

Source, images: Coca-Cola Japan

We interview Fantastic Beasts star Dan Fogler at the new Wizarding World Cafe in Japan

https://ift.tt/2TZsZoT Oona McGee

The wizarding world and real life blurs as we sit down for a magical meal with the actor who plays Jacob Kowalski.

Earlier this week, the world’s first Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts themed cafes opened in Japan, to commemorate the release of the second film in the Harry Potter prequel series, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

With one location each in Tokyo and Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, the new Wizarding World Cafe is filled with all sorts of exclusive Japan-only food, drinks, memorabilia and merchandise. And the seating area is adorned with newspapers designed by MinaLima, the same graphic design company that created the book covers and posters used as props in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.

So when we found out that we’d secured an exclusive interview with Dan Fogler, the actor who played Jacob Kowalski in Fantastic Beasts, we could think of no better place to sit down and chat with him than at the cafe in Tokyo.

▼ And when we arrived, staff immediately asked him to sign the wall-sized poster inside the cafe.

After we commented on the fact that he was the first cast member to sign the huge poster, he smiled and said “Wow, that’s cool! The other cast members will have to come. I’ll tell them all they have to come to the cafe!”

We have to admit, it was pretty surreal to be surrounded by official Wizarding World memorobilia while talking to one of its most famous characters in the flesh, no less in Tokyo of all places, but his kind, familiar smile and friendly personality immediately put us at ease.

And as he walked around the cafe, admiring the interiors and picking up items to look at in the retail area, we couldn’t help but like him even more.

“Which of these is your favourite?” We asked him, as he ran his eyes along the shelves of merchandise. “These”, he said as he immediately picked up a Baby Niffler push toy and an exclusive Wizarding World original Niffler tin.

As our hearts melted for the third time since meeting him, we sat down with Fogler to enjoy a themed meal together. His presence didn’t go unnoticed in the cafe, though, as other diners around us had to pick their jaws up off the floor, with murmurs of “What the…?” and “Seriously – Jacob?” heard emanating from the other tables.

▼ Fogler took it all in his stride, smiling broadly and saying “hi” to the people who stared at him.

Fogler ordered the Gellert Grindelwald Charcuterie, the Newt Scamander Pancakes, and the Niffler Iced Cafe Latte. Each item on the menu comes with a magical element, and we were happy to see Fogler get into the spirit of the cafe as soon as his order came to the table. Following instructions by cafe staff to chant “abracadabra” over the smoke-filled charcuterie plate, Fogler’s magic skills appeared to be next level, as the lid was lifted and his meat platter appeared.

▼ At this point, all the Fantastic Beasts fans around us could hardly believe the rare spectacle they were witnessing.

Fogler was full of praise for each of the menu items, commenting on how cute they looked. When he saw the character pancakes, he said “It looks like Newt’s conquered the pancake!”

▼ Fogler also charmed us with his knowledge of Japanese, saying “oishii” (delicious) a number of times throughout the meal.

We fell in love with Fogler’s childlike enthusiasm for the cafe, and at one stage he even pointed to the Profiteroles on another table, saying “Wow, that’s so cool!” when he saw the lights and smoke billowing out from it.

As our meal came to a close, we had just enough time to talk to him about the movie, which Fogler says he seen four times.

“I’m truly so happy to have appeared in this film. Once I saw it when it was completed, I was really impressed by the scenes I hadn’t appeared in, and so many things happen in the first 30 minutes – Dumbledore appears and there’s Grindelwald’s Escape as well. After I watched it, I thought ‘I have to see it again’. I plan to watch it another six times and I hope other people will watch it again and again too. And if you come to the cafe, try the three items I ordered as well!”

And with that, Fogler made his exit, shaking the hands of fans as he left. He was a really great guy and we wish we could’ve hung out with him all day. We’d like to extend a big thank you to the staff who accommodated our visit, and hopefully we’ll get to dine with more Wizarding World cast members there too!

Cafe Information

Wizarding World Cafe Tokyo / 魔法ワールドCAFE 東京
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Nishi Shinjuku 1-1-3, Odakyu Shinjuku Mylord 5F
東京都新宿区西新宿1-1-3 小田急新宿ミロード5F
Hours: 11:00 a.m.-9:00p.m. (9 Nov 2018 – 31 January 2019) 60-minute limit per seating
Website (Japanese)

Wizarding World Cafe Fukuoka / 魔法ワールドCAFE 福岡
Address: Fukuoka-ken, Fukuoka-shi, Hataka-ku, Sumiyoshi 1-2-22 Canal City 5F
福岡県福岡市博多区住吉1-2-22 キャナルシティ博多5F
Hours: 10:00a.m.-9:00p.m. (9 Nov 2018 – 31 January 2019) 60-minute limit per seating
Website (Japanese)

Photos © SoraNews24  

Conan O’Brien in Japan episode features Toto toilets, Harajuku, a rented family and Conan Town

https://ift.tt/2RtKw7b Oona McGee

We take a closer look at some hilarious clips from the new Conan in Japan episode.

Three months ago, American late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien surprised everyone when he announced he would be travelling to Japan to pick up a tongue-in-cheek 3 trillion yen from the Mayor of Conan Town.

Located in rural Tottori Prefecture, Conan Town is named after popular Japanese anime character Detective Conan, but O’Brien decided to declare himself as the true inspiration for the name of the town. This became the launchpad for the comedian’s visit back in September, which took him from Tokyo to Tottori as part of an upcoming Conan Without Borders episode called Conan In Japan.

While we were lucky enough to view some behind-the-scenes footage during his visit, we couldn’t wait to see what the Japan special would look like after many long hours of footage had been cut and condensed into a one-hour episode. It’s been a long time coming, but the wait is finally over, as the Conan in Japan special finally aired in the U.S. last night, so let’s get right to it and take a look at some of the clips from the episode!

▼ Conan Rents A Family in Japan.

A rent-a-family might seem like a crazy concept at first, but it’s actually a valuable service that can assist people in a pinch at formal occasions and help people cope with loneliness and grief. Even Conan seems to reap the benefits of having a rental family for a day, as his fake father apologises for past wrongdoings and calls him his “favourite son”.

▼ Conan and Jordan Share a Kaiseki Meal

Associate producer Jordan Schlansky, whom Conan calls the “High Priest of Meaningless Conversation“, is known for his deadpan expressions and know-it-all attitude. At one point in the meal, Jordan remarks that the waitress assumes he “is the one in power”, but the real reason for this is because he’s sitting in the kamiza position furthest away from the door, which is reserved for the highest-ranking member of the party.

Other highlights from the clip include Conan mistakenly saying “Iowa” instead of “Ohio“, when he tries to say “Ohayo“, the Japanese word for “good morning”, and Conan crushing Jordan’s love for the Karate Kid with a jarring message from Ralph Macchio.

▼ Conan Visits Conan Town in Japan

Conan Town was the whole reason for Conan’s Japan trip, and the episode culminates with Conan meeting the Mayor–after a hiccup that saw them arriving at the wrong airport–and trying in vain to cash in his fake cheque for 3 trillion yen. In a strange twist, Aussie beef was used in the hamburgers that Mayor Matsumoto demanded as part of the exchange, but regardless of the patty’s origin, burger diplomacy clearly won the day as the two managed to settle their beef with a crowd of fans looking on.

▼ Live Q&A: Conan Without Borders: Japan

Conan and writer Mike Sweeney answer fan questions about the episode and discuss details regarding their trip in this video, uploaded to the Team Coco YouTube channel shortly after the episode aired on TV. Conan’s assistant Sona also makes an appearance, revealing that she was also in Japan at the same time Conan and his crew were there filming, but as she was on her honeymoon she didn’t appear in the episode. However, she did something that Conan and his team didn’t get to do, which was enjoy an all-day sumo tournament.

While these four clips can be viewed on the official Team Coco YouTube account, there are plenty more due to be uploaded soon. If you can’t wait to see the other clips, then head on over to their official website  where you can take a look at what happened when they visited the Toto toilet showroom, Harajuku, and a Japanese etiquette class.

The only that’s missing from their official site and social media channels is footage from their top-secret visit to Hideo Kojima’s office, which has us hoping there’s a world-exclusive Clueless Gamer segment coming our way soon.

Source: YouTube/Team Coco
Featured image: YouTube/Team Coco

Nostalgic video combines Japanese Pokémon Rap with clips of Let’s Go! Pikachu buddy Pokémon

https://ift.tt/2SmFb1q Dale Roll

Learn all the Japanese names of the Kanto Pokémon while watching them all run around in the new game!

**Caution, there may be spoilers ahead!**

Let’s Go! Pikachu and Let’s Go! Eevee, the newest games in the Pokémon franchise that were recently released on the Nintendo Switch, are actually really fun games, despite being almost exact remakes of the original Pokémon Red and Blue games. New dynamics like changing out random battles with wild Pokémon for Pokémon GO style catching, has given a fresh face to a tired game, and personally, I’m really enjoying it!

But arguably one of the best parts about the game is that, in addition to your partner Pokémon, Eevee or Pikachu, you can let one other Pokémon out of its Pokéball to follow you around, or, even better, to ride around on! And since each Pokémon is designed to move according to its anatomy, and is scaled to its measurements as depicted in the Pokédex, one of the most fun parts is taking all of the different Pokémon out of their Pokéballs and watching how they interact with the world and the player.

▼ For many, riding around on the back of a Charizard is a dream come true!

One Japanese Pokémon fan, Takasa Ojisan, enjoyed exploring this new feature so much that he created a video showing all of the 151 Pokémon in the game out of their Pokéballs, and tuned it to the rhythm of the Japanese version of the Pokémon Rap! It’s an awesome way to see how all the different Pokémon look in the game.

Let'sGO!ピカチュウの全連れ歩き（メルタン系除く）を「ポケモンいえるかな？」に合わせて、まとめました。 連れ歩きのポケモンたち、現状の調べではアローラナッシー以外はスケールが図鑑に忠実そうです。 https://t.co/s2SJzyLp9d

—
たかさおじさん@固定でアンケ中 (@ikiro_pkmn) November 25, 2018

Can you name all of the original 151 Pokémon, in Japanese and English? Now’s your chance to learn! We love seeing how the sizes of all of the different Pokémon compare to the player character, like the Alolan Exeggutor (called ナッシー , or “Nassy” in Japanese), which is hilariously enormous.

Japanese netizens loved the video, too:

“I laughed at how it looks like the player is running away from the big Pokémon.”
“This could be used as an actual promotional video for the game!”
“This is just like ‘151 Memories’!”
“I want to cry! At that time I never thought that the 151-Pokémon adventure would become popular all over the world.”
“Their sizes are so different from what I expected! I could watch this forever.”
“Aww man, they’re all just so cute!”
“Oh no, it’s stuck in my head!”
“It was my dream to ride Arcanine.”

Me too, guys, me too. The Let’s Go! games have given us all a remastered nostalgia trip, and we couldn’t be happier about it. But if you just can’t get enough Kanto Pokémon nostalgia, head over to the Pokémon Cafe, where they’re serving all 151 Pokémon as latte art!

Source: Twitter/@ikiro_pkmn via Otakom
Images: Twitter/@ikiro_pkmn

Japanese man pretends to visit Muji stores 5.62 million times in six weeks, gets arrested again

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

Police say fraudster virtually visited Muji branches on three continents without ever leaving his Hokkaido home.

Some people believe that criminals can’t help but return to the scene of their crimes, and you could argue that’s what Daigo Sugano did. However, much like with his first arrest, police are saying the 29-year-old resident of Ishikari in Hokkaido Prefecture managed to pull off a multi-city caper without leaving the town he lives in.

Many retailers in Japan have loyalty programs that reward not only paying customers, but also anyone who visits their store for browsing. Granted, the non-paying visitor rewards are a pittance, at most a few yen of store credit when you check in through the store’s app or kiosk, but still, that’s a few yen’s worth of pure profit. In the case of interior and lifestyle brand Mujirushi (also known as Muji), each visit gets you one point, equivalent to one yen (roughly one U.S. cent) of credit.

According to the police, between April 12 and May 30 Sugano managed to accrue 5.62 million yen (US$49,735) worth of Mujirushi points, which would correspond to an identical 5.62 million visits in about six weeks’ time. While some might argue that’s not mathematically impossible for an insanely determined person, investigators say Sugano racked up all those points by pretending to visit 909 Mujirushi branches across Japan, North America, and Europe, utilizing 300 false Mujirushi app accounts and an array of 45 computers in his Hokkaido home to manipulate GPS data.

▼ Used properly, the Muji Passport app can get you free curry. Used improperly, it can get you jail time.

And so for the second time this month, Sugano has been arrested for computer fraud, since he’s the same guy who also pretended to make 2.7 million visits to Aeon shopping centers. Once again, it was officers from Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu, on the opposite side of the country from Hokkaido, once again doing the honors, presumably since some of the defrauded Mujirushi branches were located within their jurisdiction.

The police say that almost none of the credit Sugano acquired remains in his accounts, and are investigating how/where it was used. Considering that Sugano has no official employment but still managed to amass 45 computers in his home, there’s a distinct possibility that he was reselling the credit to third parties, or maybe he just really, really wanted some Mujirushi bean bag chairs, towels, and matcha chocolate-covered strawberries.

But remember, kids, in the end crime doesn’t pay. The only way to achieve socially responsible, long-lasting financial security is through hard work and careful saving…or just buying a whole bunch of lottery tickets.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Hachima Kiko, Mujirushi
Top image: Wikipedia/Banej
Insert image: Mujirushi